Friday, June 29
Highlights of the Day

[Business]

Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Annual Conference moderator Belita Mitchell presides over the meetings of Standing Committee.

Quote of the Day
"All in all we have some obstacles and struggles, but also some hope. We are standing on the brink of a breakthrough... for God to do new things in our midst. All it takes is for us to agree to let God lead us where he would have us. God is good!"

–Annual Conference moderator Belita Mitchell, speaking to the Standing Committee in her opening remarks about the “state of the denomination”

A Bit About Cleveland
"General Moses Cleaveland founded the City of Cleveland in 1796. The name changed to its current spelling in 1831 when the ‘a’ was dropped in order to fit the city's name on a newspaper masthead.”

–From the website of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland, www.travelcleveland.com.

Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Standing Committee members share in small groups during an envisioning session.

Overview of the Day
Today found four Church of the Brethren groups meeting in Cleveland:

• The Standing Committee of district delegates, who were in the midst of several days of meetings that began June 27, and continue through tomorrow morning, June 30. (For a report of Standing Committee business items, go to the “Business” page for today, June 29.)
• The Ministers’ Association conference was cancelled.
• The Council of District Executives, whose meetings began yesterday, June 28, and conclude tomorrow morning.
• The Church of the Brethren General Board, which began gathering this evening and will hold an all-day meeting tomorrow.

Preview of the 2007 Annual Conference
The 221st recorded annual meeting of the Church of the Brethren takes place in Cleveland, Ohio, from June 30-July 4. This year’s theme, “Proclaim the Power of God,” is taken from Psalm 68:34-35.

Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford The Cleveland Convention Center welcomes the Church of the Brethren.

Moderator Belita D. Mitchell will break ground as the first African-American woman to lead the annual meeting of the Church of the Brethren. She is an ordained minister and pastor of First Church of the Brethren in Harrisburg, Pa.

The schedule includes daily worship services, business sessions, insight sessions, meal events, concerts, a blood drive, a 5K run/walk, mutual help groups, a quilt auction, activities for children and youth, and more.

Leadership will be provided by moderator Mitchell; moderator-elect Jim Beckwith, pastor of Annville (Pa.) Church of the Brethren; and secretary Fred W. Swartz of Bridgewater, Va. Lerry Fogle serves as executive director. The Program and Arrangements Committee includes Kristi Kellerman, Scott L. Duffey, and Joanna Willoughby, along with the Conference officers and treasurer Judy E. Keyser.

Main events are at the Cleveland Convention Center, with worship and business in the Public Auditorium and exhibits and booths in Exhibit Hall B. Meal events and insight sessions will take place at the Cleveland Convention Center, the Crowne Plaza Hotel Cleveland-City Centre, and the Cleveland Downtown Marriott Hotel.

Speakers for worship will be Jeff Carter, pastor of Manassas (Va.) Church of the Brethren, on Saturday evening; moderator Mitchell, on Sunday morning; Duane Grady, of the General Board’s Congregational Life Team, on Monday evening; Tim Harvey, pastor of Central Church of the Brethren in Roanoke, Va., on Tuesday evening; and Ataloa Woodin, pastor of Community Brethren Church in Fresno, Calif., on Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning will include installation of Beckwith as the 2008 moderator, and the moderator-elect to be chosen at this Annual Conference.

Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Wall hangings in the Cleveland Convention Center emphasize diversity and acceptance.

Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford

Other major presenters include:

• Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches and current director of the Chautauqua Institution Department of Religion, speaking at the Messenger Dinner on July 1.
• Deforia Lane, director of the Ireland Cancer Center and director of music therapy at University Hospitals of Cleveland, speaking at the Association of Brethren Caregivers Recognition Dinner on June 30.
• Eugene F. Roop, retiring president of Bethany Theological Seminary, speaking at the Bethany Luncheon on July 3. Bethany also invites Conference-goers to a reception honoring Roop’s service as president of the seminary, on the afternoon of July 2.
• Stephen Breck Reid, Bethany’s academic dean, speaking at the Brethren Life and Thought Luncheon on July 2.
• President Ted Long of Elizabethtown (Pa.) College, speaking for the Elizabethtown Alumni Luncheon on July 1.
• Chris Raschka, illustrator of children’s books including “The Hello, Goodbye Window” which earned him the Caldecott Award in 2006, speaking at the Brethren Press Breakfast on July 2.
• Paul Numrich, Church of the Brethren minister and associate professor and chair of the Program in World Religions and Inter-Religious Dialogue at the Theological Consortium of Greater Columbus, Ohio, speaking at the Ecumenical Luncheon on July 3.
• Art and Peggy Gish, Church of the Brethren members of Christian Peacemaker Teams, who have worked with CPT in Iraq and in Israel and Palestine, speaking at the On Earth Peace Breakfast on July 3.
• Balbir Mathur, co-founder of Trees for Life, speaking at the Brethren Volunteer Service Luncheon on July 2.
• Craig Sider of the Brethren in Christ Church, speaking for the combined dinner of the General Board’s Congregational Life Ministries and Global Ministries on July 3.
• Irv and Nancy Heishman, Church of the Brethren mission coordinators in the Dominican Republic, speaking at the International Welcome Dinner on June 30.

A new “Worship Music Celebration” will follow the evening worship services on Sunday and Monday. The celebrations will feature a wide variety of music including Gospel, Spanish, contemporary Christian, African, African-American, Haitian, and more, hosted by Los Angeles pastors Gilbert Romero and Thomas Dowdy.

Business for the 2007 Conference ranges from the future of the Brethren Medical Plan, to a final report from the Intercultural Study Committee, to recommendations to reorganize some church agencies, among nine items of unfinished and new business (full documents are at www.brethren.org/ac). The business agenda also includes reports from Conference-related agencies and committees, and an election of church leaders.

Reports of these major business items will appear in coming days, check the daily “Business” web pages:

[Business]