BRETHREN MEET IN SABIN CENTER The 210th Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren convenes this week in the Dr. Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center. The spacious and convenient center is named after the physician who discovered the polio vaccine. Dr. Sabin lived and worked in Cincinnati. The center's main exhibit hall contains 162,000 square feet, enough space for Annual Conferenceþs worship services, business meetings, and exhibits. In addition, there are 41 meeting rooms and a full-service banquet kitchen. The Convention Center's architecture, incorporating many different levels and skylights, was designed to emphasize space and light. This is the third time Annual Conference has been held in Cincinnati and the fourteenth Big Meeting in Ohio. MODERATOR TONIGHT’S SPEAKER Dr. H. Fred Bernhard, pastor of the Oakland Church of the Brethren, Arcanum, Ohio, and moderator of this week's Annual Conference, will deliver the message for tonight's opening worship service. Co-author of a new book on Christian hospitality, Bernhard chose as the theme for the Cincinnati Conference, "...as Christ welcomed you." He and the Oakland congregation have modeled a caring, welcoming, fellowship. Bernhard is a native of Pennsylvania, and has held pastorates in Bassett, Virginia; Sharpsburg, Maryland; Johnstown and Quarryville, Pennsylvania; and the Oakland Church near Gettysburg, Ohio. He served three years on the General Board and a brief time on the Brethren Benefit Trust Board. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Earlham School of Religion and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Bethany Seminary. He is married to the former Joice Burall and the Bernhards have three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. JURIED SHOWCASE TONIGHT AT AACB The 4th Annual Juried Art Showcase of two- dimensional art will be featured at the Association for the Arts (AACB) exhibit tonight, immediately following the worship service. Everyone is invited to meet the artists. QUILTERS INVITED TO AACB EXHIBIT Threaded needles await all quilters willing to help prepare the quilts and wall hangings for the Association for the Arts (AACB) auction Saturday afternoon. Since 1974, the Conference quilting bee in the AACB exhibit has offered opportunity for socialization, and the sale of quilts has funded numerous hunger projects. ROSS, STEINER MODERATOR NOMINEES Jimmy R. Ross and Donna Forbes Steiner, nominees for Moderator-Elect top the ballot that Standing Committee will present to the delegate body tomorrow morning at 10. Ross is pastor of the Lititz Church of the Brethren, Lititz, Pa. Steiner is a member of the Union Bridge Church, Union Bridge, Md, and is a consultant for ministry. Both candidates have served as district moderators and as a member of Conference and General Board committees. Others on the ballot include: General Board, At Large - - Isabel Figueroa, J. Wayne Judd, Sue Sappenfield Overman, Marie Hoover Willoughby; General Board, Mid-Atlantic Rep. — Linda Frey Barkdoll, J. Paul Wampler; General Board, So. Ohio Rep. — Mary Jo Flory Steury, M. Dwayne Yost; General Board, Virlina Rep. — David R. Miller, Anne Murray Reid; Ann. Conf. Prog. & Arrang. Comm. — David Eastis, Peter Kaltenbaugh, Jr.; Past. Comp. & Ben. Advis. Comm, Laity. — J. Colleen Michael, Karen Schmidt; Comm. on Interchurch Relat. — Cheryl Cayford, Allen Deeter; Breth. Benefit Trust — L. Wayne Fralin; Gail Morgan Habecker; Beth. Theol. Sem. Electors — (colleges) Dorothy Lehman Hershberger, Phillip C. Stone; — (laity) Floy Detwiler; Jim Weaver. The delegates are scheduled to vote on the ballot Thursday, 9:00 a.m. JUDY REIMER TO SPEAK AT BBN EVENT Judy Mills Reimer, last year's Annual Conference moderator, will be the featured speaker for the Brethren Business Network (BBN) Breakfast, 7:30 Thursday morning. The Conference Booklet incorrectly lists others as speakers. Reimer, who has experience in commercial retailing, is a member of the advisory council of the newly-formed organization, BBN. She will address the mission and promise of such a network among Brethren. Tickets may be purchased at the ticket window, near the registration/information area. CONFERENCE ORCHESTRA A FIRST The orchestra assembled for the worship services at this Conference marks the first time such a group has been organized for the entire week. Andrew Wright, pastor of New Carlisle, Pa. Church of the Brethren, is the orchestra coordinator, as well as music coordinator for the entire conference. Wright, who also assembled orchestras for the Evangelism Conference in 1995 and the New Life Assembly in June, called together the participants for this week's orchestra and led them in several rehearsals prior to Conference. Wright studied music in his native country, England. He also has managed Brethren Camp Woodland Altars in Ohio. FOOD SERVICE BEGINS TOMORROW A food service for lunch and dinner will be available beginning tomorrow in Exhibit Hall C, for the convenience of all Conferencegoers. Downtown Cincinnati also has a number of eating places, especially for lunch. CONSECRATION SET FOR LUNCHEON Mary Mason will be consecrated as a Lafiya Community Nurse at the Caregivers Recognition Luncheon tomorrow in the