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

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Sept. 21, 2001
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

"Trust in the Lord and do good..." Psalms 37:3a

NEWS
 1) Brethren continue their response in the wake of tragedy.
 2) US crisis leads to cancellations, postponements, changes of
events.
 3) Emergency Disaster Fund sends aid to two US sites.
 4) BVS unit 246 prepares for orientation on the East Coast.
 5) Fifty years later, a group again says thank you for refugee
work.
 6) Brethren bits: Disaster auction, Harrisburg grant, and more.

RESOURCES
 7) Brethren Press seeks local resources dealing with US crisis.

FEATURES
 8) Huffing and puffing won't blow down this San Diego project. 

****************************************************************
 
 1) More than a week after terrorist attacks along the East Coast
of the US, Church of the Brethren response continues in earnest.

The Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., remains the
central hub of activity, as the General Board's Emergency
Response/Ministries Service office has been coordinating aid,
sending child-care volunteers, and facilitating communication.

Church World Service established an emergency communications
operation at the center shortly after the attacks, and six of its
staff members and volunteers remain in New Windsor. They are
expected to stay there through the next month, serving as a
national call center for a new initiative, building a database of
counselors trained in debriefing and spiritual care following
critical stress incidents who could be referred to communities
across the country. Denominations are being asked to refer
qualified individuals.

Church World Service is also providing an interfaith spiritual team
in New York to provide care for caregivers there, and respond to
special requests and needs of churches amid the tragedy.

Also in New York, several teams of specially trained children's
caregivers were in place through the Church of the Brethren. The
effort initially began through the Child Care in Aviation Incident
Response (CAIR) program and continues as a massive Disaster Child
Care response.

Eighteen volunteers were working out of a converted warehouse on a
mid-town Manhattan pier as of mid-week, according to Disaster Child
Care coordinator Roy Winter. More were expected to head to the area
soon, as a second family care site was scheduled to open in nearby
New Jersey.

"For a lot of kids, it's the first time (since the events) that
they've been in an environment that feels safe to them, and
'normal,' " Winter said. That feeling of safety allows the children
to express emotions and stress they've kept bottled up inside until
then, he said, and volunteers are trained to help that process.

Brethren Service Center director Stan Noffsinger last Friday took
part in a panel sponsored by FaithandValues.com, looking at how
pastors can respond in situations like this. The interactive
teleconference has been archived at the FaithandValues.com website.

Elsewhere, congregations and districts have been responding with
both prayers and donations. The Atlantic Northeast District, which
includes New York, has worked with the Brethren Service Center to
supply relief aid through the Brooklyn (N.Y.) First and First
Haitian congregations. A truck filled with blankets and clothing
and a $5,000 check to help the churches set up a disaster
assistance fund was scheduled to travel to Brooklyn this week.

Additional efforts are planned at this weekend's Brethren Disaster
Auction in Lebanon, Pa., and Noffsinger will be addressing the
audience there with the latest response efforts.

Details on the response, resources for congregations, news updates,
statements from church leaders, and other materials can be found on
the denominational website, at www.brethren.org/usresponse.

 2) Several events scheduled for the second half of September were
cancelled or postponed in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks:
 *The Dinka-Nuer Reconciliation Conference for Sudanese living in
the US was originally slated to be hosted by the Church of the
Brethren Washington (D.C.) Office Sept. 8-9 but had to be pushed
back a week due to scheduling difficulties. Travel restrictions
following last week's attacks forced the conference to be postponed
again, this time indefinitely. "We never know what will happen
until it happens, but the will of the people coming is still
strong," lead organizer Charles Abyei said.

 *The board meetings of Heifer Project International (HPI) and a
visit by Jan Schrock of HPI to the Church of the Brethren General
Offices in Elgin, Ill., this week in conjunction with those
meetings were also postponed. A World Council of Churches
delegation scheduled to visit the General Offices Sept. 18 had
earlier announced a postponement of their trip, as well.

 *World Bank/International Monetary Fund meetings slated for Sept.
29-30 in Washington, D.C., were cancelled citing respect for
victims of the tragedies and security concerns. The Church of the
Brethren Washington Office had been working with other groups to
plan an "Interfaith Service of Commitment to Restoration and
Justice in the Global Economy" Sept. 29 in Washington. Additional
events scheduled for a "Brethren & Friends Caucus" at the
Washington City Church of the Brethren included "teach-in"
educational sessions, banner-making, non-violence training,
rallies, a candlelight procession and vigil at the World Bank,
Bible study, and participation in a Global Justice Rally at the
White House. The caucus will still be held, but will now focus on
"A Weekend of Healing and Reflection on Global Peace and Justice"
instead. An interfaith service, vigil, and procession for peace
will be held Saturday evening, Sept. 29. Send e-mail to
cobglobaljustice@hotmail.com for details.

