“As we approach the 250th anniversary of the event that kicked off the revolution, we might ask, what do we Brethren think about the Declaration of Independence? … And what would our forebears say about what we’ve become?” asked Denise Kettering-Lane at her standing-room-only equipping session titled “Dunkers and the Declaration of Independence: Then and Now.”
The following call to worship was shared during the closing worship service of the 2026 Conference on Thursday morning, July 2, with leadership from Gail Heisel. And it has a back story.
The delegate body of the 2026 Annual Conference on Wednesday afternoon, July 1, adopted a “Resolution on Weapons Transfer” with a solid majority vote. The paper cites Matthew 5:44b-45, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…,” to call the Church of the Brethren to “examine and respond to the impacts of the arms industry.”
For some time, the Church of the Brethren has undertaken a periodic review every decade to evaluate the denomination’s organizational structures and procedures, with a committee assigned to bring recommendations to Annual Conference for possible changes. This decade’s Review and Evaluation Committee, elected in 2025, presented its first interim report.
Norton as executive director of Global Mission for the Church of the Brethren introduced the international guests who were present. She then introduced the evening’s speaker and guest of honor Daniel Mbaya, president of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), “the largest Anabaptist communion in the world.”
Angelo Mante was a graduate student in Atlanta when he received a predawn phone call on Sept. 13, 2016. It changed everything. He received the news that his first cousin Nick had been violently killed in Fort Wayne.
Two adjustments to the 2014 Ministry Leadership paper that governs credentialing of ministerial leaders in the Church of the Brethren were approved by the delegate body on Monday, June 29. One pertains to licensed ministers and the other to commissioned ministers. As a change of polity, this item of business required and received a two-thirds majority to pass.
There were many programs available for Annual Conference attendees as part of Tuesday morning’s “Imagine! A Morning of Sparking, Stirring, and Serving.” One of the most natural for Brethren was service projects.
Amy Gall Ritchie of Manchester Church of the Brethren in North Manchester, Ind., South Central Indiana District, has been elected to the position of moderator-elect of Annual Conference. She will serve as moderator in 2028.
International guests received a warm welcome from the 2026 Annual Conference. On Monday morning, June 29, during the opening business session Global Mission executive Sharon Brugger Norton introduced the guests from the stage. She noted that this might have been the first time that Annual Conference has welcomed international guests from Vietnam.
