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Date: June 13, 2003
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) Elizabethtown conference looks at higher education in the
church.
 2) Ministry Summer Service orientation prepares young adults for
internships.
 3) More than 80 people attend Disaster Child Care trainings.
 4) Large group connects at this year's Brethren Homes Forum.
 5) Spiritual Directors' Network meets in Maryland.
 6) Disaster volunteers requested for Micronesia; responses
continue elsewhere.
 7) Brethren bits: Colleges and more.

PERSONNEL
 8) Roy Winter named Executive Director of Brethren Service Center.
 9) Phil Jones called as Director of Witness and Washington Office.
10) Walt Wiltschek will become Director of Brethren Identity for
General Board.
11) Dave Shetler resigns as Bethany's director of Admissions/
Student Development.
12) Bethany seeks Student Development Officer.

RESOURCES
13) Brethren Press publishes three new essays in "Perspectives"
series.

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

 1) Professors, administrators, pastors, and others met at
Elizabethtown (Pa.) College June 6-8 to consider what higher
education means in the Church of the Brethren context.

The "Toward a Brethren Philosophy of Higher Education" conference
was coordinated by Elizabethtown's Young Center for Anabaptist and
Pietist Studies, with sponsorship from The Rhodes Consultation on
the Future of the Church-Related College, the Lilly Endowment, and
the Brethren Higher Education Association. About 50 people took
part in the event.

A variety of speakers and panels presented viewpoints on varied
aspects of higher education, representing both the college and
church perspectives. Topics included biblical and theological
foundations, the importance of having Brethren personnel at the
denomination's colleges, the church-college relationship, and
models of maintaining Brethren identity on campus.

A panel of students from the Brethren colleges also shared their
thoughts, varying in their opinions on whether most students at the
schools were aware of the Church of the Brethren relationship. At
the same time, most said Brethren values were evident. A separate
panel of pastors pointed out that most congregations give little
financial support to the colleges.

Presenter Dale Ulrich of Bridgewater, Va., noted that while
"Brethren colleges have flourished" with rapid growth since 1960,
"at the same time, even a casual observer would notice that the
colleges' relationship to the church has diminished." He cited the
lack of Brethren faculty on the campuses as a primary reason for
that drifting apart.

Former General Board general secretary and Juniata College
president Bob Neff gave the keynote address at an evening banquet,
looking at "Trajectories" of higher education in the church. He
underscored the importance of student engagement, peace education,
exposure to values, service learning, exchange programs, and a
strong sense of community as key issues.

Neff said the Church of the Brethren tagline--"Continuing the work
of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together"--"embodies the best of
postmodern values." 

Brethren Colleges Abroad offered an open house of its new offices
on the Elizabethtown campus, and Elizabethtown president Ted Long
hosted the group for an evening reception and dinner at his home.
College/university and seminary teams met several times during the
weekend for further brainstorming and looking to the future.

 2) Sixteen interns, matching last year's record high, were present
for this year's Ministry Summer Service orientation in Richmond,
Ind. The annual program, sponsored by the General Board's
Youth/Young Adult and Ministry offices, allows young adults to
consider possible ministry options by placing them in ministry
settings with a mentor for the summer.

The week-long orientation, held May 31 to June 6 on the Earlham
College campus, included sessions led by Bethany Theological
Seminary faculty and General Board staff; a tour of the Bethany
facility; an exploration of personality styles and their effect on
communication at work led by On Earth Peace co-executive Bob Gross;
a service project in the Richmond community; and worship times
planned and led by interns.

Mentors joined the orientation for the final two and a half days,
spending some time as a group to go over questions and
expectations, and other times working in pairs with their
respective interns, setting up position descriptions for the
summer.

The week concluded with a commissioning service that included
blessings given by each mentor to his or her intern. Youth/Young
Adult Ministry director Chris Douglas closed the moving experience
by saying, "My friends, we have been on holy ground."

Interns will be serving for nine weeks, the majority of them in
congregations in five states and Washington, D.C. Others are
serving at camps, on the Youth Peace Travel Team, at the Church of
the Brethren Washington Office, as youth workcamp assistants, and
at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.

 3) Eighty-one people attended the five Level 1 Disaster Child Care
Training workshops held this spring in Florida, Kansas, Nebraska,
Washington, and New Hampshire.

The 27-hour experience includes sleeping on fold-up cots and
sharing simple meals in a simulated American Red Cross shelter,
helping participants get a feel for life at an actual response
project. The group also sets up a child-care center using
therapeutic play activities from a "Kit of Comfort" prepacked
suitcase.

Leaders teach the mission and purpose of Disaster Child Care,
effects of disasters on young children, and the way children's
needs and fears change at those times. Other topics include the
functions and goals of play in the child-care center, learning
appropriate caregiving responses, and how Disaster Child Care
interacts with other disaster response agencies.

