Offerings for Annual Conference 2023 have concluded. Thank you for generously sharing! Contributions to support the ministry of Annual Conference can be made here at any time and are greatly appreciated.
Tuesday – Annual Conference: Translation Expenses
Many of our new and growing congregations are LatinX and Haitian. This expanding diversity is a gift, enriching our life together. How we provide hospitality and welcome at Annual Conference is extremely important. Financial resources are needed to provide both written translation of documents for business sessions and for worship services, as well as for the live, verbal translation that takes place in each of our worship and business gatherings. Your gifts will help to pay the expenses related to providing Spanish and Creole translation, extending Christlike welcome and hospitality so all can participate fully in Annual Conference.
Wednesday – Church of the Brethren: Discipleship and Leadership Formation
The Office of Discipleship and Leadership Formation represents a restructuring that combines the staff of Discipleship Ministries and Office of Ministry into a new department to foster the development and support of pastors, youth and young adults, and congregations. Staff will focus on creating events, resources, and ministries that strive to meet the needs of our congregations and leaders. Bringing these two areas together strengthens the denomination’s resolve and commitment to “develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovative, adaptable, and fearless.” It provides the intentionality we have been seeking to aid us in “passionately living and sharing the radical transformation “of Jesus Christ through church planting, renewal and revitalization, and a shared understanding of working together to live out the great commission of growing disciples, developing and calling leaders with the intention of transforming communities through Jesus Christ.
Thursday – Witness to the Host City: Found House
Found House IHN began providing emergency shelter to homeless families in 1991 as the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati. In addition to continuing to provide emergency shelter, their program and services now include: KEYS to a Future without Homelessness, supporting young adults ages 18-24 who find it difficult to find housing with little/no credit or good tenancy history; The Child Enrichment program, providing educational support, structured activities, and integrated assessment services, minimizing factors what would otherwise put children’s futures at risk; Aftercare, providing extended case management & support for families after exiting Found House’s Emergency Shelter; Rapid Re-housing (RRH), quickly linking families to housing; Transitional Housing/Rapid Rehousing (TH-RRH), providing support for parents of young children through transitional housing while achieving goals and addressing barriers leading to gradual housing independence; and a Pet Support Program, providing temporary shelter for dogs, cats, and other pets whose owners are in shelters, hospitals, or rehabilitation programs. Your generous gifts will help Found House provide the tools, resources, and support that families need to overcome homelessness and achieve long-term stability.
Friday – Annual Conference: Operating Expenses
For more than 235 years, Annual Conference has offered the intergenerational body of Christ known as the Church of the Brethren an opportunity to gather for worship and praise, for prayerful dialog and discernment, to learn and grow, to renew old friendships and build new relationships. Your generous gifts will help support the ministry of Annual Conference as it seeks to expand accessibility and fulfill its mission to unite, strengthen, and equip the Church of the Brethren to follow Jesus. Thank you for supporting the Big Meeting.
Saturday – Church of the Brethren: Global Missions and Brethren Volunteer Service
The Office of Global Mission seeks to integrate faith and service, challenge and equip Brethren to respond to human need, and grow the church of Jesus Christ throughout the world. The office works on the development of a global Church of the Brethren consisting of autonomous groups that witness to their broader communities while mutually encouraging one another as branches from the denomination vine. Priorities are to support theological training for pastors, the building of churches, in-person gathering with our global Church of the Brethren communion, and support to disciple church leadership with integrity. In the face of natural disasters, violence, and antagonism towards the church, the Church of the Brethren is growing around the world sharing the gospel, serving the poor, and speaking peace in the face of a violent world.
Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) is rooted in the 1948 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, where a group of young people offered an unorthodox proposal: to create a volunteer service program for young adults. For many years, Church of the Brethren members had been volunteering through places like work camps and the New Windsor Service Center or chose alternative service though Civilian Public Service. This culture of becoming the hands and feet of Jesus in the world inspired the formation of BVS, which 75 years later, still embodies its original purpose of promoting peace, serving human need, and advocating justice. Over seven thousand volunteers have participated in BVS and it continues to be a way for those called into service to share God’s love, fully embracing the Church of the Brethren’s vision statement to “develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovate, adaptable, and fearless.”