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Date: Feb. 20, 2004
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
1) The General Board reports a surprise financial upturn in 2003.
2) Disaster grants aid refugee ministry in Illinois and projects in
Bosnia and American Samoa.
3) Global Food Crisis Fund allocates $24,000 for Rural Service
Center in India.
4) MMPC discusses emerging mission issues and coordination of Haiti
involvements.
5) Council of District Executives meets with agency
representatives, plans upcoming events.
6) Manchester, Goshen, and Earlham colleges announce leadership,
site for Peace House.
7) Brethren bits: General Board positions, National Young Adult
Conference, and more.

PERSONNEL
8) Duane Grady is made coordinator for Congregational Life Team
Areas 2 and 4.

COMING EVENTS
9) "Mission Alive 2005!" denominational missions conference is
planned for April 2005.

RESOURCES
10) Brethren Press Lenten devotional booklet is sold out.

FEATURES
11) Mount Morris church shelters children evacuated from elementary
school fire.

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

1) The General Board reports a surprise financial upturn in 2003.

The Church of the Brethren General Board's financial situation
returned to stability in 2003 after unusually large losses the
previous year, and after three years of investment losses. The
welcome news was reported by Judy Keyser, the agency's chief
financial officer and treasurer, in a year-end summary.

Programs supported by the General Ministries Fund, the General
Board's main operating fund, went through major struggles in 2003.
Special fund-raising efforts were added, budgets were underspent by
$163,420, and staff reductions and realignments occurred for 2003
and 2004. These steps, careful planning, and a major stock market
correction propelled net income to $77,850 in 2003.

This surprise upturn stabilized the board's finances and gave it an
opportunity to rebuild and strengthen the foundation of its
ministries. The board had the income to cover its revised General
Ministries budget, so that $81,000 approved for direction from
other priorities did not need to be used. This was welcome news
since 2003 marked the first time ongoing ministries were "patched"
with one-time monies.

The General Ministries Fund is undergirded largely by gifts from
congregations and individuals. Support of $3,218,110 was received
from congregations in 2003, 1.2 percent lower than in 2002, and
$648,610 was received from individuals, 9.2 percent lower than in
2002. In addition to these gifts, special partnerships provided
$395,210 for increased ministries.

Two of the four self-funding ministries of the General Board ended
the year with net income, while two sustained losses despite
underspending expenses and seeking extra income. Service Ministries
finished the year with $80 of income over expense, and Messenger
magazine with $10,940. The New Windsor (Md.) Conference Center and
Brethren Press showed deficits of $82,940 and $49,090 respectively.

Three special-purpose funds support ministries through donor gifts.
Donations to the Emergency Disaster Fund made possible $1,074,590
for Emergency Response. Gifts to the Global Food Crisis Fund and
the Emerging Global Missions Fund provided $463,310 and $57,440,
respectively.

While General Board finances have been stretched and patched for
2003 and 2004, the agency remains a solid financial entity with no
external debt, Keyser said. The General Ministries Fund budget for
2004 includes a one-time amount of $276,000 to stabilize staffing,
build new momentum, and develop long-term solutions to the
financial situation. Living within the means of the board's income
by 2005 remains a priority, Keyser said.

2) Disaster grants aid refugee ministry in Illinois and projects in
Bosnia and American Samoa.

Allocations from the Church of the Brethren General Board's
Emergency Disaster Fund have been approved to support immigration
and refugee services in Illinois, continued rebuilding following
the war in Bosnia, and recovery from storm damage in the US
Territory island of American Samoa.

A grant of $9,000 will go to Interfaith Refugee and Immigration
Ministries of Illinois, serving the needs of refugees, asylum
seekers, and immigrants in the Chicago area. The funds will be used
for a Women's Empowerment Program that includes mentorship, English
language training, and a sewing cooperative among its services.

An allocation of $8,000 responds to a Church World Service (CWS)
appeal for aid to Bosnia. Years after the war there, many people
are still displaced from their homes and living in poverty. The
funds will help build shelters for 55 families and assist with
developing sustainable incomes.

In American Samoa, one of the Polynesian islands hit by Cyclone
Heta in early January, a grant of $5,000 will help long-term
recovery. The slow-moving storm destroyed 600 homes with 1,000
others suffering major damage. Food crops were leveled and the
island's infrastructure was damaged including electricity and water
resources, telecommunications, hospitals, and schools.

3) Global Food Crisis Fund allocates $24,000 for Rural Service
Center in India.

A grant of $24,000 from the Church of the Brethren General Board's
Global Food Crisis Fund has been approved to support the Rural
Service Center in Ankleshwar, India. 

The center helps provide sustainable agriculture to rural
communities through soil conservation development, tree
plantations, land leveling, and biogas production. It grew out of
a ministry by Church of the Brethren mission workers and continues
to serve communities that include both members of the Church of
North India and the India Brethren.

4) MMPC discusses emerging mission issues and coordination of Haiti
involvements.

The Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministries Planning Council
(MMPC) met Feb. 7 in Daytona Beach, Fla. MMPC received no specific
proposals for new mission, but instead brought its church-wide
perspective to a discussion of emerging mission issues and
dynamics. Recent developments of congregational and district
outreach to Haiti, a review of mission assignments in
denominational polity, and plans for a national mission conference
were discussed.

A follow-up meeting on Haiti mission is planned for Apr. 19, for a
few invited participants, in an effort to coordinate Haiti
involvements across the denomination and to discern the way
forward. In order to gain a more complete picture of existing
Church of the Brethren involvements with Haiti, MMPC asks
individuals, congregations, and districts that have been involved
in a Haiti outreach to send information on their mission efforts.
Please send information to Mary Munson, program assistant in the
General Board's Global Mission Partnerships office, at
800-323-8039, e-mail mission_gb@brethren.org.

MMPC, which includes Annual Conference moderators, district staff,
and General Board staff, reviews proposals for new Brethren
mission, advises the board about denominational involvement in new
mission areas, and facilitates conversation about mission with and
among Church of the Brethren membership. General secretary Stan
Noffsinger chairs MMPC.

5) Council of District Executives meets with agency
representatives, plans upcoming events.

The Council of District Executives held its winter meeting Feb. 1-4
in Daytona Beach, Fla., planning for upcoming events and meeting
with denominational agency representatives.

Task teams were formed to develop three insight sessions to be led
by the council at Annual Conference: "Placement Issues for
Pastors," "Placement Issues for Congregations," and "Calling Out
Ministers from Within Our Midst." The council heard reports from
its committees and representatives, including a report on an
ecclesiology consultation being planned in collaboration with
denominational agencies.

The council also entered into dialogue with representatives from
Church of the Brethren agencies. Kathy Reid, executive director,
and Ralph McFadden, shared services coordinator, attended from the
Association of Brethren Caregivers; Jeff Garber, director of
insurance plans, represented Brethren Benefit Trust; and Steve
Reid, academic dean, came from Bethany Theological Seminary.

The group's summer meeting will be July 1-3 in Charleston, W.Va.,
prior to Annual Conference.

6) Manchester, Goshen, and Earlham colleges announce leadership,
site for Peace House.

The presidents of Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind., and
two other Indiana colleges have selected the management team for a
new Plowshares Peace House--including a role for Indiana's former
first lady, Judy O'Bannon. Manchester is a Church of the
Brethren-related institution.

O'Bannon, widow of Governor Frank O'Bannon, will serve as part-time
director of external affairs for the residential peace studies
program, which will be based in Indianapolis. "We welcome Judy
O'Bannon to the Plowshares program," said Manchester president
Parker G. Marden. "Her career as a public servant in support of
concerns in Indiana for community, peace, and social justice is
legendary and bipartisan. Our students will greatly benefit from
her talents and experience."

The Peace House is a major focus of Plowshares, a collaborative
program with Earlham College, a school related to the Friends, and
Goshen College, a Mennonite-related institution. Plowshares
promotes peace and justice studies and related programs across the
country, with emphasis on Indiana. It is funded by a $13.8 million
Lilly Endowment grant.

Undergraduates from the three sponsoring institutions and other
schools will be housed at Peace House. Erwin Boschmann, vice
chancellor and professor of chemistry at Indiana University-East
campus in Richmond, is executive director; Ruth Hill, former
assistant in conflict resolution at The Carter Center in Atlanta,
Ga., is associate director.

7) Brethren bits: General Board positions, National Young Adult
Conference, and more.
*Jeanne Davies, program assistant for Congregational Life
Ministries, has announced her resignation effective Mar. 3. She has
worked for the General Board since May 2003. Davies, who attends
Bethany Theological Seminary in the "Connections" program, has
accepted a position as associate pastor with Highland Avenue Church
of the Brethren, Elgin, Ill.

*Lyall and Vivian Sherred returned to Nigeria Feb. 1 as program
volunteers through the Global Mission Partnerships Office of the
General Board. They will teach at the Kulp Bible College of
Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (Church of the Brethren in Nigeria)
for six months. For the last several years the Sherreds have made
repeated visits to Nigeria and have served previously at the
college as well as at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria.

*Registration for the denomination's first large-scale National
Young Adult Conference (NYAC), scheduled for June 14-18 in Winter
Park, Colo., stood at 160 as of early February. The site can
accommodate 500. About 70 percent of those who have registered to
date have never before attended a denominational young adult
conference, according to Becky Ullom, NYAC coordinator.
Registration remains open through April 15 at www.nyac2004.org.

*Annual Conference moderator Chris Bowman, India consultant Bob
Gross, and General Board Global Mission Partnerships executive
director Merv Keeney will travel to India to meet with church
partners Feb. 25 to March 5. The delegation will meet with India
Brethren leadership about next steps to rebuild relationships after
30 years of separation. The group will also meet with the Church of
North India. This visit implements the 2003 Annual Conference
action directing relationship with both churches. 

