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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      April 8, 1999
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline                                          April 8, 1999

News
1) A Spanish translation of the 1997 Statement for Deacon Ministry
     is now available.
2) Production of the 1999 Church of the Brethren Yearbook is
     underway.
3) The NCC's 1999 Yearbook is now available.
4) Two Honduras workcamps are scheduled for August.
5) A workshop on mediating interpersonal conflict will be offered
     in July.
6) Conestoga Church of the Brethren celebrates its 275th
     anniversary.
7) Brethren pulpit vacancies will be posted online beginning in
     May.
8) Elizabethtown College prepares to kick off its centennial
     celebration.
9) A $1 million donation moves Bridgewater College a step closer
     toward construction of its new health and wellness center.
10) Bridgewater College's updated Speakers Bureau listing is now
     available.

Personnel
11) Hillcrest Homes of La Verne, Calif., is seeking a vice
     president of Health Services.
12) Harry and Agatha Johnson to join the Palms Estates of Lorida,
     Fla., as the new executive director team.
13) The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund has two full-time
     openings.

Feature
14) An Anabaptist cultural center is under development in the
     Shenandoah Valley.
 

1) The Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) now has a Spanish
translation of the 1997 Annual Conference Statement for Deacon
Ministry in the Church of the Brethren. This translation was made
in time for the February deacon training events in Puerto Rico.
Copies are available for $1.50 plus s/h. Write to abc@brethren.org
or call 800 323-8039.

2) Production of the 1999 Church of the Brethren Yearbook, which
includes 1998 statistics, is underway. This annual publication from
Brethren Press will include contact information for congregations,
districts, pastors, ministers, moderators, and Church of the
Brethren agencies. Individuals or agencies that placed a standing
order last year will receive the new edition automatically when it
is printed. It also can be ordered for $18.50 plus s/h. Contact
Brethren Press at brethren_press_gb@brethren.org or at 800
441-3712. 

3) The 1999 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, produced by
the National Council of Churches, includes more than one thousand
updates and two new chapters among its descriptions, directories,
and statistics of 213 national and regional denominational and
ecumenical bodies. Cost is $35. Call 212 870-2496.

4) Two Honduras workcamps have been scheduled for Aug. 15-23 and
Aug. 22-30 to assist in rebuilding homes destroyed or damaged by
Hurricane Mitch. Sponsored by the Church of the Brethren General
Board's Global Mission Partnerships and Brethren Witness offices,
the workcamps will also be an experience for participants to learn
more about the social, political, and religious dynamics within the
country. Cost will be about $200 plus airfare. Contact Global
Mission Partnerships at mission_gb@brethren.org or at 800 323-8039.
 

5) Education for Conflict Resolution will offer "Mediating
Interpersonal Conflict" July 26-30 at Manchester College, North
Manchester, Ind. The 40-hour course, offered over five days, will
cover basic understandings and skills for effective conflict
management and will focus on third-party mediation. Contact ECR at
ecr@hoosierlink.net or at 219 982-4621.

6) Conestoga Church of the Brethren of Leola, Pa., this year is
celebrating its 275th anniversary. Services throughout the year
will feature special music and special guests. The congregation's
anniversary celebration is scheduled for the Nov. 13 weekend. For
more information, contact John Hershey at jwhershey@yahoo.com.

7) Beginning in May, the Church of the Brethren General Board's
Ministry office Web site will list Church of the Brethren pulpit
vacancies. In the meantime, Brethren can read the final draft of
the new ministerial leadership paper online, a statement that will
be submitted by the General Board this summer to Annual Conference
delegates for approval.

"The Web site is an important window to the world, and people,
Brethren included, are visiting the Web in ever-increasing
numbers," said Allen Hansell, Ministry director. "Beyond Brethren
readership, the Web enables the Ministry office to tell the world
about ministry in our denomination." To view the paper, go to
http://www.brethren.org/genbd/ministry.

8) Elizabethtown (Pa.) College's 14-month centennial celebration
will begin April 17 with its grand kickoff. Three days of events
will lead up to that day, including an April 14 program
highlighting 100 years of E-town stories and pictures. An alumni
gathering is scheduled for April 15, and the college's reunion
weekend begins April 16 with receptions for all classes. An
extensive listing of all centennial events over the 14-months is
posted at http://www2.etown.edu/centennial/homepage.shtml. Or call
717 361-1410. 

9) Bridgewater College has moved a step closer to constructing its
new $3.5 million health and wellness center with a second $1
million donation from Fred Funkhouser. Earlier this year,
Funkhouser, a retired Shenandoah Valley banker, donated $1 million
to initiate the campaign. The new center will be named the Fred O.
and Virginia C. Funkhouser Center for Health and Wellness, in honor
of Funkhouser and his late wife, Virginia.

10) The 1999-2000 edition of Bridgewater (Va.) College's Speakers
Bureau is now available. It lists more than 130 presentations by 40
faculty and staff. To obtain a copy, call 540 828-5486.

