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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      February 18, 2000
Contact:  Walt Wiltschek
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) The year-end financial picture from the General Board looks
strong.
 2) Annual Conference releases information on the 2000 ballot and
other details.
 3) Association of Brethren Caregivers announces speakers for NOAC
2000.
 4) Brethren Press presents two books about well-known Brethren.
 5) Manchester Church of the Brethren will dedicate a new building,
two years after a fire.
 6) A CAIR team is summoned again to provide care during a memorial
service in Seattle.
 7) Prayers for peace are being offered each morning at Juniata
College.
 8) Brethren bits: Emergency Disaster Fund, spirituality and youth,
workcamps, and more.

COMING EVENTS
 9) The J2K project will conclude with a major gathering over New
Year's weekend. 
10) A public witness for debt cancellation is planned for
Washington, D.C., in April.
11) Western youth will hold their regional youth conference in
July.

RESOURCES
12) Various means to interpret the One Great Hour of Sharing
emphasis are available.

****************************************************************

 1) Church of the Brethren General Board treasurer Judy E. Keyser
used "solid" and "stable" as the two words to describe the
organization's financial status entering 2000.

General Programs, those which are not self-funded, showed a total
income over expense of $136,070 according to pre-audit reports.
That strong showing came even after several adjustments, such as a
transfer to eliminate the deficit net asset balance of Brethren
Press and a transfer to fund annuity payments.

For self-funding units, all but one finished in the black. The New
Windsor (Md.) Conference Center showed the largest turnaround,
posting a deficit in 1998 but showing a $5,450 net income over
expense in 1999. Similar good news came from Brethren Press
($10,720), and from Emergency Response/Service Ministries
($35,110). Messenger showed a net loss of $25,380 for the year.

Special financial projects for 1999 included completion of the
transfer of SERRV to a separate corporation, the sale of several
auxiliary properties, and careful work towards continued financial
sustainability for General Board programs, according to Keyser. She
said that ongoing support of congregations and individuals plus
numerous generous bequest gifts made the good financial picture
possible.

 2) Paul Grout (Putney, Vt.), Joan Hershey (Mount Joy, Pa.),
Marianne Rhoades Pittman (Blacksburg, Va.), and David L. Rogers
(North Manchester, Ind.) are the candidates for moderator-elect on
this year's Annual Conference Standing Committee ballot.

Standing Committee will prepare the ballot that delegates will vote
on by cutting the list of nominees for that and numerous other
positions in half when it meets prior to Annual Conference in
Kansas City, Mo., in July. 

Other positions on the ballot this year are a member of the Annual
Conference Program & Arrangements Committee; General Board members
from the Illinois & Wisconsin, Northern Ohio, and Southeastern
districts, plus an at-large representative; one member each of the
On Earth Peace Assembly, Brethren Benefit Trust, and Association of
Brethren Caregiver boards; two members of the Bethany Theological
Seminary board, one representing the laity and one representing the
ministry; a member of the Pastoral Compensation and Benefits
Advisory Committee representing the laity; a member of the
Committee on Interchurch Relations; and male and female members of
the Review and Evaluation Committee.

The schedule for Conference this year is as follows: July 14,
registration opens at 3 p.m.; July 15, opening worship begins at
6:45 p.m.; July 19, closing worship ends at noon, followed by the
Association of Arts in the Church of the Brethren quilt auction at
12:15 and dismantling of exhibits at 12:30 p.m.

More details on Conference will be coming via information packets
that will be mailed in mid-March and also distributed
electronically on the www.brethren.org denominational web site.

 3) The Association of Brethren Caregivers has announced the lineup
of speakers for this year's National Older Adult Conference, to be
held Sept. 11-15 in Lake Junaluska, N.C.

Retired pastor Jimmy Ross of Waynesboro, Va., will provide the
message for the Monday night opening celebration, with the title
"More than Leaves and Shade." Other speakers include Robert A.
Raines, former director of the Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center
in Bangor, Pa.; McPherson (Kans.) College president emeritus Paul
Hoffman; Marva J. Dawn of Christians Equipped for Ministry of
Vancouver, Wash.; and retired pastor and former Annual Conference
moderator Dean M. Miller. 

Robert Neff, president emeritus of Juniata College (Huntingdon,
Pa.) and former general secretary of the Church of the Brethren
General Board, will lead three days of morning Bible study based on
the Psalms.

Other presentations include a musical, "Heavenly Days," which will
be presented by members of the North Manchester (Ind.) Shepherd
Center, and the Biblical comedy of Ted Swartz and Lee Eshleman,
better known simply as "Ted & Lee," in "The Creation Chronicles."

 4) Brethren Press has unveiled two new books available for
purchase, both of them chronicling the lives of well-known
Brethren.

"Hope Beyond Healing: A Cancer Journal" is a personal journal of
Dale Aukerman, a Brethren pastor, writer, and peace activist, who
details a three-year battle with cancer. Aukerman lived in Union
Bridge, Md., and attended the Westminster Church of the Brethren
until his death in September.

