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

[COBNews@aol.com]

 From nobody@wfn.org  Fri Dec  1 00:00:00 2000
V: 847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
Date: Dec. 1, 2000
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

"...a word in season, how good it is!" Prov. 15:23b

NEWS
 1) Brethren, 35 other denominations participate in NCC assembly.
 2) BrethrenPress.com opens its virtual doors.
 3) Conference on death penalty highlights drive for signatures; a
district conference also addresses the issue.
 4) Paul Grout discusses "being alive" at national youth workshop.
 5) A Lutheran grant aids Brethren disaster work in North Carolina.
 6) Protests at SOA include about 100 Brethren.
 7) OMA holds camping conference, annual staff retreat.
 8) Two districts look at non-violence with Lt. Col. David
Grossman.
 9) Reports on some recent district conferences.
10) Brethren bits: Contemporary worship, BRF, youth events, more.

PERSONNEL
11) BBT names Nevin Dulabaum director of communications and
information services.
12) ABC extends search for coordinator of shared services.

RESOURCES
13) A General Board packet provides Christmas Offering
interpretation aids.

FEATURES
14) Two Plains districts find cooperation brings mutual benefit.

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

 1) The National Council of Churches held its 51st annual General
Assembly Nov. 14-17 in Atlanta, with 36 member communions
participating in business, worship, dialog, and other events. The
36th member, the moderate Alliance of Baptists, officially joined
the NCC as the assembly began.

Delegates representing the Church of the Brethren at the event were
General Board executive director Judy Mills Reimer, Global Mission
Partnerships director Merv Keeney, Frances Townsend, Gene Bucher,
David W. Miller, and Valentina Satvedi. It was the first assembly
for this group, beginning a four-year term.

Reimer reports this assembly had much more interconnectedness
between the groups represented compared to the two she had attended
previously. New NCC general secretary Bob Edgar facilitated several
conversation and sharing periods across denominational lines.
Reimer says that though Edgar is Methodist, "his leadership style
is Brethren through and through." 

She also commended the way that Edgar, NCC president Andrew Young,
and other leaders handled the business sessions, allowing ample
discussion on each item. Scheduled "conversation groups" allowed
small-group input before major items came to the floor. Highlights
of that business included the following as delegates:

*Launched with unanimous support a 10-year "Mobilization to
Overcome Poverty," seeking to enlist broad ecumenical engagement
around specific, measureable goals and objectives. It comes just
months after Church of the Brethren Annual Conference delegates
passed a paper on "Caring for the Poor."

*Called on the NCC's 36 member denominations to "commit themselves
to participating, with Evangelical and Pentecostal churches and
with the Roman Catholic Church in a process of discernment to
ascertain what new national expression of Christian life, faith,
and action the Holy Spirit may enable us to bring into being in
which we may be and act together." The item was called "Expand the
Ecumenical Vision."

*Adopted statements on "Conflict in the Middle East," "Vieques,"
"AIDS in Africa," and "In Support of Farm Workers Organizing in
North Carolina" (where farm workers are attempting to form a union
to seek "a greater measure of justice and dignity").

*Heard that the NCC would eliminate an additional 17 staff
positions effective Nov. 20 in order to finish with a balanced
budget this year and live within its means in the future. It
reduces the total number of NCC employees to 47. At a breakfast
event, Edgar appealed to the head of each communion for assistance
and support.

*Honored Young, who is from Atlanta, and numerous other ecumenical
leaders and programs with achievement awards. A reception for Young
was also held. Reimer says that Young made several references to
his "Church of the Brethren experience," as a camper at Camp Mack
and through other connections.

 2) A new Church of the Brethren e-commerce site opened its
Internet doors today (Dec. 1). Brethren Press' new on-line store,
at www.BrethrenPress.com, becomes the only current e-commerce site
of any of the denominational agencies.

The project, in development for the past 10 months, is the result
of a partnership of the General Board's Brethren Press unit and
Brethren Benefit Trust's eMountain Communications. Brethren Press
marketing manager Russ Matteson calls it a "valuable partnership."

The site features a dynamic data structure that provides customers
with advanced search queries of 1,400 products and allows new items
and product categories to be added with relative ease. "We believe
that customers will find the site easy to navigate and find what
they are looking for," Matteson says.

