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

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Nov. 15, 2002
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) Bethany holds board meeting amid increased enrollment.
 2) BBT discontinues Walden/BBT social index fund option.
 3) Small Membership/Rural Church group begins with energy.
 4) Tornado outbreak narrowly misses Ohio congregation.
 5) Brethren among delegates at NCC Assembly in Tampa.
 6) New disaster project directors get training in New Windsor.
 7) Angolan embassy honors Brethren Service Center for its help.
 8) Brethren bits: Cross-cultural, Christmas, camps, and more.

PERSONNEL
 9) Pacific Southwest seeks a district executive minister.

COMING EVENTS
10) ABC announces speakers for Caring Ministries Assembly.

FEATURES
11) Don Vermilyea says miracles abound on his Walk Across America.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the next issue of
Newsline will be sent on Nov. 22 rather than the usual fifth-Friday
date of Nov. 29. Newsline will resume its regular schedule Dec. 6.

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

 1) The Bethany Theological Seminary Board of Trustees gathered for
its semi-annual meeting Oct. 25-27 in Richmond, Ind. The board
spent substantial time in group-building due to the significant
number of new members. The following people were welcomed to the
board: Marla Abe, Akron, Ohio; Robert Knechel, McPherson, Kan.;
Connie Rutt, Quarryville, Pa.; Carol Scheppard, Mt. Crawford, Va.;
and Marie Willoughby, ex-officio representing the Council of
District Executives, Kaleva, Mich.

The Academic and Student Affairs Committee reported that graduate
student head-count and full-time equivalency (FTE) numbers are up
from this time last year, with head-count increasing from 64 to 81,
and FTE from 37.51 to 44.42. 

Updates were also provided on the Susquehanna Valley Satellite,
which offered online classes for the first time in 2001-2002, and
on progress toward the launch of Bethany's distributed education
program "Connections" in August 2003. Dan Ulrich, the seminary's
associate dean and director of distributed education, shared his
excitement and challenges in teaching Bethany's first online
graduate course this fall, Introduction to the New Testament. 

The committee reported that Bethany is taking a lead role in
planning a second major consultation of the historic peace churches
that will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, in the summer of 2004. Don
Miller will provide organizational leadership for this
consultation. The seminary will also host a meeting with district
executives this coming Monday, Nov. 18.

The Institutional Advancement Committee gave an update on Bethany's
capital campaign and noted that the congregational phase of this
campaign will begin at Annual Conference 2003.

The Executive Committee reported that it had authorized the
appointment of a new board Committee, Student Recruitment and
Development, to focus on the changing nature of these areas.
Bethany president Eugene Roop gave a report on his sabbatical. 

In other action, the board: 
 *approved a 4 percent increase in tuition for the 2003-2004
academic year, from $250 to $260 per credit hour.
 
 *approved the audit report for the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The
auditors applauded the excellent policies and procedures of the
business office.

 *reaffirmed the Brethren Journal Association as an entity of the
seminary, and authorized them to publish a journal and other
resources. 

 *approved a change to the affiliation agreement with Earlham
School of Religion at their request, dissolving the joint business
office as of Jan. 1, 2003.

 2) Brethren Benefit Trust is discontinuing its Walden/BBT mutual
fund offerings this fall as a result of marketing difficulties and
little participation by Church of the Brethren members.

The Walden/BBT Domestic Social Index Fund and Walden/BBT
International Social Index Fund began in mid-1999 to give Brethren
a socially responsible investing option. An adviser with Walden
Asset Management oversaw the investments, and BBT--which also
invested some Pension Plan and Brethren Foundation monies to become
the "anchor tenant" for the funds--served as a paid consultant on
peace and justice issues.

Three years later, however, Brethren Foundation director Darryl
Deardorff says that "only a handful" of Brethren had invested in
the funds. That was due, at least in part, BBT officials say, to
the legal limitations put on BBT in advertising the funds. "Our
hands were basically tied," Deardorff says.

As a result, the domestic fund was terminated at the end of
October, and the international fund will close late this month.
Individual investors are receiving checks as their assets are
cashed out, while BBT's investments will return into their regular
funds.

