'Doing Church Business,' Iraq war, divestment head Annual Conference business agenda.

A very full business agenda faced the delegate body at the 2006 Annual Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 1-5. The business sessions were chaired by moderator Ronald D. Beachley, executive minister of Western Pennsylvania District. Moderator-elect Belita Mitchell assisted.

Doing Church Business:

The report of the study committee on Doing Church Business was referred to the Program Feasibility Study Committee of Annual Conference. The paper's recommendations have potential to make significant changes in the format of the Conference and the way delegates address business.

"There is a clear need for significant change in order to enhance and model a discerning Christian community and the reign of God," the paper said.

"We recognize the complexity of this undertaking," said committee member Matt Guynn, who asked delegates to recognize the capacity for creativity in doing Conference business. The committee's presentation of the paper highlighted several of its key recommendations and explained some of the thinking behind them.

Many who spoke to the paper affirmed its intent, but concerns were raised about implementation and cost. Delegates in 2007 will address the paper in light of the feasibility study, and will take up the paper at the point at which the motion to refer was made.

In a moment of confusion on the Conference floor, a re-count of a vote on the motion to refer had to be taken because the count of a previous vote--in which the motion was declared to have failed--was greater than the total number of delegates. However, a re-count by paper ballot approved the motion to refer.

Resolution on an End to the War in Iraq:

A resolution from the General Board calling for an end to the war in Iraq was adopted by the Annual Conference. It petitions for the troops to be brought home from Iraq, and calls on the global community to implement a nonviolent plan to bring peace and security there.

"As disciples of Christ and members of one of the three historic peace churches, we cannot ignore the death, destruction, and violence in the war in Iraq," it says.

At the microphones to support the resolution were family members of soldiers either currently in Iraq or returned from Iraq.

"Let them come home. We want our children back home," pleaded a mother, from Atlantic Northeast District.

A Navy veteran of the first Iraq war echoed the sentiment. "I say it's time to bring our men and women home."

A sizeable minority voted against the resolution. Some people said that bringing the news of the decision home to their congregations would be an unwelcome task.

"I realized I will take some heat. Brother moderator, you will too," said William Waugh, Standing Committee member from Western Pennsylvania, who presented the recommendation to adopt the paper.

Standing Committee's recommendation included a hope that all Brethren agencies and congregations will publicize the resolution.

Resolution on Divestment:

The Conference expressed appreciation for "Resolution: Divestment from Companies Selling Products Used as Weapons in Israel and Palestine," and thanked Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) for its efforts to dialogue with the Caterpillar Corporation.

The delegates urged "Brethren agencies and individuals and other people of faith to review their own investments and refrain from investing in businesses that profit from war and violence, and to give faithful witness to Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace in financial matters as in all other matters."

The resolution asked BBT in particular to divest from the Caterpillar Corporation "and any other company that sells products that are used routinely as weapons of destruction or death in Israel and Palestine."

Since the resolution was made, the stocks at issue have been sold by BBT's fund managers simply as a financial decision. BBT no longer owns stock in Caterpillar.

BBT's initial approach to the issue was not to divest but to use the shares that it held to speak to Caterpillar, BBT president Wil Nolen told the Conference. Referring to Caterpillar's D9 bulldozers made to military specifications, Nolen told the body that "our approach was to directly inquire of Caterpillar how this...conforms with their own Worldwide Code of Conduct."

In other business:

• The delegate body welcomed and adopted a resolution on "Commitment of Accessibility and Inclusion" from the Association of Brethren Caregives. Although a 1994 Annual Conference resolution urged Church of the Brethren congregations and institutions to become accessible to the disabled, many congregations have not yet done so. The resolution urges "each congregation, agency, institution, facility and gathering" in the denomination to recommit to becoming fully accessible and including every person in its ministry. The resolution states that the barriers are not only architectural, but also "attitudes that reflect a lack of sensitivity or understanding, which deny persons with disabilities the right to a life of dignity and respect." Several people spoke at the microphones, sharing their stories of disability and how their churches have embraced them persons or how they have been challenged in their efforts to participate in the church.
  
  
• Delegates approved the concerns of a query on "Call to Stewardship Education" and referred it to the General Board.
  
  
• The General Board's resolution on "A Call to Reduce Global Poverty and Hunger," was adopted by the Conference without discussion. It calls on Brethren to pursue the Millennium Development Goals developed by the United Nations in 2000, including universal primary education, reduction of child mortality, improvement in maternal health, care for the environment, combating infectious diseases, and empowerment of women. The resolution closes, "Through prayer, study, and concrete action, let us resolve to act so that those who know extreme poverty and hunger might enter more fully into the abundance of God's love."
  
  
• The direction of revisions of the Articles of Organization of Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) were affirmed. Among other things, the revisions allow BBT to provide more services to Brethren Medical Plan participants and add language to acknowledge BBT's recently taking on oversight of the Church of the Brethren Credit Union. The revisions also balance representation on the BBT board from different constituent groups. Proposed language to allow BBT to solicit donations and seek grants and other funding was withdrawn by the BBT board before Standing Committee recommended the revisions to Annual Conference. Standing Committee had expressed unease with the sentence's introduction of a new ability for BBT to seek funding sources beyond fees, perceiving that to open the agency to possible conflicts of interest and privacy violations as BBT may have access to donor lists of other Brethren agencies that use its services.
  
  
• The Conference approved a 4.2 percent cost of living increase for 2007 for the minimum pastoral salary table, at the recommendation of the Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee.
  
  
• Reports were received from the five Annual Conference agencies: Association of Brethren Caregivers, the Brethren Benefit Trust, Bethany Theological Seminary, the General Board, and On Earth Peace; delegates also received a report of the denomination's activities in ministry to the poor, following up on a previous Annual Conference action; an interim report from the Review and Evaluation Committee; an interim report from the 300th Anniversary Committee. One-year extensions for the Brethren Medical Plan Study Committee and the Intercultural Study Committee were approved after the body received interim reports from the two committees. Other reports included the Brethren representatives to the National Council of Churches and World Council of Churches, and the Committee on Interchurch Relations.
  
  
• The delegates welcomed six new fellowships: Christ Connections Community Fellowship of Oswego, Ill.; Faithful Servants Fellowship of Frederick, Md.; Family Faith Fellowship of Enid, Okla.; Journeys Way Ministries Fellowship of Fairhope, Pa.; Naples (Fla.) Haitian Fellowship; and Ramey Flats Fellowship of Clintwood, Va.
  
  
• Delegates also got a taste of "Together: Conversations on Being the Church," a study process being carried out across the denomination this year. Business sessions included four half-hour segments for small group conversation using the Together study guide available from Brethren Press. Together conversations will continue in regional and district gatherings.
  
  
• The Program and Arrangements Commitee announced that the 2011 Conference will be held in Grand Rapids, Mich. The dates will be July 2-6, 2011.

Source: 7/05/2006 Newsline
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