![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/logo-for-annual-conference.png\"){kind=logo}
Annual Conference 2018 takes place at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 4-8. The theme is \u201cLiving Parables\u201d (Matthew 9:35-38).<\/p>\nChurch of the Brethren Newsline
\nMay\u00a025,\u00a02018<\/b><\/p>\n
Annual Conference 2018 takes place at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 4-8. The theme is \u201cLiving Parables\u201d (Matthew 9:35-38).<\/p>\n
Online registration is open through June 11 at\u00a0www.brethren.org\/ac<\/a>. After that date, registration will take place onsite in Cincinnati, at an increased cost.<\/p>\n Moderator Samuel K. Sarpiya will be assisted by moderator-elect Donita Keister and secretary James Beckwith. Serving on the Program and Arrangements Committee are Founa Inola Augustin-Badet of Miami, Fla.; John Shafer of Oakton, Va.; and Jan King of Martinsburg, Pa. Chris Douglas is the Conference director.<\/p>\n In addition to business sessions, Annual Conference offers opportunities for non-delegates to participate in spiritual enrichment, earn continuing education credit, take part in family friendly activities, and fellowship with Brethren from across the country and around the world.<\/p>\n Delegates will address 11 new and unfinished items of business and will receive numerous reports. New business includes \u201cChange in Delegate Representation at Annual Conference,\u201d \u201cVision for a Global Church of the Brethren,\u201d \u201cBrethren Values Investing,\u201d \u201cPolity for Electing Brethren Benefit Trust Board Directors,\u201d \u201cPolity for Electing the District Representative to the Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee.\u201d Unfinished business includes \u201cVision of Ecumenism for the 21st Century,\u201d \u201cVitality and Viability,\u201d \u201cCreation Care,\u201d \u201cCompelling Vision,\u201d \u201cDenominational Leadership Gathering,\u201d and various amendments to the denomination\u2019s bylaws. See the article below for brief descriptions of the business items. Find the full text of business items at\u00a0www.brethren.org\/ac\/2018\/business<\/a>.<\/p>\n Preachers for the Conference are moderator Samuel Sarpiya, pastor of Rockford (Ill.) Community Church of the Brethren, Wednesday; Brian Messler, pastor of Ephrata (Pa.) Church of the Brethren, Thursday; Rosanna Eller McFadden, pastor of Creekside Church of the Brethren, Elkhart, Ind., Friday; Angela Finet, pastor of Nokesville (Va.) Church of the Brethren, Saturday; and Leonard Sweet, the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University in New Jersey, Sunday.<\/p>\n Offerings will be received for the Nigeria Crisis Fund on Wednesday; Church of the Brethren Core Ministries on Thursday; Puerto Rico hurricane response on Friday; assistance to the Batwa-Pygmy communities in the Great Lakes region of Africa on Saturday; and funding of Spanish translation at Annual Conference on Sunday.<\/p>\n In pre-Conference activities, theologian and author Diana Butler Bass is the speaker for the Ministers\u2019 Association event on \u201cGratitude: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks.\u201d Three sessions will be led by Butler Bass on Tuesday evening, July 3, and Wednesday morning and afternoon, July 4. See\u00a0www.brethren.org\/ministryoffice\/sustaining.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dikaios & Discipleship, a July 3-4 event combining a bus tour with group discussions, will focus on the history of race and slavery in the Cincinnati area, sponsored by Intercultural Ministries. \u201cThe Ohio River has long been a symbol: On one side slavery and on the other, freedom,\u201d said an announcement. \u201cOur history, as a denomination and as a nation, is just as interwoven with the complexities of race and racism. Of freedom and enslavement. Of oppression and injustice.\u201d The tour will visit the Harriet Beecher Stowe Museum and the house where Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin was written; stops on the Underground Railroad; site of a former slave market; sites connected with 2001 race protests; sites connected with William Bradley–a governor who spoke up in the Jim Crow era; and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Although the tour is filled, go to\u00a0www.brethren.org\/congregationallife\/dikaios<\/a>\u00a0to be placed on a waiting list.<\/p>\n A tour to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is offered for nondelegates on the afternoon of July 6. Cost is $15.<\/p>\n A group outing to see the Cincinnati Reds play the Chicago White Sox is Tuesday evening, July 3. Tickets are $12.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s Witness to the Host City will benefit First Step Home, a treatment center that helps women rebuild their families as they break the cycle of drug and alcohol addiction. This is the only addiction treatment center in Cincinnati allowing children to live with mothers who are in treatment. Conference-goers are invited to bring donations of needed items. Find a list at\u00a0www.brethren.org\/ac\/2018\/activities\/witness-to-the-host-city.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n Go to\u00a0www.brethren.org\/ac<\/a>\u00a0for more information about the Conference schedule and activities. Daily worship services and business sessions will be webcast live online, find the webcast schedule at\u00a0www.brethren.org\/ac\/2018\/webcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n