 3) Two recent grants from the General Board's Emergency Disaster
Fund will go toward domestic relief efforts.

An allocation of $5,000 will aid in the response to a severe
tornado that destroyed 94 homes in Siren, Wis., this summer. A
rebuilding project is being set up by the General Board's Emergency
Response/Service Ministries office through on-site disaster project
directors. The funds will be used for expenses related to this
recovery project.

Ken and LouElla Imhoff of Ohio will arrive at the site the week of
Sept. 17 to make necessary preparations. The first group of
volunteers will arrive the week of Sept. 23. Workers will focus on
total reconstruction of homes, either on existing or new
foundations, with a goal of accomplishing as much as possible
before winter.

An additional allocation of $6,700 from the fund will support
continuing relief work of Church World Service in Texas and
Louisiana following flood damage from tropical storm Allison. It
follows a major response in June, when a $10,000 grant was sent and
a Disaster Child Care team traveled to the Houston area.

These are in addition to the $25,000 grant made to the US Terrorism
Response effort in New York and elsewhere last week.

 4) Brethren Volunteer Service unit 246, the last unit for this
year, will have orientation Sept. 23 to Oct. 12. The first and
third week will be held at Brethren Woods in Keezletown, Va., and
the middle week will be held in Washington, D.C., where volunteers
will look at urban and political issues.

Nineteen volunteers will participate in the orientation. Six are
connected to Church of the Brethren congregations: Natalie Dutrow
of the McPherson (Kan.) Church of the Brethren; Rebekah Helsel of
28th Street, Altoona, Pa.; Edie Hinkle of Drexel Hill (Pa.); Nadine
Monn of Living Stone, Cumberland, Md.; Todd Rebman of Little
Swatara, Bethel, Pa.; and Dan Royer of Trotwood (Ohio). There will
be four German participants and one volunteer from the United
Kingdom.

Sessions at Brethren Woods will include a Bible study led by Paul
Roth (Bible Study), "Who are the Brethren?" by Phil Stone;
"Conflict and Resolution" by Noelle Dulabaum Bohrer, and "Building
Community by Welcoming Diversity" by Nancy Good Sider and Zeb
Davenport.

In Washington, sessions will be "Faces of Homelessness" by Michael
Stoops, "Debt Relief" by Mara Vanderslice, information on the
Church of the Brethren Washington Office by Greg Laszakovits and
Marc Rittle, "Justice and Nonviolence" by David Radcliff, "Latin
Americas Issues" by Witness for Peace, and "The Death Penalty" by
Scott Crain.

Volunteers will also participate in work projects, worship,
community-building, spiritual reflection, and focus on the
discernment of their call to service.

 5) Stan Noffsinger, director of the Brethren Service Center in New
Windsor, Md., on Sept. 1 participated in a celebration of the 50th
anniversary of the arrival of the Kalmyk refugees to the United
States.

He accepted, on behalf of the Church of the Brethren General Board,
two Awards of Merit. One was from Valeri Petrovich Bogdanov, vice
president of the Republic of Kalmykia in the former Soviet Union,
and the other was presented by the Kalmyk American Society chair,
Naran L. Anreyev. The citation reads, "The Kalmyks in America
express our deepest appreciation for assisting us with the original
Kalmyk Resettlement Program. Through your dedication, it allowed us
to thrive and prosper as citizens of the greatest country in the
world."--Kalmyk American Society 

Radek Borulov, mayor of Elista--the capital of the Republic of
Kalmykia--expressed profound gratitude for the work of the Church
of the Brethren, who in partnership with Church World Service
brought the Kalmyks out of the European refugee camps to the safety
of the Brethren Service Center and other locations in the US.    
                         

More than 500 refugees were resettled from December 1951 through
mid-1952. Joseph Mow, Benjamin Bushong, Ruth Early, Mary Coppock,
and Donald Durnbaugh, along with many staff and volunteers working
in Germany and the US, made the project a very successful one.

