— Registration as of 4:45 p.m. Thursday, July 4: 410 delegates, 1,002 nondelegates both in-person and virtual (38 people attended virtually), for a total of 1,412 participants.
— Worship attendance in-person on Thursday evening: 920. Open streaming (online attendance) for Thursday evening worship: 218 peak live viewers (English stream), with up to 519 views by three hours later; no viewers for the Spanish stream; 33 live viewers via the Facebook live stream; 31 live viewers for the stream on YouTube.
— Open streaming (online) participation in the opening worship service on Wednesday evening: 191 peak live viewers (English stream), which 24 hours later was up to 592 views; no viewers for the Spanish stream; 38 live viewers for the stream via Facebook live; 20 live viewers for the stream on YouTube.
— Streaming attendance for the Thursday business session on Zoom, for registrants only: about 31 in the morning, from at least 10 states, who did their own “table” sharing and community building by sharing about their local congregations and the joys and challenges; a peak of about 33 people in the afternoon, from at least 10 states.
— Worship offering for the two Witness to Host City organizations, Kids’ Food Basket and Sleep in Heavenly Peace: $13,228.24. An additional $725 also was given online towards last night’s offering in support of Annual Conference operating expenses.
— International guests were greeted and welcomed in the opening business session this morning:
From Nigeria, the new president of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), Daniel Y.C. Mbaya, represented EYN accompanied by members of the B.E.S.T. evangelism trust that supports the ministries of EYN including Markus Gamache, Hauwa Zoaka, Grace Ibrahim Tizhe, Janet Gadzama Afas, and Mary Aghumdia.
From India, Darryl Sankey and Cornelius Solomon, trustees, represented the First District Church of the Brethren, India.
From South Sudan, Athanasus Ungang attended the Conference as Global Mission staff for the Church of the Brethren in South Sudan.
From the Dominican Republic, president Ariel Rosario and moderator Faseli Nolasco de Acevedo of Iglesia de los Hermanos represented the Church of the Brethren in the DR.
From Spain, president Santos Terrero Feliz and youth pastor Tanses Terrero Matos represented Iglesia de los Hermanos-Una Luz en las Naciones, the Church of the Brethren-a Light to the Nations.
From Venezuela, president Roger Padilla Moreno represented ASIGLEH, the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela.
From Burundi, president Expert Bukene represented the emerging Church of the Brethren body in Burundi.
–– The Annual Conference Blood Drive is underway, partnering with Versiti Blood Center of Michigan. The drive continues from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow in the Grand Gallery B room of the DeVos Convention Center. Walk ins are welcome, sign up at the table outside the collection room.
— The Annual Conference Officers have again arranged for a Listening Team to be available during worship and business sessions to provide a caring and attentive presence, to listen, to facilitate communication, and to help navigate confusion and misunderstandings. At least one member of the team will always be sitting in designated chairs at the back of the business sessions and team members can be identified by their yellow lanyard and a ribbon that says “Listening Team.” You can also contact the team by calling or texting the Conference Office at 224-339-4035. The team includes Gail Erisman Valeta, Jody Gunn, Duane Grady, Susan Chapman Starkey, Jim Beckwith, and Lupita Ortiz Cruz.
The Listening Team is offering to share some printed materials that they used. If you are interested in receiving an electronic copy of the materials, send an email to erismanvaleta@gmail.com with the words “Listening Materials” in the subject line.
— The Nominating Committee has begun seeking nominations for the 2025 ballot to go to Annual Conference next year. The nominations form is now available online. Go to www.brethren.org/ac/nominations to learn more about the offices that are open next year and to make nominations of people to fulfill those positions.
— Attention 2024 high school graduates and parents! The University of La Verne in southern California is offering up to two full tuition, four-year scholarships for the Fall 2024 for Church of the Brethren students. See Eric Bishop at the Brethren Higher Education Association booth in the Annual Conference exhibit hall or email ebishop@laverne.edu to apply.
— JW and Suzanne Rhoades this week are celebrating five decades since they met at the Annual Conference in Roanoke, Va. “Little did we know 50 years ago when we met at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in Roanoke, Va., that today we would be in Grand Rapids looking forward to celebrating our 48th wedding anniversary this month,” they wrote to Newsline. “JW Rhoades was a student at Manchester College in Indiana and Suzanne Ikenberry had just graduated from Madison College, aka JMU, and was preparing for her first year of teaching in the Tidewater area. At the young adult activities, Suzanne was singing in a trio, which prompted JW to ask her to dance that night. That was their brief encounter until they met again a year later at Annual Conference in Dayton, Ohio. You guessed it, a year later they were married at Camp Bethel in Virginia and flew to Wichita on a chartered flight to Annual Conference the next day with a lot of Church of the Brethren folks on their honeymoon.” The couple have centered their lives on their faith in Christ and have been active in church leadership, serving respectively on Standing Committee and chairing Virlina District’s board.
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