wfn.org | Newsline - Church of the Brethren weekly news update Aug 19 1999

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      Aug. 19, 1999
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

News
1) The General Board's executive committee takes its New Windsor
      facility and ministries off its "endangered species list."
2) Seven truckloads of relief supplies are sent to Turkey by the
      General Board's ER/SM.
3) Emergency Response/Service Ministries invites district leaders
      from the eastern United States to discuss possible drought
      response.
4) A $15,000 EDF grant is allocated for the General Board's
      continuing work in Kansas.
5) Judy Mills Reimer prepares to represent the Church of the
      Brethren at the World Council of Churches Central Committee
      meetings in Geneva.
6) A group of Iowa youth and advisers spend nearly a week working
      in inner city Chicago.
7) Missionaries John and Janet Tubbs return to Nigeria with new
      assignments.
8) This year's stewardship packet has been mailed to all Brethren
      congregations.
9) Brethren congregations in Virginia's Tidewater region convene
      for their annual mini-conference.
10) A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held for Harmony Ridge,
      a 63-unit apartment building at The Brethren Home Community,
      New Oxford, Pa.
11) Timothy Durkovic, a concert pianist and University of La Verne
      faculty member, will perform in North Carolina in November.

Personnel
12) R. Thomas Fralin Jr. has been called as interim executive of
      Mid-Atlantic District.
13) Margie Paris has resigned as coordinator of the Church of the
      Brethren Yearbook.
14) An up-to-full-time area financial resource counselor for
      northeastern United States is being sought by the General
      Board's Funding office.
15) A managing director for the NCC's Ecumenical Program for Urban
      Services is being sought.

Features
16) When this summer's Youth Peace Travel Team decided to focus on
      landmines, little did they anticipate the response they'd
      receive. Team member Erica Sweitzer reports.
17) Walt Wiltschek of Westminster, Md., has been called to serve as
      interim Newsline writer/editor.
18) Nevin Dulabaum signs off as Newsline editor.

1) The question is no longer "if" but "how."

The Brethren Service Center at New Windsor, Md., and ministries
based there including Emergency Response/Service Ministries and the
New Windsor Conference Center, last week officially were removed
from the General Board's "endangered species list" -- the Board's
executive committee has affirmed that the center and its ministries
are in the Board's long-term plan.

During the Board's redesign -- a major overhaul of the Board's
ministries and staff configuration that was mostly concluded by
July 1997 -- questions were raised about whether the Board should
maintain more than one large facility. Although no preference was
cited between the Brethren Service Center and the General Offices
facility in Elgin, Ill., the situation at New Windsor appeared to
be more tenuous.

One nonprofit tenant, Heifer Project International, closed its
eastern regional office at New Windsor about two years ago,
although the closure had nothing to do with the Board's redesign.
Today three additional nonprofit tenants remain -- Interchurch
Medical Assistance and two former General Board ministries -- On
Earth Peace Assembly and SERRV International. These latter two
agencies have made it clear they intend to explore relocation
options.

Furthermore, the Board during redesign also stated that a decision
whether to continue or close the New Windsor Conference Center
would have to be made by Jan. 1, 2000, based on the center's
financial stability.

Nevertheless, IMA continues to be a firm tenant and the Board's
ER/SM has many service-related contracts with other relief
agencies, such as Church World Service, Lutheran World Relief, and
the American Red Cross. And over the past two years the Conference
Center's financial status has improved. With all of these variables
and uncertainty and with Jan. 1 looming increasingly closer, there
had been much speculation about the future of the New Windsor
facility and its ministries.

That ended in an Aug. 13 letter to General Board members, sent by
Mary Jo Flory-Steury, Board chair, and Judy Mills Reimer, executive
director. In that letter the two state that the Board's executive
committee, after studying and consulting, had affirmed that the
center would remain open and that the ministries would stay put.

