wfn.org | Newsline - Church of the Brethren weekly news update

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      Aug. 21, 1997
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline                                          Aug. 21, 1997
1) Bethany Theological Seminary signs an agreement for the       
      development and sale of its Oak Brook, Ill., property. 
2) Two couples just back from the missionary field share their
      experiences in Brethren congregations. 
3) A Brethren Volunteer Service worker is called to serve as
      coordinator of the Church of the Brethren General Board's
      Washington, D.C., office. 
4) Six Brethren are called to serve on the Association of
      Brethren Caregivers board. 
5) Applicants are being sought for a new General Board/District
      position. 
6) BBT board to convene in special session. 
7) The 7th Biennial National Development Seminar is scheduled for
      Sept. 9-11. 
8) "Sister Summit," a gathering of Church of the Brethren 
      women, has been cancelled. 
9) United States participation in the "Ottawa Process" is "a
      positive step". 
10) The Interagency Forum, now an official Annual Conference
      Standing Committee body, convenes for the first time. 
11) Brethren Press is in the process of developing a new Bible
      study for adults. 
12) The Brethren Employees Credit Union is seeking a manager. 
13) The National Council of Churches is seeking a director of its
      Middle East Office.  
14) The United Christian Center at Ohio State University is
      seeking a full-time director of campus ministries. 
15) Editor's note.    

1) It could be the beginning of the end for Bethany Theological
Seminary's Oak Brook, Ill., property, which served as the
seminary's primary campus from mid-1963 until mid-1994. Earlier
this summer an agreement was reached between Bethany and the Shaw
Company for Shaw to develop and sell the 51-acre tract.  

Shaw's design calls for the land to be developed for a variety of
uses -- condominium housing, hotels, restaurants, retail
businesses, and perhaps an assisted living center, according to
Gene Roop, Bethany president. Though the details of the sale are
still being finalized, "the sale will enable Bethany to retire
its debt, both the money loaned by Brethren Benefit Trust and the
endowment debt that stretches back to 1978," Roop said.  

Bethany hopes public hearings can begin in October or November.
Approvals needed to complete the transaction, such as changes in
zoning, are likely to take at least several weeks, if not much
longer. However, Roop said Bethany's trustees are excited about
the property's prospects.  

"The Bethany Board of Trustees has looked carefully at it and we
all feel like this can successfully resolve the ongoing
responsibility to sell the land," Roop said.    

2) In mid-summer Esther and Lester Boleyn and Bonnie and Brad
Bohrer returned from General Board missionary assignments to
Sudan and Nigeria, respectively. Over the next two months the two
couples will share their experiences in about 20 Brethren
congregations.  

The Boleyns began their missionary assignment in 1989 as
translators of New Testament books into Nuer, a language spoken
by more than 1 million Sudanese. Although the focus of their
assignment was in Sudan, the Boleyns lived and worked primarily
in Nairobi, Kenya. To date, the Boleyns have nine mission
interpretation sessions scheduled. They are:         
* Florin Church of the Brethren, Mt. Joy, Pa., Sept. 7, a.m.      
* York (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren, 
       Sept. 13, p.m. -- 14, a.m.         
* New Fairview Church of the Brethren, York, Pa., Sept. 21, a.m.  
* Middle Creek Church of the Brethren, Lititz, Pa., 
       Sept. 28, a.m.         
* Coventry Church of the Brethren, Pottstown, Pa., Sept. 28, p.m. 
* Sugar Valley Church of the Brethren, Loganton, Pa., 
       Oct. 5, a.m.         
* University Park Church of the Brethren, Hyattsville, Md., 
       Oct. 12, a.m.         
* Conestoga Church of the Brethren, Leola, Pa., Oct. 19, a.m.     
* Little Swatara Church of the Brethren, Bethel, Pa., 
       Oct. 26, a.m.  

The Bohrers, who recently returned with their three children from
two years of service at Kulp Bible College outside of Mubi,
Nigeria, have 11 mission interpretation sessions scheduled
between Sunday and Sept. 28:         
* Lima (Ohio) Church of the Brethren, Aug. 24, a.m.         
* Lakewood Church of the Brethren, Millbury, Ohio, Aug. 31, a.m.  
* Christ Our Shepherd Church of the Brethren, Greenwood, Ind.,
       Aug. 31, p.m.         
* Poplar Ridge Church of the Brethren, Defiance, Ohio, 
       Sept 7, a.m.         
* Adrian (Mich.) Church of the Brethren, Sept. 7, p.m.         
* Ashland (Ohio) Dickey Church of the Brethren, Sept. 14., a.m.   
* Zion Hill Church of the Brethren, Columbiana, Ohio, 
       Sept. 14, p.m.         
* Ashland (Ohio) City Church of the Brethren, Sept. 21, a.m.      
* New Philadelphia (Ohio) Church of the Brethren, Sept. 21, p.m.  
* Eden Church of the Brethren, Canton, Ohio, Sept. 28, a.m.      
* Paradise Church of the Brethren, Smithville, Ohio, 
       Sept. 28, p.m.  

