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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      Dec. 30, 1999
Contact:  Walt Wiltschek
V:  410/871-0516   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) A look back at some ministry highlights from Church of the
Brethren agencies in 1999.
 2) A committee is working on a series of supplements to "Hymnal:
A Worship Book."
 3) Three more Emergency Disaster Fund grants send aid to three
continents.
 4) Brethren Volunteer Service waives it application fee as of Jan.
1.
 5) Brethren Benefit Trust offers members a clergy consultation
program starting in January.
 6) Correction to Dec. 17 Newsline.
 7) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.

RESOURCES
 8) The January/February "Source" packet brings requests for
nominations and volunteers.
 9) A new book from Juniata College explores the Bakers' impact on
peace education.

PERSONNEL
10) Sam Bowman and Jaime Eller are named assistant workcamp
coordinators for 2000.      
11) Education for Conflict Resolution, Inc., seeks a director of
development.

               ******HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM NEWSLINE!******

 1) The end of another year, the last of the 1900s, in fact,
provides an opportunity to look back and celebrate ministries,
milestones, and events that have happened through the denomination
over the past 12 months. While no list can be completely
comprehensive or complete, here are a few items to celebrate from
1999:
  *The 1999 Annual Conference's energetic and decisive action to
pass a resolution on Children and Violence in response to the
Littleton, Colo., shootings and other events.
  *The renewed commitment by the General Board to the Brethren
Service Center in New Windsor, Md., as a "mission point" for
Brethren ministry with a long-term future and new possibilities;
plus a hectic yet fulfilling year for Emergency Response/Service
Ministries based there as it responded to a slew of disasters, from
flooding to drought, and disaster child care in a variety of
settings, even through a change of managers.
  *On Earth Peace Assembly's celebration of its first 25 years of
peace education and congregational reconciliation in the Church of
the Brethren with a five-day celebration in October looking at
OEPA's past, present, and future.
  *Brethren Benefit Trust's launching of ClearViewNet.Net through
its eMountain Communications electronic ministries subsidiary on
April 1, a nationwide Internet Service Provider with filtering
tools that block sites promoting hate, violence, pornography,
gambling, cheating, and more. ClearViewNet went on to win a
national graphic design award, and eMountain also began offering
other Web services.
  *The approval by the Bethany Theological Seminary Board of
Trustees for establishment of an Institute for Ministry with Youth
and Young Adults, with a threefold mission of training pastors and
congregational leaders for effective ministry with youth and young
adults, training leaders who influence congregations toward a
ministry more hospitable and sensitive to youth and young adults,
and training leaders who are able to nurture youth and young adults
toward mature discipleship in the body of Christ. Courses are
expected to begin in spring 2001.
  *Brethren Witness' work with education against racism, aid to
conscientious objector Dennis Lipton, the J2K program calling the
entire church to celebrate Jesus' birthday amid the new millenium,
and more.
  *New resources for deacons from the Association of Brethren
Caregivers, including a large-print version of the deacon manual
for caring ministries, a Spanish translation of the video resource
"A Deacon Ministry of Caring," deacon identification/business
cards, deacon and deacon emeritus certificates, and "Choosing
Death: A Study Guide on Euthanasia."
  *Fifteen full-time summer camp staff from five Church of the
Brethren camps trained by OEPA in ways to better handle
disagreements -- between campers, between campers and counselors,
and between full-time camp staff and camp directors -- and to then
use those new skills in their respective camp settings.
  *Youth and young adults at work in the church through Ministry
Summer Service, youth workcamps, the summer Youth Peace Travel
Team, and elsewhere; plus a host of young adults as well as older
adults and some in between ministering for longer periods through
Brethren Volunteer Service.
  *The offering, through Brethren Benefit Trust, of the Walden/BBT
Domestic and International Social Index Mutual Funds to provide
Brethren socially responsible and responsive investment options
that adhere to Brethren values and are also fiscally responsible.
  *Renewed energy and enthusiasm in mission through work in the
Dominican Republic, plus explorations of ministry and connections
in Tijuana, Mexico; in India; in Brazil; through the peace process
in Sudan, and elsewhere.
  *The long-awaited arrival at Bethany Theological Seminary of
Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria member Patrick Bugu as a student at
the Indiana campus after a long-term effort by Bethany and the
Church of the Brethren General Board to help him get a study visa.
Bugu is the first Nigerian student at the seminary in four years.
  *Annual Conference's final meeting in the Tuesday-Sunday format
as it convened in Milwaukee, Wisc., while uplifting the new
schedule to begin in 2000.
  *New initiatives from Congregational Life Teams across the
country in areas including cross-cultural concerns, stewardship,
spiritual life, and other programs.
  ...Continuing the work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together.

