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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      December 3, 1999
Contact:  Walt Wiltschek
V:  410/871-0516   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) Speaker Mark Yaconelli draws a record turnout for the fall
Youth Ministry Workshop.
 2) Repair work can finally begin in areas ravaged by Hurricane
Floyd.
 3) Juniata College builds on its reputation as a volleyball
powerhouse.
 4) The CoB stands prepared to deal with Y2K. 
 5) A diverse group came together to form BVS Unit 236. 
 6) More than 100 participants attend fall stewardship seminars in
Area 1.
 7) The Association of Brethren Caregivers wants nominations for
its recognitions.
 8) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.

COMING EVENTS
 9) Richard Foster will lead a spiritual renewal event at
Elizabethtown College March 10-11.
10) CoBACE plans a spring retreat and 20th anniversary celebration
in March.

RESOURCES
11) Young adult ministry resources highlight the December "Source"
packet.

PERSONNEL
12) The General Board seeks a full-time coordinator for the
Washington Office.

FEATURES
13) Brethren, others continue to aid Sioux protesters through
Christian Peacemaker Teams.
14) A member of the Marilla (Mich.) congregation receives a
prestigious service award.

 1) The theme of youth spirituality struck a chord among Brethren
as a crowd of nearly 200 people attended the 1999 Youth Ministry
Workshop held at the Hagerstown (Md.) Church of the Brethren Nov.
20. Chris Douglas, the coordinator of the General Board's
Youth/Young Adult Office, which sponsored the workshop, said it was
the highest registration ever for the annual fall event since it
began in the early '90s.

Mark Yaconelli, who directs the Youth Spirituality Project at San
Francisco Theological Seminary, provided leadership for the event.
A highly sought-after speaker, Yaconelli squeezed in the day-long
appearance between events at a convention in Cincinnati.

"God needs to be at the center," Yaconelli said, describing various
youth ministry models. "The Christian faith doesn't make sense
unless there is a God. We need to have youth 'meet God.' ... It's
our desire for God that's our greatest gift to our children."

Yaconelli combined lecture, experiential exercises that could be
carried back to use with youth groups, periods of silence,
discussion, and question-and-answer times to show participants some
ways they might facilitate that process of "meeting God" with their
youth.

In sessions before and after a festive lunch provided by the
Hagerstown church, Yaconelli led the group through reflections on
Scripture, contemplative prayer and contemporary chanting, creative
prayers using media such as clay, imaginative visualizing, looking
for God in the world around us, and lighting candles as a focus
point of Jesus' presence.

"Every moment is an opportunity for prayer if we recognize it,"
Yaconelli said. "We need to do active sorts of prayer."

He also provided ideas for recruiting good advisors for the youth
program, finding a balance between rest or "sabbath" and ministry,
and ways to structure youth planning meetings that leave space to
hear God's calling.

A video of highlights from the workshop, filmed by David
Sollenberger of the Annville (Pa.) congregation, is available for
districts or congregations to borrow from the Youth/Young Adult
Ministry Office. Call 1-800-323-8039.
  
 
 2) With flood waters finally receded and land dried out, much
cleanup and repair work is ready to begin in the areas battered by
Hurricane Floyd in September.

The General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries office
reports that projects in Vanceboro, N.C., and Franklin, Va., are
ready to proceed. Initial work in Vanceboro started just before
Thanskgiving under Harold Hubbell, with major repairs to be done on
homes. In Franklin, a team of Shenandoah District volunteers is
preparing a storm-damaged house that will be used by volunteers
when the project opens in January.

For information on volunteering, contact a district disaster
coordinator.

 3) Few college teams need a national championship run every year
to be considered successful, but that's become the expectation for
the women's volleyball team at Juniata College.

The Church of the Brethren college in Huntingdon, Pa., has one of
only two teams in the nation (along with California-San Diego) to
receive an invitation to the NCAA Division III tournament in all 19
years the tournament has existed. Juniata has finished second in
the nation four times, including two of the past three years.

