The business items to be addressed by the delegate body at the 2025 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference have been announced. There are three items of unfinished business and six items of new business on the agenda, including recommendations for renewal of the agency status of Bethany Theological Seminary, Eder Financial, and On Earth Peace, and two new queries–along with numerous reports and the annual ballot.
This year, the Annual Conference returns to the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, N.C., on July 2-6. Register and find out more at www.brethren.org/ac2025
Unfinished business
Query: Standing with People of Color: In 2022, Annual Conference approved a “Standing with People of Color” two-year study/action process with leadership from Southern Ohio-Kentucky District and On Earth Peace. A committee was formed to coordinate the process and provide resources. This year, the committee brings its final report.
Query: Breaking Down Barriers—Increasing Access to Denominational Events: The 2022 Annual Conference elected a study committee to examine the theological, philosophical, and practical implications of the query and to do a feasibility study. The committee brings its final report including several pages of recommendations and suggestions.
Request for an Annual Conference Study on Calling Denominational Leadership: The 2023 Annual Conference elected a study committee that focused its work on Annual Conference leadership selection including nominations, ballot, and elections. This final report makes recommendations for improving the process and increasing diversity of leadership.
New business
Recommendations for renewal of the agency status of Bethany Theological Seminary, Eder Financial, and On Earth Peace are brought by the Standing Committee of district delegates in response to the implementation guidelines for “Update to Polity Regarding Annual Conference Agencies” adopted by the 2022 Annual Conference. Standing Committee has approved an Agency Covenant with each of the three agencies of Annual Conference. Also included in the Conference booklet for information are relevant reports from subcommittees of Standing Committee. One lays out a “Process for Addressing Concerns with Annual Conference Agencies” and the other reports on the work done to negotiate and draft the Agency Covenants.
Query: Reducing Harm: Interim Steps to Address Suffering: Brought by Arlington Church of the Brethren and Mid-Atlantic District, the query cites 1 Corinthians 12:26a in raising concerns about the treatment and suffering of LGBTQ+ people. It identifies three statements of Annual Conference—“Human Sexuality from a Christian Perspective” (1983), “Licensing/Ordination of Homosexual Persons to the Ministry in the Church of the Brethren” (2002), and “Report of the Leadership Team and the Council of District Executives on the Authority of Annual Conference and Districts regarding the Accountability of Ministers, Congregations, and Districts” (2017)—as containing language, science, and practices that are outdated. Acknowledging that the church is not of one mind, it asks: “To help the denomination make progress towards the goal of respecting and preserving one another’s humanity, dignity, and deeply held spiritual convictions in our collective statements and practices, what can be done at the present time about the outdated language and science, and one now-illegal recommendation, contained within the three cited Annual Conference statements?”
Query: Concerns about Current Practices Related to Matters of Sexuality: Brought by Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren and Illinois and Wisconsin District, the query cites the lack of significant progress on matters of sexuality in the more than 40 years since passage of the 1983 statement. It quotes that statement and “Urging Forbearance” (2008) as recognizing the personal nature of such matters and the call to avoid enforcement. It also cites the Church of the Brethren approach to governance that typically balances local autonomy and denominational authority. It names the “significant latitude” that has been given for congregational decisions on other matters, as well as that “districts have been uneven at best in their decisions to enforce policy related to sexuality.” Citing Romans 14:13 it asks, “How can we move forward in a manner that reflects greater mutuality and space for differing understandings among individuals and congregations?”
Recommended Cost of Living Adjustment to the Minimum Cash Salary Table for Pastors: The Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee will bring a recommendation.
Find links to download full texts of all the business documents at www.brethren.org/ac2025/business
Find out more about the Conference schedule, fees, and other details, as well as a link to register, at www.brethren.org/ac2025
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Find more Church of the Brethren news:
- Church of the Brethren Inter-Agency Forum sends letter regarding multicultural commitments and welcome at Annual Conference
- Intercultural Ministries seeks volunteer ‘frontliners’ (in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole)
- Church of the Brethren staff and leaders meet in Uganda to plan for increased humanitarian needs in South Sudan
- Grants support increased humanitarian needs in South Sudan, among other responses to violence and war
- Messenger magazine receives three awards from the Associated Church Press