According to Merv Keeney, director of the Church of the Brethren
General Board's Global Mission Partnerships, the congregational
visits scheduled by the Boleyns and Bohrers continue a
long-standing practice of sending just-returned missionaries on
congregational visits. "Congregations have wanted to connect with
mission," said Keeney. "Sending out returned missionaries to tell
their stories among our members has been an effort to rebuild the
sense of connection between congregations and the denomination's
mission overseas."    

For more information on the Boleyn's schedule, contact the Office
of Global Mission Partnerships at 800 323-8039, ext. 230. For
more information on the Bohrer's schedule, call the Northern Ohio
District office at 419 281-3058 or write to
tom.zuercher.parti@ecunet.org.   

3) Heather Nolen has been called to serve as coordinator of the
Church of the Brethren General Board's Washington (D.C.) Office.
She began her service in that capacity on Monday. Throughout her
two-year assignment as a Brethren Volunteer Service worker, she
will oversee Brethren advocacy efforts. A graduate of Bridgewater
(Va.) College and member of the Staunton (Va.) Church of the
Brethren, Nolen has an avid interest in politics and in the
church making its witness in that arena, said David Radcliff,
director of the General Board's Brethren Witness, the office that
oversees the Washington office in the General Board's new design. 

"We are fortunate to have someone of Heather's interests and
abilities to step into this position at this crucial time," said
Radcliff. "She will be joined by several people from the area who
will continue to volunteer their time to assist in carrying out
the responsibilities of the office. We also plan to carry on the
intern program, offering college students the chance to be a part
of our Washington witness."  

Two years ago the Washington Office consisted of two full-time
staff and several Brethren Volunteers. However, the office has
since gone through several changes as a result of the General
Board's redesign, including moving its offices to the Washington
City Church of the Brethren. Most recently the office was staffed
by one full-time employee and several BVSers. With this new
configuration, the office will limit the scope of the issues it
will cover, compared to its previous efforts. It will, however,
continue to provide opportunities for Brethren to offer a
Christian witness in relation to important issues facing the
nation and world, Radcliff said. And it will continue to be
located at the Washington City Church of the Brethren.  

For more information, contact Nolen at 202 546-3202 or at
WashOfc@AOL.Com.   

4) Six Brethren were elected last week to serve on the
Association of Brethren Caregivers board. Meeting Aug. 13 at its
Caring Ministries 2000 conference at Manchester College, North
Manchester, Ind., the board elected Judy Mills Reimer as
chair-elect. Reimer is pastor of Smith Mountain (Va.) Lake
Fellowship. Also elected were Bentley Peters, who runs a
consulting firm in Elgin, Ill.; Paul Ullom-Minnich, a physician
and member of McPherson (Kan.) Church of the Brethren; Jan
Kensinger, chaplain of The Brethren Home, New Oxford, Pa.; Joe
Schechter, a retired surgeon from La Verne, Calif.; Nancy Faus, a
retired Bethany Theological Seminary professor; and Milton
Garcia, pastor of Iglesia Evangelica Los Hermanos, a new church
fellowship in Poincina, Fla.  

The next meetings of the ABC board are scheduled for Sept. 12-13
at the Church of the Brethren General Offices.   

5) Atlantic Southeast District and the Church of the Brethren
General Board are seeking applicants for a newly created
full-time position -- Atlantic Southeast District executive and
Area 3 Congregational Life Team staff.   

Though the Congregational Life Team component of this job is new,
the district executive portion is not. Berwyn Oltman, who has
served in that position since 1989, is scheduled to retire at the
end of the year.  

Qualifications for this new position, which will carry both
district and General Board responsibilities, include being
committed to Brethren values; having skills in English, Spanish
and interpersonal communications; being willing to travel;
possessing experience in congregational and/or district
ministries; and having examples of education that are appropriate
for this position.  

Application deadline is Oct. 30. For more information, contact
the offices of District Ministry or Human Resources at 800
323-8039.   

6) A special session of the Brethren Benefit Trust board will
convene Aug. 27-28 to address a number of recommendations being
brought to it by staff. Meeting in Rosemont, Ill., the BBT board
will be asked to approve:        
* a new auditing firm for its 1997 audit.        
* adding an investment manager for international equities.       
* an adjustment to BBT polity to lodge the Brethren Foundation
        under BBT Inc.        
* revised guidelines describing conditions under which the
        Brethren Foundation may provide asset management and
        deferred giving services to non-Brethren agencies whose   
        missions are compatible with the Church of the Brethren. 

