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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      May 28, 1998
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline                                          May 28, 1998
News
1) SueZann Bosler and Julie Hostetter to serve as leaders of
     Roanoke (Va.) First Church of the Brethren's second annual
     Lafiya weekend Friday through Sunday.
2) About a dozen "John Kline Riders" are taking to the saddle
     this weekend to honor the Brethren missionary who was slain
     during the U.S. Civil War.
3) Members of Oakland Church of the Brethren, Gettysburg, Ohio,
     will spend the weekend feeding their "brothers and sisters."
4) Sebring Church of the Brethren constructs, dedicates a Habitat
     for Humanity house for one of its members.
5) The new Family Life Ministry Cabinet produces a draft vision
     and mission statement.
6) The Brethren Medical Plan staff of Brethren Benefit Trust have
     located a book on health maintenance that they recommend.
7) The bull market on Wall Street is causing conversation among
     members of the Brethren Benefit Trust Pension Plan and
     clients of the Brethren Foundation.
8) Donald Myers concludes his service as part-time interim
     executive of Southern Pennsylvania District.
9) Jorge Rivera is appointed half-time associate executive of
     Atlantic Southeast District; he will serve Puerto Rico.
10) Kristi Rittle joins the Annual Conference office as
     Conference assistant.
11) Kentucky Mountain Housing is seeking an executive director.
12) "Good Ground," a new adult curriculum, is now available from
     Brethren Press.
13) The New Windsor (Md.) Conference Center is urgently seeking
     volunteer hostesses and hosts.
14) Retiring Robert Neff gives Juniata College a gift symbolic of
     his 12 years as president.
15) "Tune in to kids and Family II Week" will be observed 
     June 8-14 by more than 75 cable television networks.

Feature
16) Sudan, a country that has experience internal turmoil for the
     past 40 years, including civil war, is experiencing a
     drought that, in some places, is leading to famine. Two
     Church of the Brethren General Board staff members who work
     for the New Sudan Council of Churches based in Nairobi,
     Kenya, report on the situation and actions the NSCC is
     taking.

1) "Forgiveness: Going Against the Tide," a Lafiya emphasis
weekend featuring SueZann Bosler and Julie Hostetter, will be
held Friday through Sunday at Roanoke (Va.) First Church of the
Brethren. This second annual Lafiya event by Roanoke First will
use stories, discussion, worship and Bible study to examine
forgiveness.

Bosler and her father, Bill, former pastor of First Miami (Fla.)
Church of the Brethren, were brutally attacked in their home in
1986. Bill died from his wounds and James Campbell, the attacker,
received the death penalty. For about a decade, Bosler worked at
trying to get Campbell's sentence commuted to life in prison;
that verdict was finally rendered in June 1997 following a
hearing in which only Bosler appeared and spoke on Campbell's
behalf.

Hostetter, director of the Church of the Brethren General Board's
Area 3 Congregational Life Team, is a pastor, teacher and
musician.

The event begins Friday night with a presentation by Bosler; a
discussion will follow. Saturday morning's activities will
include Bible study, story telling and small-group discussions.
The afternoon will be used for a "ritual of forgiveness."
Sunday's schedule includes Sunday school, led by Bosler and
Hostetter, and worship, during which Bosler will again speak.

2) The John Kline Riders are hopping on the saddle this weekend,
traveling from the Lake Todd area in Augusta County, Va., on
Saturday to Mount Sidney, Va., an approximate 20-mile trek. 

The group made its first ride last year to commemorate Elder John
Kline's 200th birthday. Kline was a Church of the Brethren
missionary rider who traveled over 100,000 miles on horseback
throughout the denomination attending meetings and visiting
Brethren families. According to Emmert Bittinger of Bridgewater,
Va., the purpose of these rides "is to tell (Kline's) interesting
story and to renew a valuable tradition."

Last year's trip took the riders from Broadway to Beaver Run,
Va., and back. This year's destination for the dozen or so
participating riders is Hiner Church of the Brethren in Mount
Sidney. Several special events have been planned for the weekend,
including the telling of Kline's story during the regular time of
service Sunday morning. 

The riders will return to the Lake Todd area on Monday.

3) Serving meals to their "brothers and sisters" is what members
of Oakland Church of the Brethren, Gettysburg, Ohio, will be
doing Saturday through Tuesday. Those are the dates of the German
Baptist Brethren Annual Meeting near Covington, Ohio. According
to Fred Bernhard, Oakland pastor, the "Old Order" meeting is much
like the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference -- a time for
fellowship, worship and business. Often 4,000 to 7,000 people
attend, he said.

