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Date: May 10, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN	NEWSLINE
May 10, 2005

TWO CONFERENCES, ONE GREAT FAITH WALK

May  10, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- The following is taken from a reflection by 
Elizabeth  Waas Smith on two of the Church of the Brethren conferences held
in 
April. As a  young adult at Mission Alive 2005 held April 1-3, and the 
Cross-Cultural	Consultation and Celebration on April 21-24, Smith
experienced the two  
gatherings as very different but complementary:

"What struck me was just  how Brethren they both were. These two conferences,

very different from one  another in participants' race, lifestyle, age, 
chosen leadership, and even  culture, were both representative of our
denomination.

"Mission Alive	2005 focused on the mission work of the Church of the 
Brethren: how we can  increase our mission work overseas, how we can maintain
it, and 
how we can  spread the word of God.... At the Cross-Cultural Consultation the

body had no  majority; it was made up of all the minorities. As a young 
person, I felt	welcomed and valued for my opinions. There was a lot of talk
about 
how to	integrate our denomination. There was discussion about what barriers 
exist  between the different cultures represented in the Church of the	
Brethren.

"For all the differences of these conferences, at the  core they want the 
same thing. They both want to expand the understanding love  of Christ.
Mission 
Alive 2005 focused on spreading that love throughout the  world and bringing
it 
to different cultures. The Cross-Cultural Consultation	focused on spreading 
that love among cultures in our own denomination. We are  moving toward our 
goal in different ways, but these two routes will make one  great faith walk 
when they come together."

Elizabeth Waas Smith is a  Brethren Volunteer Service worker at the General 
Board's BVS office in Elgin,  Ill.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to  
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith  in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith  
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
 300th 
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United	
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the  
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.

# # #

For more information  contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church	of the Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL  60120
847-742-5100 ext.  260
cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org

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The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,

 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board. 
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