First query considered by delegates is referred to the Review and Evaluation Committee

The “Query: Concerns about Current Practices Related to Matters of Sexuality,” after an energetic discussion by the delegate body, was referred to the Review and Evaluation Committee. The vote approved the Standing Committee recommendation to that effect, and also the Standing Committee recommendation that the concerns of the query be accepted as a legitimate question.

The Review and Evaluation Committee was elected at this Conference with a wide-ranging mandate for review and evaluation of the state of the denomination. It is elected every 10 years. This referral was seen as an equitable action, given last year’s referral to the Review and Evaluation Committee of a query from Atlantic Southeast District that many understand as addressing similar concerns.

Known at this Conference as new business item 5 (NB5), the query was brought by Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren and Illinois and Wisconsin District.

It asks how the church can move forward in a manner that reflects greater mutuality and space for differing understandings about sexuality among individuals and congregations. It cites lack of progress on matters of sexuality in more than 40 years, the Church of the Brethren approach that balances local autonomy and denominational authority, the latitude 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.”

Find the full text of this and other business items at www.brethren.org/ac2025/business.