Bronze Ballroom of the Regal Hotel. Mason will serve the Caimito Christian Center in Puerto Rico beginning in 1997. Three others will be recognized at the luncheon for outstanding service in health and caring ministries: Robert Cain, Jr., CEO of The Brethren's Home, Greenville, Ohio; John Eller, Sebring, Fla.; and Sonja Griffith, McPherson, Kan. The Brethren Home at New Oxford, Pa., will receive commendation. Phillip Stone, president of Bridgewater College, will address the luncheon on "Educating for Wholeness." BRETHREN BUILD HABITAT HOUSE Brethren volunteers are participating in a "Blitz Build" in which the Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity is constructing three houses, start to finish, between June 24 and July 5. In connection with its Annual Conference in Cincinnati, the Church of the Brethren undertook to build one of the houses at 825 Blair Avenue. With the help of many volunteers, including a Brethren Senior High Youth Work Camp, the house is now in the finishing stage. Jan Thompson is the project coordinator and Bruce Barwick1 of Elkhart, Ind. is supervising the construction. Sponsors of the Brethren Habitat project include the Andrew Center, Brethren Volunteer Service, the Brethren Disaster Program, and the General Board News Services. The house will be dedicated on Friday at 2:00 p.m. in a ceremony involving Millard Fuller, co-founder of Habitat for Humanity International, and Cincinnati's mayor, Roxanne Quails. Honored also at the dedication will be the late Ivan Fry, who initially was tapped to be the project coordinator for the Habitat house. Ivan devoted many hours of service to Brethren Disaster projects and was a testament to the Brethren practice of faith lived out through service. OMA INVITES PARTICIPANTS THURSDAY The Outdoor Ministries Association (OMA) invites all Conferencegoers to consider participation in morning and evening OMA events to be held Thursday. The 11th annual Run/Walk will get underway at 6:15 a.m. at the Elm St. entrance to the Convention Center. Participants are asked to contribute $10 and pledge sheets, course maps, and other information are available at the OMA exhibit. Contributions are divided equally between OMA and the OMA Environmental Grant Fund. An Intergenerational Campfire will be sponsored by OMA Thursday evening at 9. Bus tickets to the site are $3 and are available at the Conference ticket windows. Buses will leave from the Elm Street entrance immediately following the Conference evening worship. TICKETS READY FOR RETIREE DINNER Those persons who made reservations for the Benefit Trust Retiree Dinner, to be held Thursday, 5 p.m., should pick up their tickets at the Brethren Benefit Trust exhibit (booths 21-23) before 5 p.m. tomorrow. BVS TRAINING SETTING FOR REPORT The setting for this year’s General Board Live Report to the delegates and others in attendance at Conference will be a Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) orientation meeting in which the participants must plan a dinner that is affordable and appealing to a variety of tastes. The Live Report, always a highlight of Conference business sessions, will be presented Thursday, 9:20 a.m. Akin to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the BVS volunteers engage a Stranger in their midst. Along the way the volunteers learn about reconciliation work in former Yugoslavia, Brethren relief responses to North Korea, the 50th anniversary of Church World Service, an exchange between churches in the inner city and a country town, congregational revitalization in Pennsylvania and California, and boat people in Miami who celebrate a building full of hope. The Live Report is entitled, "The Bread We Break." NEW ANDREW CENTER TITLES AVAILABLE Two new Andrew Center titles are available this week at the Brethren Press Bookstore exhibit. Sharing Living Water, co-authored by Steve Clapp and Sam Detwiler, offers a fresh approach to faith sharing. Widening the Welcome of Your Church, co-authored by Conference Moderator Fred Bernhard and Steve Clapp, explores the meaning and practice of biblical hospitality. Study guides are available for both volumes. BROOKLYN PASTOR TO SPEAK AT DINNER Phill Carlos Archbold, associate pastor of First Church of the Brethren, Brooklyn, New York, is the speaker at tomorrow's Church Growth and Evangelism dinner in Convention Center Room 212. Tickets are available. YOUTH WORK PROJECTS TOMORROW The more than 250 senior high youth registered for Conference are scheduled to participate in four work projects in Cincinnati tomorrow. Two of the projects consist of rehabilitation work in subsidized housing developments. Forty youth will restock shelves at the Cincinnati Food Bank, while 75 youth will assist with clean up at the Cincinnati Recreation Parks. BETHANY CLASS IN REUNION Bethany Seminary’s Class of 1946 will hold its 50th reunion tomorrow on the new Bethany campus, Richmond, Ind. The bus pick-up will be at the Elm Street entrance to the Regal Hotel. Participants are to arrive by 8:15 a.m. for an 8:30 departure. The bus is marked "First Church of the Brethren, York, Pa." A few additional seats on the bus, at $10 each, are available for others who may wish to visit the new campus. Return to Cincinnati will be at 4 p.m.