A thumbnail image of each product is provided along with title,
author name, description, and other information. Other features
allow customers to review their previous purchases, receive e-mail
verification of each purchase, and send purchased items to
alternative shipping addresses -- for example, sending holiday
gifts.

Some finishing touches are still being completed. While the on-line
store will accept purchases with the use of an existing Brethren
Press account or will allow visitors to open an account, credit
card purchases will be available in the near future. In addition,
about 25 percent of Brethren Press' resources still need to be
added to the site. That work is expected to be completed by Jan. 1.
Other enhancements scheduled in the next few months include
detailed information on major product groups and reviews of items
available for purchase.

Nevin Dulabaum, director of eMountain Communications, says the
launch is a major step for eMountain as well. "The development of
this secure e-commerce site marks the first of what we anticipate
will be many such sites to be developed by our staff and hosted on
our Internet servers," he says.

For more information or to be placed on a list to learn of the
latest BrethrenPress.com updates, write to BrethrenPress_gb
@brethren.org. Information on eMountain Communications is available
at www.emountain.net or by calling 800 250-5757.

 3) Several Brethren were among the 1,000 people who attended
"Committing to Conscience: Building a Unified Strategy to End the
Death Penalty," a conference held Nov. 16-19 in San Francisco.
Highlights of the gathering included speeches given by US Sen. Russ
Feingold (D-Wis.), Illinois Governor George Ryan, Catholic Sister
Helen Prejean, and well-known actor Mike Farrell.  

In addition to the keynote addresses, participants were challenged
and informed by a multitude of workshops. Those attending came from
throughout the US and Europe, including members of The Community of
Sant'Egidio. This Catholic lay community, headquartered in Italy,
has gathered 2.5 million signatures on petitions asking the United
Nations to call for a worldwide moratorium on use of the death
penalty.

The General Board's Church of the Brethren Washington Office has
also been gathering names and currently has 700 signatures. "Our
goal is 1,000 names," says Greg Laszakovits, coordinator of the
office. "We are pleased so many individuals and congregations have
taken the time to respond. Hopefully folks will realize the
importance of this issue as Brethren citizens and continue to
sign."

Contact the Washington Office at 202 546-3202 or washofc@aol.com
for a copy of the petition. To learn more about the Moratorium 2000
movement or sign the petition on-line, see
http://www.moratorium2000.org. Final date for signatures is Dec.
17.

Already last week, more than 35 religious and civil rights leaders
signed and sent a letter to President Bill Clinton urging him to
place a moratorium on federal executions until questions about
unfairness are resolved.

The Church of the Brethren's Virlina District, meanwhile, at its
conference earlier in November, passed a "Call to Action on the
Death Penalty." The document says, "We the Virlina District Church
of the Brethren oppose publicly the imposition of the death penalty
by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of North Carolina and
the reintroduction of the death penalty in the State of West
Virginia."

Citing scripture, traditional Brethren values, and previous Annual
Conference statements, the paper also provides several suggested
steps for elected officials. Virlina District executive David
Shumate called the statement "significant."

 4) More than five dozen youth advisors and others who work with
youth attended this year's National Youth Ministry Workshop, held
Nov. 18 at the Chambersburg (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. The
annual event is sponsored by the General Board's Youth/Young Adult
Ministries office and its Jr. High Ministry Task Force.

Paul Grout served as the keynote speaker for the event, using the
theme "The God-Centered Life: What It Means to Be Alive." Grout,
from Putney, Vt., is moderator-elect of Annual Conference this year
and travels widely preaching on Christian spirituality and other
issues.

"We must help our young people understand what's getting in our way
of being alive," Grout said, asserting that we don't ask enough of
youth. "It is in living in spaces of profound simplicity that we
see again the beauty around us because there's nothing in the way.
I think the place to begin is in the wilderness, in places of
silence. It's a rediscovery of the presence of God."

Grout also urged youth leaders to be in tune with the popular
culture that so regularly engages youth, however. He used clips
from several films to illustrate nuggets of truth found in
contemporary media and discussed society's destructive consumer
culture. Personal stories, artwork, and writings, including his
recent "Seven Symptoms of Wellness," further illustrated his
points.

