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

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Date: Jan. 16, 2004
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) Brethren Service Center ships relief to Iran.
 2) New disaster rebuilding project to start in Poquoson, Va.
 3) Chapter ends in Church of the Brethren's painful debate over
homosexuality.
 4) BBT and Brethren Employees' Credit Union move toward new
relationship.
 5) Decade to Overcome Violence focuses on the US in 2004.
 6) Brethren bits: Annual Conference, college news, and more.

PERSONNEL
 7) Theresa Eshbach to retire as Bethany's executive director of
Institutional Advancement.
 8) Daniel C. Aukerman appointed vice president of Interchurch
Medical Assistance.

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

 1) Brethren Service Center ships relief to Iran.

Emergency Response/Service Ministries (ER/SM) staff at the Brethren
Service Center in New Windsor, Md., packed and shipped a
container-load of medicines, medical supplies, and health kits to
survivors of an earthquake in Bam, Iran. The emergency shipment was
airlifted to Iran to arrive Friday, Jan. 9.

"Our partners, Interchurch Medical Assistance and Church World
Service, have been working with the Service Ministries staff as
they prepared this urgent shipment of IMA medical boxes and CWS
health kits for the people of Iran," said Roy Winter, executive
director of the Brethren Service Center. Winter also serves on
IMA's board of directors.

"Whenever there is great tragedy, I always have a moment of
profound sadness. While this lingers, I also find myself
experiencing a sense of awe at the willingness of people to respond
so very quickly to human need," Winter said. "When we work
together, it is amazing what is accomplished. These supplies, along
with a $35,000 grant from the Church of the Brethren Emergency
Disaster Fund, are great examples of the church continuing the work
of Jesus in the world."

Bam was leveled Dec. 26 by a 6.6-magnitude earthquake. Unofficial
estimates of the death toll are as high as 60,000. In the
surrounding area, 200,000 people were affected. CWS anticipates the
relief effort in Bam will be at least a five- to seven-year
commitment.

Brethren staff gave the shipment a quick turnaround, anticipating
the need for extra work over the holidays as they saw reports of
the earthquake on the news. Service Ministries staff "are highly
motivated," said Kathleen Campanella, coordinator of public
information for the center. "They really connect with the work they
do making a difference in the world."

"This was an unusual situation; this moved quickly," Campanella
said. She explained that often weeks or months go by after a
disaster before supplies are shipped. The Brethren staff at the
center can be thought of as doing "invisible work," she said. Three
employees are responsible for receiving calls for supplies and
doing the paperwork, another three coordinate and pack the
supplies, and two more load the container. "I saw a sense of
satisfaction" after the container left the center, Campanella said.
The Brethren "had sent it on its way."

The shipment included 75 IMA Medicine Boxes, 25 IMA/Bristol-Myers
Squibb Disaster Medicine Boxes, and 160 CWS Health Kits. Health
kits include hygiene supplies needed by an individual in a disaster
situation. The medicine box contains basic medicines and medical
supplies designed to treat common illnesses for 1,000 adults and
children for 2 to 3 months. The disaster box contains primarily
antibiotics for treating infections and other ailments associated
with impure water and unsanitary conditions. The 100 IMA boxes are
valued at $550,000. 

Nearly all of the medicine and supplies were donated to IMA and
CWS. IMA corporate sponsors are Bristol-Myers Squibb,
GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck & Co., Inc. IMA also
has 12 Protestant relief and development agency partners, including
the Church of the Brethren. CWS' relief effort in Iran is supported
by the American Baptist Churches USA, the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), Episcopal Relief and Development,
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, International Orthodox Christian
Charities, Reformed Church of America, and the United Church of
Christ, as well as the Church of the Brethren. The Middle East
Council of Churches is coordinating the work. 

 2) New disaster rebuilding project to start in Poquoson, Virginia.

The Church of the Brethren Emergency Response program will begin a
project in Poquoson, Va., in early February. Poquoson was one of
the coastal communities struck by Hurricane Isabel in September.
The hurricane caused extensive damage in Virginia, Maryland, North
Carolina, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.

Emergency Response/Service Ministries (ER/SM) volunteer project
directors will include Harold Hubbell, of Greeneville, Tenn., who
will be on site in early February to set up the project; Bob
Schnepp, of Beaverton, Mich., who will be the initial project
director; and Bob and Marianne Pittman, of Blacksburg, Va., who
will direct the project in March. The work will include typical
flood repair such as floors, insulation and drywall replacement,
carpentry, and some roof repair due to fallen trees. Volunteers
will be housed in the fellowship hall of the Lifesource Community
Church in Hampton, Va.

