{"id":23924,"date":"2024-07-03T23:59:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T23:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=23924"},"modified":"2024-07-04T05:12:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T05:12:06","slug":"today-in-grand-rapids-july-3-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2024\/today-in-grand-rapids-july-3-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Today in Grand Rapids – Wednesday, July 3, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A DAILY ISSUE OF NEWSLINE FROM ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBe sure to welcome our friend Phoebe in the way of the Master, with all the generous hospitality we Christians are famous for. I heartily endorse both her and her work. She\u2019s a key representative of the church at Cenchrea. Help her out in whatever she asks. She deserves anything you can do for her. She\u2019s helped many a person, including me\u201d (Romans 16:1, The Message).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The worship center for this evening\u2019s opening worship at Annual Conference 2024 was a simple table and chairs, a symbol of the welcome all receive at the Lord\u2019s table. Photo by Glenn Riegel<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Daily coverage of the 2024 Annual Conference<\/strong> of the Church of the Brethren in Grand Rapids, Mich., continues through Sunday, July 7, at www.brethren.org\/news\/ac2024<\/a>. View photos of the Annual Conference at https:\/\/churchofthebrethren.smugmug.com\/AC2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Quotes and images from the opening worship service<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cLet me repeat this: We are yearning to be in community with and for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Annual Conference moderator Madalyn Metzger preaching for the opening worship service of the 2024 Conference. She added–in a sermon reflecting on the similarities of her experience as moderator with that of Phoebe, who is introduced by Paul in Romans 16\u2014that \u201cbeing in community means walking beside each other even in disagreement\u2026.so that we can faithfully fulfill our calling to be Christ\u2019s hands and feet.\u201d Photo by Glenn Riegel<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cHelp us welcome one another in a way worthy of God\u2019s people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Julie Alphonse, offering a prayer as one of the worship leaders for this evening\u2019s service, alongside her mother Michaela Alphonse. Photo by Glenn Riegel<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The worship band includes Seth Crissman, Greg Yoder, Amber T. Harris, Jacob Crouse, Beth Jarrett, and Andy Duffey. Photo by Glenn Riegel<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cJesus, Holy One,
You are ever-faithful.
Jesus, draw us near,
Gathered at your table,
Gathered in your love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— The words to a song that the worship band will be leading the congregation in singing at each of this week\u2019s worship services.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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2) Revelation 7:9 Award is presented to six intercultural leaders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Six intercultural leaders in the Church of the Brethren received the Revelation 7:9 Award during today\u2019s Mission and Ministry Board meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich. The award was presented by Founa Badet, director of Intercultural Ministries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Badet (at left) with five of the six recipients of the Revelation 7:9 award: (from left) Gilbert Romero, Matt Guynn, Duane Grady, Joshua Brockway, and Michaela Alphonse. Not pictured: Joe Vecchio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For brief biographies of the honorees go to www.brethren.org\/news\/2024\/revelation-79-award-is-presented<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Chris Brumbaugh-Cayford<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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3) Conference bookstore debuts book by Brethren Press publisher Wendy McFadden<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Among items for sale at the Brethren Press bookstore in the Annual Conference exhibit hall is a brand-new book by publisher Wendy McFadden. Notes to the Church<\/em> (Brethren Press, 2024) presents a selection chosen from McFadden\u2019s 25 years of columns that have appeared in each issue of Messenger<\/em>, the magazine of the Church of the Brethren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McFadden will be one of the featured authors to hold book signings at the bookstore during the Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the full schedule of book signings go to www.brethren.org\/news\/2024\/conference-bookstore-debuts-mcfadden-book<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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4) Annual Conference bits and pieces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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–– Registration numbers<\/strong> as of 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3, 2024: 408 delegates, 957 non-delegates including in-person and virtual attendees, for a total of 1,365 participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Worship attendance: <\/strong>1,023 in this evening\u2019s congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— This evening\u2019s offering<\/strong> received during worship is for the Annual Conference operating budget: $6,909.35 received onsite, with an additional $725 in online gifts, for a total of $7,634.35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–– The young adult group<\/strong> at Annual Conference, along with staff of Brethren Volunteer Service, Intercultural Ministries, and Bethany Seminary, are planning a \u201ctake over\u201d of social media during the Conference using the hashtags #yacob2024 and #cobac2024. Young adults are invited to post their photos and videos, views and experiences of the Conference for sharing by the communications staff on the Church of the Brethren Facebook and Instagram pages. Find a fun video of the young adult group at www.facebook.com\/churchofthebrethren<\/a> where a stream of this evening\u2019s Conference worship service also is available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–– To join in the Annual Conference worship services<\/strong> via online streaming, you may also use this link: www.brethren.org\/ac2024\/webcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Find online photo albums<\/strong> from the Annual Conference at https:\/\/churchofthebrethren.smugmug.com\/AC2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#cobac2024<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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An artist\u2019s rendering of children in Rwanda,<\/strong> one of the images from the video Annual Report of the Church of the Brethren denominational ministries. Artist Christian Paz created this image inspired by a photo from the Global Mission program that helps support the Rwanda Church of the Brethren and its ministries. The video Annual Report will be shown to the delegate body during the Friday afternoon business session, after which it will be posted online at www.brethren.org\/annualreport<\/a>. Art by Christian Paz\/Imago<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to the members of the Press Team for Annual Conference 2024: <\/strong>Jan Fischer Bachman, Chris Brumbaugh-Cayford, Russ Otto, Donna Parcell, Frank Ramirez, Virginia Rendler, Glenn Riegel, Laura Sellers, Frances Townsend, and editor Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services for the Church of the Brethren.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some highlights of the opening day of the 2024 Annual Conference, including quotes and images from worship, a new book debuting at the Brethren Press bookstore, and more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23925,"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":[1258,2886],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-23924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-of-the-brethren-newsline","tag-annual-conference","tag-annual-conference-2024"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23924","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23924"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23933,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23924\/revisions\/23933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23924"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=23924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}