During 1881-1883, the members of the historic Brethren movement,
who trace their beginnings to 1708 Germany, split in three ways,
becoming individual denominations known today as the German
Baptist Brethren, the Church of the Brethren and the Brethren
Church. 

"We were invited by (the German Baptist Brethren) to assist in
the food preparation and feeding," wrote Bernhard in the May
Southern Ohio District newsletter. "It's a labor of love on our
part to serve our cousins. What do we get from it? Fellowship,
work and an expression of service to our Old German Baptist
brothers and sisters."

Bernhard added that profits are secondary, but will be used for
Oakland's ministry.

4) After sponsoring many Habitat for Humanity houses over many
years for many people, the Sebring (Fla.) Church of the Brethren
in late April dedicated a house it had sponsored for one of its
own.

The house went to Luz Wilson, a 10-year member of the church.
More than three years ago Wilson applied for a Habitat house and
began working on other Habitat projects to accumulate the 400
hours she needed to qualify to receive one for herself, her
daughter and her three sons.

In November 1996 Sebring's Witness Commission discussed Wilson's
need for a house. In January 1997 the church board designated a
Luz Wilson Family Habitat House fund. By the end of the year
enough donations had been received to pay for the house.
Groundbreaking was Jan. 12 next to another Habitat house newly
under construction. Both houses were dedicated on April 26.

5) Members of the new Family Life Ministry Cabinet produced a
draft of a vision and mission statement during their first
meeting May 16 in Elgin, Ill. This draft will help guide this
newly formed Association of Brethren Caregivers ministry group --

"Believing that all persons are created by God to live in caring
relationships, that all persons are part of a family, and that
families are an important arena for developing and experiencing
caring relationships, the Family Life Ministries Cabinet --
     * celebrates, affirms and supports the strengths of
          families, recognizing the wide diversity of family
          structures and styles.
     * supports families in their efforts to build upon their own
          strengths, experience spiritual              and
          emotional growth, and reach out in caring and service
          to others.
     * advocates for (raise awareness of) the needs of families,
          both within and outside of our          congregations.
     * upholds the rights of all persons to live within a safe
          and caring family environment."

The Cabinet will finalize the statement at its next meeting in
October. At that time, the group will also develop goals for
1999.

Cabinet members accepted the position description for the Family
Life Ministry Cabinet, which was approved by the ABC Board in
March. The Cabinet also reviewed family-related events that were
completed in 1998, including: 
     * distributing the Health Promotion Sunday packet to all
          congregations. Materials for Family Week were also
          included in that packet.
     * organizing family-related events, support groups and
          network meetings at the 1998 Annual Conference.
     * planning a marriage enrichment training event, to be held
          Aug. 5-9, for eight Brethren couples.
     * planning for leaders, themes and topics for family-related
          sessions and events at the 1999 Annual Conference and
          next year's Caring Ministries 2000 conference.

6) As part of their emphasis on health maintenance, the Brethren
Medical Plan staff have searched for what they believe to be a
good self-help book that includes the emotional, social,
psychological and spiritual elements of health as well, as the
more traditional physical considerations. "The Healthy Mind,
Healthy Body Handbook," by David Sobel and Robert Ornstein, meets
these objectives. 

"Sobel and Ornstein point out that instead of relying on someone
else to make you healthy, a person needs to become aware that the
essentials for health are within and begin with the way we think
about health," said Bruce Rosenberger, pastor of Greenville
(Ohio) Church of the Brethren, one of many pastors who have read
the book. "In addition to being a book that can be read through,
the book is designed so that a person can turn to one particular
section of interest and find help immediately."

"The Healthy Mind, Healthy Body Handbook" is available from
Brethren Press for $14.95 by writing to
Brethren_Press_GB@Brethren.Org, calling 800 441-3712, or by
visiting the Brethren Press booth June 30-July 5 at Annual
Conference in Orlando.

7) The current bull market on Wall Street has led to phenomenal
growth in many stocks, a fact that is being discussed by at least
some members of the Brethren Benefit Trust Pension Plan and
clients of the Brethren Foundation.

For pension plan participants, the common stock fund gained 45.3
percent for the 12 months preceding March 31, while the balanced
fund increased 32.8 percent. Foundation clients saw a 46.8
percent increase in their common stock fund and a 32.8 percent
increase in the balanced fund over the same period.