The board will be asked to tentatively approve or to provide
counsel on:        
* offering investment services to Church of the Brethren members. 
* collaborating with other denominational agencies in developing
        computer systems.        
* providing increased leadership in the area of pastoral
        compensation and benefits.  

The board also will hear reports on medical plan financing,
insurance options and investment performance.   

7) The 7th Biennial National Development Seminar, which is
sponsored by Brethren Benefit Trust's Brethren Foundation and by
the Mennonite Foundation, is scheduled for Sept. 9-11 at
Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, Mt. Pleasant, Pa.  

This seminar is designed for people who work with fundraising,
such as capital and annual campaigns. In attendance will be an
estimated 125 development and stewardship officers and staff,
administrators of camps and retirement communities, and
presidents of colleges and universities.  

Douglas Lawson, founder of Douglas M. Lawson Associates, Inc., a
fund-raising and management consulting firm, will deliver the
keynote address.  

For more information, contact Mark Pitman, director of the
Brethren Foundation, at 800 746-1505.   

8) The "Sister Summit," a consultation of Brethren women
scheduled for Sept. 12-14 in Indianapolis, has been cancelled.
The summit had been called in response to the elimination of
funds to the Church of the Brethren Program for Women as part of
the General Board's redesign. Women from each district had been
invited to attend the event to discuss future program
possibilities. However, the minimum number of registrants needed
for the event to cover expenses was not reached.  

Without program funds and without adequate interest in the
summit, Program for Women is essentially ending, wrote Susan
Weybright, summit coordinator, and Cynthia Mason, coordinator of
National Women's Council, in a letter announcing the cancelation.
 
"Although we will not be together at the Summit to share our
losses and begin the process of re-creation, we can still embrace
one another spiritually," Weybright and Mason said. "Those of us
on the Council have a deep concern that in some way the new
church structures must address the need for togetherness that
many women have expressed to us. Women in the church need to know
they are valued and that our denomination supports them."  

Weybright and Mason added that concerns of local Women's
Fellowships should be addressed to either their respective
district executives or to Glenn Timmons, Church of the Brethren
General Board director of Congregational Life Ministries.   

9) The Clinton Administration on Monday announced it will
participate in the "Ottawa Process," the Canadian-led attempt to
ban land mines worldwide. Nearly 100 countries are participating
in this process.  

"The United States will work with other participating nations to
secure an agreement that achieves our humanitarian goals, while
protecting our national security issues," read a White House
statement. According to the U.S. Office of the Campaign to Ban
Land Mines, "protecting our national security issues" includes
the desire by the United States to be allowed the continued use
of land mines on the Korean peninsula. It reportedly will also
lobby for the right to continue to produce "smart" mines -- those
that self-destruct after a certain period of time.  

"That our government joined the Ottawa Process rather than
continuing on in a much slower United Nations negotiating format
is a positive step," said David Radcliff, director of the General
Board's Brethren Witness. And much of the credit must go to
Christians and other citizens who spoke out loudly and clearly on
this issue. We must now encourage the president to join with the
over 100 other nations who already support a total ban on the
production and use of these inhumane devices, which even today
will kill or injure another 70 people around the world."  

Radcliff said letters and calls are especially needed in the next
several weeks, as a meeting is being held in September in Oslo,
Norway, to prepare a treaty for signing in Ottawa in early
December. More than 3,000 Brethren have already signed petitions
calling for a ban on land mines. Individual letters and follow-up
petitions should be sent directly to the White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20500.   

10) The Interagency Forum, a group that convened unofficially
over the past year at the calling of moderator David Wine,
convened Wednesday for the first time as an official body of
Annual Conference Standing Committee.   

The forum, which includes representatives from the Annual
Conference and the three agencies that report directly to it,
serves "as a setting for communication and discussion of program
initiatives that affect the denomination, enabling the various
agencies and institutions to carry out their mission and
responsibilities cooperatively and more effectively," according
to the sanctioning proposal approved this summer by Standing
Committee.  

This first meeting, scheduled through noon today, was attended by
David Wine, moderator; Elaine Sollenberger, 1998 moderator
(beginning Sept. 1); Lowell Flory, moderator-elect; Duane
Steiner, Annual Conference Office executive director; Bentley
Peters, Annual Conference Office consultant; Wil Nolen, director
of Brethren Benefit Trust; John Flora, chair of the Brethren
Benefit Trust board; Karen Peterson Miller, interim executive
director of the General Board; and Chris Bowman, chair of the
General Board.  

