A complete report of last week’s Brethren World Assembly in Brookville, Ohio, is available at the Church of the Brethren website, including a photo album. The conference included Grace Brethren leaders as speakers and panelists, including Dr. Roger Peugh, who spoke on Prayer at the opening session at the Grace Brethren Church in Brookville, Ohio. Grace College and Seminary faculty, Dr. Jared Burkholder and Dr. Christy Hill also spoke. Grace Brethren pastor, Jim Custer, and Barb Wooler, missionary with Encompass World Partners, was a panelist.
A portion of the story appears below. Click here for the complete article.
GraceConnect covered the conference. Read Friday Events at Brethren World Assembly are Varied and Peugh Issues Call to Prayer at World Assembly. There are also photos from the weekend on the GraceConnect Facebook page.
Video recordings are available from the 5th Brethren World Assembly. The recordings in DVD format are of the main presentations and worship services, and are made available by the sponsoring body, the Brethren Encyclopedia Board, through the host organization the Brethren Heritage Center in Brookville, Ohio. The taping was done by Brethren videographer David Sollenberger and crew.
DVDs cost $5 each, or any three disks for $10, with a shipping fee added to each order. (Click here to see a listing of the disks.) Order DVDs from the Brethren Heritage Center, 428 Wolf Creek St., Suite #H1, Brookville, OH 45309-1297; 937-833-5222.
Miami Valley of Ohio welcomes the 5th Brethren World Assembly
Extending greetings to all those present at the 5th Brethren World Assembly on July 11-14 in Brookville, Ohio, Brethren Heritage Center board secretary Larry E. Heisey noted the unique location of the meeting. All of the seven main Brethren groups in North America descended from the believers brought together by Alexander Mack Sr. in Schwarzenau, Germany, are represented in the Miami Valley area near Dayton, Ohio.
“This makes us unique in Brethrendom,” Heisey said.
Brethren spirituality was the theme of the assembly, which is held every five years with sponsorship from the Brethren Encyclopedia Board. The 2013 assembly was hosted by the Brethren Heritage Center, a nonprofit organization based in Brookville and started in 2001 to preserve historical and current information on the various Brethren bodies.
The uniqueness of a cooperative venture between these Brethren groups–now numbering seven–was remarked upon during the assembly by several people including Donald Miller, former general secretary of the Church of the Brethren and professor emeritus at Bethany Seminary. He credited the impetus for such conversations to peacemaking icon and On Earth Peace founder M.R. Zigler, who also helped to start the Brethren Encyclopedia.
The planning team for the 2013 assembly included representatives from six of the seven main Brethren bodies in North America: chair Robert E. Alley, Church of the Brethren; Jeff Bach, Church of the Brethren; Brenda Colijn, Brethren Church; Milton Cook, Dunkard Brethren; Tom Julien, Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches; Gary Kochheiser, Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International; Michael Miller, Old German Baptist Brethren Church-New Conference. Although not on the planning team, the Old German Baptist Brethren are represented on the Brethren Encyclopedia Board and at the Brethren Heritage Center.