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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      Nov. 26, 1997
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline                                          Nov. 26, 1997 

News
1) About 150 Brethren will attend this year's annual Young Adult
     Conference.  
2) New Congregational Life Team members are announced; a new CLT
     position is posted. 
3) One of the 28 School of the Americas repeat protesters
     receives a six-month sentence. 
4) A brochure and a video for next year's youth and young adult
     workcamps are available. 
5) The Odyssey religious cable network will observe Thanksgiving
     and World AIDS Day. 
6) A second Brethren Homes forum is scheduled. 
7) Elizabethtown College will display artifacts from the Ephrata
     Cloister. 
8) Church World Service is seeking English-teaching missionaries
     for China. 
9) Melinda Van Slyke has begun serving as a Guatemala
     accompanier. 
10) Michael Hensley is named interim dean at Bridgewater (Va.)
     College.  
11) Two grants totaling $24,000 are allocated from the Emergency
     Disaster Fund. 
12) The Brethren Service Center has packed nearly $1.5 million of
     clothing. 
13) More than 1,000 Brethren urge the United States to help end
     child exploitation. 
14) Bethany Seminary's board schedules a technology and education
     symposium. 
15) Atlantic Southeast District agrees to incorporate its church
     camp as its own corporation. 
16) The next edition of Newsline will be sent Dec. 11.   

Feature 
17) Would you vow in public to pray an hour a day, a day a week
     and a week a year and then challenge the 5,000 people you're
     addressing to do the same? Former moderator David Wine did,
     and he reports on his year-long challenge.    

1) One hundred fifty one Brethren, ranging from 15 to 40 years
old, will attend the annual Church of the Brethren Young Adult
Conference Thursday through Saturday at Camp Mack, near Milford,
Ind.   

This year's conference leader is Christy Waltersdorff, pastor of
York Center Church of the Brethren, Lombard, Ill. This year's
theme -- "Jesus: the Man, the Message and Me" -- was selected "to
explore the different aspects of Jesus' life and what his
teachings mean to us in the present time," said Joy Struble,
conference coordinator. In addition to three main sessions,
participants will take part in daily worship services. Workshops
will be led by Bob Gross, Matt Guynn, Phil Rieman, Louie Baldwin
Rieman, Walt Wiltschek and Chris Douglas.     

2) The Church of the Brethren General Board on Monday announced
the hiring of four staff who will serve on Congregational Life
Teams, effective Jan. 1. On Tuesday the General Board announced
the creation of a half-time Area 3 Congregational Life Team
position.  

Jeff Glass, pastor of First Church of the Brethren, San Diego,
has been appointed half-time coordinator of the Area 5
Congregational Life Team. Area 5 encompasses Idaho,
Oregon/Washington and Pacific Southwest districts. Glass is a
graduate of University of La Verne (Calif.). He received his
Master's of Divinity degree at Bethany Theological Seminary
(Richmond, Ind.). Glass has served congregations in Laton,
Calif., and Hagerstown, Md. He has been active in many district
and national ministries, focusing on training and education. He
currently serves on Pacific Southwest District's Program and
Arrangements Committee.  

David Smalley, pastor of Eden Valley Church of the Brethren, St.
John, Kan., has been appointed half-time coordinator of Area 4
Congregational Life Team. Area 4 includes Missouri/ Arkansas,
Northern Plains, Southern Plains and Western Plains districts.
Smalley is a graduate of Manchester College, North Manchester,
Ind. He also has attended Bethany Seminary. He has served as
pastor of the Pittsburg (Ind.) and Fairview (Pa.) congregations
and served in Gotha, Fla., on New Covenant Church of the
Brethren's leadership team while working as associate editor of
News Media Directories. He also has been active in the ministries
of four districts.  

Duane Grady, co-pastor of Northview Church of the Brethren,
Indianapolis, has been named half-time member of Area 2
Congregational Life Team, which includes Illinois/Wisconsin,
Michigan, Northern Indiana, South/Central Indiana, Northern Ohio
and Southern Ohio districts. Grady received his Master's of
Theology from Bethany Seminary. He has served as program
associate at Lombard (Ill.) Mennonite Peace Center; as
coordinator of the Iowa Peace Network, Des Moines; and as
executive director of the Interfaith Council for the Homeless,
Chicago.  