Those points went beyond youth ministry to the need for reform and
renewal in the larger church. While Grout says he deeply loves the
church, he also believes that the status quo is insufficient and
"deconstruction" is necessary, while a relationship with Jesus
Christ must be at the heart of a new beginning.

"We need to do things so radical and seemingly crazy and impossible
that the results we have from it, we won't ever believe is because
of our strength, our faith, our intelligence, our work -- but
clearly an act of the Holy Spirit, of God, of Jesus Christ," Grout
said. "That kind of movement is going to change our churches ...
and transform us."

David Sollenberger of Annville, Pa., videotaped the workshop, and
those tapes will be available through the Youth/Young Adult
Ministries office. Call 800 323-8039 or e-mail
cdouglas_gb@brethren.org for more details.

 5) Lutheran Disaster Response, which has been working closely with
Church of the Brethren disaster response efforts in North Carolina,
has approved a $19,500 grant for the General Board's Emergency
Response/Service Ministries.

The grant will cover expenses of Church of the Brethren volunteers
in Rocky Mount, N.C., for three months through the Twin County
Interfaith Recovery Initiative. Relief groups estimate that only 10
percent of those displaced by last fall's Hurricane Floyd have been
able to move back into their homes. Recovery work is expected to
continue at least throughout 2001.

"The needs of the Hurricane Floyd disaster survivors in North
Carolina are incredible," said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director
of Lutheran Disaster Response. "It is difficult to comprehend that
now, 14 months after that disaster, most people are still not back
in their homes."

The grant will cover volunteer housing, meals, and other
miscellaneous expenses, combining with Church of the Brethren
Emergency Disaster Fund resources to allow an extended presence of
Brethren relief in the Rocky Mount area. Lutheran Disaster Response
has also provided a similar grant to the Christian Reformed World
Relief Committee. 

Harold Hubbell of Tennessee is continuing as the Rocky Mount
disaster project director for December; Rex and Jenette Freeman of
Idaho will assume that role in January. Sixteen people from across
the country recently attended a training in New Windsor, Md., for
new disaster project directors and will be doing on-the-job
training at various sites in 2001.

A house reconstruction project in Vanceboro, N.C., also damaged by
Hurricane Floyd, is expected to be completed by Christmas. ER/SM is
on standby to assist with flood cleanup in the Miami area and in
the aftermath of wildfires in California if needed. 

 6) Thousands of demonstrators, including about 100 Church of the
Brethren members, gathered Nov. 17-19 at Fort Benning, near
Columbus, Ga., to call for the close of the School of the Americas.
Brethren from the Church of the Brethren Washington Office,
Brethren Volunteer Service, various Brethren congregations, and
McPherson, Juniata, and Manchester Colleges were present.

The school trains soldiers and military personnel from Latin
America and the Caribbean. The School of the Americas Watch says
that the facility teaches courses in counter-insurgency, infantry
tactics, military intelligence, anti-narcotics operations, and
commando operations. It contends the school's graduates use those
skills to carry out violence and other abusive actions in their
home countries. 

The US Army, meanwhile, says the school -- opened in 1946 and
funded by US tax dollars -- is a vital piece of the US defense
strategy to promote stability and democracy in the Western
Hemisphere. It says acts of violence perpetrated by SOA graduates
have been few and far between.

A 1997 Church of the Brethren General Board statement called on the
US government to close the School of the Americas, saying "we must
oppose our government's facilitation so contrary to God's greatest
commandment, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and your
neighbor as yourself.' "

Demonstrators at the protest were given the option of crossing into
Fort Benning property, thus risking arrest, or maintaining a watch
outside the gates. About 3,600 -- including 40 Brethren -- crossed
onto the US Army property, and 1,700 were arrested. Less than half
the Brethren who crossed were arrested. All who participated,
inside or outside the border, expressed positive feelings about the
weekend.

"It felt wonderful to be with people who care about the same things
I do," says Tina Reiman of Manchester College (North Manchester,
Ind.). "The atmosphere was empowering, comfortable, and radical all
at the same time."

 7) The Church of the Brethren Outdoor Ministries Association held
two events at Camp Mack (Milford, Ind.) in mid-November: The annual
professional growth retreat of camp managers, directors, and staff,
which drew 30 people; and the OMA National Camping Conference,
featuring Dr. Elizabeth Murphy as keynote leader.

