Global Mission Partnerships - Mission Alive 2005 scrapbook

Mission Alive 2005 energizes Brethren for mission

Photos by Janis Pyle
Text by Becky Ullom and Janis Pyle

Mission Alive 2005, a conference “designed to energize and equip members of the Church of the Brethren to faithfully share Christ’s love with the world,” took place in Goshen, Ind., April 1-3. With over 320 participants, the first-ever national Church of the Brethren missions conference gathered Brethren from 21 of 23 districts. The General Board was the lead sponsor, but the committee emphasized widespread participation in service or funding from individuals, congregations, and denominational groupings.

The Elkhart County Fairgrounds provided an informal, restful setting for the missions gathering.

Scenes from the Conference
Marcos and Suely Inhauser, center, co-national directors for mission in Brazil, taught a song in Portuguese. They are accompanied by David Sollenger, left, and Jonathan Shively, right.	Former mission staff Peggy Boshart takes a moment with son Jonas. She was a workshop leader and panel member.
Mark Flory Steury, district executive/minister, Southern Ohio District, catches up with Judy Mills Reimer, former General Secretary. Mission Alive Conference-goers.	Marcos Inhauser and Harriet Finney, former Annual Conference Moderator, reunite at the conference.
	Jim Hardenbrook, left, Annual Conference moderator, meets with Jeff Bach, associate professor of Brethren and Historical Studies, Bethany Theology Seminary.

Steering Committee
James F. Myer: Lititz, Pennsylvania, farmer, free minister, former Annual Conference Moderator and General Board member. Mervin Keeney: Elgin, Illinois, Executive Director for Global Mission Partnerships, General Board, former mission staff to Sudan.	Carolyn Schrock: Mountain Grove, Missouri, licensed minister, FEMA disaster responder, former teacher, former mission staff to Nigeria and Sudan.
	Carol Spicher Waggy: Goshen, Indiana, ordained minister, pastoral counselor, former mission staff to Nigeria.
	Larry Dentler: East Berlin, Pennsylvania, Pastor and church planter, Annual Conference speaker.

Conference Speakers

Art McPhee, left, associate professor of Mission and Intercultural Studies at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and Nathan Showalter, director of Community Center Shanghai and Country Strategist China with Eastern Mennonite Mission, joined to present a worship message on “New Faces of Mission: Emerging Models.” The session highlighted stories from successful missions programs around the world. Many new missions programs are being started at the grassroots level by individuals rather than institutions, the speakers said. Technology also is changing the mission field, making it possible to reach people through nontraditional methods. Without the ability to love one’s neighbor, the desire to lead someone to Christ and the methods by which someone is led to Christ can be misguided, McPhee said. “The Great Commandment must always precede the Great Commission.”

A sweeping historical panorama of missions from the Roman era to the present was presented by Grace Holland, who with her husband Fred spent 23 years with Brethren in Christ World Missions in Zimbabwe and Zambia. She currently serves as chair of the same group. She warned that “keeping the treasure of Jesus Christ to ourselves could cost us our civilization.”

In a panel discussion, Brethren speakers answered the question, “What distinctive gifts, or weaknesses, does the Church of the Brethren bring to mission from its Anabaptist-Pietist identity?”

For more information about the General Board’s mission programs, contact Janis Pyle, coordinator for mission connections, at jpyle_gb@brethren.org or call 800-323-8039 ext. 227.

Back to Global Mission Partnerships Home Page
Church of the Brethren General Board Home Page | Church of the Brethren Home Page