Rhonda Pittman Gingrich has been hired as director of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. She will begin her work on Aug. 23, working from her home in Minneapolis, Minn., and from the denomination’s General Offices in Elgin, Ill.
She will succeed Chris Douglas, who retires as Conference director on Oct. 1.
Pittman Gingrich is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren, currently working as adjunct faculty at the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership and program director at Camp Pine Lake in Northern Plains District.
In recent years, she has provided significant leadership for the compelling vision process that will conclude with delegate action at this year’s Annual Conference. Previously, she served on the Annual Conference Program and Arrangements Committee 2014-2017, the Annual Conference Revitalization Task Force 2010-2012, and the Church of the Brethren 300th Anniversary Committee 2000-2008.
She has been a trustee for Bethany Theological Seminary and chaired the search committee that led the process resulting in appointment of Bethany president Jeffrey W. Carter in 2013. In 2016, she was moderator of the 150th district conference in Northern Plains District.
In 1990, as a Brethren Volunteer Service worker, she coordinated National Youth Conference. At more recent NYCs, she has been part of worship and music planning and has been an advisor for the National Youth Cabinet.
Pittman Gingrich wrote the 2018 Advent devotional for Brethren Press, titled Wait and Hope, and also the 2007 Lenten devotional, titled Growing the Fruit of the Spirit. She is the author of Heart, Soul, and Mind: Becoming a Member of the Church of the Brethren, the membership curriculum from Brethren Press.
She holds a bachelor of arts degree in English Education and Music from Bridgewater (Va.) College; a master of divinity from Bethany Theological Seminary; and a doctor of ministry from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
She is a member of Open Circle Church of the Brethren in Burnsville, Minn.
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