Furthermore, they announced that in addition to serving as ER/SM
manager, Stan Noffsinger has been named coordinator of the Brethren
Service Center. While that doesn't mean that all New Windsor-based
employees will report to him, it does mean that Noffsinger will
coordinate all aspects of running the service center. In this role
he will report directly to Reimer.

"These decisions move us away from the statement of 'If we stay in
New Windsor' to a statement of 'How do we stay in New Windsor,'"
wrote Reimer and Flory-Steury. "It is a given that we can not 'go
back' and recapture the New Windsor of yesterday. But we can move
forward as General Board staff and volunteers at Elgin, New
Windsor, and other decentralized locations seeking to 'Continue the
work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together.'"

Reimer said that the Board will work to maintain its current
tenants and will reach out to other agencies to help provide the
Service Center with a sustainable future. "We see this as a
proactive stance," Reimer said. "We started about six months ago
approaching agencies here and others to come and join us at this
beautiful campus."

2) In response to this week's devastating earthquake in Turkey, the
General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries staff at the
Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., prepared seven trailer
loads of blankets and plastic tarps that were to be shipped to
Turkey by airplane Wednesday night. In addition, Stan Noffsinger,
ER/SM manager, is expected to seek an Emergency Disaster Grant to
assist an ecumenical humanitarian assistance effort.

3) In an attempt to better understand the impact of the drought
that has affected a large portion of the eastern United States this
summer, the General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries
has invited executives and disaster coordinators from Church of the
Brethren districts in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia,
and West Virginia to convene at the Brethren Service Center, New
Windsor, Md., on Aug. 26th. At least one representative from Church
World Service's Emergency Response office will be in attendance,
along with several other denominational guests.

"It is our hope to hear assessments from our district coordinators
and to consider ways in which ER/SM and the Brethren Service Center
can prepare to respond if called on in the coming months to the
wide geographic drought," said Stan Noffsinger, ER/SM manager.

4) An Emergency Disaster Fund grant of $15,000 was allocated Aug.
12 to provide additional support for the General Board's Emergency
Response/Disaster Services project in Haysville, Kan., a town
devastated earlier this year by tornadoes.

5) Judy Mills Reimer, General Board executive director, is
scheduled to attend a majority of the World Council of Church's
upcoming Central Committee meetings, scheduled for Aug. 26 - Sept.
3. Although she is not a member of the Central Committee,
representatives from the WCC's 350 member communions are permitted
to attend as delegated observers. Such participants are permitted
to enter into Central Committee discussion but do not have voting
privileges.

Reimer said she believes it is particularly important for her to be
on hand for the discussion pertaining to the WCC's new "Decade to
Overcome Violence" emphasis, which was approved by the WCC's World
Assembly in December. The Church of the Brethren has long been a
vocal advocate at the WCC against violence. Don Miller, former
general secretary of the General Board, in fact, was a leading
player in the development of the WCC's Programme to Overcome
Violence, a ministry started in the mid-1990s.

6) For the fifth consecutive year, a workgroup from Panther Creek
Church of the Brethren, Adel, Iowa, traveled to Chicago earlier
this month to clean, make repairs, and help lead Vacation Bible
School at Douglas Park Church of the Brethren. Seventeen youth and
adults, who had raised $1,200 to purchase supplies for the
inner-city congregation, participated.

During previous visits Panther Creek members painted the ceiling,
put up railings in front and back basement stairs, replaced walls,
fixed doors, changed electrical outlets, remodeled the kitchen,
took out chairs, and taught Vacation Bible school, said Jean Keith,
Douglas Park co-pastor.

"They have lesson plans and crafts and teaching teams organized
before they get here," Keith said. "They really reach out to the
kids in the neighborhood, which is truly spreading the good news of
the gospel because they reach out in love. The 'Iowa Kids' are
known in the neighborhood and bring such energy and enthusiasm that
it can't help but give us a boost and revitalize us.

