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The July 2-6, 2005 Annual Conference was held in the Peoria Civic Center located in downtown Peoria, Illinois. The center comprises three separate venues under one roof: an Arena with a total seating capacity of 12,145, a performing arts Theater, an Exhibit hall offering 63,668 square feet, plus additional small meeting rooms. Business and worship convened in the large Carver arena, also home of the Peoria hockey team the Rivermen. Some conference attendees joked about sitting in the penalty box. Leisure activities were plentiful along the riverfront, including a flea market with local Artisans demonstrating their trade, Street Musicians entertaining passersby, and children jumping around in this animal Air House. Especially refreshing to Adventurous Brethren was the afternoon cruise on the resident paddle wheel The Spirit of Peoria. Special words of greeting were expressed to the delegate body on Tuesday afternoon from Ken Hunn, Executive Director of The Brethren Church, especially remarking that their past Conference theme centered on Evangelism, and their current theme centers on Evangelism, and that their next theme will center on Evangelism. Also during the Tuesday evening worship the traditional Children's Choir blessed worshippers with several songs. Immediately before each worship service the Christ Candle was lit. A new technological innovation for the deaf and hearing impaired this year was the use of Closed-Circuit Captioning instead of Sign Language. People regularly met in front of the Civic Center for Eating & Fellowship or Prayer & Singing. COB-NET is now offering Brethren Wallpapers and Annual Conference 2005 is our debut issue. Reportable Agencies: Bethany Theological Seminary celebrates their 100th Anniversary with a large exhibit of archived material including former student desks, paraphernalia, and numerous photographs covering their different ministry phases: Hastings Street Mission, Bible School and the Seminary on Van Buren Street. Brethren Benefit Trust, the people with the green logo encouraged us to Think Pink, in an effort to create awareness concerning good health (taken from the common slogan of being “In the Pink”). Unfinished Business: One year extensions were granted to both the Doing Church Business Study Committee and the Intercultural Study Committee for additional time that would enable them to deliver a more complete report. New Business: New Mandate for the Review and Evaluation Committee purpose is expanded to include an examination of the entire denominational structure. This committee meets every ten years for a two year review process. General Board Polity Revisions were minor changes in wording that would make all documents and subsections conform to current practice. Functions of the General Board were amended to “provide leadership in prophetic social policy development for the denomination.” Annual Conference Polity Revisions included expanding the rotating location of Annual Conference from the current three geographic areas (Eastern-Southeastern, Central, Western-Pacific) to six:
Also see the new Rotation Map. This rearrangement offers greater traveling consideration to the heavier concentration of Brethren in the eastern half of the nation. Duties of the Moderator to convene and review were also curtailed since program agencies are now conducting their own reviews as well as the Review and Evaluation Committee. Brethren Benefit Trust announced disappointing growth in the Brethren Medical Plan (a health insurance plan for pastors, church employees, district staff, and affiliated institutions or agencies) that has brought the Plan to a financial crossroads. Various reasons were cited such as younger pastors choosing lower cost, more competitive plans that unfortunately diminishes the pool of payers to the Plan that largely supports typically older pastors whose utilization is generally higher. BBT had previously asked the twenty-three Districts to target a minimum of seventy-five percent enrollment to keep the Plan financially solvent. In an effort to resolve the current financial crisis, Brethren Medical Plan Resolution called for a one year study committee that would examine the situation in greater detail. Report of Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee was accepted that recommended a cost of living adjustment of 2.8%. Additional Notes:
Sermons:
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