 2) The committee preparing supplements to "Hymnal: A Worship Book"
has progressed to the next level of the project -- digesting the
input of 33 advisory group members who each sang through 239
potential hymns.

The advisory group is a diverse set of people who committed to
reviewing the first cut of hymns and evaluating their
appropriateness for inclusion in a set of booklets for
congregational worship within the Church of the Brethren. That
input, sent by mail, was tabulated for the Hymnal Pocket Series
Committee to use as a guide in the next level of selection, done
during a meeting Dec. 6-10 in Elgin, Ill.

The committee decided the still-to-be-named series will consist of
nine booklets produced over a three-year period. The categories
will be based on those in the hymnal, and the first three will be
Advent/Christmas/Epiphany, Lent/Easter/Pentecost, and
Praising/Adoring. Each booklet will include hymns representing a
variety of musical styles. Among those in the mix are traditional
hymns, praise choruses, new hymns written since the hymnal was
published, and hymns coming from other cultures.

Of the list evaluated by members of the advisory group, the top 10
were: "While by the sheep," "Jesu, Jesu" (with revised words), "We
three kings," "Jubilate, everybody," "Laudate Dominum,"
"Siyahamba," "Halle, halle, hallelujah," "Touch the earth lightly,"
"Glory, glory, hallelujah," and "Go, tell it on the mountain."
Ultimate inclusion in the series depends on copyright permissions,
so no titles are yet considered final.

"Hymnal: A Worship Book" was published in 1992 by the publishing
houses of the Church of the Brethren, the General Conference
Mennonite Church, and the Mennonite Church. The series of
supplements was an idea conceived by the original publishers, but
now is a project of just one house, Brethren Press.

The committee will meet again in March. Members are Nancy Faus,
chair; Wendy McFadden, publisher; Jonathan Shively; and Lani
Wright. The first booklet in the series is planned for completion
by fall 2000.

 3) The 1999 grants from the Emergency Disaster Fund continued to
flow right through the end of the year, with aid going to three
continents.

The 35th distribution of the year provided $15,000 toward
additional support for the Family Farm Drought Response, an
ecumenical effort of which the General Board's Emergency
Response/Service Ministries is a part.

The grant will reimburse Mennonite Disaster Services for unpaid
loads of hay that have been delivered to farmers in Maryland,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky through Church of the
Brethren contacts. Any payments received from the farmers will be
deposited back into the Emergency Disaster Fund.

Two other allocations followed that one: $25,000 to support the
immediate disaster recovery efforts of Church World Service in the
aftermath of catastrophic floods and mudslides that have killed
thousands and devastated areas along Venezuela's Caribbean coast,
and $13,500 to fund an emergency shipment of medical supplies to
Eritrea, on the northeast coast of Africa.

The Venezuela grant responds to a Dec. 22 appeal from CWS for an
initial $500,000 toward blankets and mattresses, relocation
efforts, reconstruction, and other relief. ER/SM also sent a
shipment of supplies for the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance,
with 600 bales of woolen blankets, 100 rolls of plastic sheeting,
5,600 water jugs, ten 3,000-gallon water tanks, and 1,500 body bags
going on flights Dec. 19-20. People wishing to help can best do so
by sending cash donations or "Gifts of the Heart" health kits,
according to ER/SM.

The Eritrea relief, meanwhile, will go through Eritrean Development
Foundation, who, in cooperation with Mercy Corps, arranged for a
20-foot container of supplies to the war-torn area. The war between
Eritrea and Ethiopia is now in its second year, with nearly 300,000
Eritreans displaced and an additional 68,000 expelled from Ethiopia
with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Without assistance,
many refugees will remain vulnerable to health threats such as
dysentery, fever, malaria, and acute respiratory infections.

 4) People seeking to work through Brethren Volunteer Service will
no longer need to pay an application fee as of Jan. 1.

The BVS team planning retreat held in December arrived at a
decision to no longer require the $15 fee beginning in the new
year, matching the existing practice of most other volunteer
agencies.

"BVS wants to remove barriers to the application process,"
Volunteer Services director Dan McFadden said, "and this is one
area where we can make an immediate change without a high cost to
BVS."

 5) Brethren Benefit Trust will offer a new benefit, the clergy
consultation program, for members and their families beginning in
January. 

