CONSERVATIVE GRACE BRETHREN CHURCH TO HOLD TWO OF ITS NEXT THREE CONVENTIONS IN NKY

Contact: Rev. Don Farner
419-468-6848 (o)
740-504-2241 (m)

Fort Mitchell/June 4, 2008-The Conservative Grace Brethren Churches International will hold two of its next three national conventions in Northern Kentucky, even though its closest member church is two hours away in Central Ohio.

The organization will be meeting July 4-9 at the Drawbridge Inn and should attract more than 300 attendees representing each of the more than 40 churches in the voluntary association. The group is also slated to return to the Drawbridge for its 2010 Convention.

The Conservative Brethren formed in 1992 after splitting off from The Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. Most of the group's churches are located in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania with one or two the states of Tennessee, Iowa, Vermont and New York.

The Reverend Don Farner, who co-pastors at a church in North Central Ohio, serves as current President of the group. He says the theme of this year's convention is Striving To Win.

"By that we mean taking making proactive efforts in ministry, Christian Living, struggling for our faith, for godliness, for salvation and striving against sin. Our association has taken a strong stand on holding to the teachings of the New Testament, peeling away the tradition and history of the church and clinging to the doctrines of the faith."

Rev. Farner says one area where his association differs from denominational churches is that missionaries they sponsor in foreign countries such as India, Brazil, Germany and Cameroon can be indigenous to the countries in which they are serving.

While here, attendees will not only receive teaching and instruction but will become familiar with the region by visiting the Creation Museum and Newport Aquarium and will take a riverboat cruise. The conference will host international guests from Brazil, Cameroon, Germany and India.

The mission of the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau is that of an aggressive sales, marketing, service and informational organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings and visitor expenditures. The direct economic impact of visitors' spending in Campbell, Kenton and Boone Counties in 2007 was $325 million.