Wine said the group has three objectives -- to work at trust and
communication between the various agencies, to serve as a central
communication hub during this time in which our denomination is
in transition, and to fulfill a Standing Committee assignment to
evaluate the General Board's redesign and its impact on the other
Annual Conference organizations.   

11) As generations change so does church curriculumthat's the
belief of the publishing divisions of the Church of the Brethren
and the General Conference Mennonite Church, which is why the two
units are now working cooperatively on a new adult Bible study
curriculum.  

During a writers' workshop in late spring, a team of writers got
together to begin working on the curriculum, which is so new it
doesn't yet have a name. Brethren Press and Faith & Life Press of
the General Conference Mennonite Church will produce the
four-year series, with the Mennonite Church as a cooperative
user.   

Editors Julie Garber (Church of the Brethren) and Susan Janzen
(General Conference Mennonite) don't see this new material as a
replacement for the current adult curriculum, "A Guide for
Biblical Studies," still one of their most popular items.  

The International Lessons, on which "Guide" is based, "generally
serve those who like analysis of Scriptures and good discussion,"
said Garber. "This new curriculum hopes to reach those who do not
currently use the International Lessons but who like to apply
Scripture to daily life. We believe that the style, look and
methods will set this curriculum beside the International Lessons
as a viable alternative."  

The new curriculum is a spin-off of Generation Why, a youth
Sunday school curriculum developed by the same publishers that
has won favor with some Baptist and Presbyterian groups as well
as Church of the Brethren and Mennonite.  

"I think they find it attractive because of its grittiness," said
Garber, who helped conceive the Generation Why material,
subtitled "Finding answers to the world's tough questions. "When
you put it alongside others, it's brave."  The new adult Bible
study curriculum, like its youth counterpart, is centered around
an active learning method.  

"The call for Bible study today is a call to active learning
where biblical concepts are connected to contemporary life, and
in many cases, acted upon. This study employs active learning,"
the writers' manual states.  

Leaders, not teachers. Instead of assuming a teacher-student
method of instruction, the new curriculum will employ a style
that urges everyone to work together to interpret Scripture.
Materials that will assist leaders will be included in each
session.  

"These are sessions in which learning happens, rather than
sessions in which teaching happens," says Hawkley. "There's a big
difference, even though it doesn't seem like it. . . . It frees
up the non-stereotypical teacher."  

"Just remember that the predominant way we learn things as adults
from day to day is by doing, whether it is trying a new recipe,
handling a financial problem, or adjusting to a new pair of
glasses," the writers' manual says in a section on learning
styles.       

Over the proposed four-year cycle, the new curriculum will cover
nearly all the books of the Bible. Each study will be six
sessions long, with eight studies offered each year. Topics
revolve around four categories: God, world, family/community, and
self.   

The first four studies are due to be completed by mid-March 1998.
Lani Wright, Cottage Grove, Ore., who edits Generation Why, will
write a study on prayer; Virginia Wiles, Allentown, Pa., New
Testament scholar and professor at Muhlenberg College, on
nativity; Craig Morton, most recently a pastor in Harleysville,
Pa., on Exodus; and Aiden Schlichting Enns, Winnipeg, a
provincial editor for Mennonite Reporter, on Abraham. -- Aiden
Schlichting Enns   

12) The Brethren Employees Credit Union, a $5 million
organization that is located at the Church of the Brethren
General Offices in Elgin, Ill., is seeking a manager. According
to the job opening announcement, this person will "plan, manage
and evaluate all office activities in accordance with Credit
Union policies and in a manner that ensures member's needs." For
confidential consideration, fax resume and references to Mark
Pitman, BECU president, at 847 742-6723.   

13) The National Council of Churches is seeking a director of its
Middle East Office. People choosing to apply should send a resume
and other supporting materials to The National Council of
Churches, Office of Human Resources, 475 Riverside Drive, Room
650, New York, NY 10115-0050. Deadline is Sept. 22.   

14) The United Christian Center at Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio, is seeking a full-time director of campus
ministries. This 30-year-old ecumenical ministry is supported by
the Church of the Brethren and by eight additional denominations.
Application deadline is Sept. 15. For more information, contact
Meredith Hughes at 614 294-5195.   

15) Editor's note: Newsline has served as a denominational news
and information source since its debut in January 1991. From then
until now it has been produced on a weekly basis, except for
special occasions, such as Annual Conference and meetings of the
General Board, when it has been produced daily.  

This practice will continue in the future, with a few exceptions.
On July 18 the Newsline staff was reduced by half to one person
as a result of the General Board's redesign. Henceforth, on
certain occasions, Newsline will skip a week out of necessity, as
the editor will be out of the office. The first such occurrence
will be next week. Therefore, the next issue of Newsline will be
transmitted Sept. 4. Future editor's notes will inform readers of
additional schedule changes. -- nld    

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