An exuberant member of the pension plan announced that if common
stock returns continued at the same rate for 30 more years, he
would have about $37 million dollars in his pension account at
retirement, said Donald Fecher, Pension Plan director. However,
the member's calculations were not verified and Fecher cautioned,
"The recent stock market performance has been exceptional, but it
is not a promise of future high returns. The stock market, over
time, can more realistically be expected to average about 10
percent a year."

Fecher added that there is a lesson to be learned. "Stock market
returns of 30 and 40 percent are an essential part of a pattern
that justifies patience and holding firm when market returns are
under 5 percent (as they were in 1994) or when they show a loss
(as they did in 1991)."

Participants in the Pension Plan have discovered that the earlier
their funds are invested, the better they perform, Fecher said.
^From 1986 to 1998, the average monthly benefit for members who
paid into the plan for 30 years or more almost tripled, from $821
to $2,291 a month. "When dollars are fewer, the effects of time
can act like Miracle Gro on hard-earned pension dollars," Fecher
said. "We especially urge congregations employing our younger
pastors to help them get an early start with a Church of the
Brethren pension account."

BBT's latest investment returns can be viewed under Investment
Program on the BBT web site at www.brethren.org.

8) Donald Myers, who served as part-time interim executive of
Southern Pennsylvania District for more than a year, concluded
his service on May 8. Myers, who earlier this year was called to
serve as a part-time Congregational Life Team member for the
Church of the Brethren General Board, was recently named dean of
nondegree academy programs of Susquehanna Valley Satellite, an
extension of Bethany Theological Seminary based in Elizabethtown,
Pa.

9) Jorge Rivera has been called to serve Puerto Rico as half-time
associate executive of Atlantic Southeast District, effective
June 1. Rivera currently serves as pastor of the Yahuecas Church
of the Brethren, Castaner. Previously Rivera served as director
of the Theological Institute in Puerto Rico and at Iglesia De Los
Hermanos, another Church of the Brethren congregation in
Castaner. He has served as chair and moderator of the Puerto Rico
board, and served a term on the General Board. He will be
installed May 30 during the Puerto Rico island conference.

10) Kristi Rittle of Elgin, Ill., this week joined the Church of
the Brethren Annual Conference office as Conference assistant.
She succeeds Sue Thompson Moe, whose resignation takes effect
following Annual Conference.

Rittle, who graduated from Millikin University, Decatur, Ill.,
last weekend, is a member of Highland Avenue Church of the
Brethren, Elgin.

11) Kentucky Mountain Housing, a $6 million nonprofit rural
housing organization with long-standing ties to the Church of the
Brethren, is seeking an executive director. Founded in 1973, KMH
has constructed 487 houses for low-income families and has
completed 362 major rehab projects. In the mid-1970s, the Church
of the Brethren General Board donated over $100,000 to KMH; since
then many Brethren congregations and individuals have also
contributed.

Applicants should --
     * possess a minimum of five years of management experience.
     * be knowledgeable about home construction.
     * be capable of managing a $5 million dollar annual budget.
     * possess fundraising and federal and state grants
          management experience.

A college degree is preferred. Applicants should also be
committed to religious and charitable goals and to producing
housing for low-income families. They also should have knowledge
of central Appalachia. For more information call 606 598-5128.

12) "Good Ground," a new adult curriculum for fall that "lets the
Bible's truths take root," is now available from Brethren Press.
Good Ground studies are six sessions long, with two studies
offered each quarter. Titles for this fall are "Into the Deep:
Exploring Prayer" and "For Crying Out Loud: The Story of Exodus."
Studies are $5.95 each plus postage and handling. For more
information, contact Brethren Press at
Brethren_Press_GB@Brethren.Org or 800 441-3712. 

13) The New Windsor Conference Center at the Brethren Service
Center, New Windsor, Md., is in urgent need of volunteer
hostesses and hosts. These volunteers will help coordinate and
provide hospitality and conference services to a variety of
guests. Though the center is close to Baltimore, Md., and
Washington, D.C., it is located in a rural setting, which is
reflected in its theme, "A quiet place to get things done."

Furnished apartments and meals will be provided for volunteers.
For more information, contact the Conference Center at
PHenline_GB@Brethren.Org or at 800 766-1553.