The plan "will allow members immediate telephone access to a
counselor who can help with a variety of problems," according to a
BBT report. Referrals will be available after the initial
consultation, with attention to the special needs of pastors at
both steps. Pastors will also be able to refer congregation members
or others seeking help beyond what the pastor can offer.

 6) Due to incorrect information submitted to Newsline, the home
state of the late Harold Mohler was misidentified in the Dec. 17
edition. Mohler was from Warrensburg, Missouri, and attended the
New Beginnings Church of the Brethren.

 7) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere:    
  *March 19 will be the Sunday to observe One Great Hour of
Sharing. Water and seeds are the symbols being used this year, with
the special offering from Brethren churches helping relief and
development ministries of the General Board. Congregations will
receive resource packets in January.
  *A new proposal related to Church of the Brethren mission in
Brazil is being drafted for consideration by the General Board at
its March meetings following a visit made by a four-member team in
November.
  *A special Virlina District fund drive for Hurricane Floyd relief
in that region has now topped $70,000. As of Dec. 22, the district
office had received $71,660 from 63 different congregations in the
district plus individuals and other interested parties.
  *The JOY Circle of the Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren
raised $1,450 through a service project sale of a quilt the group
made over the past three years. Half the money will go to Habitat
for Humanity and the other half to the Bridgewater Retirement
Community.'s Resident Care Endowment Fund.
  *Church World Service was among 10 organizations honored at a
ceremony held in The Chaktomuk Hall in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on
Nov. 18 for its relief work in the '70s and '80s following two
decades of war in Southeast Asia and continuing efforts since then.

 8) The January/February Source packet heading to congregations
from the General Board's Office of Interpretation invites
nominations of individuals for the Committee on Interchurch
Relation's 2000 ecumenical awards, to be presented at the
denomination's 2000 Annual Conference in Kansas City, Mo.

It also includes a reproducible flyer highlighting some areas of
the "J2K: New Hope, New Day" program, a poster calling for older
adult volunteers to serve through Brethren Volunteer Service, and
resources from Bethany Theological Seminary, Association of
Brethren Caregivers, Brethren Press, and elsewhere.

 9) A new book, "Peace is Everybody's Business -- Half a Century of
Peace Education with Elizabeth Evans Baker", by Marta Daniels, of
Chester, Conn., was published by Juniata College (Huntingdon, Pa.)
in November. It explores the role Baker played in peace education
and a life devoted to finding peace.

Daniels, a 1970 Juniata alumna, traces the integral role Baker and
her husband, John Calhoun Baker (a 1917 Juniata graduate), had in
the creation of peace studies as a higher education discipline in
the last half of this century. They set up and supported peace
studies programs at Juniata, where they thought the college's
Brethren roots made it an ideal place to offer a Peace and Conflict
Studies program; at Bethany Theological Seminary, where an ongoing
Baker Peace Fund provides for a Coordinator of Peace Studies and
various peace education initiatives; and at Ohio University and
Dartmouth College. These were among the early inspirational and
practical blueprints for the more than 200 colleges and
universities which today offer peace studies programs.

The book was commissioned for publication in 1999 to mark the 30th
anniversary of the date Elizabeth Evans Baker wrote her first
letter to then-Juniata President John Stauffer, challenging the
college to create a peace studies program as part of its
curriculum, and the 25th anniversary of the date Juniata's
full-fledged Peace and Conflict Studies program began. 

"Peace is Everybody's Business" is available at the Juniata College
Bookstore for $7.95. For information on ordering the book and
shipping costs, call the bookstore at (814) 641-3380.

 10) The Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office of the General
Board has selected Sam Bowman and Jaime Eller as the assistant
workcamp coordinators for the summer of 2000.

Eller, a junior at Manchester College (North Manchester, Ind.), is
a resident of Merritt Island, Fla., and a member of New Covenant
Church of the Brethren in Atlantic Southeast District.  Bowman, a
sophomore at Bridgewater (Va.) College, is a resident of Boones
Mill, Va., and a member of Antioch Church of the Brethren in
Virlina District.

The Youth/Young Adult office reported that it received more
applications this year than in any previous year, making it an
extremely difficult decision process to chose between many
qualified applicants.

 11) Education for Conflict Resolution, Inc., a community mediation
center located in North Manchester, Ind., that works closely with
the Church of the Brethren, is seeking a director of development to
work with all areas of fund-raising and resource development.

The position will be available in March. Review of applications
will begin Feb. 1 and continue until the position is filled. For
more information, call (219) 982-4621 or e-mail bgross@igc.org.

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.

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