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

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Aug. 21, 2002
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) Somerset-area miners' "miracle" rescue is answer to prayer.
 2) Brethren Colleges Abroad celebrates 40th anniversary.
 3) Brethren Volunteer Service marks its 250th orientation unit.
 4) Emergency Disaster Fund sends aid to Honduras.
 5) Summer youth workcamps record another successful season.
 6) Brethren participate in "Beyond September 11" consultation.
 7) Becky Ullom serves as steward for WCC Central Committee.
 8) Brethren bits: Sept. 11, Nigeria, Brethren Alive, and more.

PERSONNEL
 9) Judy Mills Reimer announces retirement as general secretary of
General Board.

COMING EVENTS
10) NOAC participants will support pair of service projects.

FEATURES
11) Heritage center projects aim to lift up Anabaptist history.

NOTE: This issue is being sent a few days later than normal due to
staff vacation schedules. Thanks for your patience. Newsline will
resume its regular schedule with the Aug. 30 issue.

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

 1) Brethren in Western Pennsylvania District are still counting
their blessings after a potentially tragic story turned into a
miraculous answer to prayer.

Nine coal miners--two of them from the Church of the Brethren--were
trapped in a mine near Quecreek, Pa., in late July when a shaft
flooded and cut off their exit. A barrier to an old, adjacent shaft
gave way on July 24 and allowed the operating mine to fill with
water. The group who was trapped alerted another group ahead of
them, who were able to escape.

Among the nine whose exit was cut off were John Unger from the
Maple Spring Church of the Brethren in Holsopple, Pa., and Randy
Fogle of the Beachdale congregation in Berlin. Maple Spring hosted
a well-attended community prayer service for the miners on July 26,
and the Sipesville congregation--the closest Brethren congregation
to the mine--also opened its doors for any who wanted to pray.

"It was encouraging to see people expressing their love and their
own faith throughout the situation," said Maple Spring pastor Bill
Wenger, who also led a few prayer times at the Sipesville Fire Hall
where the miners' families gathered. He praised members of his
congregation for being so supportive of Unger's family and others.
"It's helped to create an even greater warmth in the life of the
church," Wenger said.

Those prayers and many others bore fruit, as the miners were all
safely rescued early on the morning of Sunday, July 28, after being
trapped for nearly 80 hours. Fogle was the first one to be pulled
out when rescuers, including Sipesville member Mike Brant, reached
the group. Unger, 52, of Holsopple, and Fogle, 43, of Garrett, were
both briefly hospitalized.

"They saved us," Unger told CNN after the rescue. "We did our job,
and they really did their job. All the people in America that
prayed for us . . . that's the only reason we're here." The miners
and others who followed the story called the rescue a "miracle."

"It was a couple of exciting days," said Sipesville member Mildred
Hartzell. "People came in and worked together, and it's amazing
what happened. God surely had his hand in it."

Maple Spring had a special time of praise in worship the Sunday
morning of the rescue, and Unger's daughter shared words of thanks.
A service for the miners and their families and close friends was
later held at another area church and broadcast for others.

The story garnered national attention in the media and elsewhere,
and President George W. Bush came to the area, near Somerset, to
greet the miners in early August. The nine miners have sold the
rights to their story to the Walt Disney Co. for $150,000 each.

 2) Brethren Colleges Abroad officially marked its 40th anniversary
Aug. 16, completing four decades of enabling students to study in
other countries. BCA began with a single program in Marburg,
Germany, and has grown to encompass 11 sites in 10 nations.

"The success of BCA over 40 years is due to the commitment of the
colleges with historic ties to the Church of the Brethren and the
dozens of other institutions of higher education in the US and the
world that understood the importance of training young people to be
global citizens," BCA president Karen Jenkins wrote this week.

Much of BCA's summer has been taken up by the move of its
headquarters from North Manchester, Ind., to the campus of
Elizabethtown (Pa.) College, so the actual celebration of the
anniversary will not be held until sometime this fall.

Big plans are also in store for BCA's future: As part of a new
emphasis on peace and justice, BCA will offer new programs in
Belgium, Hungary, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales,
and Australia beginning in September 2003. All will be taught in
English. An international seminar for faculty and administrators
will also be offered in Havana, Cuba, in January 2003, and a summer
program for students will be held there later in 2003.

