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Date: August 6, 2004
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline       Aug. 6, 2004

"You show me the path of life." Psalm 16:11

NEWS
1) Dominican Vacation Bible School celebrates `God in my life.'
2) Brethren Witness/Washington Office director arrested at Sudan
embassy.
3) CoBACE funds make Christian education events possible.
4) Western Plains District called to discipleship.
5) Vespers at Pleasant Hill focus on turning walls into bridges.
6) Brethren bits.

PERSONNEL
7) Joan Lowry called to leadership in Southern Plains.
8) Kathy Royer will serve as seminary's director of Admissions.

UPCOMING EVENTS
9) Faith Expeditions will tour the South, Guatemala, Nigeria, Iraq.
10) ABC encourages National Children's Sabbath observance.

FEATURE
11) Peacemaker shares Iraqi Christians' pain and fear.

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

1) Dominican Vacation Bible School celebrates `God in my life.'

During the week of June 21-25, 19 of the Church of the Brethren
congregations in the Dominican Republic held their second annual
Summer Vacation Bible School. The theme was "Dios en mi vida" (God
in my life). The Los Toros church had the largest attendance with
a daily average of 412 children. Over 2,700 children participated
in all.

The Los Toros congregation received permission to use the public
school in town at no cost. The Peniel church organized a march to
announce the event and invite neighborhood children to come. The
congregation later "dazzled" the children with clowns who helped
teach the Bible lessons, said Irvin Heishman, General Board's
mission coordinator, in his report on the event. The church in
Tabara Abajo worked with neighboring churches to pool resources for
a large ecumenical Vacation Bible School in that community. One
church reported 15 youth expressing a desire to accept Christ and
be part of the church, and membership classes will be provided as
a follow up.

"None of these churches have classrooms or tables and chairs for
crafts, or kitchens for preparing snacks," Heishman said. "Yet,
limitations can help provide focus on what is really important. The
planning committee noted that some things like snacks for the kids
are optional and not really necessary for a good Vacation Bible
School. Bible lessons and ways to share God's love, on the other
hand, are essential."

Heishman said that for many of the children, Vacation Bible School
was the only activity organized for them in their community.
"Children from the community around the San Luis church returned on
the Monday following the week of Vacation Bible School, hoping the
activities would continue all summer! The church sends a strong
message of God's love to the children by caring enough to provide
this exciting experience for them."

Brethren from the United States assisted with games and crafts in
eight of the congregations--41 participants of a denominational
youth workcamp, a Brethren Revival Fellowship youth workcamp, and
a work group from Mount Zion Road Church of the Brethren in
Lebanon, Pa.

2) Brethren Witness/Washington Office director arrested at Sudan
embassy.

Phil Jones, director of the General Board's Brethren
Witness/Washington Office, was arrested at the Sudan embassy on
July 30, one of several religious and political leaders to commit
civil disobedience in a campaign of daily arrests coordinated by
Christian Solidarity International to protest the genocide taking
place in Darfur, in western Sudan.

Jones was arrested with American Baptist minister Rob Turner while
attempting to deliver a letter asking Sudan to "take the bold and
necessary steps to curb this violence and bring reform." When
denied entry, he and Turner knelt in prayer in front of the doors.
They were arrested for "disorderly conduct" and blocking the
entrance to a public building, and were held for a few hours and
fined $50. Others arrested in the continuing nonviolent protest
have included National Council of Churches general secretary Robert
Edgar, Congressman Charles Rangel of New York, Ben and Jerry's Ice
Cream founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, and actor Danny
Glover.

An estimated 30,000 to 148,000 people have been killed and more
than 1,000,000 have fled the violence in Darfur, which is being
carried out by Arabic tribes and militias armed by the Sudan
government and pits Arabic nomads against black African farmers and
villagers. UN envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk said Aug. 4 that Sudan had
stopped militia attacks in Darfur, but Church World Service
reported Aug. 3 that violence was continuing or even increasing.
Hunger and disease contribute to a CWS estimate of 500 deaths daily
of refugees in camps in Sudan and Chad.

In related news, in mid-September the Brethren Witness/Washington
Office will host Haruun Ruun and Emmanuel LoWilla, leaders of the
New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC), in a US visit to draw support
for RECONCILE, a program for civil leadership development in
southern Sudan. The NSCC leaders will explore funding and
partnership development with the Brethren, US AID, the State
Department, and others.

