June 30 – July 4, 2001
Baltimore, Maryland
1. The theme “Revive Us Again” was a welcome emphasis, and it provided a strong spiritual atmosphere for the four days in Baltimore.
2. The worship service preaching was biblical and powerful. It was the best preaching at the Annual Conference that many can remember.
3. Moderator Phill Carlos Archbold, and Moderator-Elect Paul Grout, gave strong leadership during the event, and wanted to honor God’s Word in all they said and did.
4. BRF invited Paul Grout to speak at its Insight Session on the subject, “What Paul Grout would like to say to the Brethren Revival Fellowship.” The room turned out to be only half as large as it should have been, because nearly 400 people showed up. It was an interesting meeting. See other parts of this Witness for more details on this session.
5. Business items included the establishing of an “Annual Conference Council” which will monitor and oversee the Annual Conference, as well as keep an eye on (and coordinate) the entire operation of the Church. The Council will be made up of past, future, and current Annual Conference moderators, as well as the Annual Conference secretary, and a district executive–all elected by the Annual Conference.
6. A resolution of apology to the Ashland Brethren Church was passed by a unanimous vote. It seeks to express regret for the stubbornness that helped to bring division to our church body in the 1880s. Back then the Ashland Brethren were known as the progressives, but today are more evangelical as a denomination than the Church of the Brethren is. They have aligned ecumenically with the National Association of Evangelicals; whereas the Church of the Brethren (regretably to many of us) has official ties to the more liberal National Council of Churches. The matter of relationship with the Ashland Brethren Church will be studied and brought back to the Annual Conference in 2002.
7. With a membership loss this past year of more than 2,400 members, a query was adopted to pursue how we may give a higher priority to evangelism and church planting.
8. A Brethren Brazilian by the name of Marcos Inhauser was introduced to the Conference as one who is beginning to work at a new Church of the Brethren mission endeavor in the country of Brazil. The project is in the infancy stage with regular Sunday services just begun.
9. A paper on Brethren and the use of litigation was passed, which affirms the longstanding Brethren doctrinal position of not going to law. The paper suggests “alternative ways of resolving conflict,” rather than pursuing litigation to settle differences.
10. In at least one of the worship services, another attempt at interpretive dancing was done. I haven’t yet figured out what this is supposed to accomplish, but in the realm of worship it leaves me cold and dry!
11. Overall, this was a Conference where I felt challenged to seek spiritual revival in my own personal life. May these fires continue to burn. I believe that Paul Grout will do his best as the new Moderator to continue this emphasis as we look forward to the 2002 Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, God willing.
September/October 2001
CONCERNS ABOUT THE
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
AT BALTIMORE
The Church of the Brethren opened its 215th recorded Annual Conference in Baltimore on Saturday evening, June 30, 2001. The Saturday evening preaching services was attended by 4,160 people. The agenda for the next several days included elections, eleven reports, four unfinished business items, and three new business items. There was a lot of emphasis on peace and justice issues, but scarcely a word about the marital wars in our homes, or about the destruction of 1 1/2 million babies in our own country each year.
Although there was good preaching in the worship services, and there were some positive discussions during the business sessions, there were evidences of spiritual decay behind the scenes.
1. Probably the most offensive feature at Baltimore was the distribution and sale of a series of unorthodox tracts on Brethren beliefs. The small six page folders treated a number of subjects, including creeds, baptism, Jesus, and salvation. Samples of the tracts were placed in the bags when purchases were made at the Brethren Press bookstore in the display area.
The ‘Salvation” tract declares that “to claim we are saved is to…stunt our spiritual growth,” and concludes with the statement that “promises of salvation are almost irrelevant.”
The writer of the ‘Jesus” tract (whoever he/she was) says that “the New Testament writers seem to have different beliefs about Jesus,” and then concludes by declaring that “Jesus called us to trust him and follow him, not to define him.”
BRF has distributed Witness articles on both topics listed above. A limited number of back issues are still available by writing to BRF’s Ephrata, PA address.
Volume 12, No. 4 “The Threefold Plan of Salvation”
Volume 18, No. 6 “What the Bible Teaches About Jesus Christ”
Volume 29, No. 2 “The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ”
BRF believes that someone should be held accountable for promoting and selling materials that make light of the relevancy of salvation and refuse to gloriously declare who the Lord Jesus Christ is.
2. Most of us who attended the Annual Conference this year saw very little evidence of activity by the glbt (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered) group. The Mennonite/Brethren Gay Caucus held a luncheon on July 3, and then outside the Convention Center after the Tuesday afternoon business session, a group of advocates handed out leaflets lamenting the attempt of Annual Conference leaders to bypass the gay caucus. Their handout declared, “We can remain silent no longer.” In many mainline conferences this summer, debates about homosexual behavior received center stage, but the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference was essentially silent on the whole issue. The Bible is so clear in its condemnation of homosexual activity, that multitudes of church members who have caved in on other debatable kinds of conduct, tend to draw the line when it comes to approving same sex immorality. As a result, the appeals by the gay caucus tend to be very divisive. BRF has distributed Witness articles on the subject of homosexuality. A very limited number may be available by writing to BRF’s Ephrata, PA, address.
Volume 28, No. 3 “More on the Homosexual Lifestyle”
Volume 31, No.5 “BRF Position on Homosexual Practice”
BRF sees the issues surrounding the authority and interpretation of the Scriptures, the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the nature of inclusiveness in the Body of Christ, as the major items of concern in the Church today.
3. The Baltimore Sun (Sunday, July 1, 2001) carried a major article by a staff reporter named John Rivera, giving some background about the Brethren who were meeting in their city for several days. The article was entitled “Dwindling church eyes recruitment.”
Rivera pointed out that Church of the Brethren membership has decreased in the past 27 years, and that as a result, delegates will discuss items like starting new congregations, establishing foreign missions, and reaching out for converts. He rightly concluded that Brethren are “putting service above proselytizing.” Rivera quoted Wendy McFadden (publisher of the Messenger) as saying that it seems like “evangelism isn’t in the Brethren DNA.” The Sun reporter concluded that most Brethren prefer “serving their neighbors” rather than “evangelizing them” (that is, calling them to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ).
The reporter quoted leading church workers who say our primary work is serving others, yet at the same time, the Conference delegates overwhelmingly called for more emphasis on evangelism. BRF believes that it is time for believers in the Church of the Brethren who take the Bible seriously, to strongly protest the lack of emphasis on soul-saving evangelism.
September/October 2001
