Newsline: Church of the Brethren Annual Conference begins in Grand Rapids, Michigan

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Church of the Brethren Newsline - July 3, 2011

Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services, Church of the  
Brethren, 224-735-9692, cobnews@brethren.org<mailto:cobnews@brethren.org

GRAND RAPIDS HOSTS CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The Church of the Brethren’s Annual Conference has brought close to 900 c hurch 
delegates and more than 3,000 people to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The c onference 
is being held at the DeVos Convention Center from July 2-6 -- the  225th 
recorded annual meeting of the denomination.

Delegates are attending from some 1,000 congregations and 23 church distric ts 
across the United States and Puerto Rico. The conference also welcomes c hurch 
members and families.

The public is welcome to the daily worship services, which are held on the  
theme, "Gifted with Promise: Extending Jesus’ Table," taken from the Gosp el 
stories of Jesus feeding the hungry crowds -- in one example feeding tho usands 
with only five loaves and two fish. The opening worship service was  held 
Saturday evening, July 2. Sunday morning worship begins at 10 a.m. Mon day and 
Tuesday worship services will be in the evening, starting at 6:45 p .m. The 
closing worship service is on Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m.

Robert E. Alley, a retired Church of the Brethren minister from Harrisonbur g, 
Va., will serve as moderator of the Conference. This is the highest elec ted 
position in the Church of the Brethren, and serves as leader of the bus iness 
sessions. Tim Harvey, pastor of Central Church of the Brethren in Roa noke, 
Va., is moderator-elect.

Business sessions begin Sunday afternoon and evening and continue Monday mo 
rning and afternoon, Tuesday morning and afternoon, and Wednesday morning.

Among the business items are two documents related to issues of sexuality:  "A 
Statement of Confession and Commitment" from the Standing Committee of d 
istrict delegates and a query on "Language on Same-Sex Covenantal Relations 
hips." The two items have been the subject of a two-year discussion across  the 
church, called the Special Response Process. The process has included f 
acilitated hearings in each district, an online response option, a Bible st 
udy, and reading resources ( www.cobannualconference.org/special_response_r 
esource.html<http://www.cobannualconference.org/special_response_resource.h 
tml>).

Also on the Conference agenda are: a resolution on the war in Afghanistan,  
congregational ethics guidelines, climate change and global warming, proper  
decorum for church business.

The Conference also includes Bible studies, numerous workshops and meal eve 
nts, support groups, and programs for age groups of children, youth, and yo ung 
adults. Find more about the Conference schedule at www.brethren.org/ac< 
http://www.brethren.org/ac>.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination stemming from the Br 
ethren movement that began in 1708 in Schwarzenau, Germany, when the eight  
founders were baptized in the Eder River. The denomination turned 300 years  
old in 2008. The church is committed to continuing the work of Jesus peace 
fully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. It is based in  the 
Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three peace c hurches 
along with the Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Mennonites. The  Church of 
the Brethren counts some 123,000 members and 1,000 congregations  across the US 
and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nig eria, the 
Dominican Republic, Brazil, Haiti, and India.

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