The book includes Aukerman's record of faith and life during his
illness as well as 16 pages of photographs published as part of a
series on Aukerman in the Carroll County (Md.) Times, reprints of
two Messenger articles written by Aukerman, a copy of the sermon
preached at Aukerman's memorial service by Paul Grout of the
Genesis Church of the Brethren (Putney, Vt.), and other
reflections. 

"An Uncommon Woman: The Life and Times of Sarah Righter Major,"
written by Nancy Kettering Frye, was published in association with
the Brethren Historical Committee. It gives details, facts, and
stories about the life of Major, the first woman preacher in the
Church of the Brethren.

The Aukerman book retails at $14.95 and the Major book at $6.95.
Both are available by calling Brethren Press at 1-800-441-3712, fax
at 1-800-667-8188, or e-mail at brethrenpress_gb@brethren.org.

 5) More than two years after a fire caused by a faulty water
heater destroyed its church building, the Manchester Church of the
Brethren (North Manchester, Ind.) will be celebrating a new place
to call home this spring.

The congregation will be dedicating its new facility at 1306 North
Beckley St. April 28-30, beginning with a music fest Friday
evening, continuing with an open house Saturday afternoon, and
culminating with an opening worship service at 9:30 a.m. Sunday,
followed by a carry-in dinner, instrumental concert, and a 2 p.m.
dedication service.

Charles Boyer of the La Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren, who
grew up in the North Manchester area and graduated from Manchester
College, will deliver the dedication message. A reception will
follow the service.

The congregation has been worshipping in the college's Cordier
Auditorium since the fire, with Sunday school classes meeting in
locations around the campus and choirs practicing at the nearby
Timbercrest retirement community.

 6) The Crisis in Aviation Response team administered by the Church
of the Brethren General Board's Emergency Response/Service
Ministries certainly made an impression.

After the team's work in the Los Angeles area following the Alaska
Airlines crash earlier this month, the airline insisted that a CAIR
team provide child care during a memorial service for airline
employees and families in Seattle this past Saturday, Feb. 12.

Sharon Gilbert of the La Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren
served as co-administrator for the Seattle team along with Gloria
Cooper of the United Methodist church in Pasadena, Calif. Other
Brethren volunteers in Seattle included Patricia Ronk of the Oak
Grove Church of the Brethren (Roanoke, Va.) and Noel Gilbert of the
La Verne congregation. Five others from several churches joined
them in the effort.

The services and buffet meal were held in the Seattle Convention
Center, with thousands attending. More than a third of the victims
of the flight 261 crash were employees and family members of
employees of Alaska Airlines, whose company headquarters are in
Seattle. The CAIR team provided activities for 58 infants and
children in two large ballroom areas during the services.

 
 7) People are gathering and saying prayers for world peace at dawn
each morning this year in the Elizabeth Evans Baker Peace Chapel of
Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa.

The prayer services consist of the ringing of a bell, the reading
of an interfaith prayer, a time of silence, and the reading of a
prayer from the faith tradition of the person overseeing that
service. The 2000 Prayers effort is being organized by the Baker
Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies and the Campus Ministry
Board of the college, along with several area churches. Volunteers
take turns leading a week of the prayers.

"(The prayer services) will be a daily opportunity for the
community to remember those who suffer from war and injustice and
to ask for the strength and wisdom to work for a more peaceful
world," said Andy Murray, director of the Baker Institute.