 
 3) Brethren Volunteer Service this month holds its 250th
orientation unit since the program began in 1948. Unit 250 is
taking place in cooperation with Brethren Revival Fellowship (BRF)
Aug. 18-28 at Roxbury (Pa.) Holiness Camp.

Eight participants are in the unit, all of them members of the
Church of the Brethren. They are: Kerry Brubaker of the Cocalico
congregation, Denver, Pa.; Laurie Byers, Crystal Miller, Fred and
Lois Myers, and Louann Wenger of the Upton (Pa.) congregation,
Caleb Long of Welsh Run, Mercersburg, Pa.; and Karen Miller of
White Branch, Hagerstown, Ind.  

John and Ruby Shenk from Newport, Pa., are coordinating and
providing main leadership for this unit. Other leadership includes
Harold Martin of Lititz, Pa., on Brethren history; Kenneth
Leininger of Denver, Pa., on "The Role of a Servant and
Evangelism"; Samuel Cassel of Manheim, Pa., on "Peace and
Non-Resistance"; Kenneth Nell of Abbottstown, Pa., on
"Communication and Relationships"; and James Myer of Lititz, Pa.,
on "BRF Goals and Values and Personal Theology."

Also included in the orientation will be work days at the Water
Street Rescue Mission in Lancaster, Pa., and the Washington (D.C.)
City Church of the Brethren soup kitchen.

Volunteers from this unit will be placed either in the Dominican
Republic, teaching English to members of the Dominican Church of
the Brethren, or in Lewiston, Maine, to serve at Good Shepherd Food
Bank and Lewiston Area Mission School.

 4) The General Board's Emergency Disaster Fund continued a busy
summer recently, allocating $3,000 to assist the Christian
Commission on Development (CCD) in its continuing relief work in
Honduras since Hurricane Mitch. It is the 16th grant from the fund
this calendar year and the fifth since July 26.

The funds will help to provide construction materials to the
communities of Muevo Porvenir and Tablones Arriba.

 5) The 2002 Church of the Brethren youth workcamp season has
concluded, with nearly 200 people participating at seven sites.
Fewer of the workcamps, sponsored by the General Board's
Youth/Young Adult Ministry office, were held this year due to
National Youth Conference. The workcamps began in June and ran
through Aug. 10.

Atlantic Northeast District, the denomination's largest, also had
the most workcamp participants this year, with 38. It was followed
by Mid-Atlantic, with 30, and Shenandoah, with 18. Sixteen
districts had at least one participant.

Congregations sending the most participants were the Akron (Pa.)
Church of the Brethren, which sent 14, and University Baptist &
Brethren Church in State College, Pa., which sent 12.

 6) Dale Brown of Elizabethtown, Pa., and Kim McDowell of
Hyattsville, Md., represented the Church of the Brethren in an
international consultation Aug. 5-6 on "Beyond September 11:
Implications for US Churches and the World."

Sponsored by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and held in
Washington, D.C., the consultation was convened to invite a broad
spectrum of Christians from US and global churches to reflect
together on the role churches have played in response to September
11. International participants spoke about the impact of the events
in their regions, and about public opinion of both the threats in
the world and the actions taken by the United States.

The 40-plus-member group considered theological and ethical
perspectives, security issues, and faith-based responses. A
statement was prepared for the WCC Central Committee as the
consultation concluded. It says, in part: "While much of our
discussion focused on peace and security, as Christians we affirmed
that true security comes only from Jesus Christ who is 'the way,
the truth and the life.' (John 14:6) We have come to understand
that ongoing dialogue, with the church worldwide and other faith
communities, is essential to formulating a constructive Christian
response to the insecurities and vulnerabilities that we and other
people around the world experience."

The statement "affirmed certain fundamental principles" about
security and peaceful relations. The group also gave particular
attention to concerns in the Middle East and called on US churches
to speak out against an attack on Iraq and to ask the government to
work toward a "just resolution of the Palestine-Israeli conflict."

 7) Becky Ullom of Wiley, Colo., who recently completed a Brethren
Volunteer Service term as coordinator of the 2002 National Youth
Conference, is now preparing to serve as a steward for the World
Council of Churches Central Committee meeting in Geneva,
Switzerland.

