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[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      August 4, 2000
Contact:  Walt Wiltschek
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of
silver." Prov. 25:11

NEWS
 1) A strong turnout hears Thomas Troeger at the Ministers'
Association Conference.
 2) This year's Song & Story Fest brought music, laughter, and
inspiration.
 3) Major weekend event to call for end to sanctions against Iraq.
 4) The 2000 workcamp season nears end after a summer of changing
lives.
 5) Emergency Disaster Fund grant aids fire victims in Washington.
 6) Brethren bits: District conferences, BRF, Brethren Peace
Fellowship, and more.

PERSONNEL
 7) Southeastern District seeks a district executive.
 8) BBT names Nevin Dulabaum interim director of information
systems.

COMING EVENTS
 9) Registration deadline for October Faith Expedition to Nicaragua
is extended.
10) Volunteer service alumni seek to communicate peace and
nonviolence values to youth.
11) A September conference will address church planting.

RESOURCES
12) AACB is compiling a book of music and poetry and selling an
updated drama resource.

FEATURES
13) Conference brings another joyous update of mission work in the
Dominican Republic.
14) Oh say, did you see a Brethren sing the National Anthem in
Baltimore?

*****************************************************************
 
 1) "Interactive Preaching: Parabolic Preaching in a Webbed World"
was the topic for the post-Annual Conference Ministers' Association
meetings July 19-20 in Kansas City, Mo. Thomas Troeger, from the
Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colo., served as guest leader. He
illustrated the possibilities and power of the spoken word and
freely interspersed music and hymns throughout his presentations
and preaching.

Troeger, a noted hymnologist, stated that the Church of the
Brethren has the best hymnal in the English language (it also
includes six hymns written by him) and encouraged pastors to work
closely with musicians in planning worship. Michelle Grimm, former
Annual Conference music coordinator, served as pianist and music
leader, using her knowledge of the hymnal to aid the worship
experiences.

More than 180 ministers, spouses, and ministry students attended at
least part of the gathering. Organizers said they were pleased with
the turnout, especially after concern with switching the event from
its former pre-Conference slot to post-Conference this year.
Because there were no other meetings scheduled during this time
period, some members of the Council of District Executives and
General Board staff were able to attend.

Those present received insights, ideas, and information regarding
preaching. They also participated in worship and heard the Word
preached to them--a much-needed experience for those who provide
pastoral care and leadership daily. An offering of $1,236.30, the
highest amount gathered in recent memory, was received for the
Ministry Assistance Fund. Fifteen children participated in
childcare activities coordinated by Linda Miller of McPherson, Kan.

Frances Townsend, pastor of the Root River congregation (Preston,
Minn.) and this year's chair of the Ministers' Association,
convened the event. Tim Peter, pastor at Prairie City (Iowa), was
elected to the executive committee and will serve as secretary this
coming year. He joins new chair Donna Ritchey Martin of Grossnickle
(Myersville, Md.), vice-chair Michael Hostetter of Williamson Road
(Roanoke, Va.), and treasurer Dan Barnum-Steggerda of Daleville
(Va.). Allen Hansell, General Board director of ministry, serves as
staff liaison.

 2) The Great Plains Song & Story Fest was more than songs and
stories. It's true that the music was lively, earthy, challenging,
sad, funny, and human by turns as one would expect folk music to
be. It's true that the stories moved people to laughter, tears,
thoughtful quietness, and uproarious delight, as one would expect
good stories to do. And it's true that the workshops helped people
get in touch with their own creativity and see the pleasure and
value of song and story as one would hope they might.

But at the heart of these moments was a religious experience. There
were no sermons or didactic sessions, yet the participants came
away feeling that something very good had happened in the deepest
parts of their spiritual life. The chords and cords of faith grew
stronger and bound the participants together in the community of
spirit and humanness that Jesus said would come and is coming.

Held at Camp Pine Lake, a Church of the Brethren camp in Eldora,
Iowa, this was the fourth of the annual fests. People came from as
far away as California, Washington, Pennsylvania, and the
Carolinas. Featured were storytellers Debbie Eisenbise, Rocci
Hildum, Alan Hoal, Jonathan Hunter, and Jim Lehman; and musicians
Joseph Helfrich, Lee Krahenbuhl, Peg Lehman, Jan and John Long, and
Mike Stern. Dena Pence Frantz led reflections on story and song
creation.