They've never won the national title, however, and that's the goal
this year as they return to the final four yet again this weekend.
The Eagles (35-4) are hosts for the semifinals and finals for the
second straight year and play powerful defending national champion
Central (39-0), an Iowa school near Des Moines, in the semifinals
at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3.

"It's daunting, and really tough on the kids to know it's not a
successful year unless out of 390- however-many teams there are,
they make it to the final four. That's long odds in a lot of ways,"
said veteran Juniata coach Larry Bock, who will coach his 1,000th
career Division III match on Friday. "You're playing three months
to get back to the top of the mountain. This is the fun time of the
year for them."

Juniata enters this year's tournament as the No. 4 seed. Muskingum
(Ohio) and Trinity (Tex.) will play in the other semifinal, with
the finals Dec. 4.

 4) The Church of the Brethren's denominational structures should
be A-OK for Y2K thanks to a decade of foresight and planning.

Perry Hudkins, the General Board's Y2K coordinator, said that
preparations related to computer software began in the early '90s
when the issue cropped up related to expiration dates of products
for Emergency Response/Service Ministries' material resources.

The work has continued ever since, with software and hardware
adjustments made during regular maintenance and upgrade of systems
to avoid expensive overhauls and remediation efforts. Hudkins
reports that all "package" software systems such as payroll,
publishing, and mailing are Y2K-compliant.

She and other staff have also checked other date-sensitive facility
areas such as climate control and telephone systems. They
anticipate no major problems, and the New Windsor Conference Center
even has a group booked over New Year's Eve.

"We expect January 1st to follow smoothly after December 31st,"
Hudkins said. "We are prepared to cope in case we missed something,
and we are prepared to be kind and courteous if someone else missed
something."

 5) Seventeen volunteers from Germany, Japan, The Netherlands,
Switzerland, and all over the United States came together at the
Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., for Brethren Volunteer
Service unit 236 in late October through mid-November.

During the three-week orientation, the diverse group lived together
as a community and studied such topics as Church of the Brethren
and Brethren Volunteer Service beliefs and practices, health care,
conflict resolution, peacemaking, and capital punishment. They
spent a day in Baltimore working for Chesapeake Habitat for
Humanity, learning about building houses for low-income owners.

A weekend was also spent at I Can, Inc., a Baltimore homeless
shelter, meeting the men there, listening to their stories, and
learning about issues they face. Following orientation, group
members dispersed to projects in nine states, Washington, D.C., and
Northern Ireland.

 6) More than 110 participants from 40 congregations in Area 1
(Northeast) attended two recent stewardship seminars sponsored by
that area's Congregational Life Team in partnership with Christian
Community -- a non-profit organization doing research and program
development to help congregations and the communities they serve. 

The seminars were held in Hagerstown, Md., on Oct. 23 and in
Hollidaysburg, Pa., on Oct. 30, with Steve Clapp, president of
Christian Community, as the resource leader. Clapp is a  writer,
church consultant, and workshop leader in the areas of stewardship,
church vitality, strategic planning, and leadership.  

The focus of the seminars was determined by the district executive
ministers and associates from the Atlantic Northeast, Mid-Atlantic,
Middle Pennsylvania, Southern Pennsylvania, and Western
Pennsylvania districts.  The three main topics were: Stewardship
and the Spiritual Life; Effective Stewardship Education Strategies;
and Practical Ways to Increase Congregational Giving Without
Manipulation.

The Area 1 Congregational Life Team also displayed a Stewardship
Resource Box and presented one to each of the five district offices
represented. The CLT coordinator in each area of the denomination
also has a box that can be borrowed for local church use.

 7) The Association of Brethren Caregivers is taking nominations
for its annual awards and recognitions of individuals and
organizations that have contributed to the health and caregiving
fields. The awards and recognitions will be presented at the ABC
Recognition Dinner during the 2000 Annual Conference in Kansas
City, Mo.