14) Robert Neff, who in June is retiring as president of Juniata
College of Huntingdon, Pa., has donated a five-foot-tall,
hand-carved, solid cherry sculpture of the prophet Jeremiah to
the college's library. The sculpture was crafted for Neff 20
years ago by Dean Egge, a Church of the Brethren sculptor from
Roanoke, Va.

"Jeremiah is very much a part of my life," said Neff during a
recent sentimental and symbolic ceremony. "Jeremiah was the book
in the Bible that I studied the most and that I loved the most. I
have real feeling for the story of Jeremiah, because I felt that
he, in spite of the worst kinds of turmoil, never lost direction,
never lost a sense of hope. He's sort of battered and bent, but
not any less determined. Jeremiah's a symbol for me in my life."

Egge's selection of wood, etchings and features for the sculpture
were made after meeting with Neff. "Before I can begin to create
a sculpture that will represent either a character or an idea,
real or imagined, I have to talk with the person who commissions
or who will receive the piece, much as a furniture designer, an
architect or a dressmaker would," Egge wrote in a brief
explanation of his work. "Because Bob Neff has probably lived as
closely with the prophet Jeremiah as anyone in our denomination
-- or in modern Christendom, for that matter -- it was very
important for me to understand his vision of the prophet whose
sculpture I was to make for him."

Neff said giving up the sculpture was difficult, yet appropriate
as a gift to the college symbolic of his 12-year tenure.

15) "Tune in to kids and Family II Week," a week-long cable
television programming initiative showcasing family and
children's programming, is scheduled for June 8-14. Call 202
775-3629 to find out the names of the more than 75 cable networks
that are scheduled to participate and for additional information. 

16) Sudan, a country that has experienced internal strife for the
past four decades, but particularly over the past 20 years, is in
the midst of a serious drought that has brought portions of the
country to the brink of famine. Earlier this month the Sudanese
government was preparing to allow United Nations relief flights
into the Nuba Mountain area; the government reportedly had been
slow giving such approval out of fear that aid will strengthen
rebel insurgents. 

The Church of the Brethren General Board, with long-standing ties
to Sudan, has two staff members working out of its Global Mission
Partnerships office for the New Sudan Council of Churches --
Haruun Ruun and Merlyn Kettering. The two, based in Nairobi,
Kenya, recently filed the following report about the conditions
in Sudan and the NSCC's response --

The plight of the peoples of Southern Sudan is among the most
desperate in the world. War, conflict and oppression have
displaced much of the population, destroyed much of the community
and economic infrastructure and ravaged social and family lives
and values. Seven million people have been killed and millions
more are refugees within and outside Sudan. They suffer from
continuous struggles against hunger, disease, fighting and
dangers of bombing, land mines and other weapons of destruction.

The war and hostilities have isolated major areas of southern
Sudan from normal support and activities of the government as
well as aid agencies whose offices were located in northern
Sudan. Church leaders, seeking to minister and serve their people
better in these difficult circumstances, were inspired to come
together in ecumenical unity and Christian love to cooperate in
ministry. Thus, the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) was
formed in 1990 by major churches and peoples in southern Sudan.
The NSCC has from that time represented the churches by speaking
out on their behalf and promoting justice and peace.

Churches in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia have
supported the NSCC and the churches in their mission of Christian
witness, education, justice and peace. The Church of the Brethren
has played a major role in helping the churches in southern
Sudan. Material assistance has been given in the form of food and
nonfood relief. Brethren have assisted with the formation and
growth of NSCC and have supported the development of programs.

Now, the world's attention is again on the hunger, poverty and
starvation which again has reached catastrophic levels in
southern Sudan. The effect of natural causes (drought) are
exacerbated by the effect of human causes of war, fear,
displacement, transport restrictions, controlled access and other
forms of oppression and conflict. The food crisis is real and
desperate for many. The pictures and news reports tell stories
suffering, starvation and death. This is a crisis that these
people have seen come and go several times over the past two
decades. At times of such acute crisis, governments,
international agencies, churches and nongovernment organizations
respond with emergency food and supplies. At such times the world
seems to sense genuine responsibility to provide offerings so the
affected population is able to survive through times of hunger
and grave need.

The NSCC is involved in a number of significant ways to highlight
and respond to ongoing crises as well as the current crisis in
southern Sudan. Most important to the mission of the NSCC is
drawing attention to and addressing the fundamental lack of
justice and peace that contribute to the current crisis and which
underlies the long-term problems of war, oppression, hostilities
and conflict that are destroying the society, the people and
their lives.