BBT is now looking at cost-effective ways to offer similar options
through its own investment vehicles and assessing the number of
Brethren who might potentially be interested. Walden, meanwhile,
will continue to serve as one of the managers for BBT Pension Fund
and Brethren Foundation investments, as it had previously.

 3) It's just a month old, but a new Small Membership/Rural Church
Advisory Group hopes to bring transformational ministry to the
Church of the Brethren.

General Board Congregational Life Team member Jim Kinsey, a trained
rural sociologist, is facilitating the group. He says the energy
around the issue is tangible.

"They are pumped!" Kinsey says. "They're really excited, really
fired up about this."

The initial group is concentrated in the Midwest. Joining Kinsey on
the committee are Ray Barkey from Northern Indiana; Mary Jane
Button Harrison, Northern Plains; Les Cooper, South/Central
Indiana; Chuck Cupp, Southern Ohio; Rick Koch, Illinois-Wisconsin;
Roger Schrock, Missouri-Arkansas; and Don Willoughby, Michigan.

The group held its first meeting in October and developed purposes
including raising tough questions, sharing stories and resources to
promote vital ministry, and celebrating the work of God's spirit in
small membership/rural churches. The biggest challenge now is
funding, both to enable ongoing meetings of the group and to carry
out goals such as leadership training and a summit for discussion
of related issues.

Kinsey notes that 80 percent of Church of the Brethren
congregations average 90 people or fewer in worship, and that many
available resources don't meet the needs of churches that size. He
calls this new effort a "trial balloon." If it succeeds, his hope
is to establish working groups in other parts of the denomination,
meeting the unique needs and perspectives of the diverse
geographical regions.

 4) A tornado struck near the Dupont (Ohio) Church of the Brethren
this past Sunday, Nov. 10, as a series of storms ravaged the
eastern half of the country. The church and its members escaped
largely unscathed, but others in the region weren't as fortunate.

Dupont church secretary Chris Murphy said a tornado touched down
just a few miles from the church, destroying some homes and killing
two people. The more serious damage from the storms was to the
southwest in Van Wert County. No church members were injured or
lost their homes, she said, but a few had damage. 

"There was a lot of debris in the fields for miles and miles and
miles," Murphy said. "I couldn't believe it. You see pictures on
the news, but you can't believe it until you see with your own
eyes. . . . It's amazing more people weren't hurt. God had his hand
in that one, for sure."

The General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries (ER/SM)
office called to offer assistance if needed, and the Red Cross and
local volunteers were already at work on the immediate cleanup
needs. Murphy said the response and help has been "wonderful."

ER/SM was also monitoring needs for Disaster Child Care volunteers
in hard-hit areas of Alabama and Tennessee.

 5) Five Brethren, including two General Board staff members, are
among those representing the denomination this weekend at the US
National Council of Churches' annual General Assembly in Tampa,
Fla.

General secretary Judy Mills Reimer and Global Mission Partnerships
director Mervin Keeney join Frances Townsend of Preston, Minn.; L.
Gene Bucher of East Petersburg, Pa.; and Valentina Satvedi of
Torrance, Calif., as Church of the Brethren delegates to the event.
Delegates from the NCC's 36 member churches and several
international guests were expected to be present.

NCC president Elenie K. Huszagh, Esq., of Nehalem, Ore., is
presiding over the assembly, taking place Nov. 14-16 at the Tampa
Hyatt Regency hotel. The theme is "For the Common Good: Seeking
Justice, Working for Peace."

Agenda highlights include a celebration of the 100th anniversary of
the Mission Education Movement in North America and the 50th
anniversary of the Revised Standard Version Bible, dialog on
Christian-Muslim relations and Middle East peace, consideration of
several resolutions, and forums on a variety of current issues.

 6) Thirteen volunteers, recommended by Church of the Brethren
disaster project directors with whom they had worked, came to the
Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., Oct. 27-29 for a
training seminar where they could "test the waters" as potential
disaster project directors. 

The volunteers--Jim and Clareen Dunn, Jim and Lois Kime, Gloria and
Ken Kline, John and Mary Mueller, Donna and John Ramer, Allene and
Frank Teeter, and Larry Williams--all concluded the training
indicating a willingness to "give it a try."

