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Date: July 22, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com) 
 

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN NEWSLINE
July 22, 2005
 
MODERATOR ENCOURAGES THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN, CONFERENCE CONSECRATES  
LEADERS FOR 2006 and 2007
 
July 22, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- Jim Hardenbrook, moderator of the Church of  the

Brethren Annual Conference 2005, expressed hope, trust, and gratitude for  
the Church of the Brethren as he led delegates in business sessions and
preached 
 for opening worship. He also continued his call to the church to fix its 
eyes on  Jesus.
 
The Conference was held in Peoria, Ill., July 2-6. Total registration came  
to 3,341 including 858 delegates.
 
Through his travels as moderator, Hardenbrook has found that "hope and	trust

are on the rise in our denomination." Church renewal and new church  
development are close to the top of most district agendas, he said, but
added,	"I 
remain concerned about the health of our congregations." The moderator opened
 
each business session with a reading from the gospels, to continue the
emphasis  
on gospel reading that he has encouraged.
 
The moderator and moderator-elect for Annual Conference in 2006 were  
consecrated on July 6. The new moderator, Ronald D. Beachley, executive
minister  of 
Western Pennsylvania District, received the gavel in an official handing-over
 
of the position from Hardenbrook. "It's beautiful," said Hardenbrook, gavel 
in  hand. But the moderator's gavel is designed to be difficult to hold and
not 
to  fit in the hand comfortably, he added. That's the way church leaders 
should	handle power, he said. "So hold this carefully," he told the new  
moderator.
 
In his first statement as moderator, Beachley called the denomination to  
prepare for next year's Conference with three disciplines: reading aloud of a
 
chapter in the New Testament each day; fasting from food, television, the  
Internet, or another aspect of life the first day of each month; and praying 
daily 
for someone who does not know Christ. "We will come back next year and	share

our stories of how that has affected people's lives," he said.
 
Moderator-elect Belita D. Mitchell also was consecrated. Beachley will lead  
Annual Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 1-5, 2006, and Mitchell will 
lead  the Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, June 30-July 4, 2007.
 
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to  
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith  in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith  
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
 300th 
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United	
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the  
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
 
# # #
 
For more information contact:
 
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_ 
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org) 
 
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The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,

 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board. 
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