The theme for the week was "The Fruits of the Land," and each day
had a sub-theme and several scripture passages to offer grist for
the creative mill of presenters and participants. There were
approximately 80 registered participants, but there were many who
came for only part of the week, and some who came in from
surrounding churches for the evening campfires and concerts,
raising the attendance for the whole week to about 100 people.

Song & Story Fest founder Ken Kline Smeltzer directed the program,
and Mary Jane Button-Harrison acted as on-location director. As in
previous years, the children were involved as much as the adults,
not only in workshops and activities but especially in the daily
joke-telling sessions at campfire. By the end of the week children
and adults, not just the presenters, were offering stories and
songs, many of them original.

The 2001 Song & Story Fest 2001 is already planned for the week of
June 24-30 at Shepherd's Spring Outdoor Ministries Center in
Sharpsburg, Md., just before Annual Conference in Baltimore.

 3) Thousands will gather this weekend in Washington, D.C., for the
"National Mobilization to End the Sanctions Against Iraq." The key
event will be a Sunday gathering at the Lincoln Memorial for an
interfaith vigil and march to Lafayette Park, praying for an end to
the bombing and economic sanctions on the people of Iraq. A rally
at the park with speakers and musicians will follow. There will
also be panel discussions and speakers on Saturday and nonviolent
protests at the White House on Monday.

Sunday marks 10 years since sanctions were imposed on Iraq. More
than a million Iraqi civilians have died as a direct result--half
of them children under age 5. "We are in the process of destroying
an entire society. It is as simple and terrifying as that," said
Dennis Halliday, after resigning as United Nations assistant
secretary general and humanitarian coordinator in Iraq.

Understanding the effects of the sanctions and bombing, the Church
of the Brethren General Board (1998 Statement of the Conflict with
Iraq) named the sanctions unjust and cited how little impact they
actually have on the government of Iraq: "It's staggering what is
being done to the most vulnerable of Iraq in the name of national
security, money, and oil. As Christians and as humans, we must
speak out."

A broad range of sponsors, including the Church of the Brethren
Washington Office's Stephanie Schaudel, will host the events.
Schaudel, a member of the Lancaster (Pa.) Church of the Brethren,
also works with a group dedicated to the Iraq issue called Voices
in the Wilderness. She said she became interested after hearing an
"intense" presentation by the group at a conference in January,
while she was a student at American University.

For more information go to www.endthewar.org, or call the Church of
the Brethren Washington Office at 202 546-3202.

 4) The 2000 national Youth/Young Adult workcamp season is winding
to a close, with senior high workcamps in North Carolina,
Washington, D.C., and Kentucky wrapping up this weekend and two
final ones in Massachusetts and South Dakota next week.

All told, about 500 junior and senior high youth, young adults, and
advisors will have participated in one of the 22 workcamps offered
by the General Board's Youth/Young Adult Office in locations
throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and in Mexico.

For those who may wonder why so many people would pay money to
travel and work, some participants in last month's junior high
workcamp at Inspiration Center in Lake Geneva, Wis.--a camp for the
mentally and physically disabled--provided some answers.

"This was a new experience because of the adults (as campers)
here," said Beth Custer, a junior high participant from Versailles,
Ohio. "I usually look up to the adults, but here they look up to
me. At the beginning I was shocked and felt really uncomfortable,
but by the second day they were just like one of my best friends."

Custer said a highlight was talking with a camper named Julie one
day. The camper was telling Custer about her roommates at home, and
Custer asked if the roommates kept her company. "She said yes, but
God keeps her company the most," Custer said.

John Harvey, who directed the Wisconsin workcamp this year and
served as a General Board workcamp coordinator in 1996, said that
eye-opening moments like that and the chance to help others are at
the heart of the workcamp experience.

"It's a chance to break out of a normal life pattern and do
something meaningful, a practical way to live out what I believe,"
Harvey said. "The kids come for different reasons ... but the hope
is that by the end of the week we all will have grown and learned
something, and we will look at the world a little bit differently."

 5) A new grant from the Emergency Disaster Fund, the 16th
allocation of the calendar year, will send $5,000 to help provide
temporary shelter and to purchase building materials and essential
supplies for homes destroyed by two forest fires in the Tonasket,
Wash., area.

