The Standing Committee of district delegates to the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference met via Zoom on the evening of Sept. 30 to consider and act on covenants with the three agencies of Annual Conference—Bethany Theological Seminary, Eder Financial, and On Earth Peace. Also acted on was a recommendation to Annual Conference to renew their agency status.
The president or an executive of each agency was present to speak to their respective covenants and represent their agency’s interests: Jeff Carter, president of Bethany Seminary; Nevin Dulabaum, president of Eder Financial; and Matt Guynn, co-executive director of On Earth Peace.
Each agency covenant is specific to that agency but there are commonalities and consistency between the three documents. Each agency’s board has had a chance to review and approve their respective covenant, as part of a process that dates back to a decision by the 2022 Conference that directed to Standing Committee the work of preparing the covenants.
Carter expressed gratitude to the Standing Committee subcommittee that worked on the covenants, noting their collaborative attitude and the effort to make the covenants consistent. “We’ve all worked together to make these covenants easy to read, agency to agency, rooted in our tradition and most of all in scripture,” he said. “We think this is a wise format…. That language of mutuality is really important.”
The meeting reviewed each covenant, at times line by line. Concerns and requests for clarification were raised, by Standing Committee members as well as agency leaders. Most of the clarifications or concerns had to do with the relationship of agency board appointments to the denomination’s nominations process and the Annual Conference ballot, as well as questions about the make-up of the agency boards with regard to required numbers of Church of the Brethren members.
Dulabaum reviewed some of the history of the agencies and their relationships to Annual Conference and the denomination, identifying some of the differences between the three. Eder Financial got its start with a mandate from Annual Conference, he said, and has ever since regarded its work as continuing to fulfill that mandate and obligation to the Church of the Brethren. He asked for support for his agency and for the continuation of a historic understanding that the Church of the Brethren and Annual Conference will not encourage competing providers from outside the denomination.
Guynn shared more information about the history of the process leading to the creation of the agency covenants, which had its origin in questions raised by On Earth Peace several years ago. “We raised these questions because we care deeply about the Church of the Brethren and our relationship to it,” he said. “We are a Church of the Brethren organization,” he affirmed.
He also fielded a point-blank question from a Standing Committee member asking if On Earth Peace affirms the polity and practice of Annual Conference in the 1983 paper “Human Sexuality from a Christian Perspective” (www.brethren.org/ac/statements/1983-human-sexuality). In the ensuing back-and-forth exchange, which ended amicably, Guynn stated that the 1983 paper includes differing views within itself, mirroring the differing views within the wider Church of the Brethren, that no one follows the paper to the letter, and that On Earth Peace does its best. He cited the agency’s work to support the human rights of the LGBTQ community, as called for in the paper, giving the example of taking part in the Supportive Communities Network. He talked about the need for care for vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community, such as teens whose suicide rates exceed those of other communities.
“We can have different opinions about important theological topics,” he said, characterizing that stance as the best of the Brethren tradition, after he was pressed to affirm “all of the paper.” He concluded, saying to his questioner: “I hope you keep praying for me, I’ll keep praying for you. Let’s talk at Annual Conference next year.”
After some confusion about the exact nature of the decisions required of Standing Committee, it was clarified that Standing Committee is the body authorized to approve the covenants, but is not the body authorized to approve agency status. Standing Committee approved the three covenant documents, taking a vote for each separately, and making various minor changes mostly to conform with polity or for clarity. Also taking a separate vote for each agency, Standing Committee voted to recommend to Annual Conference that the agency status of all three be renewed based upon the approval of the covenants by Standing Committee. These actions will be presented to the 2025 Annual Conference.
Standing Committee meets next on the evening of Nov. 18, via Zoom, to consider a document outlining a process to handle concerns about agencies. The meeting will be open to the public and a link to observe it will be shared in advance.
For more about Annual Conference go to www.brethren.org/ac.
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