“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Quotes of the day:
“The main message that I have is…proclaiming Christ as transformer, someone who transforms us…to the new creation he has become…. I know the power of God through Christ will transform miraculously, take a negative destructive situation and turn it around completely.”
— Annual Conference moderator Donita Keister, in her opening devotions at the Monday meeting of the Standing Committee of district delegates.
“I do hope that for this year, we can set aside our personal agendas and distractions, for a life-giving conversation.”
— General secretary David Steele, giving the Leadership Team report to Standing Committee and encouraging the district delegates to full participation in the compelling vision process.
“I hope at some point we can re-establish the Brethren presence in China…. We never through hospice care would be the way we would move back into mission in China.”
— Jay Wittmeyer, Global Mission and Service executive, reporting to Standing Committee on his recent travel to China with a young adult workcamp. The group visited with a hospice project led by Brethren in an area where the church had a mission in the early 20th century.
“We serve a wonderfully small, powerful, and familial church.”
— Susan Chapman Starkey during a report on the revisions to the Standing Committee appeals process.
By the numbers:
1,966: Annual Conference registration as of Tuesday evening, July 2, including 670 delegates and 1,296 nondelegates
The 2019 leadership
Annual Conference officers for 2019 are moderator Donita Keister, with moderator-elect Paul Mundey and Conference secretary James Beckwith.
Three elected members of the Annual Conference Program and Arrangements Committee are–along with the officers, the Conference director and staff–responsible for planning and organizing the event. Focusing on worship this year is John Shafer, with Jan Glass King focusing on the business sessions, and Emily Shonk Edwards focusing on the exhibit hall.
Onsite coordinators join in the work of organizing the Conference alongside the Program and Arrangements Committee. This year’s onsite coordinators are Dewey and Melissa Williard. They are aided by numerous additional volunteers.
Pre-Conference meetings and events
This year’s pre-Annual Conference events and gatherings include:
— The Standing Committee of district delegates
— The Mission and Ministry Board
— The Council of District Executives
— The Ministers Association event, this year led by David C. Olsen, adjunct professor with The Sage Colleges and executive director of Samaritan Counseling Center, with a Brethren Academy directed independent study unit held in conjunction with the event
— The Dikaios and Discipleship pilgrimage sponsored by the Intercultural Ministry, this year on the theme “Land and Lament/Doctrine of Discovery”
— A Retirement Readiness Seminar
— The Brethren Higher Education Association annual meeting
— The Fellowship of Brethren Genealogists annual business meeting
For more coverage of Annual Conference 2019 go to www.brethren.org/ac/2019/coverage .
#cobac19
Coverage of Annual Conference 2019 is made possible through the work of news team volunteers and communications staff: Frank Ramirez, Conference Journal editor; photographers Glenn Riegel, Keith Hollenberg, Donna Parcell, and Laura Brown; writers Frances Townsend and Tyler Roebuck; Press Room office manager Alane Riegel; Jan Fischer Bachman and Russ Otto, website; Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Services; Wendy McFadden, publisher. Contact cobnews@brethren.org .