The funds will be given to the Whitestone Church of the Brethren in
Tonasket, which will then present the money on behalf of the
General Board and the Whitestone and Ellisforde congregations to
the North Okanogan Ministerial Association. The association has
organized relief and recovery efforts in the area.

The request came via Ernie Bolz, who pastors both churches and
serves on the General Board. The congregations have taken a leading
role in the fire relief efforts. It is the third time in the past
year that Church of the Brethren Emergency Response/Service
Ministries has aided a congregational effort to give support
through a local interfaith organization.

 6) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *Jim Schrag has accepted an invitation from the Mennonite Church
USA Executive Board to serve as the new church's first executive
director upon its formation. Schrag's responsibilities will begin
immediately following the churchwide assembly in Nashville, Tenn.,
July 2-7, 2001. Schrag, the former general secretary of the General
Conference Mennonite Church (1996-99), currently serves as director
of Project Transformation. At Nashville, US General Conference and
Mennonite Church delegates are expected to take final action to
formally merge their two bodies into Mennonite Church USA. 

 *Four Church of the Brethren districts are holding their annual
district conferences this weekend: Northern Plains District in
Cedar Falls, Iowa; Southeastern in Knoxville, Tenn.; Western Plains
in McPherson, Kan.; and Northern Ohio in Ashland, Ohio. Southern
Plains District will hold its conference next weekend, Aug. 10-12,
in Nocona, Tex. Oregon-Washington District kicked off the
"conference season" with its meeting last weekend at Camp
Myrtlewood.

 *More than 250 people attended Brethren Revival Fellowship's
"Brethren Alive 2000" conference, held July 28-30 at Elizabethtown
(Pa.) College. James Myer, David Kent, David Rittenhouse, and Phill
Carlos Archbold served as worship speakers. The Brethren Bible
Institute followed the conference. A full report will be included
in the next edition of Newsline.

 *The 2001 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be observed Jan.
18-25. This year's theme is "I am the way, the truth, and the
life," from John 14:1-6.

 *Manchester College (North Manchester, Ind.) graduates Duane
Conrad, a resident of the Church of the Brethren's Timbercrest
Retirement Community in North Manchester and a former teacher and
principal; Kristin Flory, coordinator of Brethren Volunteer Service
in Europe; and Howard Royer, interpretation staff for the Church of
the Brethren General Board, were among those who earned Alumni
Honor Awards during Alumni Days at the college July 18.

 *Emergency Response/Service Ministries disaster cleanup work
continues in North Carolina, struck by Hurricane Floyd last fall,
and a new site opened up in late July in Rocky Mount. The primary
task will be home repair. Bob Mikesell of Ohio is serving as the
disaster project director for August.

 *The Brethren Peace Fellowship's annual fall Tri-District retreat
will take place Sept. 1-3 at Camp Galilee in Terra Alta, W.Va. The
theme is "Living in Community: A Visit to the Bruderhof." A
Bruderhof in Farmington, Pa., will be visited Sept. 2. Call Sarah
Markey at 717 741-4076 or e-mail slmarkey@webtv.net for details.

 *Former Manchester professor William Eberly, who just finished a
five-year term on the Church of the Brethren General Board, has
completed writing a 162-year history of the Manchester Church of
the Brethren, called "Manchester Church of the Brethren:1838-2000."

 *The Center on Conscience and War (formerly NISBCO), a small
interfaith organization in Washington, D.C., advocating on behalf
of conscientious objectors to war, seeks an executive director to
begin in December. For more information see the website at
www.nisbco.org, or send resume to Jonathan Ogle, board chair;
Westtown School, Westtown, PA 19395; or call 610 399-1435, or
e-mail Jonathan.Ogle@westtown.edu. Application deadline is Oct. 16.

 *After several operations of its "Violence is Not Child's Play"
program, Christian Peacemaker Teams is ready to make a resource
packet available for congregations that would like to address the
issue in their own communities. The program evaluates the violence
level of toys sold in toy stores in a given area and has been
conducted in test sites including Kansas City, Mo., during last
month's Annual Conference. The new resource will be introduced
during another running of the program Aug. 9 in Fort Wayne, Ind.,
meeting at the Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren. It is
especially geared to tie in with the Christmas shopping season.

