On Sunday, July 12th, our worship service was focused on a series of reflections on this year's Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, held in San Diego June 26-30, 2009. These are my own reflections on the conference, shared in worship on the 12th. If you would like to read more about conference you can go to the Church of the Brethren News page, or download the wrap-up pdf.

Annual Conference Reflections – 7/12/09

(Links to new papers and statements will be added as they are put online by the denomination)

Opening Reflections
As most of you probably know, I recently traveled to San Diego, California to attend Annual Conference as our church's official delegate. I will be sharing my report and reflections in several pieces throughout worship today, but I also hope that if you have any particular questions, concerns, or interests about this year's conference we can find a time to discuss them further.

The 223rd recorded annual conference of the Church of the Brethren met at the Town & Country resort and conference center. Guided by the leadership of Moderator David Shumate and moderator-elect Shawn Flory-Replogle, we gathered for fellowship, worship, and of course business.

It was unsurprising that attendance was low this year, as it usually is whenever Conference is on the west coast. There were a total of 2,077 registered attendees, 670 as delegates. Conference planners had originally anticipated around 2,500, and coming short of this goal will likely amplify the already difficult financial impact of meeting in such an expensive area of the country.

This year's theme was “the old has gone, the new has come, all this is from God” based on the passage from 2nd Corinthians you just heard. This theme and text were explored in our opening worship service and infused many of our times of business, insight sessions, and even luncheon and dinner presentations.

Speaking of opening worship, Shumate's message, titled “From Now On” spoke of how those of us who follow Christ are called to “butterfly living,” transformed from the inside out into a new creation. He challenged everyone to move past “cocoon thinking” that causes us to view one another with suspicion and skepticism, that keeps us focused on the past and our dwindling, finite resources. He encouraged us to broaden our focus from issues and organizational concerns to also also include vision, to be people of great vision asking where Jesus wants us to go, from now on.

Later worship services and preachers focused on themes of holy ground, risking being sent out into God's mission, doing holy work of peacemaking, service, love, and reconciliation, missional living and being an authentic church. Others focused on the love of God that overcomes fear and prejudice, and the need to be a diverse multicultural community where our differences are engaged with humility and grace.

It seemed to me that each of the worship gatherings in some way recognized the deep division and brokenness our denomination is experiencing, particularly over the issue of sexuality. Though it was never named explicitly, there were overarching themes of unity in diversity, reconciliation in love, and moving forward together to discern what God is calling us towards.

The two meal events I attended also had ties to the conference theme of the old has gone, the new has come. I was part of a panel of young adults that presented at the Brethren Life and Thought luncheon, where I spoke on the topic of culture ... just one example of new thoughts and insights being shared by new leaders within the church.

I also went to the Messenger magazine dinner, where author and self-proclaimed “recovering academic” Phyllis Tickle shared a wide-ranging and insightful look at how Christianity as a whole is changing, as well as some predictions as to where it's headed, based on her recent book “The Great Emergence.” She noted the appropriateness of our conference theme, given the tremendous shifts that are taking place within our world, our culture, and the church.

In all of these instances, recognizing the challenges we face both internally as a denomination and as churches and externally in our changing world, there was a strong affirmation that this is a time that our tradition's history has prepared us for. We live in a time and situation where we have insights and responses that are being re-discovered by others and being appreciated anew. Our call is to move forward in love and service, to one another and the world, as we honestly and humbly seek to follow Jesus.

Reflections on controversial issues
As I've alluded to this morning and elsewhere, this year's conference brought several items of business that were sure to be controversial, particularly concerning the issue of sexuality. Of the 4 items of new business considered this year, three will have a significant impact on our denomination in the coming years.

The first item of business we considered was an updated version of a structural framework for dealing with strongly controversial issues, a paper originally adopted in 1988 but never used and in need of revision.

