At the opening business session, Stan Dueck, co-coordinator of Discipleship Ministries, introduced church groups accepted into the denomination. Twelve groups are being recognized in 2022. Also, four groups were reintroduced that were formally recognized at the 2021 virtual Annual Conference.
Leadership noted that the majority of the new churches are intercultural. Some of these projects, fellowships, or congregations were very recently brought together, but others have been active for many years without formalizing their structure. Ten are in Atlantic Southeast District where former district executive minister Terry Grove, who died suddenly in December 2020, worked on formalizing many of the groups. He helped them do the work and move through the process, with district staff Founa Augustin Badet continuing that work especially with the majority Haitian congregations.
After the introductions, made in-person onstage and in a short video, moderator David Sollenberger asked Badet what the larger church could do to support these new churches. She responded, “Prayer is the first thing. Say, ‘Lord how can we…?’” She added that others should take the time to learn a bit of the languages and the cultures of the people in the new groups, “and say, ‘I see you.’” She ended her remarks by saying, “We are called at such a time as this to be together.”
The 12 churches received at this Conference:
Projects
Jesus Lounge Ministry, Del Ray Beach, Fla., in Atlantic Southeast District
Lorida (Fla.) Iglesia des los Hermanos, in Atlantic Southeast District
Ministerio Jehova Es mi Pastor, Fort Pierce, Fla., in Atlantic Southeast District
Fellowship
Ebenezer Church of the Brethren, meeting at Lampeter (Pa.) Church of the Brethren, in Atlantic Northeast District
Congregations
Eglise des Freres Haitian, West Palm Beach, Fla., in Atlantic Southeast District
Gospel Assembly of LeHigh Acres, Fla., in Atlantic Southeast District
Haitian Church of the Brethren, Naples, Fla., in Atlantic Southeast District
Haitian Church of the Brethren, Orlando, Fla., in Atlantic Southeast District
Iglesia des los Hermanos Nuevo Comienzo, Kissimmee, Fla, in Atlantic Southeast District
Tabernacle the Restoration, Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., in Atlantic Southeast District
Unify Christian Church of the Brethren, North Miami, Fla., in Atlantic Southeast District
Un Nuevo Renacer, meeting at Mountville (Pa.) Church of the Brethren, in Atlantic Northeast District
The four churches that were received in 2021:
Fellowship
Centro Agape en Acción, Los Banos, Calif., in Pacific Southwest District
Congregations
Conexion Pasadena, Calif., in Pacific Southwest District
Light of the Gospel, Cresskill, N.J., in Atlantic Northeast District
Nuevo Vision la Hermosa Iglesia des los Hermanos, Waterford, Calif., in Pacific Southwest District
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