Jim Kinsey of Lake Odessa, Mich., also has been named to the Area
2 Congregational Life Team. In addition to this half-time
position, Kinsey will continue serving as executive of Michigan
District. He earned his undergraduate degree at Manchester
College and his Master's of Divinity at Bethany Seminary. Kinsey
has served as pastor of congregations in Marion, Ohio, and
Freeport, Mich. He is certified through Texas A&M to train and
coordinate rural and small town congregations. In October he
concluded his assignment as interim co-director of Ministry.  

Applications for the half-time Area 3 Congregation Life Team
position are due to the General Board's Office of Human Resources
by Jan. 25. Area 3 includes Atlantic Southeast, Shenandoah,
Southeastern, Virlina and West Marva districts. This position
will be located in Northern Virginia. For more information
contact Elsie Holderread at 800 323-8039.   

3) On Nov. 19 the 28 repeat offenders who were arrested Nov. 16
protesting the United States' School of the Americas (SOA) were
arraigned. According to Dave Specht, a participant at the SOA
demonstration, Carol Richardson, staff for SOA Watch, plead
guilty and was immediately sentenced to six months in prison, the
maximum allowable sentence. Those who didn't plead guilty have
been given a January trial date.   

4) A brochure for "Uncovering the Colors of the World," the 1998
youth and young adult workcamps, has been sent to Church of the
Brethren pastors and junior high and senior high youth advisers.
A related 12-minute video is being sent to all district offices
for loan by congregations. Copies can also be loaned from Youth
and Young Adult Ministries.  

The seven workcamps to be offered are:  
*Young Adult -- San Salvador, El Salvador, June 12-21. 
*Senior High -- Dominican Republic (co-sponsored by Brethren
     Revival Fellowship), June 14-23; and St. Croix, Virgin
     Islands, June 22-28.     
*Junior High -- Harrisburg, Pa., June 17-21; Orlando, Fla., July
     5-9; Indianapolis, Ind., July 8-12; Washington, D.C., Aug.
     12-16.  Workcamp fees will range between $160 and $500. 

For more information or to loan a video, contact Emily Shonk at
800 323-8039 or at CoB.Youth.parti@Ecunet.Org.   

5) A celebration of religious freedom is scheduled for
Thanksgiving on Odyssey, a national religious cable television
network of which the Church of the Brethren participates. On
Monday Odyssey will observe World AIDS Day with its first
made-for-TV movie.  

Thanksgiving Holiday specials -- including worship, drama, music
and documentaries -- will begin at 8 a.m. (all show times are ET)
with "Thanksgiving Day," a half-hour special in which children
will gain an historical perspective on the meaning of this day.  

An interfaith worship service is scheduled for noon.The 17th
annual Interfaith Concert will air at 1 p.m. This will be
followed at 2 p.m. by the two-hour "Cotton Patch Gospel," a
contemporary production by Harry Chapin that tells the stories of
the Gospels of Matthew and John.  

The Family Theatre series will present "Molly's Pilgrim," a
half-hour drama about a Russian Jewish girl who is teased by her
classmates for her ethnic mannerisms but finds acceptance when
she is asked to create a doll based on a Thanksgiving character
(8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.). A special Family Movie Weekend
presentation of "The Little Princess," which tells of a girl who
uses fantasy as an escape from the harsh blows of reality, will
air at 6 and 11 p.m.  

At 9 p.m. on Monday, Odyssey will present "In the Gloaming," an
hour-long drama that traces one family's growth as it struggles
to come to terms with AIDS. Following this presentation Odyssey
will continue its World AIDS Day observance by showing "Common
Threads: Stories from the Quilt," followed by "The Broadcast
tapes of Dr. Peter."   

6) A second Brethren Homes Forum has been scheduled for May 3-5
in New Windsor, Md. Coordinated by Association of Brethren
Caregivers, the first forum -- held this past June at the
Brethren Service Center in New Windsor -- allowed representatives
from the 25 Church of the Brethren homes to discuss how they can
collaborate in various ways.  

Collaboration will be the theme of this next forum as well, as
ABC plans to launch a comprehensive collaborative program in
response to the needs identified at this year's event. That plan
is being developed by Steve Mason, ABC executive director
designate, and will be in the form of a program or structural
model. To receive feedback, Mason hopes to visit with the chief
executive officer of each home prior to the May event.  

