220th Annual Conference Des Moines, Iowa July 1-5, 2006

Index	Theme	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Wrap Up

Moderator Ron Beachley, right, confers with moderator-elect Belita Mitchell and secretary Fred Swartz. - photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford

Moderator Beachley and moderator-elect Mitchell listened closely to discussion during Standing Committee meetings. - photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"It's virtually impossible to find a company that would be totally clean in every area.” -- Wil Nolen, president of Brethren Benefit Trust, in a Standing Committee discussion of “Resolution: Divestment from Companies Selling Products Used as Weapons in Israel and Palestine,” an item of business for Annual Conference related to issues of socially responsible investing

“Put ’em in a wheelchair!” -- Lee-Lani Wright, Standing Committee member, in a tongue-in-cheek response to Moderator Ronald Beachley’s question of how to “put teeth” into the “Commitment of Accessibility and Inclusion Resolution” coming to the 2006 Conference. A previous Conference action on accessibility has been largely ignored by churches, Beachley said.

OVERVIEW OF THE DAY
The Standing Committee of district delegates continued to meet for a third day today. Their meetings began Wednesday, June 28, and will continue through Saturday morning, July 1.

The General Board’s Executive Committee held a day of meetings in preparation for meetings of the full board on Saturday, July 1.

The Council of District Executives met all day and plans to continue meeting through the morning Saturday, July 1.

The Ministers’ Association began its conference this afternoon and will meet through Saturday morning, July 1, on the theme, “Third Way Faith Reimagined: Exploring the Kinship Between Anabaptism and Postmodernity.” The keynote speaker is Shane Hipps, pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church in Glendale, Ariz., and author of The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and the Church.

PREVIEW OF MAIN EVENTS AT THE 2006 ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Iowa Events Center in Des Moines is the site for main events of the Conference. The Veterans Auditorium will be the site of business sessions and worship services. The Exhibit Hall will be in Hy-Vee Hall. In addition, some meal events and insight sessions also will be held at the Convention Complex and the Marriott Hotel.

Worship services, which are free and open to the public, will begin with a Saturday evening, July 1, service at 7:15 p.m. Worship services will continue on Sunday morning, July 2, at 10:20 a.m.; Monday evening, July 3, at 7:20 p.m.; Tuesday evening, July 4, at 7:10 p.m.; and Wednesday morning, July 5, at 10:15 a.m.

Moderator Ronald D. Beachley and moderator-elect Belita D. Mitchell will lead delegates in business sessions beginning Sunday afternoon and evening, July 2; Monday morning and afternoon, July 3; Tuesday morning and afternoon, July 4; and Wednesday morning, July 5.

Major business items are:
Call to Stewardship Education
Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) Articles of Organization
Resolution: Divestment from Companies Selling Products Used as Weapons in Israel and Palestine
Call to Reduce Global Poverty and Hunger
Commitment of Accessibility and Inclusion Resolution
Doing Church Business
(For full documents of business items, see www.brethren.org/ac/desmoines/2006business.html.)

New this year are “Together: Conversations on Being the Church,” which will take place during business sessions on July 3 and 4 in four half-hour segments. Together is a denomination-wide study emphasis on “ecclesiology” or the nature of the church.

Special events include “Passport to Wellness” activities sponsored by the Association of Brethren Caregivers, Brethren Benefit Trust, and the Church of the Brethren General Board. Participants will earn stamps in a wellness “passport” by completing activities at these agencies’ exhibits. Participants completing 12 of 20 activities will earn a free t-shirt.

Onsite registration for the Conference is still available, cost is $100 for an adult for the whole Conference, with discounts available for weekend and one-day registrations and reduced fees for children and youth. Children under 12 are free. There is no charge to attend worship only.

CHURCH SETTING
Northern Plains District is the Church of the Brethren host for the Conference. The district includes 33 congregations and three new church projects spread over four states: 26 congregations and one project in Iowa, four congregations and two projects in Minnesota, two congregations in North Dakota, and one in Montana. Seven congregations are jointly affiliated with another denomination.

The district office is in Ankeny, Iowa, north of Des Moines. Connie R. Burkholder is the district executive minister.

Stover Memorial Church of the Brethren, located in Des Moines at 4100 6th Ave., was organized in 1945. Clara Glover pastors the congregation of 56 members.

Other Church of the Brethren congregations in central Iowa are Ankeny, Beaver, Dallas Center, Maxwell, Panora, Panther Creek in Adel, and Prairie City.

Northern Plains District is holding its district conference in Des Moines on Saturday, July 1.

Members of the 2006 Annual Conference news team, a ministry of the Church of the Brethren General Board, contributed to the Annual Conference web pages: Jake Blouch, Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, Kathleen Campanella, Eddie Edmonds, Karen Garrett, Clara Glover, Amy Heckert, Keith Hollenberg, Jill Kline, Sarah Kovacs, Frank Ramirez, Jesse Reid, Regina Roberts, Frances Townsend, and Becky Ullom.