Annual Conference Council holds final meeting.

The Annual Conference Council met for its final meeting on Aug. 18 at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. As of Sept. 1, the council will be dissolved and its functions will be transferred to the new denominational Leadership Team of the Church of the Brethren.

In addition to the council’s members, Stan Noffsinger, general secretary, participated to begin the transition to the Leadership Team. The Leadership Team, beginning Sept. 1, will include Annual Conference moderator David Shumate and moderator-elect Shawn Replogle, Annual Conference secretary Fred Swartz, and Noffsinger.

The council conducted its usual follow-up on the actions of the 2008 Annual Conference, noting where reminders needed to be sent to people or groups responsible for implementing the actions of the Conference. The council authorized a letter to members of the Implementation Committee expressing appreciation for their work in designing the new Church of the Brethren structure. It also encouraged the Conference officers to discuss how Standing Committee may receive training for handling appeals, and it directed letters to be sent to both Brethren Benefit Trust staff and Church of the Brethren staff encouraging them to give attention to the suggestions made in the Resolution on Ministers’ Medical Crisis. The council noted that the Program and Arrangements Committee already has the concerns of the Query on Annual Conference Witness to Host Cities on its agenda.

The council discussed a number of matters that it will pass on to the Leadership Team, including the coordination of envisioning for the denomination, updating the Church of the Brethren bylaws, updating the Manual of Organization and Polity, and deciding how appeals related to Program and Arrangements Committee guidelines will be handled in the future.

As its last function as the Annual Conference Council, the group conducted a performance review for Annual Conference executive director Lerry Fogle, enthusiastically affirming his work and his commitment to the church, to his family, and to Christ. Noffsinger shared with the council that the hiring of an executive to replace Fogle when he retires Dec. 5, 2009, will be handled by the Human Resources process of the Church of the Brethren. The plan includes having a new executive in place in time to receive on-the-job training at the 2009 Annual Conference.

--Fred Swartz is the secretary of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference.

Source: 8/27/2008 Newsline