"These sessions will provide a reality check, since the model
must be responsive to the needs of the various retirement
communities," Mason stated in the fall "Brethren Homes
Connection."  

Additional information about the second forum will be available
in February.   

7) Artifacts unearthed at the Ephrata (Pa.) Cloister by
Elizabethtown (Pa.) College students will be on display Dec. 1
through April 30 at the college's Young Center for the Study of
Anabaptist and Pietist Groups, along with excavation tools,
interpretive panels and research reports.   

The excavation program is under the direction of Steve Warfel,
senior curator at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.
Senior anthropology major Emily Gardella from Woodbury, Conn.,
and Dr. Robert Wheelersburg, chair of the College's
anthropology/sociology department, are also helping coordinate
the exhibit.   

The exhibit provides insights into the monastic life of the
Ephrata Cloister -- a Christian society with roots in the Pietist
and Anabaptist movements. The Cloister, organized in 1732,
flourished until the late 18th century. It was well known for its
printing, distinctive choral music, manuscript ornamentation
known as fraktur, strict discipline and ascetic lifestyle. The
community included celibate brothers and sisters as well as
married "householders."  

The archeological display is one of a year-long series of events
titled "Ephrata at Elizabethtown," which are sponsored by the
Young Center. Other events include two lectures in the spring on
Ephrata history. David Eller, director of the Young Center,
arranged the series to celebrate the heritage of the Ephrata
Cloister and to complement the college's Church of the Brethren
heritage. Conrad Beissel, founder of Ephrata, had close ties with
the Brethren.  

"Anabaptism and Pietism are twin theological movements out of
which the Church of the Brethren came into being," Eller said.
"Although they are separate and distinct movements, both play a
role in the College's heritage and thus shape the scholarly work
of the Young Center." For more information, contact the Young
Center at 717-361-1470.   

8) The Amity Teachers Program of Church World Service is seeking
applicants for two-year missionary assignments in China. The
Amity Foundation is CWS' partner organization in China. For more
information, contact David Herrell at 212 870-2630 or at
daveh@nccusa.org.   

9) Melinda Van Slyke of Spring Green, Wis., departed Nov. 18 for
a year-long stay in Nuevo Mexico, Guatemala, to serve as a human
rights observer and international accompanier in this community,
which has many returned refugees. Since the signing of a peace
accord in late 1996, which ended the 36-year Guatemalan civil
war, many people who fled their homes to escape the violence and
oppression have returned.  

Several congregations are playing key roles in sponsoring Van
Slyke. Ivester Church of the Brethren, Grundy Center, Iowa;
Modesto (Calif.) Church of the Brethren; Mexico (Ind.) Church of
the Brethren; and Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren, Elgin,
Ill., have committed to serving as partners in the accompaniment
ministry.  

In conjunction with Van Slyke's arrival in Guatemala, a 14-person
delegation will arrive there on Dec. 3 to spend 10 days learning
about Guatemala's political, social and economic situations, as
well as to show support for Van Slyke and Nuevo Mexico. Tom
Benevento, a Brethren Volunteer Service worker with Trees for
Life, and Lisa Jantzen, a former accompanier, will provide
leadership.   

10) Michael Hensley, professor of Biology at Bridgewater (Va.)
College since 1986, has been appointed to serve as interim dean
for Academic Affairs from Dec. 1 through July 1. A nationwide
search for the position is underway.   

11) Two grants were allocated Monday from the Church of the
Brethren Emergency Disaster Fund, as requested by Miller Davis,
coordinator for Emergency Response/Service Ministries.  

The closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the Middle
East has reportedly crippled the Palestinian economy and
families' ability to earn a living and to cover basic expenses.
Thus, $15,000 has been allocated from EDF, which will be
channeled to the Middle East Council of Churches and to Lutheran
World Service-Jerusalem Program. The MECC will provide emergency
assistance to 560 vulnerable families. The LWS program will
provide emergency food and nonfood commodities to blind workers
and their families.  

Up to $3,000 of this request will assist Christian Peacemaker
Team members to travel to the West Bank to assist in the building
of homes.   

