ONWARD Page 2 JuneJuly 2006

o Reduce child mortality and the percentage of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth.

o Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

o Ensure environmental sustainability

o Reform the world trading system and the financial system

o Develop decent and productive work for youth.

o Provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries.

Resolution #49 - Congregational Mission Fund

- directs the Mission Society of the Southern Province to establish and oversee a special fund which makes money available to congregations for specific mission projects (other than short term mission trips)

Resolution #51 - Toward Ending Prejudice

- challenges the church to explore opportunities to foster more cooperation with our brothers and sisters in the Florida District.

- facilitate cooperation and communion to welcome and embrace the emerging immigrant populations wherever we meet one another; and

- continue and expand efforts to identify and eliminate institutional discrimination and foster diversity in churches of the Southern Province.

Resolution #52 - Moravian Youth Mission Involvement

- charges the Board of World Mission to create a structure that enables our Moravian Youth to participate in mission before the 2010 Synod;

- affirms the Board of World Mission's creation of Schools of Worship and Music as one initiative to develop and enhance core identities of Music, Worship, Education, Ecumenical Involvement in mission, and through which our youth can develop their capacities as both cross cultural servants and future leaders of Moravian congregations.

Resolution #56 - Appreciative Inquiry Visioning Process Support

- calls for renewal of a vision that "It's One Story at a Time" through which our Lord's love and our response is made known locally and to the world.

Resolution #58 - Latino Ministries

- celebrates the good beginning which has been made. (Cordero de Dios; Bethabara; ESL classes in Raleigh;

-welcoming of Hispanic congregations by Pine Chapel, Kernersville and others to share facilities)

-asks local congregations to consider the resources they can offer to the Latino community in terms of worship space, opportunities for fellowship and study, and sharing and embracing of their respective cultures;

-calls on the BEHM, through its Latino Ministries Committee, to develop specific plans to match the needs of the Latino community with the Provincial and congregational resources that are available, and to assist congregations in sharing the Gospel within the Latino community, and enjoying the gifts, strengths and enrichment that come from mutual sharing.

Where The Sneakers Meet The Treadmill

On the Wednesday morning after Synod I went to the gym. The TV’s - which are positioned so that one can watch what’s happening in the world while running in place on a treadmill - were turned on, so I watched the news. Suddenly I saw… a picture of a church And then the words came rolling across the bottom of the screen: “The Moravian Church apologizes for role in slavery.” It was referring to

Resolution 24 on Racial Reconciliation.

That caught my attention, and evidently, the attention of my fellow exercisers as well. They started talking about it. Some thought it was great. Others questioned our motives or wondered about the value in doing this now. But they were talking. It was good.

Afterwards, I thought about another resolution that we had passed at Synod.

Resolution 48, affirming salvation in Christ alone, arguably the most missional resolution of all! It was certainly an important, significant and essential one for me. But I had to wonder if resolution 48 had flashed across the bottom of the screen there at the gym, would folks have taken notice?

And then it hit me:

Resolution 24 is Resolution 48 in language that the world can understand.

It is a concrete, outward expression of what we believe in our hearts.

This is how the world will know that we truly are his disciples: by our love for one another.

That’s where the rubber meets the road – or at least where the sneakers meet the treadmill!