October 6 & 7, 2023
West Charleston Church of the Brethren
Our 2023 theme is "Grow with a growth that is of God"
 “… the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons,
grows with a growth that is from God.” Colossians 2:19
 

 

District Conference Registration
 

"I am intrigued by the connection between science and spirituality. In nature we are able to see the Divine. One example out of millions is trees. Trees do not live alone. Although we often think of them as individuals, standing by themselves with roots in the ground and branches in the sky, they need soil and water and air and sunshine. 
 

"At last year’s Conference I introduced my theme for the 2023 Conference. Based on a Nature program I saw on PBS I chose the last section of Colossians 2:19 “… the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God.” In that Nature program it was reported,  “Ecologists have studied underground networks called mycorrhizae. In these networks, fungal fibers fasten tree roots, one to another, beneath the forest floor. Trees are not lonely at all. They are bound together, deeply. If you were to dig up the earth around a tree, you would find a network of fungal fibers. These fibers are not much to look at: Milk-pale, inky or translucent. But they connect the trees and help them in a number of ways. The fibers carry water, carbon, nitrogen, and biochemical information between trees that are related … between trees of the same species … and even between trees of different species. A community is created in the forest by mycorrhizal networks. In them, a fungus assists the trees by helping to supply their needs, and the trees help the fungus by providing it with sugar.”
 

"I find that, to say the least, fascinating!
 

"Now it is true that a fungus is not an attractive image — milk-pale, inky and translucent fibers are kind of gross. But mycorrhizae illustrate how we receive nourishment from Christ and share it with each other. When we remain rooted in Christ, we find that the words of Paul to the Colossians come true: “the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God”
Christians grow when they are rooted in Christ and connected through an ecosystem of communication, nourishment and sacrifice

 

I invite everyone to the 2023 Southern Ohio District Conference to learn, share and understand how to be Mycorrhizal Christians."

                          -- Written by 2023 District Moderator, Ty Pyles