The framework is intended to be used as a way to be open and intentional in our discussion and deliberation on controversial issues within our denomination. It seeks to move us from a sense of “us vs. them, winning vs. losing” and towards a model of mutual discernment.

When an item of business arises that has the clear potential to raise strongly adversarial stances, this framework can be put into action by accepting the item as a “special response issue.”

Once the special response is put into action, it initiates a two-year process. As soon as the special response status is given, a diverse five-person resource committee is named and charged with developing study materials to be used throughout the process, made available by April 1st the following year.

Beginning with the next annual conference, hearings will be held throughout the denomination to facilitate further discussion and discernment. These will take place both at annual conference and on the district level.

The next year after that, two years from beginning the special response, the issue will return to the floor of conference where there will be times for reflection, open sharing, dialogue, and taking action.

The framework provides guidelines and structure for all of the phases of the special response process.

After a somewhat lengthy discussion and a minor amendment, the delegate body overwhelmingly accepted the newly revised paper.

The next two items of business were presented together, but with separate proposed actions. Both concerned the subject of human sexuality, particularly the church's ongoing struggle with relating to homosexuality. First was a statement of confession and commitment, brought by the standing committee. It recognized the brokenness and tension we currently face within the Church of the Brethren around this subject. It also noted that the 1983 paper on human sexuality is still our most current statement on the issue and pointed out tensions that are present even within that paper.

It was standing committee's recommendation that conference adopt this statement into the special response process. The other item presented alongside this one was a query from Beacon Heights Church in Northern Indiana, asking whether it is the will of the church that the negative language of the 1983 paper concerning same-sex convenantal relationships will continue to guide our journey together. The recommendation for this query was to postpone any action on it until after the special response process for the former item was finished.

As you might imagine, there was a great deal of discussion on these items, including a written letter of response, titled “A Call to Confession, Commitment, and Action” signed by nearly 200 youth and young adults.

Despite some dissenting voices, a wide diversity of folks spoke in support of initiating the special response process with this statement. During discussion, there was a motion made to include the query concerning covenantal relationships in this same item of business, so as to include it in the special response. However, this motion failed to receive the 2/3 majority necessary to combine the two items of business together in such a way.

The delegates voted in favor of beginning the special response process by a clear majority.

As discussion of the query on same-sex covenantal relationships began, an amendment was soon made to include it in the same special-response process as the previous item. While the previous attempt at doing approximately the same thing did not garner the necessary 2/3 vote, the agreed upon rules for doing business only required a majority vote in this second instance. After some deliberation by conference leadership and the resident parliamentarian, and some discussion on the conference floor, the amended motion to include this query in the special response soon passed.

And so, as I said, these three items will remain at the forefront of denominational business for the coming couple of years.

I believe this is a healthy response to a very real need to be discussing the issue of sexuality. We recognize we are not of one mind, yet this is an issue we cannot continue to ignore or postpone. While I'm sure there are people who would like to see the church act swiftly, either one way or the other, it is my hope that moving forward in this deliberate, discerning way will help us to deal with the tension these conversations will surely bring.

I applaud our leadership and the conference as a whole for taking these steps forward, in faith that our bond as followers of Jesus will continue to bind us together in peace even as we face our differences.

Reflections on other business
While not all of the business we dealt with at Annual Conference was quite as controversial as what I've already reflected upon, there are still other things that bear mentioning.

The fourth item of new business was concerning membership in secret oath-bound societies – something that the Church of the Brethren has long understood to be incompatible and in conflict with having a primary loyalty to Christ and the fellowship of the church. A query was brought by a church through the Southern Pennsylvania district voicing concern about this issue and possible confusion amongst Brethren about the appropriateness of being involved in such secret societies.

