Message from the Moderator

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. –2 Corinthians 5:17-18

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I’m excited to welcome you to Greensboro, NC this July 3-7 for our 233rd Annual Conference where we will focus on the proclamation of Jesus Christ–the One in whom we live and move and have our being, the One who stands at the center of our life together. As we together proclaim Christ, may we reclaim passion for Him our Divine Teacher, Savior and Redeemer, Lord and King. In that proclamation it is my hope and unceasing prayer that through the power of the Holy Spirit’s work among us we will reclaim passion for our life together as gathered believers called Church of the Brethren and return to our first love as His bride, the church.
 
The proclamation of Christ brings a message of “New Creation!” through a daily dying to self and living for Him who died for us. When God’s Spirit is at work in us, seeds are produced for ongoing transformation yielding fresh blossoms of passion for the Kingdom throughout our lives. May we each embrace Christ's transformation and open our spirits to how we together are called to be transformed as His Church in today’s world.
 
This year we will be turning our attention away from the usual many items of business toward the hard work of in depth conversations around the discernment of a Compelling Vision. These conversations will take place during our usual business sessions when delegates, along with those non-delegates who have registered to be part of the process, will be led through extended conversation around deep questions that address foundational aspects of our identity, purpose, and covenant together. If you are registered as a non-delegate and have not signed up to be part of the Compelling Vision process during the business session you may still do that by contacting Chris Douglas, Conference Director, and she will add that to your registration. 
 
The themes for our discussion during these conversations have been generated as a result of previous conversations held during Annual Conference 2018 and within the districts over recent months. Through those conversations we have begun to peal back the many layers of who we are as a people formed by our history, our governance, our relationships, and our various perspectives of faith and culture. It is my prayer that from this deeper understanding of who we are that we will find a renewed vision for how we will best fulfill Christ’s mission for the Church.
 
I invite all to be in prayer for Annual Conference and especially for the Compelling Vision process. A prayer calendar which guides us to a scripture and prayer focus for each day is available for you to use beginning Sunday, May 5 and continuing through the week of Annual Conference. I believe there is great power in many participating in prayer together around the same purpose, and I hope you will join with this effort. You may download a prayer calendar at this link: www.brethren.org/compellingvision
 
Many of you are coming with various expectations surrounding our work at this Annual Conference. I encourage us to suspend all expectations except this one: that the Holy Spirit will move among and through us in miraculous ways as we come together to proclaim Christ through our worship, our study, our fellowship, and our intentional conversation about the future of the Church of the Brethren. May it be so!
 
With enthusiastic expectancy for the movement of God’s Spirit,
Donita Keister