2004 Annual Conference

“I can’t love God without loving you, and I can’t love you without loving God.” – James Washington, pastor of Faith Center Fellowship in White House, Texas, the preacher for Monday evening’s service

“I pray for you. You pray for me. I love you. I need you to survive.” – Litany used in worship

“It took six minutes!” – Moderator Chris Bowman, timing how long the election took after wondering aloud why he was instructed to allot it six minutes on the business agenda

“Turn to the person next to you and say, ‘You’re ethnic,’ because you are!” – Gilbert Romero during debate on queries on Becoming a Multi-Ethnic Church and The Need for Cross-Cultural Ministries

Monday evening’s worship theme was “loving neighbor,” lived out through its multi-cultural flavor. Don Mitchell and Thomas Dowdy played a jazzy piano/saxophone prelude and hymns used several languages. A video call to worship including a rainbow of faces asked, “Who is my neighbor?” That was the question a lawyer asked of Jesus, only to hear the parable of the Good Samaritan helping a neighbor in need. A skit penned by worship leader Sonja Griffith about failing to help neighbors in need turned hilarious as it was acted out, but still made its point.

James Washington, pastor of Faith Center Fellowship in Whitehouse, Texas, preached a dynamic sermon. He referred to the gospel of John’s account of Jesus asking Peter how much he loved him, saying that God tests believers the same way. He said if people say they love God, they are asked to show it by loving neighbors. Washington noted that we work hard to find out who our neighbors are, grouping ourselves with those most like us.

“And who is my neighbor?” Washington asked again, answering the question with, “Everyone who needs love, everyone who needs care. If they just need a friend, they are your neighbors.”

A powerful personal testimony was given by Don Williams, who graduated in 2003 from Bridgewater College. He related the story of his personal encounter with Christ, being filled with the Holy Spirit and healed from drug addiction, and the subsequent mentoring and “neighborly” aid he received from Christians.

Emotion poured over the worshipers during the prayer response as they were led by Larry Brumfield in “I need you to survive.” Tears were observed as the words repeated, “I pray for you. You pray for me. I love you. I need you to survive.”

Three queries were answered by the delegates during business on Monday: Query: Doing Church Business, Query: Becoming a Multi-Ethnic Church, and Query: The Need for Cross-Cultural Ministries.

The delegates adopted the recommendation of Standing Committee for the first query, deciding to elect a committee of five people to answer the concern. “Our job is not to decide what kind of form our deliberations will take,” Standing Committee presenter Lee-Lani Wright instructed the delegates, “but to decide to ask the question.” The query asks for study of “how Annual Conference can enhance and model doing church business in the spirit of Christ as we discern the mind of Christ in order to continue the work of Christ.”

The two other queries were brought for a combined response. Ruben Dario DeOleo, of Maranatha Fellowship, Lancaster, Pa., speaking in Spanish with translation by Gilbert Romero of Bella Vista Church of the Brethren, Los Angeles, made the motion that, combined with the Standing Committee recommendation in a later amendment, gained approval by the delegate body.

DeOleo said that his motion to appoint a study committee came out of a meeting the previous evening of some 30 multicultural Conference-goers who were concerned about the queries. The group wanted to bring a recommendation from the Cross-Cultural Ministries Team “because we feel that Standing Committee’s recommendation does not respond to either one of our queries,” DeOleo said. The final motion set up a seven member ethnically diverse study committee, including an ex-officio representative of the American Baptist Church in the USA.

Standing Committee’s recommendation was to direct implementation of the concerns to the district leadership so that cross-cultural ministry become an increased priority. The recommendation identified the Congregational Life Team members of the General Board staff to provide training and asked for a progress report each year for five years, with reassessment in 2010 by the Annual Conference.

During the discussion, comments were made about a lack of listening to those who brought the queries or to the ethnic and cross-cultural members of the church including a Cross Cultural Ministries Team already at work in the denomination. Speakers lamented racism in the church and asked for help for their congregations to deal effectively with the issue.

The first unfinished business item was also dealt with on Monday, the report of a committee on the Denominational Name. The delegates accepted the report with applause for the committee’s work in studying the issue. Expressions of disappointment were made by some speakers who felt the report did not answer the concerns of the original queries.

