September 25, 2009

ELGIN, IL – The Church of the Brethren held its 10th National Older Adult Conference (NOAC) on Sept. 7-11 at Lake Junaluska (N.C.) Conference and Retreat Center. The event is for people 50 and older. Registered participants numbering 928 came from across the country to attend.

The theme of "Legacies of Wisdom: Weaving Old and New" (1 Corinthians 2:6-7) and images of weaving informed the conference. Keynote speakers and preachers addressed the connections between legacies of life, faith, and wisdom, and ways to create new possibilities of hope.

Rachael Freed, founder of Life-Legacies and author of "Women's Lives, Women's Legacies," gave a keynote address on her work to reclaim the ancient Jewish tradition of the ethical will or legacy letter. She proposed the tradition as a useful tool for older adults to pass on legacies of wisdom and faith to future generations. The idea is quite simple: a letter that a person writes to children, grandchildren, or other descendants in order to impart life lessons, values, meaningful stories, and blessings. Freed described it as "one of the examples of weaving the old to meet the needs in a new world."

David Waas, Church of the Brethren member and emeritus professor of history at Manchester College in N. Manchester, Ind., asked the older adults, "What will be said about how we witnessed to our time?" Explaining that he asked the question from the point of view of two identities – Church of the Brethren and American – he said, "You and I have helped fashion not only our church, but...our nation." He traced current crises in the US, such as the economy and health care, focusing on the "crisis that we never seem to be able to talk about ... a shift to massive, ever-present military strength." He called for an alternative legacy that followers of Christ may offer. "We should adopt and reinvigorate the Christian vision to call the state to its highest ideals," he said. "We must work as never before to advocate for peace. You and I are citizens of a great land and we carry the mantle of ... a rich Brethren heritage which our nation needs."

Michael McKeever, a Brethren member who teaches at Judson University in Elgin, Ill., tied together biblical themes of people on the move with themes from popular film to talk about how a life journey may lead to reconciliation. He discussed three parables from Luke 15 about God's search for the lost. Christians are portrayed as on the road or "followers of the way" in the New Testament, he reminded his audience, just as Americans identify with the Hollywood portrayal of "a restless people who go out on the road to find ourselves." The search for what has been lost – whether sheep, coin, or family relationship – takes "active and concerted effort," he noted. The work to seek what has been lost may seem foolish to the world, but it is the foolishness of God, McKeever said. And for the wise seeker, "giving up is not an option."

Also addressing NOAC were preachers for the three worship services: Christopher Bowman, pastor of Oakton Church of the Brethren in Vienna, Va.; Cynthia L. Hale, founding and senior pastor of Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Ga.; and Dennis Webb, pastor of Naperville (Ill.) Church of the Brethren. A series of morning Bible studies were given by Bob Neff, former professor of Old Testament at Bethany Seminary, former general secretary of the Church of the Brethren, and former president of Juniata College.

Evening concerts were given by Quaker singer and songwriter Carrie Newcomer, and Andy and Terry Murray, well-loved musicians in the Church of the Brethren whose songs have focused on the legacy of Brethren values and the stories of Brethren heroes.

In other activities, some 175 people joined in a Hike for Haiti that raised $3,541 for theological training in the Church of the Brethren in Haiti. A total of $25,124 was received in offerings, including $720 raised by the "Share to Shear" effort of the NOAC News team. The comic NOAC News video reports from the team of David Sollenberger, Chris Stover-Brown, and Larry Glick were a highlight of the conference.

A new NOAC record was set by the service project to collect Church World Service kits for disaster relief. A total of 1,299 kits were received including 4 clean-up buckets, 535 personal hygiene kits, and 760 kits of school supplies. Other events during the week included early morning devotions, hikes, bird watching, a golf tournament, ice cream socials, craft lessons, and interest groups on a wide variety of topics, among others.

Standing on the stage for the opening worship was a large loom into which worship leaders wove strands of fabric or ribbon during the service. Then the loom was moved to the exhibit hall for the rest of the week, and each NOAC participant was invited to add a piece to the weaving. The completed weaving stood on the stage for closing worship, a symbol of the way disparate legacies may come together to create something beautiful and new.

The NOAC Planning Committee included Deanna Brown, Barbara and Lester Kesselring, Joyce Nolen, and Glenn and Linda Timmons, and coordinator Kim Ebersole, who serves as director of Family and Older Adult Ministries for the Church of the Brethren.

For more about the conference, including links to daily reports and online photo albums, go to http://www.brethren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cob_news_NOAC2009.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 125,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service