ABC's awards program offers recognitions for several different
categories. Individuals can be nominated for volunteer/family
caregiver; organizational staff such as chief executive officer or
pastor; and organizational board member and/or deacon.
Organizations can be nominated for organizational/congregational
caregiving; organizational/facility innovation; and organizational
health care or caregiving services. The Awards Committee may
consider nominations for candidates whose service to the health and
caregiving fields falls outside the official categories.

In order to be nominated, individual and organizational candidates
must be members of the Church of the Brethren and/or an employee or
volunteer of a Church of the Brethren organization, have made
significant contributions in health and/or caregiving fields for at
least five years, and be recognized as members of ABC or a Church
of the Brethren-related organization. Nominations will be accepted
through Feb. 1. Send nominations and supporting materials to Steve
Mason, executive director, Association of Brethren Caregivers, 1451
Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120.

 8) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes  from around the
denomination and elsewhere:
   *The full text of the General Board's Resolution on Women in
Ministry, adopted at the October meeting, can be viewed at
www.brethren.org/genbd/ministry/women.htm
   *Chanda Edwards, a 1999 Youth Peace Travel Team member, has
joined the staff of On Earth Peace Assembly as a volunteer store
manager/program assistant.
   *The World Council of Churches' United States Conference will
hold a meeting in Atlanta Dec. 9-11 to evaluate the impact of last
year's world assembly on the life and witness of US churches. The
theme of this year's meeting is "Reconciled in Christ: The
Churches' Ministry of Reconciliation." Rev. Kathy Bannister will be
installed as moderator of the US Conference.
   *The Virlina District Conference, which drew more than 500
participants, forwarded a query to the 2000 Annual Conference from
the district board concerning personal evangelism and church
growth.
   *The Western Pennsylvania District Board focused on the
"Worshipful Work" model of doing church business at its annual
retreat last month. Ronald St. Clair, pastor of the Scalp Level
Church of the Brethren, and Area 1 Congregational Life Team member
Linda McCauliff were the resource leaders. Both had received
training at a denominational event in September. Congregational
Life Team coordinators in each district can provide additional
details on Worshipful Work.
   *First Church of the Brethren, Chicago, plans to celebrate its
75th anniversary April 29-30. The weekend celebration will include
the congregation's diverse musical history, storytelling, a special
service of thanksgiving and remembrance, tours of the building and
the neighborhood, and a renewed commitment to being God's
multicultured people in the city. The church is seeking to contact
former pastors, Sunday school teachers, musicians and members, and
also welcomes pictures of weddings, baptisms, ordinations or any
other special events in the church's life. Contact pastor Orlando
Redekopp at (773) 533-4273.
   *Kent Shisler has been named chief financial officer of The
Brethren Home Community in New Oxford, Pa.
   *Christian Peacemaker Teams is inviting churches to join in
proclaiming 2000 the year of Jubilee with a public witness in front
of the International Monetary Fund building in Washington D.C. From
Dec.26 through Jan.1, CPT's seven-member Jubilee team will maintain
a public presence there from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. each day. A special
noon-hour vigil will also be held each day for those in economic
bondage. For more information, contact CPT at (312) 455-1199 or by
e-mail at cpt@igc.org.
   *Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren is auctioning a quilt
made by a group at the church to benefit Habitat for Humanity and
the Bridgewater Home. Bids will be taken through Dec. 20 at
llinewea@shentel.net. Include name, address, and phone. Bid updates
and a picture of the quilt are available at
www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/1550/quilt/joyquilt.html.  
   *Seven hundred Mennonite congregations will receive surveys in
January 2000 as part of a nationwide research project being done in
conjunction with the US national census. The study is intended to
"produce a comprehensive picture of congregational life in the
United States," according to the Mennonite news service.
   *Free worship resources are available from the Supportive
Congregations Network for use during the annual Ecumenical
Welcoming Sunday Jan. 30. Mennonite and Church of the Brethren
congregations in the network are part of more than 800
congregations that set aside the day to acknowledge and celebrate
their welcome of gay, lesbian, and bisexual members. 
To receive the resources, contact the Supportive Congregations
Network, P.O. Box 6300, Minneapolis, MN 55406, or phone (612)
722-6906, or e-mail SCNetwork@aol.com.
   *According to a survey by "The United Church Observer" in
Canada, these are the top five hymns of that denomination (many of
them familiar to Brethren): 1) "I, the Lord of Sea and Sky" (a.k.a.
"Here I Am, Lord"); 2) "In the Bulb There is a Flower"; 3) "Make Me
a Channel of Your Peace"; 4) "Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness"; 5)
"Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah."
   *To clarify an item in the Nov. 19 Newsline, Dr. Dennis Lipton
attends the Shalom Church of the Brethren in Durham, N.C., but his
membership remains in another denomination. Lipton has returned
home following his five-day incarceration in Alabama as a result of
his conscientious objector case.