The report gave biblical and historical background for the discussion of the denomination’s name, reported findings from a denomination-wide study and dialogue process, and concluded that “overall, the study committee found an overwhelming affirmation for the name Church of the Brethren.” The committee’s recommendations were to update the 1988 Conference statement on “A Structural Framework for Dealing with Strongly Controversial Issues” as a took for the future when faced with such difficult and potentially controversial issues.

Western Pennsylvania district executive minister Ronald D. Beachley was called to serve as Annual Conference moderator-elect in 2005 and moderator in 2006, in today’s election.

In other election results, Joanna Wave Willoughby, of Hope Church of the Brethren, Freeport, Mich., was called to serve on the Program and Arrangements Committee; Robbie Miller, Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren, was called to the board of On Earth Peace; John A. Braun, Olympic View Community Church of the Brethren, Seattle, Wash., was called to the board of Brethren Benefit Trust; Diane Harden, Miami (Fla.) First Church of the Brethren, was called to the board of the Association of Brethren Caregivers; Michael Benner, Waterside (Pa.) and Koontz Church of the Brethren, New Enterprise, Pa., was called to the General Board in an at-large position; David B. Eller, Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren, was called as a trustee of Bethany Theological Seminary; Joan Lawrence Daggett, associate district executive minister for Shenandoah District, was called to the Annual Conference Council; Herman Kauffman, district executive for Northern Indiana District, was called to the Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee; and James O. Eikenberry, Wilmington (Del.) Church of the Brethren, was called to the Committee on Interchurch Relations.

A special meeting of the General Board was held on Monday afternoon to consider a resolution on Iraq. The resolution originally was brought to the board’s pre-Conference meeting, and was directed to a small committee of board members and staff to be rewritten. The board approved the rewritten resolution, after making a few changes in wording, and then acted to present the resolution to Annual Conference for its adoption.

There was a record turnout for BBT’s annual 5K Fitness Challenge Run/Walk. Around 160 participants–as compared to a usual turnout of about 90--made their way along the Kanawha River. First place runners were Courtland Howard (male, 17:40) and Deb Crouse Morris (female, 21:30). First place walkers were Bev Anspaugh (female, 33:23) and Don Shankster (male, 34:01). For the first time this year, the largest group registered was female walkers age 40-59.

Singer/songwriter Jeff Hill shared both his original music and the stories and testimony behind the songs to an appreciative crowd at an early evening concert Monday. Hill, winner of the Christian Country Music Association’s 1995 national talent search, also plays with the group 2MJ and is worship leader at Cornerstone Church in Virginia.

Total registration stood at 3,959 as of Monday evening, a number that includes 868 delegates.... Toward a goal of 120 pints of blood, the blood drive had collected 72 pints by 4 p.m. The blood drive will be open Tuesday as well.... The Brethren and Mennonite Council (BMC) held a tea on the theme “Holy Resistance,” Monday afternoon at an off-site location at the Summit Conference Center.... Voices for an Open Spirit (VOS) offered a hospitality room each evening during the Conference, following the evening hearings or insight sessions, also off-site at the Holiday Inn Express.... A new video about the life and work of Dan West, Brethren leader and founder of Heifer International, premiered Monday. The 20-minute video made by Brethren videographer and General Board member David Sollenberger, is part of HI’s 60th anniversary celebration. The video will be presented on Tuesday as well.... The new Jubilee Troupe, a Brethren-related acting ensemble with sponsorship from On Earth Peace and the General Board’s Brethren Witness/Washington Office, gave a free performance Monday at an off-site location.... The Mutual Aid Association held a members’ meeting Monday afternoon.... Samples of fair-trade coffee are being given out at the Brethren Witness/Washington Office booth in the exhibit hall, courtesy of Equal Exchange and the Church of the Brethren Coffee Project.

Members of the 2004 Annual Conference news team, a ministry of the General Board, contributed to this report: Regina Bryan and Jesse Reid, photographers; Kathleen Campanella, Jill Kline, Frank Ramirez, Frances Townsend, and Sarah Leatherman Young, writers; Amy Heckert, technical support; Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, editor.

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Monday, July 5, 2004 Page 1

Monday, July 5, 2004
Page 1