Keith said four tangible outcomes to the Douglas Park church, its
members, and the commuity result from the boost and
revitalization --

* increased self esteem, which grows as Douglas Park members see
      youth and adults donating time for the church, reinforcing a
      worth "that is often missing";
* a change in attitudes by neighborhood kids, having interacted
      with positive role models;
* the community receives a strong message that the church is
      something to keep clean, not to be used as a dumping ground;
* energy is increased, as Douglas Park members are challenged not
      to get bogged down in the routine.

"When kids and adults are willing to give up a week of their time,
energy, and resources ... when they see the building and its
potential ... and then they touch the hearts of our children and
nurture their potential, we know we, as a congregation, are where
God intends us to be," Keith said.

7) John and Janet Tubbs returned to Nigeria on August 18 for a
third two-year term of service through the General Board's Global
Mission Partnerships office. Their assignment shifts from teaching
and administration at the Mason Technical School in Garkida to a
broader assignment as mission coordinators. They will seek to
strengthen relations between the Church of the Brethren and
Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (the Church of the Brethren in
Nigeria) through greater visibility and access to EYN members, and
provide increased support to the handful of Brethren workers in
Nigeria. The work that they've been doing at the tech school for
the past four years will now be filled by EYN members.

"The broader role is for John and Janet to become more involved in
the life of the Nigerian church," said Merv Keeney, GMP director.
"We anticipate that John will do more preaching and Janet more
health teaching. This responds to long-term requests from EYN for
more connection and wider visibility for Brethren workers, a desire
that was very much underscored during the extensive congregational
visits during my sabbatical in Nigeria (from November 1998 to
February 1999)."

During their summer furlough in the U.S., the Tubbs attended Annual
Conference and talked about the Nigeria mission in Church of the
Brethren congregations in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Nebraska,
Missouri, and Colorado.

8) "The Gifts of God for the People of God" is the name of this
year's stewardship resource packet from the General Board's Funding
office that has been sent to Brethren congregations. The packet
includes the new "Giving" magazine that the replaces the "Journal
of Stewardship," worship resources provided by Brethren pastors
from across the denomination, a list of stewardship materials
available from Brethren Press, and the 1999 edition of "Whose
Birthday is it, Anyway," an annual publication by Alternatives for
Simple Living that gives ideas for a Christ-centered Christmas
holiday.

For more information or to request a packet, contact Lillian Dako
at ldako_gb@brethren.org or at 800 323-8039.

9) Church of the Brethren congregations in Virginia's Tidewater
region kept up a tradition that has spanned two decades in early
June when they met for their annual mini-conference. These churches
of the denomination's Virlina District, which are geographically
separated from most of the district, meet "to connect and maintain
their sense of being Brethren," said Julie Hostetter, coordinator
of the General Board's Area Three Congregational Life Team who
helped provide leadership for this year's event. Participating
congregations included those from Virginia Beach, Hopewell, Newport
News, and Richmond.

This year's theme, "Evangelism: Sharing the Good News!" was
explored by 65 participants.  On June 4, Hostetter led
intergenerational activities focused on "What's So New About the
New Design?" On June 5 she facilitated worship, small-group
activities, conversations, and role playing that focused on
evangelism. Participants named what the Church of the Brethren has
to offer their communities during a time for sharing information,
ideas, and insights about "this exciting and challenging aspect of
ministry," Hostetter said.

Camp Bethel staff provided Saturday activities for young children
in addition to an appearance by Keefee the Clown, played by Wayne
Keafer from Ivy Farms Church of the Brethren, New Port News.

This early summer event has proven to be so successful that several
years ago these congregations began holding a one-day mid-winter
gathering, with each congregation taking a turn at holding the
February event.

10) A groundbreaking ceremony was held recently to commemorate the
start of construction on Harmony Ridge, a 63-unit apartment
building on the The Brethren Home Community campus near New Oxford,
Pa. The three-story building will house one- and two-bedroom
apartments as well as a community center. It is scheduled to be
completed by fall 2000. A few of the apartments are still
available. Contact Ilene Ruppert at 888 624-8242.

