The following terms reflect the culture of the Church of the Brethren, a denomination grounded on the principles of Anabaptism and founded through the Pietist efforts of Alexander Mack, in the summer of 1708 near the small German village of Schwarzenau. This resource is not an exhaustive compilation of all denominational terminology, which might also be garnered from other Brethren works, such as the Brethren Encyclopedia, Brethren Bibliography, European Origins, Brethren in America, Ephrata Cloister, 19th Century Acculturation, Brethren Timeline, Brethren Groups, and Brethren Genealogy. You are encouraged to share your comments, suggestions, or corrections with the Web Administrator.

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General Board

The Church of the Brethren administrative division is known as the General Board, and is directly responsible to the congregational delegate body at Annual Conference. It was established in 1947, to administer, institute, and coordinate the many program functions of denomination. The Board is composed of 20 individuals who are elected by the delegates of Annual Conference to serve designated terms, 6 ex-officio members, plus eight departments whose directors, coordinators, employees, and field staff are supervised by an Executive Director. There also is a Conference and Service Center in New Windsor, Maryland, and bureau offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland.
In March of 1995 the General Board was given the news that significant budget shortfalls were expected for the foreseeable future. In wrestling with the implications of this news, the board discerned that the problem involved something deeper than finances. While the financial realities had brought our situation to our attention most forcefully, this deeper problem had more to do with vision and identity. The Board appointed a Vision Discernment Team and after receiving their report, established a Redesign Steering Committee.
Over the past several months the committee has been working hard to sort out what can be done to restore momentum to the program and mission of the Church of the Brethren General Board. The committee has been listening to hundreds of people describe what is going on, what has happened in the past, and what their aspirations are for the church tomorrow. Here's what they found. (Submitted by Christopher Bowman, General Board Chairperson during Redesign)
 www.brethren.org/mmb/

General Offices / Elgin, Illinois

One of the first major agenda items was a change of location from Mount Morris, Illinois. Location committees were appointed even before the stock transfer, or official recognition, or approval from Annual Meeting. Northern Indiana and the Chicago area were prime considerations, but the name Elgin surfaced in 1899. Property was acquired at 22 South State Street, and a three story building erected that also housed offices as well as the presses. New energy launched Brethren Publishing House (BPH) into the center of denominational activities. It almost became synonymous with the core movement of the denomination. Elgin was a term that was used more frequently now to describe the hierarchy of the denomination in general. Numerous non-Brethren commercial ventures outside of the denomination proved to be very profitable, and offered financial stability that permitted BPH to produce small denominational projects that would never have turned a profit on their own. But two factors heavily affected the publishing house in the next fifty years: more highly educated Brethren were searching for literary needs outside of the denomination, and World War II forced all publishing companies to reduce their paper consumption. Following the war, the creation of the General Brotherhood Board (GBB) absorbed all other boards and placed staff under one supervisory office. Down sizing found the Brethren Publishing House becoming more scattered throughout the growing operations and structure of the General Brotherhood Board, and in the process of time, full absorption meant the loss of a separate identity for publishing operations. In 1956, the term Brethren Press was introduced to help reclaim this loss of identity.
New larger facilities were dedicated at 1451 Dundee Avenue on April 9, 1959 and the term General Offices became more prevalent in denominational conversation. The new building offered a larger publishing area with more extensive operations. With a changing mood of the denomination towards ecumenicism, Brethren Press started looking to include outside markets as well. In 1970, several regularly produced materials were discontinued, but new, more interpretive productions appeared, plus greater collaborative efforts with other publishers. During the 1980's, a changing financial and technological scenario forced Brethren Press to sell it's printing presses and outsource the work. They were now printers without presses. Despite restructuring and denominational struggles, Brethren Press continues to meet the printing needs of the Church of the Brethren, especially in the area of General Board materials and curriculum for the congregations.

	Church of the Brethren 1451 Dundee Avenue Elgin, Illinois 60120	(800) 323 8039 (847) 742-6103
	www.brethren.org/	COBNews@aol.com

Global Mission Offering

One of the eight administrative departments of the General Board.
 www.brethren.org/offerings/gmo/globalmission.html

Gospel Messenger

The monthoy flagship publication of the Church of the Brethren. "Gospel" was removed from the magazine title in January 1965, when the frequency of issue was changed from weekly to monthly. It was a period when the denomination was experiencing cultural shifts.
See also Messenger.