Worship and devotions for the staff retreat were planned by Nancy
Knepper, coordinator of district ministries for the General Board;
musician Joseph Helfrich; and John Jones, director of Camp
Myrtlewood in Oregon. One outcome of the retreat was setting up an
e-mail discussion group for camp directors and managers. Jerri
Heiser-Wenger, new president of the OMA steering committee, said
this was essential to maintain good and regular communication.

The camping conference included some participants from the staff
retreat and others who came in just for the weekend event. Murphy,
author of "The Developing Child," led sessions around the theme
"They are not all the same," looking at personality styles of
children and ways camps can program for those different styles.
Worship leaders for the conference were Helfrich and David Smalley,
who coordinates the General Board's Area 4 Congregational Life Team
and serves as liaison to OMA.

The 2001 OMA directors/managers retreat will be Nov. 11-15 at Camp
Bethel (Fincastle, Va.).

 8) Violence in society in general and the media in particular has
been a focus in at least two Church of the Brethren districts this
fall. Groups in the Southern Pennsylvania and Shenandoah districts
each sponsored events featuring Lt. Col. David Grossman, a retired
US Army Ranger and West Point professor who now travels to speak on
media awareness and violent crime.

The Southern Pennsylvania event was held Nov. 4-5 in partnership
with a local "Communities That Care" organization. Titled "Media
Violence: Our Community's Problem, Our Community's Responsibility,"
sessions were held at a high school in Spring Grove, Pa., at the
Shrewsbury (Pa.) Church of the Brethren, and at the New Fairview
Church of the Brethren in York, Pa. A total of about 200 attended.

John Weyant, pastor at Shrewsbury, worked at organizing the event
after attending Annual Conference in Milwaukee in 1999 and seeing
a videotape of Grossman's presentation at Columbine High School in
Colorado. "I felt convicted and inspired to bring his message of
non-violence to our district and share the information with any and
all that would listen," Weyant says. 

The presentation included a look at how the military trains people
to kill and statistics that show how the media accomplishes this
same goal, but in more subtle ways, according to Grossman.
"Violence is the most corrosive, toxic thing that can happen in a
life, and it's happening in wonderful little communities ...
because nobody pops that festering bubble kids have and believe
that violence is fun," Grossman said. 

Weyant feels that Grossman's message "works well within the
Brethren peace ethic," but urges Brethren to take it even further
and denounce all violence as a resolution to conflict. Nonetheless,
Weyant says he prays that Grossman's words "will inspire ourselves
and others to work toward a more peaceful resolution to conflict."
Southern Pennsylvania associate district executive Georgia Markey
says that the district now has a box of resources and curricula on
the issue of violence that congregations there can borrow.

In Shenandoah, meanwhile, Grossman spoke at three sessions in
September as part of a peace festival at the Pleasant Valley Church
of the Brethren in Weyers Cave, Va., with about 350 people total
attending. 

"I'd call it an eye-opener," says Pleasant Valley director of youth
ministries Kelly Meyerhoffer, who helped to plan the event with the
church's Evangelism Committee. "He ties together very well his
statistics and what he's proclaiming is a problem in society.
There's been a rise in violence since the introduction of
television. You see the numbers going up and up."

Both areas had media coverage of their events, with a story in the
York (Pa.) Daily Record and local cable TV coverage in Southern
Pennsylvania, and a story in the Harrisonburg (Va.) Daily
News-Record in Shenandoah.

 9) Reports from some recent district conferences:
 Shenandoah: Held Nov. 3-4 at Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the
Brethren with the theme text "Put out in deep water and let down
your net for a catch," from Luke 5:4-6. Congregational posters
urged "Go fish!" Dick Shreckhise, associate pastor at Lancaster,
Pa., preached at the opening worship service along with special
music from a children's choir. Moderator Jim Beckwith led delegates
through business that included approval of Mountain View Fellowship
in McGaheysville, Va., as a new fellowship, dialog with five
district ministries, a forum with denominational agency
representatives, and calling Sam Flora of Bridgewater as
moderator-elect. Delegates also heard various reports, approved the
district budget, and approved a resolution "regarding the
continuing viability of the Pastor's Group Insurance Plan." It asks
for reaffirmation of "an affordable health insurance plan based on
mutual caring." About 350 people attended, including 253 delegates
representing 79 congregations. Fred Bowman serves as moderator in
2001.

