Perhaps more than ever, there is a need for gathering places to come together around the Christian faith and the fellowship it brings. This has been a priority for both BCC as an organization and the many thousands of members for many years.
Several years of Several years of reorganization of our faith community are behind us. BCC is now established as an international federation. We are experiencing very active engagement in the representative assembly, which is our community’s highest decision-making authority. After this year’s representative assembly meeting, there are several decisions to be implemented, and many individuals in the local churches are making great efforts to ensure these decisions are carried out.
For our members, we will provide information through TV broadcasts, webinars, and websites, and there will be information meetings in our local churches. For others interested in our activities, we will regularly update news here on the website.
Here is a brief overview of the key projects ongoing this autumn.
Youth Bible Project: “Be an Example”
“Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” (First Timothy 4:12)
These words that Paul wrote to Timothy are the basis for this autumn’s Bible study project for young people. It focuses on becoming a mentor, a volunteer worker who cares for those younger than oneself. BCC Media is responsible for the project.
Action: Inspiring Work Efforts
Enthusiastic souls from the local church in Switzerland have taken on the task of inspiring the entire church to work together, and also to facilitate paid work. Members have a long tradition of this, and the purpose of this autumn’s campaign is to inspire this, especially among young people who have purchased or want to purchase hotel agreements at Samvirk and those who wish to participate in youth camps with BUK.
Accommodation for Everyone during the Conferences
The costs of accommodation during the conferences are privately covered by each individual. In October, all members must decide which conferences they will attend next year and ensure they have a suitable accommodation agreement at Samvirk that meets their needs.
This autumn, many members are also entering into long-term accommodation agreements. The response was overwhelming after Samvirk, for the first time since 2012, could offer new agreements covering all of this year’s conferences. This means that all regular users of the accommodation services at BCC gatherings become co-owners of the cooperative and bear their share of the costs for this.
Registration for the 2024
Gatherings In the coming year, BCC Event will organize eight international conferences for members, three camps for the youth club BUK, and two volunteer weekends. The events held at the Oslofjord Convention Center in Sandefjord, Norway, have been a central part of church life for many decades.
In 2024, the conference calendar has been revised to provide accommodation for everyone who wishes to attend, subject to capacity. Those who cannot attend in person often watch broadcasts from the conferences on BrunstadTV.
Participation in the events, including all parts of the program and meals, is covered by contributions to a members’ means-based donation model.
Autumn Mission Collection
This autumn, the local church of BCC Eiker is participating in organizing the autumn conference with a separate mission feast on the theme “Have Faith in God.” They are working diligently to prepare everything for the feast while also planning the autumn mission collection.
Every spring and autumn, the BCC Federation conducts a mission collection, and the Assembly of Representatives decides the purpose of the collection for the following year. This autumn, the collection will go towards financing the total costs of BCC Event, including enabling as many people as possible to participate in conferences and camps, whether in person or digitally. Various efforts are being made, including planning the different program elements and meals, renting all conference facilities at Oslofjord, and providing support to participants from low-income countries so they can attend conferences and camps with accommodation included at the same level as others.
Further development of the donation model
The Assembly of Representatives of the BCC Federation has decided that the churches shall have an ability-based donation model. This means that members aged 26 and older give a percentage of their income to their local church. With the income from the donation model, the local church covers both local operating expenses, participation in conferences for all its members, and the central membership fee, which amounts to 1.5%.
The annual meeting in each local church decides the budgets and therefore the percentage that members contribute. As the Assembly of Representatives has decided, this percentage should be limited to a maximum of 10%.
New for the coming year is that financing of participation in conferences, whether in person or digital, will be set at a different percentage depending on how far the local church is from Brunstad. Members of local churches all over the world are thus free to participate in gatherings they are targeted for without paying extra.
The objectives of the BCC Federation is to:
- Promote the Christian faith, as set out in the BCC Federation’s Basis of Faith, among all people and teach those who want to, to keep all of Jesus’ commandments.
- Further the framework conditions for Christianity and its standing in society.
- Provide children and young people with a positive and healthy Christian environment, and create good framework conditions for children and young people’s personal, spiritual, and social development.
