wfn.org | CoB Newsline- General Board, McPherson College, Habitat

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      March 6, 1997
Contact:  Paula Wilding
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline          March 6, 1997  

This is Newsline for the week of March 6. In the news today:  
1) The General Board convenes its spring meetings this weekend.
2) McPherson (Kan.) College will inaugurate Gary Dill as its 12th 
      president on Friday. 
3) Annual Conference attendees are given the opportunity to help  
      build a house at Conference in Long Beach, July 1-6. 
4) Bethany Seminary will host a production of "Beyond 
      Shadowlands" this weekend. 
5) A conference for congregational conciliation practitioners is  
      scheduled for next week. 
6) The World Council of Churches Eighth Assembly is to be held in 
      Harare, Zimbabwe, next year. 
7) World Day of Prayer is scheduled for tomorrow. 
8) The Cedars is searching for a director of development. 
9) The April 1997 SOURCE resource packet will be mailed this 
      week. 
10) Newsline to be produced throughout General Board meetings as  
      Board actions dictate.   

1) General Board meetings officially began today with Executive
Committee meeting in executive session for the day and tomorrow
until 11 a.m. The Executive Committee will convene in open
session Friday as a committee from 11 a.m. to noon to hear
reports from the interim general secretary, the interim director
of District Ministry and the treasurer. Goals and Budget
Committee will meet in open session Friday afternoon to discuss
finances, and hear reports and updates on Stewardship, on a
project in the Dominican Republic, and the new design of the
General Board. The committee also will review existing financial
policies and recommendations, and will discuss the status of
Brethren mission in South Korea. The General Board will convene
in executive session Friday evening.  

The General Board will hold open sessions Saturday morning and
afternoon to discuss key redesign issues and recommendations and
then again Sunday morning, during which time the Board is
scheduled to vote on the recommendations it has received from the
various committees and subcommittees working on crafting the
Board's new design.   

The Redesign Steering Committee is expected to begin Saturday's
morning session with a report and a location recommendation for
the Board to consider. The Transition Team will follow with
recommendations for the new organization. The Board then also
will discuss recommendations pertaining to polity, The Andrew
Center, Association of Brethren Caregivers, On Earth Peace
Assembly and SERRV International.  

Sunday afternoon's schedule allows for a four-hour block of time
for General Services, Parish Ministries and World Ministries
commissions to meet. General Services Commission is expected to
elect a new member to the Church of the Brethren Historical
Committee, and will discuss medical insurance options, Human
Resources proposals and the proposed denominational World Wide
Web site. Parish Ministries Commission will hear reports about
the Ministry Team, Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Outdoor
Ministry, the "Deacon Ministry in the Church of the Brethren"
paper, Brethren Press' new adult curriculum, Passing on the
Promise and People of the Covenant. Parish Ministries and World
Ministries commissions will hear an update on the Statement on
Child Exploitation, which will go before Annual Conference
delegates this summer as unfinished business. World Ministries
will hear reports concerning India and Korea, as well as discuss
World Ministries in light of the new General Board design.  

The General Board will reconvene Monday morning for a day of
business. During the day it will hear reports from interim
general secretary Karen Miller, the commissions, and Annual
Conference moderator David Wine. It also will hear financial and
Stewardship reports.  

Monday afternoon the Board will hear reports from the Goals and
Budget and Executive committees. It will hear updates on Brethren
Press' anniversary celebration and this year's General Board Live
Report at Annual Conference. It also will hear reports from the
Annual Conference Polity Committee, the Annual Conference
Committee to review pastoral compensation, the Annual Conference
Global Mission Committee and the Committee to study General Board
reorganization and responsibility.  

After a break the Board will review the recommendations put forth
from the Review and Evaluation Committee and will receive an
update on the Board's Statement on Child Exploitation. The Board
also will hear reports from Wil Nolen of Brethren Benefit Trust,
Gene Roop from Bethany Theological Seminary, and from the Audit
Committee and from the American Baptist observer.  

The Board on Tuesday morning will meet in a retreat format, with
General Board members and staff, district executives and visitors
discussing how to interpret the new General Board design to
others. The General Board will conclude its meetings Tuesday at
noon.  

This schedule could be modified at any point throughout the
meetings, as the Board has many issues to deal with, some that
have evolved since its last meeting in October. These meetings
also differ from previous Board meetings in that information will
not be shared publicly until Board members have had the
opportunity to discern all that has happened with regard to the
new design since October, and discuss the many recommendations it
is being asked to consider.  

Kathy Hess, Board chair, said it is her hope that these meetings
are "bathed with prayer in order for the Board members to
carefully discern God's leading for General Board's proposed new
organizational structure."   