Groups scheduled to help with the project in February and March
include district volunteers from six districts and students on
spring break from Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa., and Virginia
Tech. 

Two other disaster recovery projects have been completed recently.
A tornado recovery project in Massac County, Ill., was completed
Dec. 13, with a total of 106 volunteers serving four families over
a span of three months repairing storm-damaged homes. Northern Ohio
District also completed a short-term flood response project in
which 23 volunteers completed home repairs for five families.

 3) Chapter ends in the Church of the Brethren's painful debate
over homosexuality.

One chapter in the denomination's painful debate over the
homosexuality issue ended recently when Matt Smucker, who made
history as the first openly gay man to be ordained in the Church of
the Brethren, said he would pursue ordination in the United Church
of Christ (UCC). Smucker said he was too "physically drained" by
the fight to continue it.

Smucker was ordained by the Skyridge congregation in Kalamazoo,
Mich., in June 2002 after an affirmative vote by the Michigan
District board. A 2002 Annual Conference decision upheld in 2003,
however, said the denomination would "not recognize" the licensing
or ordination of any person "known to be engaging in homosexual
practices."

Michigan District conference in August approved a petition
affirming the Annual Conference decisions and called for the
ordination and licensing of any known homosexuals in the district
to be discontinued. Smucker's ordination in the Church of the
Brethren was terminated following the decision.

"I don't feel the call to stand in the middle any more," said
Smucker, who works at a UCC seminary in Chicago and received dual
standing in the UCC last year. "In this case, it's too personal.
It's affected lots of parts of my life in ways I don't want to
repeat."

The Skyridge congregation held a "service of lament and blessing"
in November to say their farewells as Smucker moved his membership.
"We're just deeply saddened and regret that Matt's gifts can't be
released for ministry in the Church of the Brethren," Skyridge
pastor Debbie Eisenbise said.

District leaders say the issue has left deep scars in Michigan,
which will take a long time to heal. Current Annual Conference
moderator Chris Bowman and moderator-elect Jim Hardenbrook were
traveling in the district this month on behalf of the Annual
Conference Council. An open sharing session also has been scheduled
for the 2004 Annual Conference in Charleston, W.Va.

 4) Brethren Benefit Trust and Brethren Employees' Credit Union
take another step toward new relationship.

The new relationship between Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) and the
Brethren Employees' Credit Union (BECU) is scheduled to take
another step forward on Feb. 23, when BECU holds its Annual Members
Meeting in Elgin, Ill. 

Pending positive results at that meeting, BECU's name will become
Church of the Brethren Credit Union, and any member of the Church
of the Brethren in the United States will be eligible to be a
member, along with employees of the church and its institutions.
The board has received tentative approval from state and federal
regulators to make those changes. BBT agreed this past fall to
become third-party administrator (TPA) for the credit union
beginning this spring, and it has authorized an investment of
$250,000 of capital in the credit union.

5) Decade to Overcome Violence focuses on the United States in
2004.

"The Power and Promise of Peace" is the 2004 theme for the Decade
to Overcome Violence (DOV) focus on the United States. DOV is a
program of the World Council of Churches (WCC). 

A worship service on Monday, Jan. 12 in New York opened a two-day
DOV meeting by lifting up the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. The
meeting gathered denominational representatives, a DOV reference
group, and an international advisory group to draw up a calendar of
events dedicated to strengthening American churches and movements
working for peace.

The WCC Central Committee chose to focus on the U.S. in 2004 on the
basis of courageous opposition of American churches to the war in
Iraq, and their efforts to alleviate suffering at home and abroad.
The committee also highlighted work by U.S. churches on domestic
violence, gun control, and restorative justice. At the same time,
the committee evoked American problems of poverty, violence,
racism, interfaith relations, migration, and inequality in
education and employment, as well as what it saw as the
unchallenged power of the U.S. to disregard the international order
and ignore the concerns of the world's populations.

This is the third year in a row that DOV has targeted a particular
region. In 2003 the focus was on Sudan, while in 2002 it was on
Israel and Palestine.

6) Brethren bits: Brief news and updates from around the
denomination and beyond.

