Annual Conference 2005 - Wednesday Daily Snapshot Page

Tools at the English-Spanish translation table included Bibles and dictionaries.
Photo by Regina Roberts

QUOTES OF THE DAY
“Never before have we had so much material wealth and been so dissatisfied.” – Chris Douglas, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the General Board, preaching for the closing worship

“There is a deep hope for peace throughout Sudan. I don’t think this was true six month ago, a year ago. There is a window of opportunity there.” – Moderator Jim Hardenbrook reporting on his recent trip to Sudan

“I want us to be spiritually hardy, which requires some discipline...if we exercise daily in God.” – Newly consecrated 2006 Annual Conference moderator Ronald Beachley

After a brief business session Wednesday morning, a consecration service was held for 2006 moderator Ronald Beachley and moderator-elect Belita D. Mitchell.
Photo by Regina Roberts

OVERVIEW OF THE DAY
Rehearsal for the consecration of the new Annual Conference moderator and moderator-elect opened the last day of the Conference, along with Bible studies and a theological study.

The consecration concluded a brief business session. The new moderator Ronald Beachley and moderator-elect Belita D. Mitchell were consecrated for their work for the denomination over the coming year. They will lead the 2006 Annual Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 1-5. In other business, the delegates received a report related to the Caring for the Poor paper passed by the 2000 Annual Conference, a report on the moderator’s recent trip to Sudan, and information about a new resource packet for congregations. A presentation was made to 2005 moderator Jim Hardenbrook by the Association for the Arts in the Church of the Brethren.

The children and youth held closing activities before worship.

The closing worship service featured speaker Chris Douglas and a young adult worship team of Matt Guynn, Cindy Laprade, Nate Polzin, and Beth Rhodes.

Participants in the closing worship on Wednesday morning pray for each other.
Photo by Regina Roberts

A REPORT FROM THE CLOSING WORSHIP SERVICE OF THE CONFERENCE
Wednesday is “getaway day” for a lot of Brethren at Annual Conference. Preacher Chris Douglas, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the General Board, was told by a number of friends that they had to leave before she preached at the morning service. As a matter of fact, she assumed that Jim Hardenbrook and Ron Beachley would be the last ones left and she asked them to sit together so it would look like there were more folks.

As it turned out, there were plenty to listen to Douglas as she reminded the Brethren that Jesus calls us to an abundant life that eludes the more wealth and worldly success we seek (John 10:10).

In the first of three reflections, Douglas called to mind the fable of the frog in the pot who never noticed how the water was slowly getting hotter–until it was boiling. “Like the frog, we get so acclimated to crazy schedules in our lives that we no longer even question the insanity of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. nonstop schedules.”

This hit home for her when she and her husband took a vacation without alarm clocks and slept 13, 12, and 11 hours the first three nights. “We had no idea we were that tired,” she said. “Is that the abundant life Jesus was talking about?” No, Douglas insisted, “The abundant life that Jesus invited people to is a way of living that is deeply centered in Jesus and grounded in God.”

Conference musician, Marilyn Sexton Mason, contributes to closing worship.
Photo by Regina Roberts

She concluded, “Jesus turned the values of this world upside down as he began to invite people into a new way of living, which he called the Kingdom of God. Jesus pointed to a paradox when he reminds us that if we want to gain our lives, we have to lose them, that the first would be last, and the last would be first. And then he says that thing about, ‘What does it profit if you gain the whole world and lose your soul?’”

In her second and third reflections, Douglas focused on discipleship and hope, calling on Brethren not only to take up their cross to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23) but also to consider the example of Jesus and his suffering so as not to lose heart (Hebrews 12:3-4). “It is in remembering Jesus that we have hope. It’s like reading the last page of a mystery book. We know how it ends!” she said. “The final victory is God’s.”

Douglas used multimedia presentations and worked with a young adult worship team of Cindy Laprade, Beth Rhodes, Nate Polzin, and Matt Guynn. Those who were able to stay for Wednesday’s service were certainly rewarded with a final reminder to focus our eyes upon Jesus.

Members of the 2005 Annual Conference news team, a ministry of the General Board, contributed to this report: Regina Roberts, Jesse Reid, Hannah Edwards, and Sarah Kovacs, photographers; Kathleen Campanella, Karen Garrett, Jill Kline, Frank Ramirez, Frances Townsend, Sarah Leatherman Young, and Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, writers; Amy Heckert, technical support; Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford and Becky Ullom, editors.

219th Annual Conference Peoria, Illinois July 2-6, 2005