About 40 young adult stewards from around the world are
participating in the Aug. 15-Sept. 5 program. Ullom was chosen
through a competitive process from among a large field of
applicants, selected to gain exposure to the international
ecumenical movement and to provide support services for the
meeting. Ullom said she chose the conference room, the conference
office, and the press office as her top three choices for work
assignments at the event. 

Her trip began with an "exposure program" in Lausanne, including a
stay with a Swiss family. That is followed by a Seminar on
Ecumenical Formation, which includes discussion, cultural
presentations, and worship services, and then work at the formal
meetings Aug. 26-Sept. 3.

Sara Speicher, a Church of the Brethren member promoted in June to
be coordinator of the WCC's public information team in Geneva, said
a historic peace church dinner is also planned for one evening.
Items on the meeting agenda include plenary sessions on the work of
Faith and Order, the situation in Asia, an ecumenical study on
racism, and the presentation of the final report of the Special
Commission on Orthodox participation in the WCC.

 8) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *The General Board has shifted the dates of its fall 2003 meeting,
to be held in Elgin, Ill., to Oct. 18-21, 2003. It had previously
been scheduled for the prior weekend.

 *As the anniversary of Sept. 11 draws near, Brethren Press and On
Earth Peace are collaborating to provide a collection of worship
resources for use by Church of the Brethren congregations and
groups. Submissions of resources are being sought and can be sent
to wayofpeace_gb@brethren.org. When compiled, the resources will be
posted on the "Way of Peace" section of www.brethren.org,
(www.brethren.org/genbd/BP/WayOfPeace.htm). The goal is to provide
an alternative voice to much of the talk in the US, helping
Brethren "witness with a clear voice to Christ's way of peace."

 *The district of new Council of District Executives chair Herman
Kauffman was misidentified in the July 19 issue of Newsline.
Kauffman is executive minister of Northern Indiana District.

 *Nearly 300 people--some from as far away as Maine, Missouri,
Indiana, and Florida--attended this year's Brethren Revival
Fellowship "Brethren Alive" event, held July 26-28 at Elizabethtown
(Pa.) College with the theme "Be ye holy, for I am holy." The
weekend included worship, workshops, youth activities, and
fellowship opportunities, along with the BRF General Meeting.
Mervin C. Groff of Manheim, Pa., and Paul Schildt of East Berlin,
Pa., were elected to new five-year terms on the BRF Committee;
Samuel M. Cassel of Manheim, Pa., and James F. Myer of Lititz, Pa.,
were retained for three-year terms. The same officers will continue
for the coming year, with Craig Alan Myers as chair, and Myer as
vice chair. Ken Leininger reported that a record 150 people
attended this year's Brethren Bible Institute. Carl Groff, Harold
Martin, Paul Grout, and Eric Brubaker were worship speakers.

 9) Judy Mills Reimer has announced her retirement as general
secretary of the Church of the Brethren General Board, effective at
the end of her five-year contract in July 2003.

Reimer said the decision to end her journey with the General Board
came after much prayer, discernment, and consultation with a
spiritual director and administrative coach. She told the General
Board's executive committee and staff Leadership Team earlier this
month that her time in the position has been "a calling that I
love, that has energized me, that has fed me spiritually, that has
challenged and stretched me in ways that I never would have
dreamed."

Reimer became executive director in 1998 (changed to "general
secretary" in 2001) with the charge to implement the new design of
the General Board as the agency's principal administrator. Over the
past four years, Reimer has maintained a balanced budget,
represented the denomination in many ecumenical settings,
coordinated work of the agency's various offices, and began a
comprehensive planning process slated to conclude by March 2003.

"What a joy it is to serve the church," Reimer said this week. "The
sense of call from God has never dampened along the journey. . . .
I have been happy that my life experience and skills were called
out by the church in this capacity. It's a thrill to serve the
church and feel at the same time that you're serving the call to be
a disciple of Jesus Christ."

Reimer hopes to spend more time with her family and to enjoy her
home near Roanoke, Va., along with other retirement projects.

The General Board is designing a search process for a new general
secretary, using components of the evolving comprehensive plan.
Additional details will be announced as they become available.

 
 10) Volunteer workers for the Association of Brethren Caregivers
(ABC) hope to have more than 350 "Gift of the Heart" school kits
and health kits to send to Church World Service as a result of a
service project planned for National Older Adult Conference. These
kits will be sent throughout the world in areas devastated by
natural and human disasters.

