Newsline: Church officers review how Special Response decisions will be made

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl
Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

Church officers review how Special Response decisions will be made

(June 17, 2011) Elgin, IL - The three top officers of the Church of the 
Brethren--Annual Conference moderator Robert E. Alley, moderator-elect Tim 
Harvey, and secretary Fred Swartz--have published their plans for how Special 
Response business items will be addressed during the denomination's Annual 
Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., on July 2-6. The Special Response business 
items are related to issues of human sexuality

Two years ago, the Annual Conference of delegates from congregations and 
districts adopted a document that offers a framework for decision making for 
strongly controversial issues. The document titled, "A Structural Framework for 
Dealing with Strongly Controversial Issues," is available at 
http://cobannualconference.org/ac_statements/controversial_issues-final.pdf. 

At the 2009 Conference, two items of business were directed to that framework: 
a query from the Northern Indiana District regarding "Language on Same Sex 
Covenantal Relationships" and a statement from Standing Committee of district 
delegates titled "A Statement of Confession and Commitment." Both items are 
related to issues of human sexuality.

During the past two years, through personal and congregational study, through 
Standing Committee-led hearings, through prayer, and in other ways, the 
denomination has sought to consider how to respond to the two business items. 
They are part of the unfinished business for the 2011 Annual Conference.

When Annual Conference delegates meet this year in Grand Rapids, any 
recommendation to these two items will be processed using the five-step 
procedure described in the framework document. 

The officers have scheduled the first two steps in this process to take place 
Sunday evening, July 3. These include presentations by the district delegates 
on the background of the two business items, what the Standing Committee has 
learned from hearings held across the denomination, and what recommendations 
are being made to answer the query and statement. These steps are for 
information only. 

On Monday afternoon, July 4, the Conference will turn to Step 3, which will 
follow a "sandwich" approach: participants will first offer affirmations of 
recommendations with regard to the two business items, then concerns or 
questions may be presented, and finally additional affirmations may be made. 
During this step, persons may speak for only one minute at the microphones on 
the floor of the business session.

On Tuesday morning, July 5, Step 4 will put the recommendation before the 
delegates for any amendments or other motions. Each amendment or motion will be 
tested with the delegates, who will be asked whether they wish to entertain 
that proposal. If so, the proposal will be processed by normal parliamentary 
procedure. If not, the proposal will not be considered further. At the end of 
this step, the delegate body will vote on the recommendation. 

After the decision, Step 5 will be a time of closure with the process and 
decisions.

When the Standing Committee of district delegates meets prior to the Annual 
Conference, it will engage in a similar process.   

"This Special Response process has been deeply undergirded with prayer by 
individuals and groups within our denomination," said a statement from the 
Annual Conference officers. "As we come to Annual Conference, we continue in 
prayer for discernment, for understanding, for clarity, for unity, for 
forbearance, and for faithfulness to Christ. All who have engaged in this 
process love Christ and the church, especially the Church of the Brethren. May 
that love fill us with hope and promise as we gather in Grand Rapids."

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
celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across 
the United
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, 
Brazil, the Dominican
Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org