220th Annual Conference Des Moines, Iowa July 1-5, 2006

Index	Theme	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Wrap Up

Denique Conner, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a graduate of Juniata College, spoke to the delegate body about the tactics used by military recruiters, during the report from On Earth Peace. - photo by Regina Roberts

Facilitators for the Together conversations during business sessions were Brian Maguire and Lisa Hess. - photo by Regina Roberts

Delegates voting during business sessions held in Veterans Auditorium. - photo by Regina Roberts

Small groups gathered during business sessions to engage in the Together: Conversations on Being the Church. - photo by Regina Roberts

ELECTION RESULTS
Annual Conference Moderator-Elect: James M. Beckwith of Lebanon, Pa.

Annual Conference Program and Arrangements Committee: Scott L. Duffey of Westminster, Md.

Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee: Philip Hershey of Quarryville, Pa.

Committee on Interchurch Relations: Rene Quintanilla of Fresno, Calif.

Association of Brethren Caregivers: Vernne Wetzel Greiner of Mechanicsburg, Pa.;Dave Fouts of Maysville, W.Va.

Bethany Theological Seminary, representing colleges: Jonathan Frye of McPherson, Kan.; representing laity: Rex M. Miller of Milford, Ind.

Brethren Benefit Trust: Eunice Culp of Goshen, Ind.

General Board, at large: Hector E. Perez-Borges of Bayamon, P.R.

On Earth Peace: Madalyn Metzger of Bristol, Ind.

RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN END TO THE IRAQ WAR IS ADOPTED
"Resolution: An End to the War in Iraq” from the General Board was adopted by the delegates. The resolution was passed to Annual Conference by the board at its meeting on July 1. 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. The resolution also calls on church members “to pray and give witness to the sin of violence,” and calls on religious leaders from all faiths who preach violence “to consider the things that truly make for peace,” among other points.

At the microphones on the floor were some mothers of soldiers either currently in Iraq or returned from Iraq. “I am the mother who pushed Andrew in a stroller to peace marches,” said Donna Morris Priest from North Manchester, Ind. Now, she said, she worries about how her son’s health will be when he returns home.

“Let them come home. We want our children back home,” pleaded another soldier’s mother, from Atlantic Northeast District.

“It’s gone on long enough,” said Nadine Monn, of Philadelphia, Pa. Her youngest brother is in the Navy. “We need to start talking about when the troops come home,” she said.

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 of those who spoke to the resolution said that bringing the news of the decision home to their congregations will 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.

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

DELEGATES EXPRESS APPRECIATION FOR 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 Caterpillar Corporation.

In its action on the document, the Conference also 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 query originated in Fremont (Calif.) Fellowship in Christ and Pacific Southwest District and asked BBT in particular to divest from Caterpillar Corporation “and any other company that sells products that are used routinely as weapons of destruction or death in Israel and Palestine.”

Standing Committee representative David Stauffer reported that since the resolution had been made, the stocks at issue had been sold and BBT no longer owns stock in Caterpillar. BBT’s fund managers sold the stock simply as a financial decision unrelated to the query. Stauffer also informed the delegates of BBT’s strategies for socially responsible investment.

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 according to military specifications, Nolen told the body that “our approach was to directly inquire of Caterpillar how this...conforms with their own international code of conduct, which is beautifully stated.”

Discussion ranged widely, including issues of the nature of the conflict in Israel and Palestine, the extent to which the Church of the Brethren is a peace church, the value of joining other Christians who have decided for divestment, the effects of divestment on Caterpillar employees, emotional reflections on the destruction caused by the bulldozers, and whether the action provides the church with anything concrete to do in response to the issue.

The discussion also included questions and confusion about procedure and the nature of the document as a query, although it is titled a resolution.

DIRECTION OF REVISED ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION FOR BRETHREN BENEFIT TRUST IS AFFIRMED
The Conference affirmed the direction that the Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) is taking in revisions of its Articles of Organization.

