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Conference Theme and Logo
The 224th recorded Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 3-7, 2010. The theme statement is
Taking Jesus Seriously
"if you love me, you will obey what I command " ( John 14:15 , NIV)
We live in challenging times. Perhaps we have been lulled by past economic stability. Perhaps we are troubled by social issues of the day. Perhaps we too closely resemble the world around us. Perhaps we have become distracted by numbers -- or how they are diminishing. Are we spending more time maintaining what is, than participating in the mission of "what could be"?
We live in the most powerful nation the world has seen since the Roman Empire. Like the Romans, our culture worships the gods of power-that-defeats, power-of-consumption, and the power-of-self. Our entertainment has grown more violent, our perceived need for stuff more prevalent, and our belief in individual rights lifted above all else. And yet, as a culture, individuals report feeling more and more isolated from other human beings. This description does not sound like a world seen through the eyes of a loving Creator, and the dreams dreamed for this creation.
The Church of the Brethren is made for such a time as this.
Among the most central ways the Brethren have lived out their spiritual inheritance -- taking Jesus seriously -- is through honest reading of the Gospels, followed by straigh t forward discipleship. We have lifted up the ideal of non-violence in our interactions with others and the world. We have sought a way of living that respects the creation we have been given to tend, and all who dwell in it. We have believed in the strength of a faith journey pursued together, even as we each develop a deep relationship with our Creator through knowing Jesus.
Even when divided -- by theology, practice, geography, generational perspective and more -- the core value of the Church of the Brethren has been our passionate pursuit of Jesus, to put into everyday practice our understandings of the life, teachings, intera c tions, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This "taking Jesus seriously" is ev i dent from the first gatherings around the Eder River, and runs true through our history, even during the moments of our past which include much brokenness; the Brethren have sought the mind of Christ. We have not always agreed about what that mind might be at any given moment. But the pursuit -- taking Jesus seriously -- has been genuine. Regardless of what may divide us, that pursuit is what we have in common for the journey.
Shawn Flory Replogle
2010 Annual Conference Moderator
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Annual Conference 