11) Timothy Durkovic, a concert pianist who has recently joined the
adjunct piano faculty at University of La Verne (Calif.), a Church
of the Brethren-affiliated institution, will head to North Carolina
in November for several concerts -- at Salem College, at the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and at Central Piedmont
Community College.

"He is a wonderful addition to the ULV faculty and is interested in
connecting with the Church of the Brethren community as he travels
around the country," which also includes the possibility of
performing at Church of the Brethren congregations, said Jean
Yordy, associate director of development/director of special
events.

For information about Durkovic's North Carolina performances or to
book him for a congregational concert, contact Yordy at 909
593-3511, ext. 4697.

12) R. Thomas Fralin Jr. has been called as interim executive of
Mid-Atlantic District, effective Sept. 1. This month Fralin is
retiring from Brownsville (Md.) Church of the Brethren, where he
has served for 21 years. Previously he served churches in the
Shenandoah and Virlina districts totaling 33 years.

13) Margie Paris has resigned as coordinator of the Church of the
Brethren Yearbook, effective Friday. She then transfers from
Brethren Press to the General Board's ministry office where she
will serve as secretary to Allen Hansell, ministry director. Paris
joined the General Board in 1989 as assistant yearbook coordinator;
she was named coordinator in 1996.

14) An up-to-full-time area financial resource counselor for
northeastern United States is being sought by the General Board's
Funding office. Interviews will begin Nov. 1 and will continue
until the position is filled. Tentative start date is Jan. 2.

For position description and application forms, contact Elsie
Holderread at eholderread_gb@brethren.org or at 800 323-8039.

15) A managing director for Ecumenical Program for Urban Services
is being sought by the National Council of Churches. This position,
which had previously been filled by Brethren Jan Schrock, is
responsible for a staff of 21 that places 5,500 young adults in
community service throughout the United States. It includes
training, recruiting, proposal development, and validation of
educational scholarship awards. For more information, contact Laura
Williams at 212 870-2088.

16) Erica Sweitzer of Cedar Lake Church of the Brethren, Auburn,
Ind., this summer served on the ninth annual Youth Peace Travel
Team along with Wendy Matheny of Peoria (Ill.) First Church of the
Brethren; Chanda Edwards of Jackson Park Church of the Brethren,
Jonesborough, Tenn.; and Amy Rhoades of Trinity Church of the
Brethren, Fincastle, Va. As a team, they traveled to different
Church of the Brethren camps in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to
assist camp staff and counselors and to present educational
programs on peacemaking.

The group's decision to focus on landmines led to a campaign that
produced about 150 pieces of art from Brethren around the
denomination. Here's the group's story as told by Erica, who will
attend Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind., this fall to
study social work and peace studies --

During one of our first meetings as the Youth Peace Travel Team the
other team members and I agreed to focus on the issue of landmines
for the summer. We were all touched by the accounts from agencies
such as Church World Service and Doctors Without Borders that told
of the countless tragedies caused by landmines. It became evident
that landmines were devastating to hard-working civilians, curious
children, and war-torn communities desperately trying to rebuild.
We felt that campers needed to be aware of the devastating effects
that these tools of blind terrorism had on their brothers and
sisters around the globe.

We decided that our sessions would not only focus on educating
about the horror of landmines, but would also contain a proactive
element to give participants an opportunity to do something about
the problem. We discussed the possibility of a petition to
President Clinton urging him to sign the Ottawa Landmine Ban
Treaty, an agreement that states that signatory countries will stop
producing landmines, stop exporting landmines, and will work to
destroy all landmines that the country may have stockpiled. We
wanted the petition to be unique so it would draw as much attention
as possible.

We eventually came up with the idea of a book format for our
petition. Campers attending our workshops would be invited to add
a page that expressed their thoughts about landmines and their
desires for a mine-free world. We wanted to allow them to express
their thoughts in any respectful and creative way they chose. We
decided to suggest options such as writing a letter, drawing a
picture, or making a collage. The four of us each made our own
pages to use as examples and we were then ready for the first
workshop.