"I promised my mother that I would personally thank the Brethren
for the hospitality and care given to her during the transition to
American life while at the Brethren Service Center," Schukr Basanow
of Denver, Colo., said at the event. "I thank you from the bottom
of my heart for all our people for the acts of love extended to us
during that time."

The Church of the Brethren's Refugee Resettlement program continues
to welcome refugees and displaced persons. Since 1949, the Church
of the Brethren, working in partnership with Church World Service,
has resettled 79,000 refugees in the United States.

 6) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *The Brethren Disaster Relief Auction is marking its 25th
anniversary this weekend as it takes place at the Lebanon (Pa.)
Expo Center. A joint effort of the Atlantic Northeast and Southern
Pennsylvania districts, it featured a special anniversary concert
Thursday night and continues with a variety of auctions, sales, and
food stands today and tomorrow. It has raised more than $600,000 in
recent years. A "special emphasis" related to the recent terrorist
attacks was planned.

 *Brethren Community Ministries of Harrisburg, Pa., which provides
housing and other services to those in need in the Pennsylvania
capital, recently received a grant of $50,000 from the Whitaker
Foundation Regional Program administered by the Greater Harrisburg
Foundation. The money will allow purchase of a new building where
an expanded thrift shop--currently located in the basement of the
Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren--and several new low-income
housing units will be located, along a major thoroughfare in the
city. Other funds from the project came from the the Harrisburg
First congregation, the Atlantic Northeast District, and elsewhere.

 *McPherson (Kan.) College is hosting "A Forum on Nonviolence" Oct.
27-28, featuring Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Events,
being held at the McPherson Church of the Brethren, include
sessions by a variety of speakers Saturday morning and a
presentation by Gandhi in the afternoon; the McPherson College
Religious Heritage Lecture, also by Gandhi, Saturday
evening--followed by a peace pole vigil and labyrinth; and Sunday
school and worship at the church Sunday morning. Cost is $5 for
Saturday morning and afternoon; other events are free. Call
620-241-1109 or 620-241-5557 daytime, or e-mail maccob@mpks.net. 

 *Sept. 25 marks 10 years since a fire destroyed the former
Brethren Publishing House in Elgin, Ill. The four-story building,
built for the Brethren, served as the denomination's headquarters
from 1899 to 1959.

 *Service ranked No. 1 among the "most important features for
choosing medical coverage," according to a Brethren Benefit Trust
survey of Brethren ministers. The survey, published in the recent
"Insurance Update," drew 379 responses. "Price" was the No. 2
factor listed.

 7) Pastors and other church members are invited to send Brethren
Press worship resources, excerpts from sermons, and other materials
created to help congregations respond to the events of Sept. 11
from a Church of the Brethren faith perspective.

Selected writings may be used in Messenger magazine or on the
denominational website, www.brethren.org. To be considered for
Messenger, materials must be submitted by Sept. 26.

Materials should be submitted by e-mail to
wayofpeace_gb@brethren.org. All writings must be original, and they
are subject to editing. By submitting material, those sending it
are granting permission for congregations and individuals to use
their work within their church settings or within local ecumenical
worship services.

 8) Two historic peace churches (the Church of the Brethren and
the Friends/Quakers) and two well-estalished non-profit
organizations (The Peace Resource Center of San Diego and the
American Friends Service Committee US-Mexico Border Project) have
joined together to create something new and unique in San Diego.
Their vision and plan: to build a center for peace, justice, and
spiritual growth.

The center, which will be called "The Friends Center," will provide
space for worship, offices, meetings, workshops, and programs with
a focus for nonviolent social change. First Church of the Brethren
of San Diego, which has long sought a purpose for its undeveloped
land, was pleased to have it used for a focus of peace.

One of the most unique features of the joint project, which is
intended to serve the entire San Diego community, is its planned
construction as a "straw bale building." Buildings constructed with
straw bales have high insulation qualities; are resistant to fire,
moisture, and pests; and make good use of environmental resources,
according to the planning group. The project will also feature
solar power, passive solar design, water recycling, and other
energy-efficient components.

Many volunteers are expected to help with the building process,
both with labor and donations of funds and materials. The San Diego
First church has committed to raise $60,000 toward construction of
an apartment and shower room desgined to be used by Brethren
Volunteer Service workers. Groundbreaking is planned for January
2002.

More details on the project are available at www.friendscenter.net.

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. Kathleen Campanella
and Jeff Glass contributed to this report.

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