Bill Strausbaugh, assistant provost at Messiah College (Grantham, Pa.) and a member of the General Conference Board, summarizes proposed refinements to a 2006 GC action that addressed the structure and function of the board for World Missions as it relates to the General Conference.

Following some conversation with Regional Conferences, the GCB would like to recommend an adjustment in the new process. The adjusted process would have the Regional Conference Board of Directors (rather than the annual meeting) present three candidates to the General Conference Board, serving as General Conference Nominating Committee. The GCB would then select one of the names as the nominee for GCB and send that name to the annual meeting of the Regional Conference for confirmation. This person would then become the GCB member from that regional conference.

Kim Phipps, president of Messiah College, introduces revisions to the Church-College Covenant and speaks with appreciation for the longstanding partnership between Messiah and the Brethren in Christ Church in Christ-centered higher education. The covenant between Messiah and the Brethren in Christ Church was last revised in 1994. Read the old version of the covenant here (Word document).

The revised covenant agreement between Paxton Ministries in Harrisburg, PA, and the Brethren in Christ Church comes before the General Conference as a reminder of our mutually supportive relationship in compassionate ministry since 1981. The covenant between Paxton Ministries and the Brethren in Christ Church was last revised in 1994.

At a time when long-held assumptions about marriage and family life are being called into question, the church’s responsibility is to clearly articulate the biblical principles that define Christian marriage and reassert the sanctity of marriage as ordained by God. Toward that end, during the biennium since the 2006 General Conference, a task force has continued to gather feedback and refine a Statement on Marriage for the Brethren in Christ Church.