I was a bit nervous leading the first presentation. Most of our
workshops involved working with junior and senior high school
students, but this particular session involved working with a
younger group of campers. I've had minimal experience working with
children and was beginning to wonder if they would be interested in
the project. I took a deep breath and asked the opening question of
the session: "Today we're going to talk a little bit about
landmines. Does any one know what a landmine is?"  Ten hands shot
up and the kids began to talk. The campers knew what landmines are,
how they are triggered, and different techniques used to de-mine
them. I was humbled.

The kids' knowledge and enthusiasm continued to amaze me as we
began to discuss the problems that mines may cause in communities
trying to rebuild. They realized that farmers would be unable to
plant crops in mine-infested areas. They understood that many
adults could not make a living if they were injured by mines. Most
of all, they knew that children like themselves all over the world
were unable to run and play freely because of the presence of
landmines. Sometime during this discussion the truth flooded over
me: These campers could comprehend the essence of this issue as
well as anyone. They had spent time at camp hiking, playing
kickball, and running through the grass and felt sympathy for
children around the world who could not enjoy these everyday
activities. Their attitudes were straight forward and refreshing.
They realized that these weapons were hurting people and thus
should be eliminated. Simple as that.

Our team explained that we were writing a special type of letter to
the president to ask him to sign the Landmine Ban Treaty. We
explained the project and asked if anyone would like to make a page
for our book. The campers' enthusiasm in the project was
wonderfully overwhelming. Their pages contained images such as a
man holding his dog, followed by this explanation -- "This man does
not want to put his dog down because of landmines." Another page
read, "To have mines or not to have mines? Not to have mines."

The kids wrote straight from their hearts. "Dear Bill Clinton, I
think landmines are bad because people die from them."

I was also greatly moved by the optimistic attitude of many of the
campers. Some were quite confident that the president would
immediately sign the treaty after viewing their pictures. I
realized I had learned an important lesson: Before this workshop,
I had privately begun to doubt the impact that one person's actions
had on the world. I realized that Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther
King Jr., and all other individuals who had truly changed the world
were able to retain their child-like optimistic viewpoint that one
person's actions can make a difference. This optimism is stifled by
most of us, yet found in all of us.

The summer continued and the project grew bigger. The pages in the
final book were created by individuals ranging in ages from five to
50. The pages are unique; just like the people who created them.
However, they all share the common theme of the desire for a world
without landmines.

(A selection of these pictures can be viewed at
www.brethren.org/picthis beginning Aug. 21.)

17) Walt Wiltscheck, associate pastor at Westminster (Md.) Church
of the Brethren, has agreed to serve as Newsline's interim
writer/editor until a new manager of news services has been hired
by the General Board. Nevin Dulabaum concludes his General Board
tenure on Aug. 27.

Wiltschek is a former newspaper reporter at the York (Pa.) Daily
Record who has written articles for Newsline and Messenger. He also
served on Brethren Press' Communication Team at National Youth
Conference 1998 and Annual Conferences 1998 and 1999.

Stories for future Newslines should be sent to Walt at
cobnews@aol.com. He also can be reached at 410 871-0516.

E-mail may be sent to Nevin Dulabaum through Sept. 6 at
nevincob@aol.com. Thereafter he can be reached at
ndulabaum_bbt@brethren.org.

18) This is it. After about 225 Newslines and an estimated 500,000
words, which have spanned from November 1994 through this issue,
this is the last story of my last Newsline. What a run it has been!

What already is easy to take for granted, that all work places have
web sites and all employees have e-mail, was in its evolution when
I joined the General Board staff not quite five years ago. At that
time Newsline was nearing its fourth anniversary, having been
created in January 1991 through the efforts of Communication Team
members Howard Royer, director of interpretation, news director
Wendy McFadden, and Cheryl Cayford, editorial assistant. Newsline
began as a three-minute voicemail message. The notion was to
provide a succinct weekly summary of denominational news and
information for anyone willing to call the 24-hour phone number at
the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.