 *The Evangelism Committee of the Chiques Church of the Brethren
(Manheim, Pa.) is trying a new initiative, enclosing gospel tracts
in the Sunday bulletin six times a year, beginning this summer. The
committee is urging members to use the tracts to share the Word.

 7) The Southeastern District is seeking a district executive, with
a full-time position for an individual or team available April 1.

Responsibilities include overseeing the district program, assisting
congregations and ministers with pastoral placement, encouraging
good relationships between pastors and churches, providing access
to pastoral care and counseling for pastors and their families, and
encouraging the calling of people to set-apart ministry and lay
leadership.

Qualifications include a strong personal faith, membership in and
commitment to the Church of the Brethren, ordination with pastoral
experience, demonstrated management skills and administrative
experience, strong interpersonal and mediation skills, and
experience in leadership development and church growth.

Interested and qualified persons should send a letter of interest
and resume to Nancy F. Knepper, Office of District Ministries, 1451
Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120. Applicants will be asked to complete
a candidate profile upon receipt of resume and should contact three
or four people to provide a letter of reference. Application
deadline is Oct. 1.

 8) Nevin Dulabaum has accepted the position of interim director of
information systems for Brethren Benefit Trust while a search takes
place for a permanent successor to Michael Addison, who resigned
last month. The position will be three-fourths time, with the
remaining time given to department of interpretation
responsibilities. 

Dulabaum will spend most of his time directing the efforts of
eMountain Communications, a division of BBT that provides Internet
services. A contract with an outside computer services group will
cover ongoing technical functions.

 9) Time remains to register for this fall's Faith Expedition to
Nicaragua, now that the registration deadline has been extended to
Aug. 15. The trip, scheduled for Oct. 17-30, is designed for those
who want to learn firsthand what is happening and how to make a
difference, and to address globalization issues.

The delegation is sponsored by the Brethren Witness Office and the
Little Swatara Church of the Brethren (Bethel, Pa.). Three days
will be spent in the capital of Managua, with the rest of the time
spent living and working with rural people in the area of Mulukuku.

Cost of the trip will be approximately $1,300. Contact delegation
leader Sue Wagner Fields for more information by calling 610
488-6604 or sending an e-mail to dswfiel@clearviewnet.net.

 10) On Aug. 19, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Brethren Volunteer Service
and Civilian Public Services alumni will meet with junior and
senior high youth from districts in Indiana and Ohio at Bethany
Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind. The theme for the gathering
is "Making Peace My Business."

Goals for the event, planned to continue annually, include
facilitating stronger intergenerational sharing about Brethren
peace and nonviolence traditions; to strengthen collaboration
between various generations of Brethren Volunteer Service and
pre-BVS workers; and to have these former volunteers stay in
regular contact with youth in the area. Organizers said they want
it to be "a day of fellowship, learning, and celebrating our
historic peace church traditions of peace and nonviolence."

Keynote speaker will be Dr. C.T. Vivian of Atlanta, Ga., who was
active in the nonviolent civil rights movement, worked on staff for
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and continues to work at social justice
issues including racial equality. For more information, contact
David Jehnsen at 740 965-5118 or djehnsen@infinet.com; Chuck Cooley
at 614 794-2745 or candlc2@juno.com; or Francis Barr at 219
637-6479 or eandfbarr@ctlnet.com.

 11) About 60 Brethren are expected to engage in assessment and
training for church planting at Ashland (Ohio) Theological Seminary
Sept. 15-21. The event is being sponsored by the General Board's
New Church Development Advisory Committee.

Ashland Theological Seminary leaders will guide a week of
instruction focused on the spiritual, emotional, and philosophical
dimensions of church planting. Invitations were issued through the
new church development network of the denomination's 23 districts.
The General Board's Congregational Life Ministries office is
covering tuition, lodging, and meals.

The advisory committee will then meet following the event, Sept.
22-23, with the new church development retreat of the Virlina
District in Durham, N.C. Members of the advisory committee are Eric
Anspaugh, Marianne Pittman, Jim Rhen, Gilbert Romero, and Jay
Steele.

 12) The Association for the Arts in the Church of the Brethren is
making two new resources available for use in worship and
elsewhere. 