General Board Emergency Response/Service Ministries (ER/SM) staff,
along with experienced disaster project directors Bob and Marianne
Pittman, provided two and a half days of training that ranged from
assessing disaster situations to closing the response project.

Topics included record-keeping, dealing with all kinds and ages of
volunteers, understanding the needs of affected persons and
communities, cooking meals, and construction and overall project
management. Also addressed were safety considerations, relating to
other disaster response agencies, volunteer and self-care, stress
management, ethical guidelines, and relating to the media. All
these subjects were woven into an atmosphere of worship,
fellowship, and commitment.

"Our outstanding Disaster Response program depends almost entirely
upon willing volunteers," ER/SM assistant Glenn Kinsel said, "those
who go to disaster sites to work for a week as well as those who go
to direct for a month." He said the new volunteers would be
important in allowing the office to carry out its response
ministry.

 7) Brethren Service Center director Stan Noffsinger was among
about 300 invited guests at a reception at the Embassy of Angola in
Washington, D.C., this week. The event was held to celebrate the
27th anniversary of the independence of Angola, and the first since
a peace accord in April 2002 brought an end to 26 years of civil
war. 

The list of invitees included several non-governmental agencies
that had provided humanitarian aid to refugees and internally
displaced persons within Angola, which included the efforts of the
Church of the Brethren General Board through Emergency
Response/Service Ministries.

Noffsinger and Guerra Freitas, president of Angolan partner
SHAREcircle, were received by Ambassadress Dra. Josefina Pitra
Diakite, and appreciation was expressed for the agencies' work in
providing emergency aid to the people of Bie Province in Angola.
Included in the five containers shipped from the Brethren Service
Center in New Windsor, Md., were canned meat provided by the
Southern Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic District Meat Canning
Committee, school kits, health kits, blankets, baby blankets from
Church World Service, and three "retired" computers donated by
General Board Information Services.

The ambassadress expressed a strong desire to see the Brethren
Service Center in person, and staff at the center are working to
facilitate a visit in early 2003. 

 8) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *The 2003 Church of the Brethren Cross-Cultural Consultation will
be held April 24-27 in Orlando, Fla., with the theme "Tuning into
the Heart Beat of God," based on Isaiah 60:1-5. The event is
planned annually by the denomination's Cross-Cultural Ministries
Team with the support of the General Board's Congregational Life
Ministries office.

 *Church of the Brethren members are again expected to be among
those protesting the School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation training programs at Ft.
Benning, Ga., this weekend. The Nov. 15-17 events are being
organized by SOA Watch. A gathering for Brethren and friends will
be held one evening, and several Brethren peace-related offices
will have a literature table.

 *A delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) visited the
Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill., on Nov. 7
for conversation and fellowship, part of a series of visits to US
churches. Delegation members were WCC deputy general secretary
Georges Lemopoulos; Aruna Gnanadason, coordinator of the Justice,
Peace, and Creation Team and women's programs; and the Rev. Dr.
Hans Ucko of the Interreligious Relations office, all based at WCC
headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland; as well as Jane Richardson,
development officer at the WCC's US office in New York.

 *On Oct. 30, the Church of the Brethren General Board entered into
a one-year lease agreement with Maryknoll Mission Association of
the Faithful. The agreement provides MMAF with the use of one
office space in the General Offices building in Elgin, Ill., to be
used as MMAF's Mid-West Recruiter Office. The office will be
staffed by Patty Driscoll-Shaw.

 *Church of the Brethren member Cliff Kindy, who is in Iraq with
Christian Peacemaker Teams, has been filing regular reports from
Baghdad. The letters are being compiled online at
www.geocities.com/agitators2002/cliff.html. Kindy was also featured
in a Chicago Tribune article earlier this month. Another Brethren,
Nathan Musselman of Roanoke, Va., traveled to Iraq via Jordan
recently. Musselman has been working with the Iraq advocacy
organization Voices in the Wilderness the past few months. His
reports from Iraq are being posted on the General Board's Brethren
Witness site, at www.brethren.org/genbd/witness/Iraq.htm.