2) McPherson (Kan.) College will inaugurate Gary Dill as its
president on Friday. Today, in conjunction with inauguration
festivities, McPherson is hosting a "Faith and Heritage
Conference," centering on "the narrative and theological history
of the Church of the Brethren." Featured speakers include Donald
Durnbaugh, former Bethany Theological Seminary professor and
author of "Fruit of the Vine: A History of the Brethren,
1708-1995," and Jeffrey Bach, assistant professor of Brethren
Studies at Bethany.  

Dill will be inaugurated as McPherson's 12th president on Friday.
^From 1991 to 1996, Dill served as senior vice president and a
professor at Schreiner College, Kerrville, Texas. Beginning in
1978, Dill served for five years as an adjunct staff at Bethany
Theological Seminary, during which time he also served as pastor
of York Center Church of the Brethren, Lombard, Ill. From 1975 to
1979, he served as pastor of Price of Peace Church of the
Brethren, South Bend, Ind. He also has worked with the Texas
Education Agency as a program director and on the faculty at St.
Cloud (Minn.) University.   

3) As previously reported in Newsline, Annual Conference
attendees will have the opportunity to blitz-build a house with
Habitat for Humanity during Conference week in Long Beach, Calif.
Conference is scheduled for July 1-6; work on the house is
scheduled for June 28-July 4, with Sunday off. One hundred and
fifty volunteers are being sought to help construct the house;
registration forms are now available. To request a registration
form, contact Jan Thompson at 8151 E. Cactus Dr., Mesa, AZ 85208
or by calling 602 986-2839.  

The land that the house will be constructed on was donated last
month by the Long Beach Housing Development Company, the city's
nonprofit housing entity. The property is about a 20-minute walk
from the Convention Center. For more information about the
project, contact Refugee/Disaster Services at 800 451-4407 or at
CoB.Refugee.and.Disaster.parti@Ecunet.Org.   

4) Bethany Theological Seminary will host a performance of
"Beyond Shadowlands" on Friday on its Richmond, Ind., campus.
"Beyond Shadowlands," written by Ann Timmons, centers on authors
C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman. The production is free and open to
the public. For more information, contact Bethany's Public
Relations Office, 765-983-1806 or at ShetlMa@Earlham.edu.   

5) In other Bethany news, the seminary will host an Advanced
Training in Congregational Consulting for conciliation
practitioners in the peace tradition church Monday through
Friday, co-sponsored by Ministry of Reconciliation. Jim Yaussy
Albright, co-pastor of Huntington (Ind.) Church of the Brethren,
will serve as one of the trainers. For more information, contact
On Earth Peace Assembly at 410 635-8706.   

6) The World Day of Prayer, which has been celebrated annually
for 110 years, is scheduled for this Friday. This year's theme --
"Like a Seed Which Grows Into a Tree" -- was developed by women
in South Korea. Services will be held around the world, beginning
with sunrise services in Fiji and concluding with evening
services on Samoa Island. Church Women United is a sponsor of the
ecumenical event. For more information, contact Church Women
United at 212 870-2347.   

7) The World Council of Churches Eighth Assembly is scheduled for
Sept. 10-22, 1998, in Harare, Zimbabwe. "Turn to God -- Rejoice
in Hope" is the theme of the Assembly that will celebrate the
WCC's 50th anniversary. For more information, contact the WCC at
011-4122-791-6152 or at JWN@WCC-Coe.Org.   

8) The Cedars, a Brethren-affiliated retirement community in
McPherson, Kan., is seeking a director of Development. The
director has the responsibility of raising funds to help support
The Cedars. For more information, contact LeRoy Weddle, 316
241-0919, or at Cedars@Midusa.net.   

9) The April 1997 SOURCE packet of resources from the Church of
the Brethren will be mailed this week. Resources included in this
month's packet are: "Partnerships," SERRV International's
publication; the National Council of Churches interpretative
booklet; a registration flyer for the Habitat house construction
at Annual Conference; and Bethany Theological Seminary's annual
report. Other resources include information on "The Art and Act
of Healing" conference, Media Awareness Year, Youth Ministry,
Brethren Historical Library and Archives, and the April Messenger
magazine.  

Source is a packet of sample resources compiled by the staff of
the Church of the Brethren General Board. The packet is supplied
without charge 10 times a year to the pastor or contact person in
each congregation for sharing with congregational leaders. To
receive SOURCE of 10 issues per year for $3, contact the Office
of Interpretation at 800 323-8039 or at CoBNews@AOL.Com.   

10) Newsline will produced throughout the General Board meetings
as Board actions dictate. The General Board meetings begin today
and conclude on Tuesday.   

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http://www.tgx.com/cob/news.htm. It also may be found at 
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This message can be heard by calling 410 635-8738. To receive
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