![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/logo-for-annual-conference-300x159.png\"){kind=logo}
\u201cI choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?\u2019 So the last will be first, and the first will be last\u201d (Matthew 20:14b-16).<\/p>\n
Quotes of the day:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAnd God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.\u201d \u201cI have a yellow card. Remember this is a soccer season…and I am the referee!\u201d \u201cWe will receive precisely what we have been promised…by God\u2019s grace and generosity…. In the Kingdom of Heaven we do not get what we deserve…. God does promise the fullness of his kingdom forever.\u201d \u201cI hope you buy a lot of chocolate and coffee, otherwise registration fees will go up next year!\u201d \u201cFor the families not together today, we pray for them…. One day, we\u2019re going to be one family together.\u201d \u201cThe Kingdom of Heaven is where the last will be first and the first will be last…. There is a certain joy we can have by putting others first…. When you forget self and reach out to others, you will find joy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n — Brian Messler preaching the evening sermon on the parable of the laborers in the vineyard from Matthew 20.<\/em><\/p>\n By the numbers:<\/strong><\/p>\n Registration total<\/strong>\u00a0at the end of the day: 2,193 including 673 delegates and 1,520 nondelegates<\/p>\n Thursday’s offering<\/strong>\u00a0received during worship, to benefit the Church of the Brethren Core Ministries: $13,157.03<\/p>\n Webcast estimates:<\/strong>\u00a0140 views for the morning business session<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more onsite coverage of Annual Conference go to\u00a0www.brethren.org\/ac\/2018\/coverage<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n The news coverage of Annual Conference 2018 is made possible through the work of communications staff and a volunteer news team: Frank Ramirez, Conference Journal editor; photographers Glenn Riegel, Regina Holmes, Keith Hollenberg, Donna Parcell, Laura Brown; writers Frances Townsend, Karen Garrett, Alyssa Parker; youth team member Allie Dulabaum; web staff Jan Fischer Bachman, Russ Otto; Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services; Wendy McFadden, publisher. Contact\u00a0cobnews@brethren.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/delegates-enjoy-conversation-300x200.png\")
\n— Verses 8-9 from the opening passage of Acts 15 that Annual Conference moderator Samuel Sarpiya chose to read to start the first business session of the 2018 Conference. He said this has been a traditional scripture passage for moderators to read to the delegate body as the Brethren gather for their annual meeting.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n— The moderator giving instructions to the delegate body to follow the best of the Brethren tradition of loving speech to each other on the Conference floor. He held up a yellow card like those used by referees in the World Cup, the international soccer tournament, to warn players that they have transgressed the rules of the game.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/enjoying-conference-300x200.png\")
\n— Galen Hackman in his Bible study on the parable of the laborers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n— Annual Conference director Chris Douglas requesting Conference-goers to support the SERRV store, which is on a consignment basis and run by Northern Ohio District volunteers led by pastor Tina Hunt. The fair trade chocolate and coffee are the only items that are nonreturnable.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n— Cesia Salcedo leading the delegate body in prayer, in Spanish and English. She was invited by the moderator to offer prayer for the immigration situation at the start of the afternoon business session.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/brian-messler-preaches-the-263x300.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/thursdays-in-black-gathering.png\")
Rebecca Dali, founder of the Center for Caring Empowerment and Peace Initiatives (CCEPI) in Nigeria, for which she received recognition from the UN, had invited individuals to wear black in recognition of such repressive behavior. The practice of \u201cThursdays in Black\u201d originally harkened back to a terrible period in Argentine history during the 1970s when women were routinely raped as part of that illegitimate regime\u2019s plan to silence and control them. Women in Nigeria and in other places around the world are facing the same outrage today.
As the women and men assembled on the steps for a photograph, Dali counseled, \u201cWe will not smile because we are standing against violence and rape.\u201d For those who are interested in wearing black on Thursdays as a witness against repression, \u201cThursdays in Black\u201d t-shirts are available through Brethren Press.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n