Relationship with
American Baptist Churches

Back row left to right: Charles Jones (ABCUSA-International Ministries), Stan Noffsinger (General Secretary), Margaret Cowden (ABCUSA-National Ministries), Del Keeney (Congregational Life Ministries), Roy Winter (Brethren Service Center/Emergency Response). Front row left to right: Annie Clark (Conflict Transformation Coordinator of On Earth Peace), Judy Keyser (Centralized Resources), Merv Keeney (Global Mission Partnerships), Roy Medley (ABCUSA-General Secretary), Wendy McFadden (Brethren Press), and Sumner Grant (ABCUSA-Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board). February 7, 2005 in New Windsor, Md.

History

September 27, 1960:
The Church of the Brethren Executive Committee of the General Council requested a meeting of a small group of representatives from the American Baptist Convention and COB to meet to "discuss matters of mutual information and understanding. Such conversations would not be for the purpose of looking toward merger, but to discuss fruitfully some common problems we face today. By common consent, it was agreed that this should be done strictly unofficially."

February 1961:
Conversations between representatives of ABC & COB. ABC General Council had appointed their committee of six to discuss with COB and others any matters which might be involved in the consideration of church union.

July 10, 1963:
The AB Convention Committee and COB Fraternal Relations committee met in Elgin, IL. review of the February 1961 meeting included the decision to initiate informal three-way conversations between the Baptists, the Disciples and the Brethren. Norman J. Baugher and Edwin Tuller were to initiate studies in preparation for the next meeting of the two committees to be held in January 1964.

January 6, 1964:
Joint meeting of the representatives of the American Baptist Convention and the Church of the Brethren, meeting at Valley Forge, PA, VOTED the following action: "That a statement be prepared on 'Establishing a Solid Case for Merger' and that this paper be circulated to the members of the committee before the next meeting for purposes of discussion at that meeting." It was the consensus that this should be one paper prepared jointly by one person from each committee. Edwin Tuller and Norman Baugher were selected by their respective colleagues to work jointly on a draft of the work document which is submitted . . ."Study Document on The Case for Merger of American Baptist Convention and the Church of the Brethren."

Document contains several papers on the history of the Baptists, basic doctrines, practices and procedures, organizational charts, and work of the General Council.

A section of the document also contains a general description and brief history of the Church of the Brethren, beliefs, and organization, as well as a list of advantages and disadvantages in merger prepared by the COB.

November 16, 1964:
Joint meeting of ABC and COB at Bethany Theological Seminary in Oak Brook, IL. Further discussion on "A Case for Merger."

July 8 1965:
Joint meeting of ABC and COB at Valley Forge, PA. "Some Considerations regarding Union of Baptists and Brethren" was presented by Robert Torbet (ABC) and Dale Brown (COB).

December 3-4, 1965:
Joint meeting of ABC and COB held in Elgin, IL. "A Position Paper for Merger" by Robert Torbet (ABC) and Edward Ziegler (COB) was the main topic of discussion.

November 19-20, 1966:
A subcommittee on Conversations with ABC Commission on Christian Unity and COB Fraternal Relations Committee was held in Elgin, IL to report on developments and agree on further action.

April 27, 1967:
"Principles for a Plan of Union" (revised draft) was completed January 8, 1968 and presented.

January 7-8, 1969:
Joint committee meeting concluded that the two communions were not sufficiently well acquainted with each other to receive from the two committees a proposal to authorize church union negotiations. Recommended "the development, at all levels, of discussion projects and joint action in mission" as a means of creating better understanding and more effective joint action in mission which might or might not lead to eventual merger. Suggestions made by Robert Torbet for a better job of communication be put in place.

February 5, 1969:
ABC General Council action to comply with actions of the ABC/COB joint committee.

May 16, 1969:
ABC 62nd Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA. Dialogue with Dr. William Keucher (ABC) and Dr. Ziegler (COB) presented.

January 7, 1970:
Joint committee meeting at O'Hare Airport, Chicago, IL. A progress report of ABC-COB contacts during 1969 was presented, as well as a "Memorandum Concerning Next Steps" in ABC-COB Relations in 1970. The next phase was to "encourage our two communions to give increased attention to the development at all levels, of various projects, opportunities for fellowship and discussion, and join action in mission." The purpose was to enable the COB and ABC to know each other better and to discover how effectively they might be able to work together.

June 1972:
Church of the Brethren voted to enter into a "mutually acceptable associated relationship" with ABC.

May 1973:
ABC General Board voted to enter into an associated relationship with COB.

November 7-8, 1975:
Joint meeting held in Valley Forge.

September 19, 1976:
"Resolution Regarding Mutual Recognition of Membership and Ministry of American Baptist Churches in the USA and the Church of the Brethren" was adopted.