The NSCC and its member churches have made courageous stands for
justice and peace in Sudan. The NSCC joined with the churches of
the northern Sudan, who form the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC),
to make the proclamation "Here We Stand United In Action For
Peace." This call has become a pillar for the churches and a
model for negotiations and peace talks between northern and
southern Sudan.

The NSCC also promotes peacemaking at community levels to address
traditional and war-related tensions, conflicts and differences.
The NSCC endorses, promotes and introduces grass-roots
peacemaking processes, such as those outlined in the
proclamation, as well other forms of traditional and innovative
forms of negotiation and reconciliation.

The NSCC has worked tirelessly to advocate the causes of the
peoples of Southern Sudan and to maintain world attention and
awareness of their suffering from the war, oppression,
displacement and harsh social and economic conditions.
International agencies, governments and non-government
organizations look to NSCC as a source of information and
inspiration as they plan programs and responses to help the
people of southern Sudan. Through NSCC's "voice of the voiceless"
forum, church leaders, lay leaders and others tell the stories of
the individuals who suffer and endure in faith within the
brokenness and despair faced by so many.

The NSCC has supported the IGAD peace negotiations between the
government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement,
whose authorities are controlling and governing major portions of
southern Sudan. NSCC believes that the negotiations are a path
toward achieving lasting justice and peace only if the regional
and international forces support and enforce agreements between
the parties.

The NSCC seeks ways to bring together parties who are divided by
the war and conflict. Two months ago, the NSCC was behind the
initiation of a regional council under the auspices of the All
Africa Council of Churches. This meeting involved councils,
churches and representatives from the region, including northern
and southern Sudan. It focused on ways to bring peace to the
region.

The NSCC works closely with churches and authorities inside Sudan
to monitor and assess conditions on the ground. NSCC and its
member churches are seen as the reliable Sudanese institutions on
the ground who work hard and are trusted by the people of Sudan.
NSCC has formed alliance with Church Ecumenical Action In Sudan
(CEAS) to collaborate in relief for rehabilitation and other
capacity-building activities for the churches and their
communities. The involvement of NSCC, CEAS and the churches lends
credibility to assessments, relief programs and rehabilitation
efforts undertaken by international and other aid agencies in
southern Sudan.

The NSCC, usually in collaboration with CEAS and other aid
agencies, has held consultations in troubled areas of southern
Sudan. NSCC and CEAS have visited areas that are now being
affected by hunger, starvation and production problems. They
forecast the disasters that are now being seen in key areas of
Bhar El Ghazal, Blue Nile, Upper Nile and Nuba Mountains. They
helped mobilize early responses in many of these areas. They have
facilitated the mobilization of food and resources for the
current crisis. NSCC and CEAS have emphasized that relief foods
must be given along with tools and seeds so the people can grow
their own foods when the drought subsides. NSCC and CEAS help
build capacities of Sudanese churches and interchurch communities
for fair distribution of relief materials and for rehabilitation
and self-reliance when the current crisis passes. NSCC and CEAS
communicate and collaborate with local authorities and
development agencies so that development programs reach
throughout southern Sudan.

Finally, and most important of all, the NSCC is committed to
pursuing and promoting justice and peace as the path for
addressing the fundamental causes of the crisis. NSCC believes
that the ongoing disaster of war, oppression and conflict must be
transformed through reconciliation, truth and the Spirit of
Christ for the Sudanese people to be relieved of the crises and
turmoil which have troubled their lives for more than four
decades.

Brethren have stood with the Christians of southern Sudan. They
have joined with other U.S. churches particularly the
Presbyterian Church U.S.A. to encourage and support the NSCC and
the churches of Sudan. Together, the Brethren, Presbyterians and
other churches now stand with NSCC and the Sudanese churches in
their commitment to advocacy, ecumenism, justice and peace. They
witness to help bring attention of the U.S. government and
churches in the U.S. and internationally to bear on the plight of
the peoples of southern Sudan.

The NSCC and the Brethren call upon governments and all parties
involved to stop the war, to end the conflict, to cease the
oppression and to bring truly lasting justice and peace. Then and
only then will these people have their dignity and pride renewed;
their hopes, dreams and productivity revived; their land
restored; and their rightful place in history and in the world
community reinstated.

Newsline is produced by Nevin Dulabaum, manager of the General
Board's News Services. Newsline stories may be reprinted provided
that Newsline is cited as the source and the publication date is
included.

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