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 board before Standing Committee recommended it to the Conference. Standing Committee had expressed unease with the sentence’s introduction of a new ability for BBT to seek funding sources beyond fees. The sentence was perceived 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.

DELEGATES EXPERIENCE TOGETHER CONVERSATIONS
The day’s business session began with a half-hour of small group discussion, as part of the denominational study process, “Together: Conversations on Being the Church.”

“When we talk together, we are changed by Christ,” said facilitator Brian Maguire. He and Lisa Hess, a Presbyterian clergy couple, are facilitating four half-hour sessions of Together conversations in business sessions today and tomorrow. Hess is a professor at United Theological Seminary in Ohio, and Maguire is pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Xenia, Ohio.

The discussions will focus on the nature of the church and participants’ personal experiences of church. In each half-hour segment the delegate body and observers are invited to form small groups to discuss questions from the Together study guide (available from Brethren Press).

“There is a secular word for this kind of place. It is called an auditorium,” Maguire said. “That means a listening place. In a place like this, we listen to what God is saying to one another.”

Together was initiated in 2003 by a statement from the district executives identifying fragmentation in the Church of the Brethren and calling for conversation “concerning who, whose, and what we are.” Since then, a group of leaders and staff of Annual Conference agencies and representatives of the district executives have been planning a denomination-wide discussion. From its beginning, the broad intent of the work is to help bring about a renewal of the church.

The Together conversations will continue in regional and district gatherings through the summer and fall. For more information go to www.togetherconversations.org or www.conversacionesjuntos.org.

GENERAL BOARD REORGANIZES
The Church of the Brethren General Board reorganized at a meeting this evening in Des Moines.

The Executive Committee for 2006-07 will be: Jeff Neuman Lee, chair; Tim Harvey, vice chair; Vickie Samland; Angie L. Yoder; Dale Minnich; Ken Wenger; and Belita Mitchell as the 2007 Annual Conference moderator after July 5.

The board also named Bruce Holderreed to Mission and Ministries Planning Council, and Ramona Pence to the General Board Member Development Committee.

OVERVIEW OF OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the delegate body held elections, approved a one-year extension for the Brethren Medical Plan Study Committee after receiving its interim report, and received several other reports.

On Earth Peace gave a report focused on work against military recruitment. Between video clips Denique Conner, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a graduate of Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., told the delegates of her experience of being recruited into the military.

“I was pursued when I was 18 years old...by trained professionals, people trained by the government,” Conner said. “He started to pretend to care about me,” she said about her recruiter. “In my 18-year-old brain, he was no longer my recruiter, he was my friend.... The attention faded after I signed my contract.” She gave credit not to the military but to the help of the ministry office at Juniata College for her success in completing her college degree.

After the On Earth Peace report the Conference heard the annual Living Peace Church report. Time was given for sharing of peacemaking experiences in congregations.

The report from Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) called attention to the financial ministries of the agency and the agency’s work to continue the Brethren Medical Plan.

Nominees for board members were affirmed for On Earth Peace: Verdena Lee of Living Peace Church of the Brethren, Columbus, Ohio; and Phil Miller of Ivester Church of the Brethren, Grundy Center, Iowa; and for Brethren Benefit Trust: Harry S. Rhodes of Roanoke (Va.) Central Church of the Brethren.

The day’s business sessions concluded with a Memorial Observance for church leaders and church employees who have passed away during the past year.

Members of the 2006 Annual Conference news team, a ministry of the Church of the Brethren General Board, contributed to the Annual Conference web pages: Jake Blouch, Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, Kathleen Campanella, Eddie Edmonds, Karen Garrett, Clara Glover, Amy Heckert, Keith Hollenberg, Jill Kline, Sarah Kovacs, Frank Ramirez, Jesse Reid, Regina Roberts, Frances Townsend, and Becky Ullom.