{"id":22264,"date":"2023-07-08T13:33:46","date_gmt":"2023-07-08T13:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=22264"},"modified":"2023-07-11T14:42:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T14:42:10","slug":"2024-annual-conference-moderator-shares-theme-logo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2023\/2024-annual-conference-moderator-shares-theme-logo\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Annual Conference moderator shares theme, logo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
2024 Annual Conference moderator Madalyn Metzger receives the gavel of office from 2023 moderator Tim McElwee. Photo by Keith Hollenberg. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, July 7, the gavel was handed from 2023 Annual Conference moderator Tim McElwee to 2024 moderator Madalyn Metzger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metger was commissioned at the Saturday morning worship service the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her remarks introducing the 2024 theme, she said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn today\u2019s society, we spend an awful lot of time wondering if we\u2019re worthy. We wonder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • If we have the right skills<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If we\u2019ve worked hard enough<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If our sacrifices are worth it<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If our thoughts and opinions are valid<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If our voice will be heard<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If our presence will be valued<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If we are lovable<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If we\u2019re safe<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If we are enough<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAnd, let\u2019s be honest\u2026 we spend a lot of time assessing and evaluating others <\/em>based on our own standards\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cSince our founding in the early 1700s, the Brethren have been a faith family that has chosen another way of living\u2026 the way of Christ. We are people called to live and experience our faith together<\/em> \u2013 as a community<\/em> \u2013 in service to (and with) God, each other, and our neighbors. And, every person in our faith community shares in the spiritual direction of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAll<\/strong> of our spiritual gifts are needed if we are to function together as a healthy Body of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cEach<\/strong> and every one<\/strong> of us is called\u2026 to extend AND<\/strong> receive\u2026 Christ\u2019s love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThis is the basis of the theme for the 2024 Annual Conference: Welcome and Worthy<\/strong>, based on Paul\u2019s letter to the Church in Rome, in which he introduces Phoebe and tells the Roman Christians to \u201cWelcome her in the Lord in a way that is worthy of God\u2019s people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \""Welcome
    2024 Annual Conference logo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cWe don\u2019t know much about Phoebe. In fact, this is the one and only time she is named in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cBut what we do<\/strong> know is that Paul viewed Phoebe as a valued sibling in Christ\u2026 and he commended her as an integral<\/em> part of the Body, encouraging the Church in Rome to welcome her and to build an authentic relationship with her as a child of God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cLike Phoebe, each of us brings our own unique abilities, experiences, and perspectives to this community. And it is through our willingness to share our faith journeys with one another \u2013 and to receive one another in the fullness<\/em> of each person\u2019s being \u2013 that we can experience<\/em> and see<\/em> God\u2019s vision for us more fully\u2026 and, therefore, be transformed <\/em>together by God\u2019s Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAnd so, in the year to come, I invite you to explore and embrace our call to live together in community<\/em>\u2026 to abide in Christ and<\/strong> one another\u2026 to renounce<\/em> our personal rules and inner assumptions, and replace<\/em> them with God\u2019s eternal truth\u2026 and to re-envision<\/strong> how we can extend Christ\u2019s love to one another \u2013 and to ourselves<\/em> \u2013 in ways that are worthy of God\u2019s people<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    2024 Annual Conference moderator Madalyn Metzger takes office and announces the 2024 theme, “Welcome and Worthy.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22265,"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":[1703],"tags":[2508,2032,2762],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-22264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-of-the-brethren-newsline","tag-annual-conference-2023","tag-madalyn-metzger","tag-welcome-and-worthy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22264","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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22264"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22324,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22264\/revisions\/22324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22264"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=22264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}