Grassroots International will receive $9,000 for its work
following the Oct. 8 landfall of Hurricane Pauline in Mexico,
which killed over 275 people and destroyed or damaged 56,000
homes.   

12) Moving thousands of pounds of material resources from relief
agencies in the United States to those in need overseas has kept
the employees and volunteers at the Brethren Service Center's
Distribution Center in New Windsor, Md. especially busy this
fall. Through December, 23 railroad box cars and eight piggyback
trailers containing quilts and clothing will have been unloaded
for Lutheran World Relief (LWR).  

This facility, operated by the Emergency Response/Service
Ministries of the Church of the Brethren General Board, has
packed more than $1,440,000 of clothing during the first 10
months of this year. Several 20-foot containers for Church World
Service (CWS) containing Gift of the Heart kits for Chile and
Peru, with a value of over $20,000, is one such example. Another
is an LWR shipment valued at $688,000 being prepared for India.
Closer to home, 298 bales of CWS blankets are being shipped to
Texas to be distributed on both sides of the border -- 7,045
blankets in Mexico and 7,855 in Texas.   

Emergency Response/Service Ministries currently facilitates
shipments for 22 ecumenical and denominational organizations to
more than 90 countries.    

13) More than 1,000 Church of the Brethren members signed
petitions calling on the U.S. government to do its part to end
the exploitation of children and unfair labor practices for
adults, both in the United States and abroad. The signatures,
obtained from 43 congregations in a campaign that ended this
week, were added to thousands gathered by other organizations to
be given to government officials at the beginning of the
Christmas shopping season.  

"This shows that Church of the Brethren members are aware of the
global nature of the U.S. economy, and of the impact our policies
and purchases can have on people around the globe," said Brethren
Witness director David Radcliff, whose office coordinated the
Brethren effort. "This also serves as an important follow-up on
the statement on child exploitation adopted at last summer's
Annual Conference."    

14) A technology and education symposium has been planned for
early next year by the Bethany Theological Seminary board, which
agreed to the initiative during its fall meetings in late
October. The symposium -- scheduled for March 27-29 -- will be
used by the board and faculty to envision, discuss and explore
ways of extending the seminary's educational program to serve
those in the church who cannot pursue their studies in residence,
said David Shetler of Bethany's Office of Institutional
Advancement.  

"The symposium will not be a decision-making session, but a
chance for dreaming and brainstorming," Shetler said.  

During its meetings the Bethany board recognized board members
Janice Ruhl of Manheim, Pa., and Clara Patterson of Dayton, Ohio,
for recently established endowments. The Donald E. Ruhl Endowment
for Student Recruitment was created in memory of Ruhl's husband,
with funds contributed by family and friends. The Patterson
Endowment for Stewardship Education & Development was established
by Patterson and her husband, Ivan, in support of stewardship
education opportunities for pastors, students and seminary
leadership.  

The board approved the establishment of a Cross-Cultural Bank, a
bank account to assist students in financing cross-cultural
experiences. Bethany has established a cross-cultural course
requirement and will contribute $600 toward each student
fulfilling that requirement. Students are also expected to
contribute $600 to their fund.  

The Board also set 1998-1999 tuition at $5,673 and heard from its
auditor that the seminary continues to build financial stability.
  

15) The 73rd annual conference of Atlantic Southeast District was
held Oct. 10-12 at Sebring (Fla.) Church of the Brethren. A total
of 124 people were in attendance, including 39 delegates. Theme
was "Sing unto the Lord a new song." Speakers included Mary Mason
Peckover, a volunteer nurse in Caimito, Puerto Rico; Phil Stone,
president of Bridgewater (Va.) College; and Fred Morris,
executive director of the Florida Council of Churches.  

Delegates approved incorporating Camp Ithiel (Gotha, Fla.) as its
own nonprofit corporation. They then elected a board of directors
for the camp and elected district board members to two different
councils -- Church Development and District Program.  

Nancy Knepper of New Covenant Fellowship Church of the Brethren,
Gotha, was installed as 1998 moderator. Carol Yeazell of Good
Samaritan Church of the Brethren, Brandon, was elected to serve
as moderator-elect. Phil Lersch, pastor of the St. Petersburg
congregation, was selected to serve as board chair. Byron
Whitman, member of the Jacksonville congregation, was elected to
serve as chair of the new camp board.   

