Congregational Life Ministries is committed to empowering every person to make a positive difference in their world through demonstrating the extraordinary God. If we are to be faithful to our commitment to transform the world, we will reach out with an open, genuine hospitality to people wherever they are, inviting and welcoming them as we seek to renew existing congregations, start new faith communities, and inspire faithful discipleship.
This is the 25th anniversary year (and 14th gathering) of the National Older Adult Conference (NOAC), and we are especially grateful for the sponsorship and leadership of denominational agencies, Fellowship of Brethren Homes communities, and other nonprofits who have an opportunity to share their mission with the conference participants.
“Inspiration 2017″ will be the first National Older Adult Conference to be live-streamed on the Internet. All keynote addresses, worship services, afternoon programs, and daily Bible studies will be available to view live online through a partnership with Enten and Mary Eller and Living Stream Church of the Brethren. This is especially important for conference “alumni/ae” who are no longer able to travel to the conference location in Lake Junaluska, N.C., and who long to be part of the NOAC community.
July 26 marks the 27th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Find more information at https://www.adaanniversary.org . This year at Annual Conference, Congregational Life Ministries welcomed the 27th congregation into the Open Roof Fellowship. Over the past 13 years, these congregations have intentionally embraced and invested themselves in disabilities ministries.
Congregational Life Ministries gave awards and citations during the Mission and Ministry Board’s pre-Annual Conference meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Revelation 7:9 Award from the Intercultural Ministry was given to Don and Belita Mitchell. Citations to congregations joining the Open Roof Fellowship were given to two congregations in Illinois: Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren and York Center Church of the Brethren, represented by their respective pastors Katie Shaw Thompson and Christy Waltersdorff.
Each May, spiritual directors from throughout the Church of the Brethren meet for an annual retreat and continuing education. Shepherd’s Spring Outdoor Ministry and Retreat Center in Sharpsburg, Md., provides a beautiful and quiet setting for this event, which includes opportunities for worship, prayer, silence, creative expression, peer supervision, and keynote presentations.
Christiana Rice will be a keynote speaker and presenter at the Church Planting Conference hosted at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind., on May 16-19, 2018. The conference is sponsored by the Church of the Brethren Congregational Life Ministries.
Congregational Life Ministries is partnering with organizations in the United Kingdom to present “Crucible Webinars” in June and July, on the topics “The Virtual Self” and “The Art of Resilience: Nurturing Practices for Flourishing.” Sponsors include the Church of the Brethren Congregational Life Ministries, Anabaptist Network UK, Bristol Baptist College, Mennonite Trust, and Urban Expression UK.
This year’s Christian Citizenship Seminar (CCS) took place from April 22-27. The theme was based on Native American rights and food security. Thirty-eight high school aged youth and their advisers from as far as California to as close as Pennsylvania, and states like Kansas in between, were a part of this year’s CCS.
I’ve found that social media does an amazing job of keeping track of timelines I could never have kept straight for myself. While scrolling through my Facebook feed during a time of leisure at this year’s Christian Citizenship Seminar, I stumbled upon pictures of me and other 2015 CCS participants enjoying the city life in Washington, D.C. and New York. The energy of my companions and the dynamic cities we explored together left me even more excited to learn about the issues surrounding immigration, which was the theme of CCS the year that I attended as a high school junior.