That continued as Wendy and Cheryl subsequently left the
Communication Team and were succeeded by Eric Bishop and Paula
Wilding, respectively. In its heyday, the voice version of Newsline
was accessed by about 100 people each month, although special
reports sometimes received greater activity. Nevertheless, by the
time I succeeded Eric, that number was down to 80 a month, although
by then Newsline was being distributed to 70 e-mail addresses
throughout the denomination, taking advantage of the e-mail trend
that was then just leaving its infancy.

It has exploded ever since.

One of the joys I've had first as newsline editor, and then as
writer/editor after Paula left the General Board in July 1997, has
been watching Newsline's electronic readership grow. Aside from
some early business cards, Newsline has never been featured in a
self-promotional piece until the forthcoming August Messenger, in
which it appears in an ad with other Communication Team resources.
Newsline has grown solely through word of mouth. As I've expanded
the types and number of stories included in Newsline, so too, has
readership expanded. About five to 10 times each week I receive
e-mails from people asking to be placed on the mailing list. And
after major events, it is obvious Newsline readers have shared what
they learned about the events with nonsubscribers because
subscription requests routinely double thereafter for a week or
more. I find a delight in imagining all of the discussions that are
taking place among the vast branches of the informal Brethren
information network!

Today Newsline is an electronic news service that has over 1,350
e-mail and 50 fax recipients in the United States and in a handful
of countries abroad. Most denominational leaders, nearly all
denominational staff, many pastors, many laity, and some religious
and secular reporters and news organizations read this news
publication that strives for objectivity as it carries the news of
people and organizations of the Church of the Brethren and people
and agencies affiliated with the denomination. The fax option was
added about two years ago while the voice option, which had
dwindled to about 12 callers each month, was dropped in November
1997.

As steward of this increasingly important denominational
communication piece, I've had a wonderful relationship with
Newsline readers. You've watched me increase the number of stories
and page count as my cultivation of sources and stories has reaped
rewards. You've accepted the inclusion of features that mostly tell
positive stories about aspects of the church. You've seen coverage
of conferences and major board meetings come to you through daily
Newslines.

You've also put up with some unusual quirks, such as the time
Newsline morphed on the Internet with a steamy love letter (more
faithful readers that week then ever before or since!). And there
was last January's 17-page Newsline I sent when the story till was
overflowing! Then there was the glitch soon thereafter that had me
accidentally sending 10 copies of the same Newsline to many
recipients. Talk about reader feedback!

In fact, I've had a lot of feedback over the years through e-mails,
faxes, regular mail, visits to our offices, chance meetings while
I was in the field covering events, and from an annual reader
survey. Through this input I've learned that Newsline should not go
beyond six pages except on special occasions; that it is about an
even split between those who would like to receive Newsline weekly
and those who like the semi-monthly format; and that features are
a welcome addition to the publication as long as they stay to about
800 words.

I have found this interaction to be fun and energizing, sometimes
giving me impetus to try new things and then work at determining
reader reaction.

However, five years of routine but steady deadlines and a plethora
of other factors led me to feeling earlier this summer that I
needed to make a change. I'm making that change at the end of next
week as my General Board tenure concludes. As a life-long member of
the Church of the Brethren, I'm happy and fortunate to be able to
continue my work for the denomination as manager of public
relations and marketing for Brethren Benefit Trust, beginning Sept.
7. Thus, the ministry I feel called to give through writing,
photography, and information advocacy will continue. And it will
mean that I will stay employed within the Church of the Brethren
General Offices in Elgin, Ill.

And so this is it. It has been my pleasure and joy to have been at
the Newsline helm since 1994. I pray that its relevance and
importance within the life of the church will continue to expand
exponentially in the years to come.

Newsline has been produced on the first, third and fifth Thursdays
of each month by Nevin Dulabaum, manager of the Church of the
Brethren General Board's News Services. 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.