16) The next edition of Newsline will be sent Dec. 11.   

17) David Wine of Abilene, Kan., served as Church of the Brethren
Annual Conference moderator from 1996 to 1997. Following his
consecration service at the Cincinnati Annual Conference in July
1996, Wine addressed conferencegoers. During that speech he vowed
to pray an hour a day, a day a month, a week a year, and he
challenged conferencegoers to join him.  

So how did it go? Wine explains:    

In 1990, while undergoing a challenging period of time in my
vocational life I picked up a copy of Richard Foster's book
"Celebration of Discipline", a book I keep turning back to time
and time again. The book challenged me to do more -- much more --
in the way of prayer, meditation, Bible study and practicing
other Christian disciplines. I resolved to start practicing the
spiritual disciplines in a new and concerted way.  

I decided to covenant to be in prayer and communion with God an
hour a day, a day a month, and a week a year. Consequently, my
call for the Church of the Brethren membership to join me in that
discipline last year was simply a continuation for me of a
discipline I had been practicing for several years already. It's
impact on my life encouraged me to want others to experience what
I had discovered.  

People often ask, "How have you done? Are you really able to do
that?" I must respond yes and no. Yes, I have stayed with the
covenant and I have been mostly successful at averaging the time
committed. But do I miss a day or days? Surely! But, more
importantly, I am also trying harder to live a life advocated by
Brother Lawrence of being in the presence of God on a continual
basis rather than only at set aside times. I have discovered that
is even more difficult!  

You see, part of the reason I made the covenant with myself is
that I am a spiritual babe. I need the discipline of set-aside
time in order to stay in communion with God. If I were more
mature I would seek the goal of Brother Lawrence and make my
conversations and presence with God a continual dimension of my
life, not one that needed only set-aside time to achieve. I am
working at making the times of prayer in my life no different in
many respects from the other times of my life - all should be
dedicated to God.  

A second question often asked by Brethren this past year to me is
"What difference has it made in your life?" My response is an
immense one, but one that is more noticed in my inner life than
recognized by others. I have, of course, told others that my
family notices and they do. I am nicer, calmer, more sensitive,
better able to deal with the myriad "crises" that erupt from time
to time. It might better be said my family can tell when I've
neglected my spiritual life!! The same could be said about my
Mutual Aid Association office "family" as well.   

Brother Lawrence wrote, "There is not in the world a kind of life
more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation
with God. Were I a preacher, I should above all other things
preach the practice of the presence of God." I can't think of a
better way to describe another result of a deeper prayer life.
One begins to see things from God's point of view rather than our
own. The world's viewpoint seems less attractive and often
worldly matters almost seem repulsive to me when I'm doing my
best at practicing the presence of God.    

Some of the results of my focus on prayer life have been the
following:     
*I become slower to react defensively or angrily.      
*I am more ready to forgive.  
*I am better able to understand the radical nature of the gospel
     of Jesus Christ -- otherwise it does seem as foolishness.   
*Prayer helps convince me of God's existence and Christ's
     forgiveness.   
*Prayer has made me more sensitive to others and the need to live
     in community.  
*During prayer, God's creation almost burns in ecstasy at times!
*Prayer helps priortize what really matters in life!   
*Prayer helps make me a more sensitive husband, father, and
     manager.  

This journey has also made me very aware that I knew a whole lot
ABOUT God but that was much different than KNOWING God!  We often
confuse our God-talk and God-knowledge with faithfulness. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Indeed, Jesus condemned the
religious leaders who knew all the law to the smallest detail yet
failed to see its application in their daily lives.    

We often succumb to the same trap. We study Christian doctrine,
know what the scriptures say, and yet, God remains distant and
unreachable. We confuse knowledge with knowing. Knowing only
comes through relationship and relationship comes from
conversation and listening. We have to know someone before we can
love them!  Prayer is a mighty force because it connects us in
new ways so that God becomes our friend and parent, rather than a
theory or concept.    

Newsline is produced by Nevin Dulabaum, manager of the General
Board's News and Information Services.   

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 800 323-8039, ext.
263, or write CoBNews@AOL.Com.  

Newsline is archived with an index at www.cob-net.org/news.htm
and at www.wfn.org.