Staff were especially pleased by the strong turnout at the
Winchester, N.H., training site May 30-31, with 14 people attending
in an area where few Brethren live. Participants came from Vermont,
Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois. 

One more workshop is scheduled this year, Oct. 25-26 at
Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. The ministry is
sponsored by the General Board's Emergency Response/Service
Ministries office. For details, visit www.disasterchildcare.org or
call 800-451-4407 (option 5).

 4) This year's Fellowship of Brethren Homes Forum drew nearly 50
chief executive officers, senior management staff, board members,
and residents--making it among the largest of the six annual forums
held to date.

The 2003 forum began June 5 with a welcome by Gary Clouser, CEO of
Brethren Village, Lancaster, Pa., which hosted the event. Over the
following two days, forum participants had the opportunity to share
their excitement, problems, and expertise with each other, and to
learn from an assortment of presentations.

Three professionals--attorney James Saxton of Lancaster, Dr. Robyn
Stone of the American Association of Homes and Services for the
Aging, and Jerry Haselmayer from Leadership Pathways--challenged
the group on issues concerning litigation, long-term care
regulations, and leadership development. Friday afternoon brought
an additional influx of 20 CEOs and senior management staff of
other faith-based retirement centers who were invited to attend the
presentations by Stone and Saxton.

Highlighting the forum were tours of three large retirement
communities, including Brethren Village. These tours, a part of
each of the annual forums, gave participants the opportunity to see
innovations, best practices, and new ways to solve old problems.

A Friday evening banquet honored six homes and seven individuals
for their contributions to their own homes and to the Fellowship of
Brethren Homes, a ministry of the Association of Brethren
Caregivers. The Fellowship also gave citations to two executives
who have retired or are retiring: Judith Wallace, former CEO and
president of the Brethren Home Community, New Oxford, Pa., retired
at the end of January; and Richard Bowman, CEO and president of
Fahrney-Keedy Memorial Home, Boonsboro, Md., will retire at the end
of this year.

 5) Members of the recently formed Church of the Brethren Spiritual
Directors' Network met May 27-29 at Shepherd's Spring Outdoor
Ministries Center near Sharpsburg, Md. 

Sixteen men and women gathered for times of worship, personal
retreat, discernment about how the network might make itself
available to serve the denomination, and some sessions for
professional growth on "Spiritual Direction and Dreams" led by
Mennonite Joan Yoder Miller. Other leadership for the weekend
included Helen Beery of North Manchester, Ind.; Ed Poling of
Hagerstown, Md.; and Chris Douglas of Elgin, Ill. Those three also
serve on the Spiritual Directors' Advisory Committee, along with
Glenn Mitchell of Boalsburg, Pa.

Another retreat for those trained in spiritual direction in the
Church of the Brethren is planned for May 2004 at Shepherd's
Spring. The leader for the three-day event will be Tilden Edwards,
who will give leadership on the topic of "Sabbath." For more
information contact Chris Douglas, who serves as liaison to the
group through the General Board Congregational Life Ministries
office, at 800-323-8039 ext. 297 or cdouglas_gb@brethren.org.  

 6) A new, urgent appeal has gone out for disaster relief
volunteers in an unusual place: The Federated States of Micronesia,
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The islands of Chuuk received significant damage from Typhoon
Chata'an last summer, with hundreds of homes destroyed. Mennonite
Disaster Service is coordinating the rebuilding effort but has put
out a call for added assistance. Volunteers are needed through
October.

The project is considered a "hardship assignment" in a developing
nation without indoor plumbing, electricity, and medical services.
Cost to the volunteer for a six-week stint is $700, but Church of
the Brethren Emergency Response/Service Ministries (ER/SM) is
covering half the cost with scholarships for those who need it;
congregations and districts may provide additional aid. Airfare is
covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Anyone interested in serving should contact Roy Winter or Jane
Yount at 800-451-4407.

In the United States, meanwhile, an ER/SM tornado recovery project
continues in Columbus, Miss., and is expected to remain open at
least through August. Gordon and Virginia Driver are serving as
project directors in June. Volunteers have already put new roofs on
four houses, repaired broken rafters and vinyl siding, and rebuilt
a porch.

Don Vollenweider, executive director of a local response
organization in Columbus, said in a report that, "The numbers . .
. cannot begin to tell the whole story of the tremendous amount of
work provided by these wonderful volunteers. . . . Without
exception, all of the teams that have worked in Columbus have
provided a witness to the living Christ as he works the
extraordinary through ordinary people."

Elsewhere, a flood recovery project in Pineville, W.Va., closed on
May 30 after 13 families were assisted by 154 volunteers.

 7) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *Timothy McElwee will become the first full-time faculty member in
Peace Studies at Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind.,
beginning in fall 2003. His appointment is through the Lilly
Foundation's Plowshares grant that was received by Manchester,
Goshen College, and Earlham College. McElwee is a graduate of
Purdue University and Bethany Theological Seminary and former
director of the Church of the Brethren Washington Office. 

