Church of the Brethren Newsline
July 2, 2017
“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing’” (Genesis 12:1-2).
Theme for worship:
Risk Hope: Step out and be a blessing
Quotes of the day
“Living Parables”
— The theme for Annual Conference 2018, announced this morning by Samuel Sarpiya. The scripture theme is Matthew 9:35-38. Sarpiya served this year as moderator-elect, and will serve as moderator for the next year. He will preside over the Annual Conference to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 4-8, 2018.
“Would you risk the comfort and security of the life you know…to just blindly follow God?”
— Matthew Fike, preaching for the closing worship service of the Annual Conference in Grand Rapids. His sermon title: “Blessed to Be a Blessing.”
By the numbers
2,329: final registration number for the 2017 Annual Conference, including 672 delegates and 1,657 nondelegates
6,822: “views” of the webcasts from this Conference, as of Saturday at 5 p.m. There were 2,454 views of worship webcasts, and 4,368 views of business sessions.
Renaissance 2017-2020
The offering received in the closing worship on Sunday morning is for a new initiative of the Church of the Brethren Congregational Life Ministries called “Renaissance 2017-2020.” The two-point foci of this new effort is growing vital churches and equipping church planters.
For more onsite coverage of Annual Conference go to www.brethren.org/ac/2017/coverage .
The news coverage of Annual Conference 2017 is made possible through the work of the volunteer news team: Frank Ramirez, Conference Journal editor; photographers Glenn Riegel, Regina Holmes, Keith Hollenberg, Donna Parcell, Laura Brown, Allie Dulabaum; writers Frances Townsend, Karen Garrett; with web staff Jan Fischer Bachman and Russ Otto, and Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services. Wendy McFadden, publisher. Contact cobnews@brethren.org.
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