Annual Conference bits and pieces

Photo by Regina Holmes

One of the MoR observers on duty at the 2011 Annual Conference. For some years, the Ministry of Reconciliation (MoR) has provided observers as a resource for participants in the Conference business sessions. This year, the ministry also is helping to provide teams of trained volunteers who will be available to be called on as needed throughout the Annual Conference venue.

• Members of the Ministry of Reconciliation (MoR) at Annual Conference will be wearing yellow lanyards and identifying tags. The MoR volunteers are available to meet with anyone needing a listening ear during the Conference. Contact the Ministry of Reconciliation at the On Earth Peace booth or the Annual Conference Office or by calling 620-755-3940.

• A video about the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., is posted online offering information in advance of a conversation to take place during an Annual Conference business session. At its March meeting the Mission and Ministry Board decided to provide the delegate body of Annual Conference with resources to prepare for “Table Talk” about the Brethren Service Center. There will not be any votes or decisions made, but delegates will have an opportunity to share feedback with the board. In addition to the video, delegates have received a fact sheet and a letter introducing the topic of conversation. Find the video at http://youtu.be/uYArm6-ikes .

• In preparation for the presentations on Nigeria at Annual Conference, a history and timeline of the Church of the Brethren mission there, which started in 1923, and the emergence of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) has been posted at www.brethren.org/nigeriahistory .

• An insight session on Nigeria has been added to the Annual Conference schedule on Friday, July 4, at 12:30 p.m. in room C213-215 in the Columbus Convention Center. Speakers may include Rebecca Dali, wife of Nigerian Brethren president Samuel Dante Dali and founder of the Center for Caring, Empowerment, and Peace Initiatives (CCEPI) and Carl and Roxane Hill, who recently completed a term of service teaching at EYN’s Kulp Bible College in Nigeria. Additional opportunities to share with Rebecca Dali include the single adult lunch group on July 5, and intergenerational activities that evening.

• Young adults in the Church of the Brethren have received a special invitation to attend the General Secretary’s Dinner with Higher Education. Conrad L. Kanagy, professor of sociology at Elizabethtown College, will speak on the theme, “Tearing Down and Building Up: The Work of the Spirit and the Global Church.” The dinner takes place on Saturday, July 5, at 5 p.m. in Rooms C111-112 in the Columbus Convention Center.

• The Womaen's Caucus is holding a prayer gathering for women on the ballot on Thursday, July 3, at 1:20 p.m. in the Exhibit Hall. The gathering is timed to take place prior to the opening of the afternoon business session at which the Annual Conference delegates are to hold elections. “We recognize that it takes courage to put your name forward and would like to support the women who have done so,” said an announcement of the prayer gathering. “Come and join us for a prayer with them as we prepare to move into a time of voting.”

• “Courage Rising: Conversations of Challenge, Risk, Solidarity” will be part of a new booth configuration for the Open Table Cooperative, Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests (BMC), Global Women’s Project, and Womaen’s Caucus. These booths will be together in the Exhibit Hall with a space in the center for sponsored conversations, according to an announcement from Open Table. Each group will host several conversations over the course of the Conference on topics ranging from “What's Queer on Brethren Campuses?” to “Inclusive Language” to “Shrinking Congregations: Dying with Grace or Radical Rebirth?” and more. The full list of conversations is available in the “Progressive Guide to Annual Conference” posted by Open Table at www.opentablecoop.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ACGuide141.pdf .

• Detailed information about the schedule and events at the 2014 Annual Conference, speakers and worship, insight session, concerts, age group events, meal events, and much more is at www.brethren.org/ac .

Source: 7/1/2014 Newsline