 *More than 800 children from 83 congregations in 20 districts have
sent in pictures for the "Wall of Prayer" display at next month's
Annual Conference. About 20 percent of the artwork came from
Southern Pennsylvania District, led by 39 pieces from the
Waynesboro congregation. The artwork will be displayed near the
registration area at Conference and grouped by districts. Children
at Conference will be able to add prayers to the wall on pieces of
paper included in the children's worship packet for the Saturday
evening service. Jim and Lula Belle Wood of Virginia have
coordinated the gathering and labeling of the submissions.

 8) Roy Winter has been called as Executive Director of the
Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., effective July 9. This
is a one-quarter time appointment that will be combined with his
current work as the General Board's Director of Emergency Response.

Winter began his service with the General Board in June 2001 as
coordinator of the Disaster Child Care program, taking on the
broader Emergency Response administrative responsibilities last
year. His new role, providing oversight and coordination to all the
ministries of the center, will also include serving on the General
Board's Leadership Team.

A former school psychologist, Winter holds a graduate degree in
educational psychology from the University of Kansas and a bachelor
of science in psychology from McPherson (Kan.) College. He and his
family attend Westminster (Md.) Church of the Brethren.

 9) Phillip Jones of Chapel Hill, N.C., has been called to fill the
General Board's Director of Witness and Washington Office position
effective July 21.

Jones most recently served as pastor of the Peace Covenant Church
of the Brethren fellowship in Durham, N.C., and as a human services
case worker. He previously served as a pastor in Florida, as a
youth minister and prison chaplain, and as a dairy owner and
manager. He also has been involved in extensive grassroots efforts
in peace and justice issues, including work against the death
penalty and organizing opposition to the recent war in Iraq.

He is a graduate of the North Carolina State University
Agricultural Institute and Bethany Theological Seminary, and has
served on the On Earth Peace board since 2002. He plans to move to
the Washington, D.C., area this summer.

 10) Walt Wiltschek has been called to the newly created General
Board position of Director of Brethren Identity beginning in
August. Wiltschek began as interim Newsline and Messenger news
editor in August 1999 and became full-time director of News
Services in January 2000. 

He has previously served as an associate pastor and youth minister,
and as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of
York College of Pennsylvania, Eastern Mennonite University, and
Lancaster Theological Seminary. 

Wiltschek is a member of York Center Church of the Brethren,
Lombard, Ill., and will continue to work out of the General Offices
in Elgin. The new position combines responsibilities in
communications and media, denominational relations and connections,
and assisting development of the unique Church of the Brethren
voice and perspective. 

 11) Dave Shetler has resigned as director of Admissions and
Student Development for Bethany Theological Seminary effective June
30. Shetler began his service with Bethany in October 1996 as an
Advancement Associate for Admissions and Alumni/ae.

During his tenure, Shetler implemented several recruitment
initiatives, including a database of prospective students and
discernment programs for high school, college-age, and
second-career individuals. He also developed grant proposals and
has served as a member of the seminary's Pastoral Care Team. His
future plans are undetermined.

 12) Bethany Theological Seminary is seeking applicants for the
full-time position of Student Development Officer, completing an
admissions and student development team that Bethany hopes to have
in place by Aug. 1. The team's work will include student nurture
and retention, planning vocational discernment events, conducting
interviews and evaluating applicants, representing the seminary at
off-campus events, and developing a recruitment plan.

Applicants should hold a bachelor's degree, with additional
theological training and three to five years professional
experience in a human services field preferred. Experience in
communications technology is a plus.

Those interested in the Student Development Officer position
should, as soon as possible, submit a letter of application and
resume' with names of three references to: Brenda Reish, Executive
Director of Student and Business Services, at
reishbr@bethanyseminary.edu or Bethany Theological Seminary, 615
National Road West, Richmond, IN 47374.

 13) Three new essays in the "Perspectives" series are available
from Brethren Press. The booklets, ranging from 32 to 48 pages
each, provide insights from a variety of Brethren on faith issues
facing Christians today.

The three new titles are "Fundamentalism," by Graydon Snyder,
looking at "why Brethren theology and fundamentalism don't mix";
"To Judge or Not to Judge," by Timothy Harvey, exploring the
"practice of biblical admonishment" and discipline; and "Saving the
Church," by Jonathan Hunter, examining the challenges of declining
membership and the church's overall shrinking influence on society.

The "Perspectives" essays, which also include questions for
individual or group study, are $2.50 each. They can be ordered by
calling Brethren Press at 800-441-3712. Seven previously published
titles--on topics including "Globalization," "Evangelism and
Service," and "Understanding Islam"--also remain available for
purchase.

Newsline is produced by Walt Wiltschek, director 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. Ralph McFadden, Mary Dulabaum, and Howard Royer
contributed to this report.

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