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

Index	Theme	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Wrap Up

Rachael Weber of Harrisonburg, Va., was one of the quilters working toward the Conference quilt auction. - photo by Keith Hollenberg

Conference-goers who were also in Des Moines for the 1958 celebration of the Church of the Brethren 250th anniversary gathered for a historic photo opportunity. The group was so large it filled the stairway in Hy-Vee Hall. (Click here for the high resolution photo, available to download.) - photo by Regina Roberts

We've got the scoop on the ice cream social! - photo by Regina Roberts

A prayer shawl was presented to moderator-elect Belita Mitchell by Connie Striebig of First Church of the Brethren in York, Pa. The congregation's Prayer Shawl Ministry hand-knitted the piece for Mitchell, so that she may carry their prayers with her as she enters into her year as moderator. - photo by Keith Hollenberg

Coordinators for this year's National Youth Conference consult with Chris Douglas (right), director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the General Board. - photo by Keith Hollenberg

Jan West Schrock spoke at the Messenger dinner, on the subject of her father's work for peace. Dan West was founder of Heifer International and a leader in the Church of the Brethren. - photo by Jesse Reid

Stover Memorial Church of the Brethren - photo by Clara Glover

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Try to get along for a week without asking God for anything. Just give thanks, praise, and adoration...and then listen.” --Annual Conference moderator Ronald D. Beachley, preaching for the Sunday morning worship service

OVERVIEW OF THE DAY
A Clergy Women’s Breakfast began the day at Annual Conference, along with a Spiritual Formation session on “Praying with Scripture and Our Imagination.”

Moderator Ronald D. Beachley gave the message for Sunday morning worship, with moderator-elect Belita D. Mitchell as worship leader. Activities for children, junior highs, and senior high youth preceded and followed worship.

In business sessions, new fellowships and congregations were introduced and delegates addressed new business item, “A Call to Reduce Global Poverty and Hunger,” and new business item, “Call to Stewardship Education.” Reports included the report of the Church of the Brethren General Board, on “Ministry to the Poor,” an interim report of the Review and Evaluation Committee, an interim report from the 300th Anniversary Committee, and the report of the Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee. The ballot also was presented.

Meal events included luncheons for alumni of Brethren colleges. Messenger magazine held its annual dinner. Insight sessions were offered on a variety of topics including “Guess Who’s Having a Birthday” on plans for the denomination’s 300th anniversary celebration. The day included mutual help and networking groups sponsored by the Association of Brethren Caregivers, and a Prayer and Fasting Session offered y the Brethren Revival Fellowship.

A public witness titled “Salt for the Church” was held by members and friends of the Brethren and Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns (BMC).

A New Church Planting Reception, listening sessions by the Review and Evaluation Study Committee and the Intercultural Study Committee, Bible studies, a young adult game night, and an ice cream social sponsored by Bethany Theological Seminary rounded out the evening.

A REPORT OF THE SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE
Welcoming the congregation of the Annual Conference to worship Sunday morning, moderator Ron Beachley quoted the words of Max Lucado: “The power of prayer is in the one who hears it, it is not in the one who says it.”

Beachley called to mind the tangled ethnic and cultural mix brought together in the Philippian church, and commended Paul’s call to prayer as the proper spiritual exercise to motivate the church to faith and action. “When we lift up another person in prayer, what impact does that have on them?” he asked. “A prayer of thanks and praise is a blessing to them. But do we remember to give thanks and praise for those with whom we may disagree? I believe it is especially important to remember those persons,” Beachley said. “I’m convinced our attitude will be impacted, and those persons for whom we pray will be blessed, by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.”

He reminded the congregation that each quilt patch in the conference logo is not only connected to the day’s sermon but also represents the ways in which we are all woven together in prayer. A master weaver’s handiwork is not demonstrated by perfection, he said, but by the way that person incorporates mistakes into the larger pattern.

“It is only by the grace of God that we are made whole and complete. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior…scripture tells us that we can rely on the Spirit to transform those broken patterns in our lives,” Beachley said.

The moderator told the story of two members of a Sunday school class who both read Psalm 23 aloud. The first read it with great drama and passion; the second reading was more muted. However, other class members were so moved by the second reader that the first reader said, “I know the Psalm, but my friend knows the Shepherd.”

“Prayer, like the awesome mystery of God, is difficult for us to fathom,” Beachley said. Prayer “helps us when we begin to develop that relationship. It doesn’t unravel the mystery of God, but it draws us deeper into it.”

-- Frank Ramirez is pastor of Everett (Pa.) Church of the Brethren

"THE LOCAL ANGLE”: A SNAPSHOT OF STOVER MEMORIAL CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
Stover Memorial, the only Church of the Brethren congregation within the city of Des Moines, began in 1942. A group of “Brethren Girls” (wives of servicemen) and others met at the YMCA until the church building was dedicated in July 1949. The name honors Brethren missionaries, Wilbur and Mary Stover.

The initial group of 50 members grew to 244 in 1970. With an average attendance of 19, the congregation is still vibrant even though more than one third of the active participants are over 90 years old. The congregations shares its facility with First Friends Church, holding services simultaneously in separate areas of the building and joining together for social events, work projects, and special services.

“Stover Sew-ciety,” a women’s group, meets each Wednesday for work and lunch, hosts a summer Ice Cream Social and a Fall Bazaar each year, and supports various charities in the community and beyond. The congregation also participates in ecumenical and district events and often hosts other organizations or events. Members participate on Mondays in activities of Shepherd’s Center, an ecumenical project providing a life-enriching program for senior citizens, which has an office and classrooms in the church building.

--Clara Glover is pastor of Stover Memorial Church of the Brethren in Des Moines

BRETHREN BITS
Total attendance for the Conference so far is 2,844, including 790 delegates and 2,054 nondelegates. Attendance for Sunday morning worship was 2,719, and an offering of $11,869.15 was received. The offering for Saturday evening’s worship received $7,561.47.

Prayer squares are a spiritual discipline at this Annual Conference. Participants are invited to write prayer concerns on the squares and post them on a bulletin board in the lobby of Hy-Vee Hall. At the close of the Conference, attendees are invited to take a square home.

A Protest Against War is planned for tomorrow afternoon, Monday, July 3, by the Brethren Witness/Washington Office of the Church of the Brethren General Board in cooperation with Iowa Peace Network. The event scheduled for 4:30-6 p.m. will take place at Nollen Plaza at 3rd and Locust St.

An author signing for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Stories for a Better World is scheduled for 5:30-6:45 p.m. on Monday, July 3, at the Brethren Press bookstore. Linda Williams, guest editor, and Michael Stern, contributor, will sign copies of the book. Stern also will be available to sign covers of his latest CDs This Time: Another Side of Michael Stern and The Strangest Dream, as well as the Brethren Press publication Shoes of Peace.

For one Conference-goer, the 2006 Annual Conference is a milestone. Joe Mason, of North Manchester, Ind., is attending his 57th consecutive Annual Conference.

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.