Gretchen Zience
Delegate from Oakton Church of the Brethren
I have been attending our church for about 28 years and have gone to many Annual Conferences all over the United States. But this year was the first time I’ve had the privilege of being the delegate from our congregation. And I suppose as is true with any new job, there were pluses and minuses. As the delegate, of course, one needs to attend every business session—both morning and afternoon every day of conference. That interfered with my usual pastime of checking out restaurants, shopping, and taking a tour of the host city. But honestly, the pluses outweighed the minuses!
Conference is generally 3.5 days and the location rotates every year. The year my daughter was the delegate, for example, conference was in San Diego and I have to say that is a more exciting location than Columbus, OH! And next year it will be held in Tampa, FL. Regardless of location, though, conference was a wonderful experience for me this year in many ways.
A few years ago, the Program and Arrangements Committee decided to try using round tables of 8 to 10 delegates instead of stadium-style seating. That year and each year since, delegates have highly praised that arrangement and I agree with their assessment. You had a chance to get to know 7 other folks from all over our denomination. You had the opportunity to discuss with your table mates items of business, which expanded everyone’s perspective and invited congenial sharing of opinions and experiences. I gained 7 new friends at conference—which was definitely an unexpected gift—and certainly a plus. Each table had a facilitator, and I acted in this role at my table. Not a difficult job because no one person dominated the conversation and no one was argumentative. I imagine this table arrangement will be used at future conferences.
The bulletin insert this Sunday provides an excellent recap of the events and business at conference this year, so I won’t restate that information for you. I would like to share that annual conference truly has something of interest for everyone. Every day, there are special activities for children—all age groups. There are special breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, concerts, worship services, insight sessions (at least 59 insight sessions, but my count!), and then those business sessions. Business items this year were not especially controversial and included the following topics:
- Revision to Ministerial Leadership Polity (unfinished business (UB)1)
- Mission and Ministry Board Representation (UB5)
- Ecumenism in the 21st Century (UB4)
- Climate Change (UB3)
- Congregational Ethics Revisions (UB2)
- Revisions to the Special Response Process (new business (NB)3)
- Resolution regarding EYN (NB4)
- Church of the Brethren Inc. Bylaws (NB1)
- Interpretation of Polity regarding Agency Financial Reports (NB5—deferred to 2015)
I will put the conference book, which has a detailed report of every business item, in the church library—please feel free to look it over if you’re interested in reading more about conference. In addition, we will have a conference wrap-up DVD that will have excerpts from concerts and worship services. Please talk to me if you have any questions—I’d be happy to discuss annual conference with you. I urge those of you who are able to consider attending conference next year in Tampa, FL—it’s a wonderful opportunity to find out what’s going on in our denomination and to meet people from the Church of the Brethren throughout the world. Thank you for letting me represent you this year at our church’s 228th recorded annual conference.