German Baptist Conference May 9, 2008
Thousands of Old German Baptist Brethren gather near Baldwin City for an annual church conference.
With a steady hand and a brave support system, Old German Baptist Brethren drive stakes into the ground with sledgehammers in preparation for the church conference on Thursday, May 8, 2008, northwest of Baldwin City.
Old German Baptist women, including Dawn Overholtzer, work together peeling potatoes in preparation for lunch on Thursday, May 8, 2008, south of Lawrence.
Old German Baptists gather in the early morning to watch the tent raising on Thursday, May 8, 2008, south of Lawrence.
Old German Baptist Brethren transport stakes into the main council tent on Thursday, May 8, 2008, south of Lawrence. The stakes were used to create benches for seating inside the tent.
Youths snap photos of the tent raising at the Old German Baptist Youth Church Conference on Thursday, May 8, 2008, south of Lawrence.
Onlookers cast long shadows onto the council tent as brethren start the process of raising the tent on the Beeghley farm south of Lawrence. The tent can house up to 3,600 people, including 50 ministers who will sit in the center during worship services Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Vida Flory, left, greets Hazel Edgecomb in the early morning on the Beeghley farm south of Lawrence. At 95, Flory is the oldest member of the Willow Springs Old German Baptist Brethren Church, Douglas County's local Old German Baptist congregation. Edgecomb, 94, is from Centropolis, Kan.
A steady stream of Old German Baptist Brethren make their way to the tent raising early Thursday morning at the church conference south of Lawrence on May 8, 2008, south of Lawrence.
Kenton Heck, of Westphalia, Kan., lines up support beams of the main dining tent erected on the Beeghley farm south of Lawrence in preparation for the Old German Baptist Church Conference on Thursday, May 8, 2008. About 5,000 church brethren are expected to attend the annual weekend gathering, which is hosted this year by Douglas County's local congregation, the Willow Springs Old German Baptist Brethren Church.
Old German Baptist Brethren raise the dining tent on Thursday, May 8, 2008, south of Lawrence. The tent is one of many temporary structures recently erected on the Beeghley farm for this weekend's Old German Baptist Brethren Church Conference. The conference, which rotates across the brotherhood each year, was last held in Douglas County in 1970 on the Wayne Flory farm.
Onlookers snap photos as Old German Baptists raise a tent on the Beeghley farm in preparation for a conference on Thursday, May 8, 2008, south of Lawrence.
Old German Baptist Brethren begin the process of raising one of two main tents on the Beeghley farm south of Lawrence in preparation for a church conference on Thursday, May 8, 2008. The conference is expected to attract around 5,000 brethren this weekend.
Old German Baptist women peel potatoes in preparation for lunch Thursday.
Most of the Old German Baptists are born into the church. The church doesn't believe in infant baptism, however, and only accepts consenting adults into the faith. Commonly referred to as the "Dunkers" because of their baptismal practices, the fellowship of the Old German Baptist Brethren Church began in 1708 in Schwartsenau, Germany. Their plain attire conforms to scriptural doctrines pertaining to modesty, simplicity and avoiding the vanity of fashion.