The standing committee reviewed the query and suggested that the paper adopted by the 1954 conference on membership in secret societies remains true and valid today, and was a sufficient answer to questions raised in the query. Among other things, that 1954 paper recognizes that this is a problem for only a very few churches, though where it is a problem it is rightly a matter of concern. After some responses from folks who have struggled with this in their congregations, a proposal was made to name a 3-person committee to come up with some more contemporary resources concerning the issue to supplement the 1954 paper. This was action was accepted and the query was respectfully returned.

Two ever-present elements of the annual conference agenda are reports from the various church agencies and elections of new officers and board members to various roles throughout the denomination.

While I won't go into the details of each agency report, one common theme that was present in many of the reports was that of financial hardship. Our country's recent economic downturn has impacted us all, from individuals, to congregations to the various agencies and institutions of our denomination and beyond.

Brethren Benefit Trust, the financial arm of the denomination that oversees the Brethren pension plan, insurance services, credit union, and various investments, has been particularly impacted. So too has the Mission and Ministry Board, formerly known as the General Board, who have had to make some very difficult and sometimes controversial financially-driven decisions, particularly with regards to restructuring the Congregational Life ministries area and Brethren Witness, closing the Washington D.C. Office, as well as other similar decisions which have left quite a few people without jobs.

Speaking of the Mission and Ministry Board, a revision to the new organizational bylaws of the Church of the Brethren were presented as information-only this year, as the top level of our denominational organization continues to be restructured, a transition which officially begun with the decision of last year's conference. Next year the revised bylaws will be presented for official acceptance and approval.

Some high points of other business were the exciting stories shared during the reports on intercultural activity and on how we continue to be a living peace church in the 21st century. There was also some passionate sharing during the report on reversing diminishing membership trends, where it was shared that though we may be less in number than we used to be that the Spirit remains strong within our congregations and we are continuing to do the work of Jesus in powerful ways.

As I mentioned, another significant event was the electing of people to various roles within the church. Let me share with you a few of those elected you might find interest in:

• Robert Earl Alley was named moderator-elect, meaning he will moderate the 2011 conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the pastor of the Bridgewater Church of the Brethren in Harrisonburg, VA.
• Victoria Smith of Elizabethtown, PA was elected to the Annual Conference Program and Arrangements Committee.
• David Witkovsky from Huntingdon, PA as a Bethany Trustee representing Brethren Colleges.
• Carol Hess from Lancaster, PA to the Brethren Benefit Trust Board
• Jim Hardenbrook of Edinburg, VA to the Committee on Interchurch Relations.
• David Miller of Dayton, VA will join the On Earth Peace board.
• And Tim Button-Harrison of Ames, Iowa was named to the Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee.

In hearing these names you may or may not have picked up on some of the somewhat concerning trends I see: namely that while there were only two women among all these men elected, only one of those two was elected instead of a man. This despite the fact that exactly 50% of those on the ballot were women. I pray that we can seek to find ways to promote and encourage women in all areas of our church leadership.

Another trend that you may have noticed was that all of those elected currently hail from Pennsylvania or Virginia, save one. And while this is likely somewhat reflective of  the fact that those two areas are by and large the most populous for Brethren, nearly every position had the option of someone from other geographic areas of our denomination. I pray that we can seek to find ways to support a broader diversity of place within the leadership of our denomination.

One other announcement and celebration from Conference was the retirement of long-time Annual Conference Executive Director Lerry Fogle. A large reception was held to thank Lerry for his service. Chris Douglas, who has long overseen the youth and young adult ministries of the denomination, including many large National Youth Conferences, will be the new conference director.

Speaking of youth, I'm going to close my reflections today with the winning video from this year's Annual Conference theme video contest. The video was created by Kay Guyer, a recent high school graduate who will be starting at Manchester college in the fall. As you will probably be able to tell from her video, she has been very involved and active within the denomination, and not just for the sake of this video. There are appearances by our former moderator Jim Beckwith, this year's moderator, our general secretary Stan Noffsinger, as well as many, many other adults and youth from across the denomination.

So to close my reflections – here it is – Brethren we have met to Jump!