Church of the Brethren in Brazil holds fifth conference.

Igreja da Irmandade (Church of the Brethren in Brazil) celebrated its fifth Annual Conference Nov. 25-27, focusing on "Evangelism, from the Anabaptist and Pietist Traditions: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow." Around 50 people participated, with representation from every congregation and fellowship, reported Greg and Karin Davidson Laszakovits, Brazil representatives for the Church of the Brethren General Board.

Leadership for sessions came from those inside and outside Igreja da Irmandade. The keynote speaker was Peter Gunther Siemens, a Mennonite pastor and scholar from the city of Curitiba. Siemens's sessions tracked the history of Christianity and Anabaptism, focusing on how the church came to adopt various beliefs and practices as it read the Bible and interacted with the realities of the day. He focused on the Anabaptist belief that it is Jesus who changes our lives, not the church. "Jesus is real, the manifestation of God," he said. "Often the church gets mixed up and becomes religion and religiosity. Jesus is something different than religion. Something more--much more."

"Worship and prayer framed each day, with the pastors of the church providing leadership for both," said the report on the conference. Each morning began with prayer--communal, small group, and individual--followed by a meditation. Each evening the assembly worshiped together. The inaugural worship sermon was preached by Greg Davidson Laszakovits, who focused on letting evangelistic light shine in all that Christians do through love, service, and faithfulness. Saturday evening's worship brought by a team from the Rio Verde congregation focused on praising God. In the closing worship, national director of the Brazilian church, Marcos Inhauser, sent conference-goers forth with a call to spread the good news that they have received, and to do so remembering the church's call to be "a different kind of church, making a difference."

Other sessions were given by church members, and treated Christian education and living as healthy families. Following a model that sought participation by all, each session and worship was followed by the opportunity for conference-goers to share reflections and interact with the presenters. "Many shared how they might have been touched, new concepts that were presented in the session, and the exchange of ideas," said the Laszakovitses.

Held near the city of Campinas, and geographically close to the majority of the congregations, the setting of the conference at a camp facilitated community building, they added. In addition to eating and residing as a community, activities were held almost non-stop to provide forums for the sharing of thoughts and ideas and having fun together.

Source: 12/21/2005 Newsline
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