November 29, 1984:
First joint meeting of ABC's Committee on Christian Unity (CCU) and CoB's Committee on Interchurch Relations (CIR) was held in Philadelphia, PA. Position papers were presented from both committees, and recommendations for future projects were made.

1987:
Review by the CoB decided to not appoint an Observer (previously the observers were always the ABC President and CoB General Secretary; quite likely no longer an ecumenical officer available from CoB.

1989:
CoB renewed the relationship by appointing a General Board member to serve as Observer to ABC/USA.

May 3-4, 1991:
Joint meeting held at Bethany Theological Seminary, Oak Brook, IL. Action was taken to jointly create a Memorandum of Common Interest.

June 18, 1992:
Joint meeting held at American Baptist Assembly, Green Lake, WI. Focused on Hispanic (urban) ministries and the CoB Peace Movement.

October 19-20, 1993:
Joint meeting held at Brethren Service Center, New Windsor, MD. Focused on racial issues.

November 20, 1997:
Joint meeting held at Cherry Hill, NJ, in conjunction with ABC Board meetings. Reviewed the history of and evaluated the associated relationship and considered next steps.

The CIR, meeting separately afterwards, established criteria to be applied for its own assessment of the associated relationship in the fall of 2000 (from 11/19-21/1997 CIR minutes, p. 5):

• Have ABC/CoB contacts contributed information that has led to joint projects/ministries?
• Has the associated relationship helped to inform current debate and decision-making in either body?
• Has it helped to fill gaps in denominational programming?
• Have we experienced support in our ecumenicity and offered it to each other?

Additional questions raised and recorded in those minutes:

• Is the CoB able to receive ABC gifts/strengths?
• Is the CoB able to give gifts/strengths to ABC?
• How is this give/take managed?
• Have we worked at opening the CoB to racial/cultural diversity?

November 12, 1998:
Joint meeting held at Cherry Hill, NJ, in conjunction with ABC Board meetings. Focused on specific ways of working cooperatively and formed teams to encourage cooperative work in the following areas: (1) publishing; (2) disaster response; (3) church planting / pastoral training; (4) Black caucuses; (5) local associations / districts; (6) SERRV; (7) conflict resolution; (8) consultation of the two heads of communion Dan Weiss and Judy Mills Reimer. [each team did make the contacts assigned, although no new initiatives have arisen as a result as of 2/01]

February 2001:

• New Observer/Consultants were appointed in 2000 (CIR and CoB's Observer/Consultant Roy Unruh made tentatively plans to evaluate the associated relationship in 3-4 years).
• Joe Loomis (CIR Chr.) met with Dr. Dolores McCabe (Pres. of ABC's Black Caucus) on October 6,2000, to discuss ways in which ABC resources might assist CoB congregations in making the transition to becoming multi-cultural. Some congregations of other Black denominations relate to the ABC because of its insurance and pension benefits, which led to our inquiry with BBT.
• Correspondence with Jeff Garber of BBT indicated that changes would be needed in our benefits programs before pastors ordained in other denominations could take part; the more promising possibility is for Jeff to contact ABC benefits programs officials about possible cooperative work in providing insurance.
• CIR notes that there are currently 8 congregations dually affiliated with ABC and CoB.

February 2004:
The Leadership Team from the Church of the Brethren meets with the leadership of the American Baptist Churches USA at their headquarters in Valley Forge, Pa. Seven items of agreement come from this meeting:

1. The Observer/Consultant relationship to each others’ boards would be more fruitful at the committee level. Both groups will begin a process to make the change.
   
2. A renewal of cooperation and staff relationships.
   
3. To make contact with dually affiliated congregations to receive counsel from their perspective.
   
4. To connect with each other at ecumenical gatherings (National Council of Churches, etc.).
   
5. To educate each respective Board on the history of each others beliefs, practices, and heritages.
   
6. Commit to research and share the learnings of our affiliation heritages.
   
7. Commit to have leadership meet in February 2005.

October 2004
At the October 2004 General Board meeting, the Board approves a recommendation from the Committee on Interchurch Relations that the associated relationship with the American Baptist Churches continue, and that the observer/consultant role be moved from the General Board to the Committee on Interchurch Relations. A subsequent recommendation was approved by the American Baptist Churches USA Board and the Committee on Christian Unity.

Link to American Baptist Churches website

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Dually aligned congregations with American Baptist Churches USA

Koinonia
Grand Junction, Colorado

Big Sky ABC/COB
Froid, Montana

First Baptist/Brethren
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Hillcrest Baptist and Brethren
Fredericksburg, Iowa

Brethren-Baptist Church United
Wenatchee, Washington

Prince of Peace Church
Sacramento, California

University Baptist/Brethren
State College, Pennsylvania

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