Fearless Faith

Our annual denominational gathering is once again behind us. We cannot say that every moment at conference was noteworthy, but there is a case to be made that we conducted our business, our worship, and our fellowship with an earnestness belying our size. As conferences go, we are small fish in a big pond (with nearly 2000 participants), yet the venues we are invited to return to recognize what we have long known as part of a community of caring: the Brethren are a gentle folk in a raging world. We take seriously the admonition to be in, not of, this world. We characterize it as “Another Way of Living” and “Continuing the Work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together.”

That does not mean that we are diffident in coming together. Quite the opposite. Conference represents a familial gathering in which all are welcome, like the small rural communities many of us hail from. One conference goer, upon entering the convention hall, remarked that she knew she was in the right place, because “it just felt right,” a place of safety and acceptance. That sentiment has been echoed by many including first time and lifetime attendees. My first annual conference was in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1964. The 2024 conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. represents the 237th recorded conference in 316 years of the denomination.

The numbers are worth mentioning, for the denomination has thus far survived and thrived without resorting to do-or-die alarmism that embraces a go big or go home philosophy. Church growth gurus declare they have the answers, but if numbers are at the heart of it all and not the body of work that is the church, then the boat has already set sail. As protestant church membership continues its downward trends, what we do matters even more. Because of that, programming has become nimbler and more streamlined, excess has been replaced with a focused quality in many cases, and paradigms have expanded to unforeseen places. In short, we have had to work harder and smarter, and with greater spiritual sobriety.

In economic parlance, a multiplier results in added value higher than the original component. Sometimes it is subtle, nearly unseen. Other times, it is front and center. Annual conference is a multiplier that brings people together, inspiring the conference body to outperform its own expectations. Individuals also represent multipliers that bring out the best in people and the conference body as well. In that regard, “smallness” becomes less intimidating. In the not-so-distant past, delegates sat where they chose, often segregating themselves into cliques with similar ideologies. A small change with huge impact occurred when conference officers foisted change upon the body, in this case, randomly seating delegates at round tables. The delegate body immediately became more well behaved and appreciative of “the other” during business sessions. The genial atmosphere it created was a revelation to us all.

The power of one (or two or three) was richly demonstrated, but who can say The One did not have more hand in it that than we could have imagined? Multiplier or one? Perhaps a share of both.