{"id":13816,"date":"2019-02-21T19:23:18","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T19:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.brethren.org\/news\/?p=13816"},"modified":"2019-07-18T19:29:32","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T19:29:32","slug":"annual-conference-registration-opens-march-4-business-schedule-will-focus-on-compelling-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2019\/annual-conference-registration-opens-march-4-business-schedule-will-focus-on-compelling-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Conference registration opens March 4, business schedule will focus on compelling vision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"2019<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Annual Conference 2019 will be a very different event this year, according to Conference director Chris Douglas. Instead of a usual business schedule, the delegate body will spend much of its time in compelling vision conversations. Nondelegates may reserve seats at tables during the business sessions in order to fully participate in those conversations. And the Conference will hold a love feast for the first time in decades.<\/p>\n

Annual Conference 2019 takes place July 3-7 in Greensboro, N.C., at the Sheraton\/Koury Convention Center. It will be led by moderator Donita Keister, assisted by moderator-elect Paul Mundey and Conference secretary Jim Beckwith. \u201cProclaim Christ; Reclaim Passion\u201d is the theme, inspired by 2 Corinthians 5:17-18.<\/p>\n

Online registration and hotel reservations open March 4 at 12 noon (central time) at www.brethren.org\/ac<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Compelling vision conversations<\/strong><\/p>\n

During several business sessions the delegate body, and nondelegates who reserve seats at tables, will engage in conversations intended to help the Church of the Brethren seek a compelling vision for its future.<\/p>\n

Business sessions will include the usual reports from agencies as well as elections and some other matters, but the 2019 Conference will receive no queries or recommendations and will address no additional new business items. Business sessions will include a half-hour worship service to start each morning and an interactive Bible study during each afternoon. On Saturday afternoon, July 6, the Conference will hold love feast as part of the closing business session (see more information below).<\/p>\n

Compelling vision conversations will take place around tables beginning Thursday afternoon, July 4, continuing through Saturday morning, July 6. Questions for conversation and a process to receive input from the tables will be led by the Compelling Vision Process Team with technical facilitation by the firm Covision, which specializes in meeting technology and guiding groups through \u201cthoughtful process design.\u201d The special technology for the 2019 Conference will include a computer tablet at each table, which will be used to log input during each session. The Compelling Vision Process Team will receive the input and each evening work to prepare a presentation of learnings for the next day\u2019s session.<\/p>\n

Delegates will be assigned to tables. Nondelegates who wish to sit at tables to participate in the compelling vision conversations should reserve a seat when they register for the Conference, and will be assigned to tables. Seat reservations are free and require no extra fee payment. Theater-style seating also will be available for nondelegates.<\/p>\n

Nondelegates who sign up to sit at a table are asked to commit to participate in all business sessions. \u201cIf you sign up you\u2019re expected to be there,\u201d Douglas said, emphasizing the importance of committing to the full process.<\/p>\n

Table reservations are a part of the online registration process for nondelegates. Those who complete their registrations without making a table reservation may contact the Conference Office to request a seat at a table if space is still available. Call 847-429-4365.<\/p>\n

Love feast<\/strong><\/p>\n

The love feast on Saturday, July 6, will be part of the afternoon business session that starts at 2 p.m. Love feast will begin after the passing of the moderator\u2019s gavel signifies the formal closing of business.<\/p>\n

The love feast will be led by Keister, Mundey, and immediate past moderator Samuel K. Sarpiya. It will include the traditional meal, feetwashing, and communion service, but in a simplified way, said Douglas. The meal will be very simple, she said, perhaps consisting of a small snack. Congregations or districts may be asked to bake bread for the meal, or make communion bread for the communion service. The feetwashing will be done using traditional basins but they will hold large moistened washing cloths rather than water, which is not allowed in the convention hall. Participants will be able to choose to wash feet in a setting where only men or only women are present, or in an area that includes all who would like to participate in the ordinance together.<\/p>\n

Those seated at tables and those in the nondelegate theater seating will all be invited to participate in the love feast.<\/p>\n

Additional special events<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following special events at the 2019 Annual Conference are free to all Conference participants unless otherwise noted:<\/p>\n

A bus trip to the Civil Rights Museum<\/strong> in downtown Greensboro will be offered on Thursday, July 4, leaving the convention center at 9 a.m. An extra fee is charged.<\/p>\n

A concert by the gospel singing group Blackwood Brothers Quartet<\/strong> will be offered on Wednesday, July 3, at 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

An organ recital and concert by Jonathan Emmons<\/strong> will be given on Friday, July 5, at 11:30 a.m., immediately after the close of the morning business session.<\/p>\n

A concert by the Brethren singing group Friends with the Weather<\/strong> is offered on Friday, July 5, at 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"2019<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Pre-Conference gatherings and events<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Ministers Association continuing education event<\/strong>\u00a0features David C. Olsen speaking on the topic \u201cSaying No to Say Yes: Everyday Boundaries and Pastoral Excellence.\u201d It takes place July 2-3 at the Koury Convention Center. Olsen is an adjunct professor with the Sage Colleges and executive director of Samaritan Counseling Center.\u00a0For registration,\u00a0schedule\u00a0and fee\u00a0information, go to\u00a0www.brethren.org\/sustaining<\/a>\u00a0. Registration begins March 4.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Intercultural Ministries offers a Dikaios and Discipleship Pre-Conference Pilgrimage<\/strong>\u00a0on July 2-3, starting in Greensboro and including an overnight stay at a hotel in Cherokee, N.C., and visits to the Museum of the Cherokee and Oconaluftee Living Village. The event focuses on themes including righteousness and justice, a history of faith, land and lament, and doctrine of discovery. Said an invitation: \u201cGreensboro…is a few hours from Cherokee–a place that is at once a sacred homeland for the Cherokee tribe, a place of modern cultural rebirth, and a tourist destination. It is a place where layers of history and a modern American dream collide. Join us on a scripture inspired tour of a region to reflect on how our values–and those of our ancestors–have shaped the lives of Native Americans.\u201d For more information about schedule, speakers, and fees, go to\u00a0www.brethren.org\/dikaios<\/a>\u00a0. Registration opens online March 4.<\/p>\n

For more information about Annual Conference go to\u00a0www.brethren.org\/ac<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Annual Conference 2019 will be a very different event this year, according to Conference director Chris Douglas. Instead of a usual business schedule, the delegate body will spend much of its time in compelling vision conversations. Nondelegates may reserve seats at tables during the business sessions in order to fully participate in those conversations. And the Conference will hold a love feast for the first time in decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1258,1558,1311,806,1274,1267],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-13816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-annual-conference","tag-annual-conference-2019","tag-compelling-vision","tag-congregational-life-ministries","tag-intercultural","tag-ministry-office"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13818,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13816\/revisions\/13818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13816"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=13816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}