"It would be nice if we could match the number of kits collected
this year with the amount collected at the last NOAC," said Gerry
Graybill, who with her husband, Harry, is the service project
coordinator for the conference. At the 2000 NOAC, conference
participants assembled 372 school or health kits and donated enough
funds to ship them to Church World Service.

A list of contents for the kits has been sent to NOAC registrants.
In addition to donating the materials for the kits, conference
attendees can participate in assembling the kits and making the
bags needed to hold the school kits. 

A second NOAC service project will be the collection of old
eyeglasses, sunglasses, and eyeglass cases for use in developing
countries. The glasses and cases will be distributed through Eye
Care Missions, a nonprofit ecumenical proam that sends teams of
ophthalmologists and other volunteers to examine and prescribe
eyeglasses to thousands of patients. 

For more information about NOAC service projects, e-mail
g-hgraybill@blazenet.net or call ABC at 847-742-5100. Daily
coverage of NOAC, which takes place Sept. 2-6 in Lake Junaluska,
N.C., will be available on www.brethren.org beginning Sept. 2.

 11) The Church of the Brethren took its first steps in the Eder
River valley of Germany. Three centuries later, a pair of heritage
centers are being built in other valleys in an effort to preserve
that history.

"Crossroads" will be built in the Shenandoah Valley near
Harrisonburg, Va., where Mennonites and Brethren have lived for
more than two centuries. And in the Miami Valley of Ohio, also home
to many Brethren, the Brethren Heritage Center is taking shape.

Crossroads will be a joint Brethren-Mennonite project, the result
of years of praying and planning. The interactive center--targeted
to be fully open in 2008--will explain the common faith values of
the denominations and their history during the Civil War, when
numerous battles took place in the region. It will strive to "share
and celebrate the story of Jesus Christ as it has been reflected in
the lives of the Mennonites and Brethren in the Shenandoah Valley."

Self-guided driving tours through the valley, called "Journeys of
Faith and Conscience," will be among the featured offerings. It
will take visitors to a number of sites in the area, including an
1804 grist mill that the center is seeking to make fully
operational again.

Paul Roth, vice president of the Crossroads board of directors and
pastor of the Linville Creek Church of the Brethren in Broadway,
Va., said that the center has now bought 10 acres from a Brethren
family. A 1854 Mennonite-built house that was donated to the
project was moved to a ridge on the site last month. A barn and
meeting house will also be part of the site.

"It will be quite a thing when it's finished," Roth said.

Fund-raising has also begun. A specially commissioned play on an
Anabaptist family's struggles during the Civil War, titled
"Jordan's Stormy Banks," was presented in six sold-out performances
in Harrisonburg this month. An additional $50,000 gift was also
recently received. And on Sept. 21, the Bridgewater (Va.) Church of
the Brethren will host a dinner and address by Bridgewater College
president Phil Stone titled "Transforming History into Legacy,"
introducing and discussing the project.

The Brethren Heritage Center, meanwhile, to be located in
Brookville, Ohio, will preserve the historical and current
information of the eight Brethren denominations that trace their
origins to Germany in 1708. It will have a special section for each
denomination's history, and a general section common to all
Brethren denominations.  

"It is a unique venture with all the different Brethren working
together on a project," said Mark Flory-Steury, district executive
for Southern Ohio.

The center will provide a place for all Brethren denominations to
deposit or locate materials and will serve as an archival center
for those wishing to do research. Materials from the district's
heritage center have already been moved to a temporary site where
the new center is expected to open this winter. A member of the
Dunkard Brethren has donated land two miles away from the temporary
location, and the permanent center will be built there in the
future. 

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, with other editions as needed.
Newsline stories may be reprinted provided Newsline is cited as the
source. Mary Dulabaum, Sue Grubb, David Smalley, and Danielle Hart
contributed to this report. Thanks also to Camp Mardela (Denton,
Md.) for use of their facilities and equipment in producing the
Aug. 2 edition of Newsline.

Newsline is a free service sent only to those requesting a
subscription. To receive it by e-mail or fax, or to unsubscribe,
write cobnews@aol.com or call 800-323-8039, ext. 263. Newsline is
available at www.brethren.org and is archived with an index at
www.wfn.org. Also see Photo Journal at
www.brethren.org/pjournal/index.htm for photo coverage of events.