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 From nobody@wfn.org  Fri Dec  8 00:00:00 2000
V: 847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
Date: Dec. 8, 2000
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

"...I hope in your word." Psalm 119:114 (NRSV)

SPECIAL BULLETIN

 1) SERRV plans to move some offices from New Windsor to Wisconsin.
 2) Car crash takes the life of CNI moderator.

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 1) SERRV Inc., an independent non-profit organization that markets
crafts from artisans in developing countries, will be moving its
marketing office and many administrative functions from the
Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., to Madison, Wis., in
2001. Operations activities such as material handling, shipping,
purchasing, and customer service will remain at New Windsor.

The SERRV board of directors met in late November and approved the
decision, choosing Madison--the Wisconsin state capital--from a
list of five cities that had been created through a search process.

"The board has really worked hard at determining how we move into
the future and carry out our mission in a way that's meaningful,
and stay connected to the values of our Brethren heritage," says
SERRV president Bob Chase, who will move to Madison. "We want to do
more with less resources."

The board cited factors such as being better able to attract new
staff, a lower cost of living, good public transportation and
schools, a moderate-sized population, and a high quality of life as
reasons for choosing Madison. Wisconsin also ranks fifth among US
states in sales volume of SERRV products, and Madison has been used
as a place for pilot projects by other fair-trade organizations
like SERRV.

Chase says the board also reiterated its commitment to New Windsor,
however. It has asked the Church of the Brethren General Board,
which owns the center, to extend its lease another three years,
through 2004. In addition, SERRV has inquired about obtaining
additional warehouse space.

SERRV's gift shop at the service center, currently located in the
Old Main building, will gradually move to the third floor of
SERRV's administration building in January, expecting to be open
there by Feb. 1. Plans call for adding a library and educational
displays.

Stan Noffsinger, director of the Brethren Service Center, says the
center's staff are working closely with SERRV to accommodate the
move. "We are pleased that the SERRV board of directors is
committed to an ongoing presence at the Brethren Service Center,"
Noffsinger says. He plans to work with the Carroll County (Md.)
Department of Economic Development to identify potential uses for
the Old Main space, ideally attracting a church-related relief or
aid agency.  

SERRV's new shop will occupy space currently used by the marketing
department, which will work from temporary quarters on another
floor until the move to Madison occurrs in spring or summer. SERRV
is also "giving serious consideration" to closing its other gift
shop, in a mall in nearby Westminster, Md., due to declining sales
at that location.

Chase expects that four positions in addition to his will be
relocated to Madison. One of those positions recently became vacant
via retirement, and Chase says the people currently working in the
other three positions have decided not to relocate. SERRV also
plans to add about eight new staff positions over the next two
years. Keith Anderson has already been hired for a new director of
operations position that will coordinate activities at the New
Windsor site. He will begin in February.

To allow those additions to occur, the board approved a deficit
budget for 2001, recognizing a need to "take some risks," Chase
says. The decision comes after a strong financial year for SERRV,
which is reporting sales up 15 percent over 1999 and expects a
"substantial surplus" for 2000.

 2) The Most Rev. Vinod A.R. Peter, moderator of the Church of
North India and president of the National Council of Churches in
India, died of injuries suffered in a car accident on Dec. 6. The
accident occured about six miles from the city of Jodhpur. The Rt.
Rev. Gerald Andrews, bishop of Rajasthan Diocese, was traveling in
the same car and was also killed.

The Most Rev. Peter, 61, had just visited the Church of the
Brethren General Offices in October, part of a CNI delegation
negotiating with the General Board about "separated" Brethren in
India who are seeking recognition by the US church.

He was ordained as a priest in 1967, serving as a youth leader and
pastor. He was consecrated as a bishop in 1984 and appointed to the
Diocese of Nagpur. In October 1998 he was elected as moderator of
CNI.

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.

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