 *Illinois/Wisconsin: Held Nov. 3-5 at the Virden (Ill.) Church of
the Brethren. District executive Jim Yaussy Albright and Annual
Conference moderator Phill Carlos Archbold preached at two worship
services during the weekend. Moderator Dennis Metzger led business
that included the closing of three congregations -- Lena, Liberty,
and Rice Lake -- and the disassociation of the Reba Place
fellowship in Evanston, Ill., from the Church of the Brethren. A
symbolic memorial service was held, led by Erin Matteson. Delegates
also passed a district budget and heard a number of reports,
including a camp board request for more volunteers. Willard
Dulabaum was called as moderator-elect. Other events included an
evening banquet and variety show and morning insight sessions.

 10) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *A worship seminar on "Blended and Contemporary Worship" was
recently held at the East Chippewa Church of the Brethren,
Orrville, Ohio. Dick Shreckhise, on the pastoral staff of the
Lancaster (Pa.) Church of the Brethren, led the workshop. The event
was planned and sponsored by the General Board's Area 2 (Midwest)
Congregational Life Team. A second workshop will be held March 3 at
Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, Ind.

 *Citing positive response to this past summer's Brethren Alive
2000 conference, the Brethren Revival Fellowship Committee has
decided to plan another Brethren Alive event for 2002, likely in
late July. The BRF's 2001 General Meeting will be Sept. 8 at Berkey
Church of the Brethren, Windber, Pa.

 *The 2001 "Roundtable" regional youth conference for the six East
Coast districts stretching from Mid-Atlantic to Atlantic Southeast
will be held April 21-22 at Bridgewater (Va.) College. Gilbert
Romero, pastor of the Bella Vista Church of the Brethren in Los
Angeles, will serve as keynote speaker.

 *For the first time ever, all eleven Brethren Colleges Abroad
study center directors will be present at the annual BCA Directors'
meeting, to be held Dec. 4-6 in Cheltenham, England. BCA staff,
strategic planning consultants, and others will also be in
attendance.

 *Several dozen students at Manchester College (North Manchester,
Ind.) organized a town-wide food drive before Thanksgiving,
distributing grocery bags to residences around the town. About
7,000 pounds of food was collected for the Fellowship Food Pantry.

 *The fourth annual Anabaptist Evangelism Council meeting will be
Feb. 16-18 at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin,
Ill., featuring Stuary Murray as keynote speaker with the theme
"Church Planting: The Spirit at Work Through Our Systems."
Additional presentations will be given by Steve Clapp and Elwald
Unruh, and all participants will be able to join in focus groups.
Call New Life Ministries at 800 774-3360 for more information.

 *The US Campaign to Ban Landmines and the International Campaign
to Ban Landmines will hold "legislative action events" March 6-11
in Washington, D.C. Call 617 695-0041 for more information.

 *Brethren minister Harold Martin will be teaching the
International Sunday School lessons on the "Sunday School
Meditations" radio program each week from December through
February. The program is heard on stations in seven states and
Puerto Rico.

 *The Brethren Audio-Visual Library, long operated by Roy Frysinger
near Harrisburg, Pa., has closed its doors and transferred most of
its resources to the Mennonite Congregational Resource Center in
nearby Lancaster.

 *A chapter of the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives on
Nov. 14 presented its Outstanding Individual Philanthropist Award
to Don and Janet Whitney, who were nominated by the Hillcrest Homes
Church of the Brethren retirement community in La Verne, Calif. The
award was given for "financial support and exceptional leadership."
Hillcrest also engaged in some philanthropy of its own recently,
sending 60 replaced beds to the war-torn south Asian country of
Georgia.

 *Correction to Nov. 17 Newsline: The Living Faith Church of the
Brethren Fellowship in Concord, N.C., began meeting in May 1996.

 11) Nevin Dulabaum has been named Brethren Benefit Trust's
director of communications and information services effective Nov.
20. It is the first time that the two departments have been
combined, according to BBT president Wil Nolen.