 9) A spirituality event called "Renovaire: A Journey of Personal
Spiritual Renewal" will be held March 10-11 at Elizabethtown (Pa.)
College. Leading the conference will be internationally acclaimed
speaker Richard J. Foster, author of "Celebration of Discipline"
and other works. Emilie Griffin, George Skramstad, and others will
join Foster in providing leadership.

Renovaire (from the Latin for "to make new") is based on six
"streams" of the great traditions of the Christian faith: the
contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical,
and incarnational traditions. The conference is open to all people
of faith and will benefit those seeking a balanced approach to
spirituality. It will provide training, practice, and helpful ideas
for worship and spiritual growth, seeking to deepen each person's
relationship with God and encouraging participation in ongoing
spiritual formation groups.

The Renovaire event is being sponsored by the Atlantic Northeast
District after being developed by the district's Spiritual Renewal
Team. More than 30 "supporting churches" in Atlantic Northeast and
Southern Pennsylvania have also committed to pray for the
conference, see how the event could be part of the spiritual
renewal efforts of that church, and encourage members to attend.

"I see the whole Renovaire movement being very faithful to our
Anabaptist tradition," said David S. Young, chair of the committee
for the event and co-chair of the Atlantic Northeast Spiritual
Renewal Team. "It has the balance of Anabaptism and Pietism and is
very Christ-centered."

Registration is only $25 and is limited to the first 840 persons to
sign up. More than 150 had already registered as of last month. For
more information, call the Atlantic Northeast District office at
(717) 367-4730.

10) The Church of the Brethren Association of Christian Educators
will hold its spring retreat March 24-26 at Camp Brethren Woods in
Keezletown, Va. Frank Ramirez, Brethren pastor and author, will
provide leadership based on his experience as a curriculum writer
and on ways Christian education can address special needs in the
church.

The weekend will include learning, relaxation, and fellowship, and
a celebration of CoBACE's 20th anniversary; a field trip to
historical John Kline sites in the area is also being considered.
Registration forms will be available in January. 

11) The December "Source" packet of resources for congregations
from the General Board's Office of Interpretation includes several
key resources for young adult ministry, including a free copy of
the book "Ministry With Young Adults: The Search for Intimacy." The
book is a gift from the General Board's Youth/Young Adult Ministry
Office and Brethren Press.

Also in the packet are two checklists for congregations to assess
young adult ministry in their local settings, along with
information on a new monograph from Brethren Encyclopedia titled
"The Beliefs of the Early Brethren, 1706-1735," a "Gifts that
Matter" catalog from Brethren Press, addresses to send Christmas
cards to Brethren Volunteer Service workers, details on Year 2000
Faith Expeditions from the Office of Brethren Witness, and other
resources.

12) The Church of the Brethren General Board is seeking a full-time
coordinator for the Washington (D.C.) Office. The coordinator will
initiate, plan, and implement objectives related to the office;
educate the denomination on national and world issues; enable the
denomination to work for government action and change; and other
duties.

Candidates should be well-grounded in Church of the Brethren
heritage, theology, polity, and structure; have experience related
to and working knowledge of the legislative process; be able to
relate with integrity and respect within and beyond the Church of
the Brethren to persons related to the legislative process; and
have experience in dealing with a constituent base that varies
widely in perspective.