11) Brethren-related Hillcrest Homes of La Verne, Calif., is
seeking a vice president of Health Services. Candidates must be a
licensed Nursing Home Administrator. Contact
patricem@wittkieffer.com or fax to 510 420-0363.

12) Harry and Agatha Johnson of Clermont, Fla., have been hired as
the new executive director team of the Palms Estates, a Church of
the Brethren-related retirement home in Lorida, Fla. The Johnsons
will assume their responsibilities on June 1.

13) The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund has two full-time
openings in its Washington, D.C. office -- director of outreach and
development and outreach and development assistant (paid
internship). Call 202 483-3751 or go to
http://www.nonviolence.org/peacetax. 

14) The Brethren and the Mennonites, Anabaptist cousins for nearly
three centuries, are collaborating on a project in Virginia's
Shenandoah Valley that will honor the denominations' unique
backgrounds while telling their common stories. Paul Roth, pastor
of Linville Creek Church of the Brethren, Broadway, Va., 
explains -- 

The Brethren and Mennonites of central Shenandoah Valley have
recently joined together to develop a cultural center to preserve
each unique heritage and share their common stories as early
settlers in Virginia. This combined effort is the first of its
kind. Although there are a number of Mennonite centers throughout
the United States and Canada, none have united with the Church of
the Brethren to create a mutual cultural center that focuses on
their shared history and beliefs.

This story actually began in 1991 with the formation of the
Shenandoah Valley Mennonite Historians, a group that had a vision
of creating a unique heritage center. In 1995, Ross Baughman
donated a log house in Shenandoah County, owned by Mennonites, to
the historians. This gift prompted the historians to locate a
potential site. Last November, a Brethren-Mennonite corporation,
Lantz-Eby Enterprises, donated five acres for this project.
Included in their offer were a rezoning agreement with the city of
Harrisonburg for a cultural center, and information from architects
who would design a hotel and restaurant on adjacent acreage.

^From this annual meeting, the historians decided to include their
long-time Brethren neighbors to make the center reflective of the
entire Anabaptist settlement in the valley. A steering committee
was appointed to include equal Brethren and Mennonite
representation. From this committee have come the following
statement --

* Preface: The Brethren and Mennonites have shared a unique history
     and heritage in the Shenandoah Valley. They were early
     settlers in the valley, suffered together during the        
     turmoil of the Civil War, and have continued their sojourn
     together in the 20th century. As a people of faith, they have
     been disciplined stewards of the land and the economy,      
     adding significant value to life in the valley.

* Purpose: The Valley Brethren-Mennonite Cultural Center will
     provide a special place to tell the common story of the
     Brethren and Mennonites in the Shenandoah Valley, to do     
     research on the two denominations, review (recover and
     display) artifacts from each heritage, reflect on core faith
     values, and celebrate our responses to the cultural         
     and historical events of our past and present.

* Geographical Scope: For the purposes of membership recruitment
     and to clarify the relevant   areas of the Shenandoah Valley
     for this center, Page, Shenandoah, Rockingham, and          
     Augusta counties define the scope of the center's activities.

* Museum Concept: Developing plans envision a museum located at the
     cultural center to display artifacts of our heritage. These
     historic pieces could come from church buildings, houses,
     barns, mills, farms, businesses, schools, and could include
     works of art and literature. The center would also encompass
     a dynamic field museum concept, linking artifacts, historic
     places, and people throughout the landscape of the valley.

* Center Program: Various features and events of the center would
     include an information center to tell the heritage and history
     of the Brethren and Mennonites; an on-site museum displaying
     artifacts of early Brethren and Mennonite life in the valley;
     a field museum map, documenting significant historic and
     heritage sites and tours in the four counties; conferences and
     workshops on significant topics of past and present issues;
     a media center for interpretation of individual and common
     denominational stories; and a book and gift sales area.

Members of the evolving interdenominational group met Feb. 6 at the
Linville Creek church and voted unanimously for plans of
incorporation. A Board of Directors was established of equal
membership from the Brethren and Mennonites. Calvin Redekop and I
were chosen to serve as chair and vice-chair, respectively.

Two gifts have already been given to the cultural center -- a 28'
x 30' two-story log house, built by a long-time sexton at Weaver's
Mennonite Church west of Harrisonburg, which had been the home of
seven generations of Mennonite families, and a 1780 walnut corner
cupboard that came from the Kline Mill farm homestead along the
Linville Creek. This piece, in near original condition, was
purchased from the estate of Church of the Brethren member Harold
Kline, who passed away in February. Interested donors bid on the
cupboard and have given it to the center to preserve some of the
story about early Brethren life and mill activities in the valley. 

Members throughout both denominations are invited to contribute
ideas, time, and resources in the undertaking of this new project.

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

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 800 323-8039, ext. 263,
or write CoBNews@AOL.Com. Newsline is available at www.brethren.org
and is archived with an index at http://www.wfn.org.

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

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 800 323-8039, ext. 263,
or write CoBNews@AOL.Com. Newsline is available at www.brethren.org
and is archived with an index at http://www.wfn.org.