As director of communications, Dulabaum will coordinate BBT's
public relations and marketing initiatives, oversee issues of
corporate identity, and serve as BBT's representative to the Church
of the Brethren on the Brethren Ministries Live Report committee
and other similar projects. As director of information services, he
will serve as systems administrator, coordinating BBT's internal
hardware and software systems. He will also serve as director of
eMountain Communications, BBT's electronic ministry that provides
Internet and technology services for Brethren members and
organizations and ecumenical agencies.

Dulabaum joined the BBT staff in September 1999 as manager of
marketing and public relations. Since July 11 he had been serving
as interim director of information services. Prior to joining BBT,
Dulabaum served as manager of news services for the Church of the
Brethren General Board from November 1994 through August 1999.

 12) The Association of Brethren Caregivers has extended a search
for a full-time coordinator of shared services to assist the
executive director with programming and services for ABC and the
Fellowship of Brethren Homes, a ministry of Brethren retirement
communities.

Ideal candidates will demonstrate a working knowledge of the
mechanisms and processes that affect services to the aging;
experience in retirement community management; understanding of
Church of the Brethren heritage; proficiency in interpretation and
consensus building; comfort in providing leadership in an
environment with diverse interests; excellent communication,
organization and computer skills; and a bachelor's degree in a
related field.

The position is available immediately. Applications and inquiries
will be accepted until the position is filled. Interested parties
should direct inquiries or letters of application with resume and
three references to Steve Mason, Executive Director, ABC, 1451
Dundee Avenue, Elgin, IL 60120.

 
 13) A packet of resources has been sent to assist congregations in
interpreting the General Board's 2000 Christmas Offering. Included
are suggested Scriptures for meditation, a resource guide with
worship helps and other information, a resource order card, and an
offering folder. Dec. 10 has been designated as Christmas Offering
Sunday this year.

The theme "You are the light of the world" is illustrated
throughout via artwork titled "Time," by Young June Lew. The piece
was also featured on the cover of the November "Messenger."

 14) Geographically, the Western Plains and Southern Plains
districts are two of the largest in the denomination. Together,
they stretch from Louisiana to Nebraska to New Mexico. About 60
diverse Church of the Brethren congregations are scattered, often
sparingly, through that vast territory.

The two districts talked as long as 35 years ago about cooperating
together, and it finally bore fruit last year when they agreed to
share a district executive. Rich Hanley, who had been serving as
Western Plains' executive minister since 1994, added the vacant
Southern Plains position to create one full-time role. He says it
has been working well.

"I've been enjoying it a lot," says Hanley, who jokes that his
territory contains many of the nation's best college football
teams. "When I was district executive in West Marva, I could be
home every night, and two and a half hours was the farthest
distance I had to travel to any church. Now, 200 miles to me seems
like just a hop and a skip away."

When Hanley first came to Western Plains, he noticed that he was
actually closer to some of the Southern Plains congregations than
his counterpart in that district, and vice-versa. Thus it made
geographical as well as financial sense for them to work jointly.
The two district boards held their first joint meeting in November
1999 after approving the plan (44 people attending traveled a
combined 26,000-plus miles), and another is planned for this fall.
 
Ken Davidson recently began as a full-time "coordinating minister"
to assist Hanley by doing initial contacts and assessing needs.
Davidson will also be assisting David Smalley, the General Board's
Congregational Life Team coordinator for Area 4, which covers the
Plains.

"The neat part is that both districts maintain their integrity,
with their own district boards and leadership and district
conferences," says Nancy Knepper, coordinator of district
ministries for the General Board. "It had been suggested back in
the '60s that it be done, and they'd been discussing it since then,
but it takes the 'kairos' moment when both districts are willing to
work at it and pool their resources."

Hanley says he expects the districts will continue to maintain
those separate identities while still doing additional cooperation
and sharing. The impetus for that, he says, will now be less for
financial reasons and more for the good results that the move has
produced, strengthening both districts. 

"We're one church," he says. "What we do is not about a collection
of churches; it's about us being together. If we have something
good, we ought to be able to share it."

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. David Smalley, Greg
Laszakovits, and Marc Rittle contributed to this report.

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.