*Annual Conference executive director Lerry Fogle will relocate to
Frederick, Md., with the approval of the Annual Conference Council.
Fogle, who previously served on the pastoral staff at the Frederick
congregation, plans to "creatively use current technology" to
perform his duties while maintaining his primary residence with his
family. The change comes after a trial period of 15 months in which
Fogle's primary residence was in Elgin, Ill. The Annual Conference
office, address, and operation will remain at 1451 Dundee Ave.,
Elgin, IL 60120.

*James L. Keeler of Timberville, Va., retired president and CEO of
WLR Foods Inc., has been elected by the Bridgewater (Va.) College
board of trustees as its new chair. Keeler succeeds W. Wallace
Hatcher, who recently ended 18 years of service as chairman of the
board. Keeler is a 1957 Bridgewater graduate. Among those newly
elected to serve five-year terms on the board, Brenda Rinehart of
Rutherfordton, N.C., was called to represent the Southeastern
District of the Church of the Brethren.

*The Church of the Brethren General Board's Disaster Child Care
program will benefit from a new grant received by the American Red
Cross. A total of $16,000 was allotted for the child-care efforts.
It will cover toys and supplies for teams working with children in
the field, and training for caregivers. General Board Emergency
Response director Roy Winter said his office and the Red Cross
would work cooperatively to plan how the money would be used.

*Feb. 1 marks the annual Souper Bowl of Caring, when youth groups
raise money to relieve world hunger and participate in community
service activities. Church of the Brethren groups can send their
proceeds to the General Board's Global Food Crisis Fund. Details on
the program are at www.souperbowl.org. 

*Several dedicated Emergency Response/Service Ministries volunteers
have transformed an empty donated trailer into a mobile shower and
laundry facility for use at project sites. The trailer is complete
with two showers, a stackable washer and dryer, and a sink.
Following a naming contest by e-mail, a name was chosen for the
unit: "Rolling Waters."

*The biennial District Disaster Coordinators seminar will be held
at the New Windsor (Md.) Conference Center April 20-22, 2004.
Registrations are due Feb. 29. Ideas for session topics or issues
of concern are welcomed. Contact Jane Yount at Emergency
Response/Service Ministries, Brethren Service Center, PO Box 188,
New Windsor, MD 21776-0188; 410-635-8710.

*Christians around the world will mark Jan. 18-25 as the annual
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The World Council of Churches
and the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
coordinate the annual unity week. The 2004 theme, "My peace I give
to you," was suggested by an ecumenical group in Aleppo, in
northern Syria. Local churches are asked to host prayer services
and dialogues during the week.

*The Annual Conference Denominational Name Study Committee notes
that it is still receiving response forms online through the first
week of February. Earlier technical issues with the committee's web
page have been resolved, and the form can be accessed on the Annual
Conference website, at www.brethren.org/ac.

 7) Theresa Eshbach to retire as Bethany's executive director of
Institutional Advancement.

Theresa C. Eshbach has announced her retirement as executive
director of Institutional Advancement at Bethany Theological
Seminary in Richmond, Ind., effective July 2004. She has been
directing the school's work in institutional advancement since
January 1993.

During her 11 years at Bethany, Eshbach also was part of the
leadership team that orchestrated the school's relocation from
Illinois and aided its financial recovery from several years of
difficult budgets. She oversaw an office that is responsible for
financial development, deferred and major giving, alumni/ae and
congregational relations, and, for a significant period of time,
student recruitment and development.

During her service, she strengthened her work through an education
program that led, in 1999, to certification as a Fund Raising
Executive.

 8) Daniel C. Aukerman appointed vice president of Interchurch
Medical Assistance.

Daniel C. Aukerman has been appointed to the staff of Interchurch
Medical Assistance (IMA) as vice president for International
Program Development and Coordination, effective July 19, 2004. He
currently is completing a Master of Public Health degree at the
University of Washington.

Aukerman is a physician and has roots in the Church of the Brethren
in Carroll County, Md., where the IMA offices are located. He was
baptized at Germantown Church of the Brethren in Philadelphia and
currently is a member of the Catholic Church.

He has degrees from St. John's College and the University of New
Mexico, with additional studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
He has served a number of short-term international assignments
including work in Kenya, El Salvador, Mexico, and Ecuador.

Newsline is written and compiled by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford and
produced by the General Board news services office. Newsline
stories may be reprinted provided that Newsline is cited as the
source. Walt Wiltschek, Kathleen Campanella, Mary Dulabaum, Karen
Roberts, Marcia Shetler, and Jane Yount contributed to this report.

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