News

Annual Conference 2025

Greensboro, North Carolina

July 2-6, 2025

Koury Convention Center

AC 2025 – Annual Conference

AC Briefing

Middle PA District will be planning an Annual Conference Briefing on Tuesday, May 27 at Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon, PA. Moderator Dava will join us via Zoom. Delegates and non-delegates are encouraged to attend and anyone else who would like to hear more about what is happening at Annual Conference this year. We are working to have a Zoom option available for those who cannot travel.

Witness to the Host City

BackPack Beginnings (BPB) is a nonprofit dedicated to making a difference for local, low-income children and families by providing for their tangible basic needs. Our mission is to connect children and their families to resources needed to thrive. By ensuring food and basic necessities are given directly to children in need, we are making a positive and lasting impact on the health and well-being of over 25,000 children in our community.

We distribute basic necessities to children via our 183 Community Partners and through our Family Market. Our Community Partners include schools, headstarts, pediatricians’ offices, non-profits, churches and the Housing Authority. The BPB Family Market is a dignity of choice, “one-stop” shopping experience where parents and children select their basic needs at no cost in a retail-like, welcoming environment. Families have access to expanded food choices such as frozen foods, fresh produce, and dairy items as well as resources such as hygiene products, children’s clothing, diapers, baby accessories, school supplies, and even childhood joys such as toys, books, and sports equipment!

Our newest program, Beyond the Basics (BTB), is a no-cost coaching program designed for our Family Market guests who are eager to set and achieve goals that will positively impact their families. BTB offers personalized coaching, referrals and case management to support each participant’s journey. To learn more about our work, please visit backpackbeginnings.org.

These items will be collected at Annual Conference. Monetary contributions can be made by check during the worship offering or on the AC website offering page.

A. School supplies

• backpacks (fun patterns and characters)

• folders

• notebooks

• crayons

• colored pencils

• erasers

• rulers

• glue sticks

• highlighters

• scissors

B. Hygiene products

• full size shampoo and conditioner

• deodorant

• toothbrush

• toothpaste

• feminine hygiene products

• hairbrushes

C. Free extras for anyone driving with extra room in their car

• gently used children’s books

• gently used children’s clothing and shoes

• gently used baby accessories

• gently used toys

Annual Conference Ushers Needed

Soon it will be time to register for Annual Conference 2025 in Greensboro, NC, and the conference itself will seemingly begin not long afterwards! As usual many volunteers will be needed, and this year I am responsible for coordinating those who would like to volunteer with ushering during our worship services. During worship we need volunteer ushers to help receive offerings and record attendance. While an important role in our worship services, ushering requires very little time and does not take away from participating in the rest of the worship service.  You will be able to sign up when registering for Annual Conference and at the usher table when you arrive and check in for the conference, however I would like to have our first service covered on Wednesday night, before the conference begins. Once you have registered for conference, please follow the links to sign up to volunteer as an usher.  You can also reach out to me directly at davidansley704@gmail.com and let me know if you are willing to serve on Wednesday evening, or for any of the other worship services.  Please use “AC usher” in the subject line. Feel free to contact me via text or call also (540-314-8146).  I look forward to seeing you there and together facilitating our worship services!

2025 Silent Auction Publicity

The Program and Arrangements Committee is once again holding a silent auction at Annual Conference in Greensboro this summer. The idea initially emerged a few years ago during a discussion about how we could intentionally contribute to the vitality of and increase traffic in the exhibit area. However, it also offers us an opportunity to raise some additional funds. Proceeds for this year’s auction will support the ministry of Annual Conference, particularly our ongoing efforts to break down barriers to full participation.

You can help!

Contribute an item to the auction. We are requesting donations of items to be included in the auction. Potential items fall in three categories:

1. Arts and Craft Items – Included in this category are quality and unique hand-made items like woodworking, pottery, fabric art, paintings or drawings, stained glass, and so on.

2. Gift Baskets – Baskets could be assembled around a theme (perhaps a retreat or family game night), organizational “swag”, books (perhaps a recommended reading list), regional products, food, and so on. Be creative.

3. Experiences – Included in this category are things like tickets to events, use of vacation homes, trips, classes, a living room concert, and so on.

Items being donated must be registered in advance. NO UNREGISTERED ITEMS WILL BE ACCEPTED ONSITE THIS YEAR. To register a donation, go to https://cobrethren.wufoo.com/forms/ac-2025-silent-auction-donation-form to submit your contact information and a description of the item you wish to contribute. ONLINE SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY JUNE 1. Actual items must be onsite at Annual Conference no later than 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 2. Arrangements can be made to ship them to the Annual Conference office in advance if you are not planning to attend Annual Conference.

Volunteer to assist with the auction. We will need volunteers to staff the auction throughout Annual Conference. Volunteers will assist with receiving and staging auction items, registering bidders, and identifying/notifying winners. Anyone interested in volunteering can sign up for a shift here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0945AFA722A4FCCF8-annual.

Visit the auction and bid—over and over again. Once onsite at Annual Conference, attendees are encouraged to visit the silent auction—located in Colony B just off the exhibit area—to bid on your favorite items (and browse through the exhibits while you are there). Make sure to return throughout the week to see if you have the winning bid or if you need to enter a higher bid. Bidding will open at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, July 2 and end at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, July 5. Winners will be announced by 4:30 p.m. that day and will have until 6:45 p.m. to return to the auction to pay for and pick up their items.

Theme: Faith Working Through Love 2025-Theme-Interpretive-Statement-and-Daily-Scriptural-Themes-1.pdf

Letter to Congregations 

Congregations should have received a letter from the 2025 AC Moderator and Annual Conference Office recently. 

Here is a link to the letter: Letter to Congregations re Registration.pdf

Registration

Registration for Annual Conference is open.

Guide to registering for AC online: A-Guide-to-Registering-Online-for-Annual-Conference.pdf