*More than 130 people attended a symposium entitled "Lost in
Florida: Rekindling Your First Love for Jesus Christ," at St.
Petersburg First Church of the Brethren Jan. 31. Featured speakers
were James Myer of White Oak Church of the Brethren, Manheim, Pa.,
and Paul Mundey, pastor of Frederick (Md.) Church of the Brethren.
Other presenters were Don White on personal evangelism, Carol
Yeazell on prayer and spiritual growth, Merle Crouse on missions,
and Nancy Knepper Cruz on the "Percept" program. St. Petersburg
pastor Terry Hatfield coordinated the event.

8) Duane Grady is made coordinator for Congregational Life Team
Areas 2 and 4.

Duane Grady has moved from a part-time to a full-time position with
the General Board, effective Feb. 1, as he assumes additional
responsibilities as coordinator of Congregational Life Team (CLT)
Areas 2 and 4.

His area of ministry covers the Midwestern districts of Area 2
(Illinois/Wisconsin, Northern Indiana, South/Central Indiana,
Michigan, Northern Ohio, and Southern Ohio) and the central and
Plains districts of Area 4 (Missouri/Arkansas, Northern Plains,
Southern Plains, and Western Plains). He will be one of four CLT
coordinators working with five other CLT field staff across the
country.

Grady has been a part-time CLT member since January 1998, while
serving as co-pastor of Northview Church of the Brethren in
Indianapolis and Anderson (Ind.) Church of the Brethren. He will
continue to be a volunteer member of the pastoral staff at the
Anderson church. He can be contacted at his office in Anderson,
765-649-4384, e-mail dgrady_gb@brethren.org.

9) "Mission Alive 2005!" denominational missions conference is
planned for April 2005.

 A Church of the Brethren missions conference, "Mission Alive
2005!" is being planned for April 1-3, 2005, in Goshen, Ind.

The meeting is designed to be "a national Church of the Brethren
missions conference to energize and equip ourselves to faithfully
share Christ's love with the world," according to the Mission and
Ministries Planning Council (MMPC), which initiated the event along
with the General Board. One of MMPC's roles is to encourage
discussion about mission among the Church of the Brethren
membership.

A steering committee of Brethren with experience or interest in
mission has been named to shape the event: Carolyn Schrock,
Mountain Grove, Mo.; Larry Dentler, East Berlin, Pa.; Carol Spicher
Waggy, Goshen, Ind.; James F. Myer, Lititz, Pa.; and Merv Keeney,
the General Board's executive director of Global Mission
Partnerships.

10) Brethren Press Lenten devotional booklet is sold out.

The Lenten devotional booklet "Journey to Jerusalem," by Kenneth L.
Gibble has proven so popular that all copies have been sold. The
booklet, which contains humor, thought-provoking questions, and
personal insights from Gibble, "just flew off the shelf," according
to Jewel McNary, director of Marketing and Sales for Brethren Press

The devotional booklet is the third produced by Brethren Press for
the seasons of Advent and Lent. It includes daily scriptures,
meditations, and prayers for Ash Wednesday through Easter. The next
one will be available for Advent 2004. Robin Wentworth Mayer,
author and former columnist for Messenger, will write those
devotionals.

Brethren Press staff have been "extremely pleased" with the sales
of the devotional booklets, although they say they are disappointed
that some requests for this one will go unfilled. Production of
"Journey to Jerusalem" was based on pre-publication orders. Steps
are being taken to provide congregations and individuals with the
opportunity to establish a standing order that will ensure their
receipt of future devotionals as they become available.

11) Mount Morris church shelters children evacuated from elementary
school fire.

In 2001, when the principal of the David L. Rahn Elementary School
walked across the street to assess Mt. Morris (Ill.) Church of the
Brethren as a site for evacuations, the church promptly gave the
okay. As church leadership changed over the years, the arrangement
with the school was largely forgotten.

"Then there was the fire," pastor Lisa Hufford said. On Feb. 12, a
swiftly moving fire destroyed the school. More than 300 children
were evacuated to the church. "They say it was a miracle they got
every child out," said Hufford. "Not even one child was injured."

At least 40 fire companies responded, and the church became the
warming place and food center for close to 200 firefighters. Soon
the church was hosting school meetings and became a distribution
center. The quick evacuation meant the loss of everything in the
building. "Children were walking over the snow to the church
without their coats. Some of them didn't even have shoes on,"
Hufford said. After the news media relayed the need, truckloads of
food and cold-weather clothing began arriving. "Before we knew it,
we had more coats than children," Hufford said. The outpouring of
aid "was amazing."

In true Brethren style the church also was very generous with
facilities and food, Hufford reported. A chili supper had been
planned for the next evening, and church members quickly cooked it
up for the unexpected guests instead. Then they went ahead and held
the supper as a fundraiser for those affected by the fire.

The church had viewed the school as its mission field, hosting
after-school events such as Scout meetings. Now the church, as well
as the community, is trying to figure out what long-term effects
the loss of the school will bring. A decision about the building of
a new school is pending, as the children attend in the neighboring
town of Oregon.

Hufford took a moment after the fire to view the destruction from
the back of the school, which borders a cemetery. "In that spot you
think about what could have happened. It didn't happen. Sunday
actually became a day of celebrating. We felt God's blessing."

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, Mary Dulabaum, and Jeri S. Kornegay
contributed to this report.

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