 8) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere:
 *The third allocation of 2000 from the General Board's Emergency
Disaster Fund will provide $6,000 to the Falfurrias Church of the
Brethren to assist with damage caused by Hurricane Bret to the
church, its parsonage, and the surrounding community in August
1999.
 *No, John Grisham's new book, "The Brethren," hitting best-seller
lists across the country, isn't about the denomination that traces
its origins to Germany in 1708. Grisham's book tells a story of
judges-turned-convicts who continue their dirty work by starting a
mail fraud ring from prison. The Church of the Brethren, meanwhile,
continues the work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together.
 *A recent front-page article in the Roanoke (Va.) Times told the
story of a needy family in the city who received much-needed
renovations to their home thanks to members of the Oak Grove Church
of the Brethren. Members of the church assisted with legal issues,
financial donations, and the physical work of renovating the
dilapidated house.
 *"Faces of Central America: Photographs by Rod Sinclair" will be
on exhibit in the Cleo Driver Miller Art Gallery of Bridgewater
(Va.) College Feb. 21-March 14. Sinclair, a retired Episcopal
minister, recorded the photos while traveling and working in
Central America.
 *General Board executive director Judy Mills Reimer, Global
Mission Partnerships director Mervin Keeney, and Ministry director
Allen Hansell will be among those attending the assembly of
Brethren churches in the Dominican Republic this weekend along with
Guillermo Encarnacion, coordinator of theological education in the
Dominican, and Gerald and Rebecca Baile Crouse, the mission
coordinators there. Walt Wiltschek, manager of news services, will
provide coverage of the event.
 *The first program of "The God-Centered Life" project focusing on
spirituality and youth will occur March 24-26 at Shepherd's Spring
Outdoor Ministries Center in Sharpsburg, Md. This initial
experiential workshop is aimed at parents, mentors, and youth
leaders. Call (301) 223-8193 for more information, or e-mail
shepherds.spring@juno.com. It is limited to 65 participants.
 *Workcamp updates: The workcamps in Indianapolis; Richmond, Va.;
Crossnore, N.C.; and New Windsor, Md., are now full. Those in the
Dominican Republic (BRF); Lend-a-Hand, Ky.; and Lake Geneva, Wis.,
are nearly full. For more workcamp information, call the
Youth/Young Adult office at 1-800-323-8039.
 *Youth in the Plains area of the country are meeting at the
Regional Youth Conference at McPherson (Kans.) College this
weekend.
 *New Life Ministries, a cooperative initiative in outreach and
evangelism of five Anabaptist denominations, including the Church
of the Brethren, has a new web site at
www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org.
 *Leland Palmer of The Palms of Sebring, a Church of the Brethren
reitrement community in Florida, won the gold medal in the javelin
throw of the 1999 Florida Senior Olympic State Championship Games.
 *Dr. Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of
Churches, has announced a WCC study on the ethical issues
surrounding humanitarian interventions. The study will be prepared
in consultation and cooperation with church aid agencies,
humanitarian organizations and research institutes and will be
submitted to the WCC's Central Committee at its next meeting in
January 2001.
 *The Families Against Violence Advocacy Network, which promotes
the Family Pledge of Nonviolence, will hold its annual meeting Feb.
25-27 in St. Louis, Mo.
 *Charles M. Phibbs will begin as controller of Bridgewater (Va.)
College in mid-April.
 *A Mennonite Board of Missions report released in December states
that 71 percent of U.S. adults have heard of Mennonites according
to a survey of 1,016 adults age 18 and older. Twenty-eight percent
of those polled have heard of the Church of the Brethren.
 *The 2000 meat canning project sponsored by the Southern
Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic districts will be held April 24-28 at
Christian Aid Ministries in Ephrata, Pa. The project aims to
process 40,000 pounds of beef during the week. The project meets
hunger needs in local communities and overseas.

 9) The "J2K: New Hope, New Day" project will conclude with a major
theological gathering in Cincinnati over New Year's weekend. Titled
"Speaking of Jesus . . .," the event will invite Brethren from
across the denomination and from a variety of faith perspectives to
share about their faith in Jesus and the impact of Jesus on the
church and society. Sessions are being designed to be highly
participatory in nature.

Jointly sponsored by Bethany Theological Seminary and the Church of
the Brethren General Board, the conference will be the first such
national gathering of its kind in nearly 20 years. The purpose of
the event will be to "explore our faith and build community at at
decisive time in the life of our church and in human history,"
according to the planning team, which consists of Sharon Nearhoof,
Richard Kyerematen, Harriet Finney, Rick Gardner, and David
Radcliff.

Planners anticipate attendance by congregational leaders, seminary
students and faculty, and district and denominational staff.

Registration will be limited to the first 250 applicants. Special
consideration will be given to assisting those west of the
Mississippi in attending. Contact the J2K project office at
800-323-8039 for more information.

10) An event for people of all faiths interested in justice issues
is being planned for April 9 in Washington, D.C., when the National
Mobilization for Debt Cancellation will take place. The Church of
the Brethren Washington Office is among those promoting the event,
which supports debt cancellation of the world's poorest countries,
in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The public witness will take place on the National Mall and will
center around the creation of a human chain at 1 p.m. following an
array of speakers, music, and singing. A "Lobby Day to Cancel the
Debt" will follow on April 10.

The Washington City Church of the Brethren will hold a special
Jubilee service leading into the April 9 gathering, and the
Washington Office is willing to assist with housing options for
those traveling to the event. Call (202) 546-3202. For more
information on Jubilee efforts, visit the Washington Office web
site at www.brethren.org (under General Board/Brethren Witness), or
the Jubilee 2000 USA web site at www.j2000usa.org.

11) The Western Regional Youth Conference, held only once every
four years, will take place July 6-10 at the University of La Verne
(Calif.). The event draws youth and advisors from the Idaho,
Pacific Southwest, and Oregon/Washington districts and features
worship, workshops, music, recreation, and other activities.

For more information, contact Dena Gilbert in the Pacific Southwest
District Office at (909) 593-2254 or at gogilbert@juno.com, or Don
Flora at the University of La Verne at (909) 593-3511, x4694 or at
Florad@ulv.edu.

12) The One Great Hour of Sharing packet, in the mail to
congregations this month, provides a variety of resources around
this year's theme, "Gifts of Living Water."

The packet, produced by the Church of the Brethren General Board
Funding office in cooperation with the Office for Interpretation,
includes a glossy poster, a resource guide with worship materials,
a fish box for coin offerings, a "seed sheet" embedded with
wildflower seeds, a sample bulletin insert, and other information.
Other worship helps will be available on the denomination's
www.brethren.org web site after Feb. 28.

One Great Hour of Sharing is the most widely supported annual
offering emphasis for the denomination, according to Ken Neher,
director of funding. Additional resources can be ordered via a form
in the packet, or by calling 1-800-323-8039.

Newsline is produced by Walt Wiltschek, manager of news services
for the Church of the Brethren General Board, 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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