Candidates should also have a bachelor's degree (theological
education helpful), be able to travel regularly, and have
experience in managing an office and staff. Interviews will begin
Feb. 5 and continue until the position is filled. For position
description and application forms, contact Elsie Holderread at 1451
Dundee Avenue, Elgin, IL 60120; call 1-800-323-8039 x259; fax at
(847) 742-8212 or e-mail: eholderread_gb@brethren.org.

13) Through much of 1999, the Christian Peacemaker Teams have
maintained a presence with members of the Native American Lakota
tribe during a protest in South Dakota. CPT members filled a
violence-reduction role at the Oceti Sakowin encampment on La
Framboise Island in Pierre, S.D., through October.

As a follow-up, a delegation of peacemkers revisited the encampment
Nov. 23-30. Led by Rick Polhamus of the Pleasant Hill Church of the
Brethren in Southern Ohio District, 12 people joined a Thanksgiving
Day celebration planned by members of the Lakota Sioux who have
camped and maintained a sacred fire on the island since March.

The encampment continues in protest of the planned transfer of
92,000 acres of federally-managed lands to the state of South
Dakota rather than to the Great Sioux Nation as agreed in the 1868
Fort Laramie Treaty. CPT members, invited by the Sioux, joined the
encampment over the summer and fall to offer public monitoring of
the situation and give support to the people affected by the
planned transfer. A CPT publication says that FBI agents were
staked out nearby, and local law enforcement officials created
"frequent harassment."

Following a legislative victory that repealed the original
Mitigation Act (which authorized the land deal), CPT completed its
initial presence with the camp in October. 

"It seems the lands of indigenous people are always at risk in
spite of treaty agreements. We of CPT are calling our nation to
integrity in honoring the treaties signed by our leaders with the
Great Sioux Nation," said Rick Polhamus, who spent three weeks with
the encampment as the first assignment in his new role as a
full-time CPT worker.

The Thanksgiving delegation continued to build on relationships
between CPT and Native Americans and to monitor current legislative
action (a second version of the Mitigation Act has been passed) in
order to be prepared should further requests for support emerge. 

14) Cindy Asiala, the pianist and treasurer of the Marilla (Mich.)
Church of the Brethren, was one of 21 recipients of the 1999
President's Service Awards. The recipients traveled to Washington,
D.C., to receive the honor from national service executives and the
Points of Light Foundation. Several members also talked with
President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office.

Asiala was chosen for the honor for her work, assisted by co-techer
Deb Crandall, in initiating the Service Learning Class at aptly
named Brethren High School in the town of Brethren, Mich. Since the
class began in 1995, students have worked hard on many projects.
Focusing on the village of Kaleva (population 400) in the school
district, their aim was to attract more tourism and perhaps
stimulate economic growth.

Some of the projects were low-key, such as painting designs on
village trash containers, interviewing older residents for
video-tape oral histories, and producing a Finnish cookbook. Other,
more lofty, projects included the restoration of a railroad depot
building into a historical train museum, opening a local art
gallery and an information center, and painting murals on a fence
and on the firehouse. Adults took notice and began to raise money
to assist the students' projects in other ways.

A 1908 log cabin was donated by several families toward Project
Kaleva. Students took it apart, numbered the pieces, and rebuilt it
on a new foundation in town. A new deck was added for use as a
stage and was the site of several music and drama presentations
this past summer. In September, Asiala and the Marilla
congregation's organist, Sherry Dorn, sponsored a community hymn
sing at the cabin, with about 100 people attending.

Newsline is produced by Walt Wiltschek, interim Newsline editor for
the Church of the Brethren General Board's News Services, on the
first, third and fifth Friday of each month. Newsline stories may
be reprinted provided that Newsline is cited as the source and the
publication date is included. Janice Kulp Long and Marie Willoughby
contributed to this report.

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 1-800-323-8039, 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.