 *Audrey Hollenberg, a member of the Westminster (Md.) Church of
the Brethren, received second place in the Anne Arundel (Md.)
County Peace Action essay contest on Oct. 25. Hollenberg's essay,
"The Path to Peace Lies in Prevention," referred to her Brethren
background in social justice and peace issues as an important
influence. It was chosen as one of three winners from among 112
entries by middle schoolers throughout Maryland.

 9) Pacific Southwest District has announced a search for a
full-time district executive minister who is a "visionary leader"
for a position available Feb. 1.

Desired skills include knowledge of denominational polity, ability
to adapt to the unique needs of the district, a business background
with knowledge of finance and property management, an interest in
working with the district's diverse population, spiritual maturity,
and strong administrative and listening skills.

Responsibilities include directing and administering the work of
the district, building relationships with pastors and
congregations, promoting effective pastoral placement, and managing
the district office and staff.

Those interested and qualified may apply by sending a letter of
interest and resume' to: Nancy F. Knepper, Office of District
Ministries, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120. Applicants should
also contact three or four people to provide a letter of reference.
Upon receipt of resume', the candidate will be sent a candidate
profile that must be completed and returned before the application
is considered complete. Application deadline is Jan. 9.

 10) The Association of Brethren Caregivers has announced speakers
for the 2003 Caring Ministries Assembly, to be held Aug. 14-16 in
Bridgewater, Va. The biennial event will feature the theme "Healing
Out of Silence" and take place at the Bridgewater Church of the
Brethren.

Speakers will include Tilden Edwards, an Episcopal minister and
founder/senior fellow of the Shalem Institute in Bethesda, Md.;
Marlene Kropf, executive director of the Office of Congregational
Life for Mennonite Church USA; Lebanon (Va.) Church of the Brethren
member Carol A. Scheppard, an assistant professor of philosophy and
religion at Bridgewater College; and Marjorie Thompson, director of
the Pathways Center for Christian Spirituality.

Registration information will be mailed to congregations in the
spring. For additional information, call ABC at 800-323-8039.

 11) At a church in rural northeastern Oregon, a tall, slim,
bearded man stepped up to the microphone one Sunday morning in late
October and introduced himself with these words: "My name is Don
Vermilyea, and I'm walking across America for Jesus Christ."

This stop at the Weston Community Church of the Brethren was
congregational visit No. 45 for Vermilyea, who hopes to visit every
church in the denomination before his coast-to-coast journey is
done. The Walk Across America, sponsored by the General Board's
Brethren Witness and Brethren Volunteer Service offices, began in
February in Arizona. That was more than 3,400 miles and 7
million-plus steps ago, all with a weighty pack on his back.

Vermilyea began his visit at Weston with a Sunday school
presentation, in which he used "homeless items" he has picked up
along the way to talk about things that represent peace or the
opposite of peace. Much of his message speaks against the
materialism and wastefulness that he says is contrary to the word
of God.

"If we Christians aren't going to turn this around, who is?" he
said. "We need to wake up."

In his message during the worship service, he shared about the call
he felt from God to live simply, which led him into Brethren
Volunteer Service. He has experienced numerous hardships along the
walk thus far and learned many lessons, he says, but the call
remains strong.

"This walk is so much bigger than me," Vermilyea told the church.
"Without my relationship to the Lord and your prayers, I would have
died many times over. . . . If we decide to walk with the Lord, the
miracles just pile up all over the place."

Vermilyea has now reached Idaho after a treacherous hike across the
Blue Mountains, and will visit with congregations in that district
over the coming weeks. With the onset of winter, he is planning to
spend the winter in Twins Falls, Idaho, connecting with the
congregation there.

When he finished up at Weston, he left behind money he had picked
up along the road since his previous stop. He asks each church to
process it and send it in to the General Board's Emergency Disaster
Fund and Global Food Crisis Fund. He also left behind some of his
"homeless items" for members there to keep, to remind them of the
walk and its purpose.

"Look at the stuff, pray, and remember there's a crazy guy walking
across America for the Lord," Vermilyea said. "We're all on a
journey."

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 that Newsline is cited
as the source. Marcia Shetler, Jane Yount and Ken Shaffer
contributed to this report.

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