First, AACB is compiling a "Music and Hymn Poetry Notebook,"
inviting members and friends of the Church of the Brethren to
submit original works for consideration. These should be
uncopyrighted and available for anyone in the church to copy and
use. Hymns or songs that relate to worship and Christian life are
appropriate. AACB is especially encouraging the composing of music
or hymns upholding Brethren history and celebrating the 300th
anniversary of the church. All poetry submitted should be in a
regular meter suitable for being set to music.

Second, AACB is also preparing a new edition of the "Drama in the
Church Notebook", containing 80 chancel dramas, short skits, and
plays. It includes a new supplement with an additional 10 plays of
varying lengths. This publication of Church of the Brethren
authors, compiled by AACB, contains uncopyrighted material which
anyone in the church can copy and use. The complete notebook will
be available in September from Brethren Press. 

 13) The 2000 Annual Conference theme "Love as I have loved you"
exemplifies well the mission work happening in the Dominican
Republic. Conferencegoers had an opportunity to hear firsthand
about this work, as David Reyes--moderator of the Church of the
Brethren in the Dominican Republic--and General Board mission
coordinators Gerald and Rebecca Baile Crouse attended the Kansas
City gathering.

"Everyone is equal in the Church of the Brethren--women, men, and
children," Reyes said. "The fact that everyone is equal is
different in the D.R., because other churches there don't feel the
same way."

With this welcoming attitude, the Church of the Brethren is strong
and growing in the D.R. Reyes, the Crouse family, and other church
members support a theological education program, with 39 students
currently enrolled, in addition to regular worship services and
church activities.

Worship services are held daily, with each day's worship focused on
a specific group, such as women or youth. Regularly scheduled
prayer sessions allow members to come together for the sole purpose
of cultivating a prayer relationship. On Sundays, church members go
"door to door," inviting neighbors to worship activities.  

"We invite them to activities. If we are invited into a home, we
use the opportunity to spread God's word. If the people don't want
to talk, we leave a pamphlet for them to read," said Reyes.

The church occasionally hosts all-night prayer vigils, and every
Friday from 6 a.m. to noon there is a prayer session. Often there
is a worship service held in a designated street to attract even
more people.

"In the D.R., proclaiming the word of God in the world is the top
priority--proclaiming with your own mouth," said Gerald Crouse, who
began the Global Mission Partnerships position with his wife and
family more than 18 months ago. "I don't think we are equipping our
members to do the same thing in the US."

The church in the Dominican Republic is healthy, growing, and
touching people's lives. The hope and joy of the work happening
there has proven to be an inspiration in the wider church, and an
area with bright hopes for the future.

"It is a blessing to have a relationship between the D.R. and the
US," Reyes said. "We should continue walking together. Let this
bond be eternal."

 14) Erin Andes, who will be a junior at Broadway (Va.) High School
this fall, remembers some of her earliest public solos: singing the
National Anthem for opening day of the local girls softball league
when she was 10 and an opera solo when she was 12. When she looks
back at the videotapes now, she cringes a bit at her performance.

She's come a long way since then, however, and nobody's cringing
any more. On July 30, Andes--a member of the Timberville (Va.)
Church of the Brethren--sang the National Anthem at the Baltimore
Orioles baseball game at Camden Yards, in front of tens of
thousands of people that included a busload of her friends and
relatives from Virginia.

Even the nerves of her early performances were mostly gone,
especially once an hour and a half rain delay gave her time to
relax.

"I was kind of nervous, but not really," she said. "I loved it. It
was awesome."

Andes said the process began in January, when she sent an audition
tape to the team. She had previously sung the anthem at James
Madison University basketball games and Bridgewater College
football games, so she had experience to draw upon. About three
months went by, and she figured she hadn't made the cut, but then
the call came inviting her to sing in July. 

She has also sung at many of the churches in her area and has
performances scheduled for the Linville Creek congregation this
Sunday and Mount Olivet next weekend. Andes, who comes from a
musical family, said she hopes to find a worship band to join as
another outlet for her vocal abilities.

Oh, and one added bonus--the Orioles won following her performance,
10-7 over Cleveland.
 

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. Jim Lehman, Julie
Hostetter, Becky Ullom, Greg Laszakovits, and Howard Royer
contributed to this report.

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 800 323-8039, ext. 263,
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