3) CoBACE funds make Christian education events possible.

Funds from the former Church of the Brethren Association for
Christian Education (CoBACE) made it possible for Brethren Press
and the General Board's Congregational Life Teams to offer training
events on Christian education at Annual Conference this year.
CoBACE bequeathed a total of $1,678 to promote Christian education
in the denomination when it disbanded in 2001. Over its 21-year
career, CoBACE published a newsletter, hosted Annual Conference
luncheons and insight sessions on a variety of topics, and provided
continuing education activities for professional and volunteer
church educators.

Conferencegoers could earn continuing education credit, through the
Brethren Academy, for attending a "track" of five insight sessions
and a meal event focused on Christian education. CoBACE funds paid
for the leadership of Karen-Marie Yust, Christian education
researcher and associate professor of Christian Education at
Christian Theological Seminary, at two insight sessions and the
Brethren Press breakfast. Yust spoke on becoming a dynamic 21st
century Sunday school teacher, selecting Sunday school curriculum,
and her three-year study of 150 different Sunday school curricula
and how congregations nurture their children's spirituality in
Sunday school, worship, and children's church.

Three additional sessions in the track were funded by
Congregational Life Teams and featured Jacqueline Nowak, Christian
educator and director of The Blessing Center at Memorial United
Presbyterian Church, Xenia, Ohio, on family prayer time, the
spirituality of children, and family faith formation. Fourteen
people received continuing education credit, and between 17 and 65
conferencegoers came to each insight session. Julie Hostetter, CLT
for Area 3, and Jewel McNary and Anna Speicher of Brethren Press
coordinated the events.

The CoBACE bequest also supported insight sessions at last year's
Annual Conference led by Judith Myers-Walls, associate professor of
Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University.

4) Western Plains District called to discipleship.

"Called to Be and to Make Disciples" was the theme for Western
Plains District conference, held at McPherson (Kan.) College and
McPherson Church of the Brethren July 30-Aug. 1. Moderator Irven
Stern led 76 delegates representing 32 congregations in business
sessions that received reports from related organizations, Church
of the Brethren agencies, and the district board; revised the
district's constitution and by laws; and adopted a balanced budget
of $151,995 for 2005. Registered attendance was 255.

Special events included the installation of executive district
ministers Ken and Elsie Holderread. Moderator Stern and Bethany
Theological Seminary dean Stephen Reid preached. A troupe from the
McPherson congregation presenting "Cotton Patch Gospel," directed
by Shane Kirchner.

A Renewal Steering Committee gave an initial report of work that
the committee is doing using the book "Reclaiming the Great
Commission," by Bishop Claude Payne as a basis and guide. Several
testimonies were given of what is already happening in church
renewal in Western Plains. "The mood of the conference was
positive, with a high degree of enthusiasm for the efforts of the
work of the Renewal Steering Committee," reported Ray Glick, the
General Board's counselor for Deferred Gifts, who attended the
conference to lead an Estate Planning Seminar.

The conference also viewed a slide show prepared by Don Vermilyea,
Brethren Volunteer Service worker engaged in a "Walk Across
America." Vermilyea, currently in Northern Plains District, had
visited most congregations in Western Plains on his walk. He
donated a pair of "well worn" shoes to the annual Projects
Unlimited auction that brought in $5,248 for a variety of
charities. A children's playhouse sold for $800, which will go to
disaster relief. The playhouse was built on-site at the conference,
coordinated by disaster response team members Bill Winter and Byron
Frantz.

The next Western Plains District conference will be held Aug. 5-7,
2005, with Parsram Venkatsammy as moderator and LeRoy Weddle as
moderator-elect.

5) Vespers at Pleasant Hill focus on turning walls into bridges.

"Walls into Bridges" was the theme of a June 27 vesper service at
Pleasant Hill (Ohio) Church of the Brethren. Over 40 people
gathered in the early evening to explore the walls that separate
and how to transform walls into bridges.

The area where worshipers sat was divided by a wall of bricks that
prohibited people on one side from seeing those on the other side.
Each brick had a message that could build a wall between people. "I
don't like the way you dress," "I hate anyone who doesn't share my
religion," and "You could lose weight if you'd only try" were some
of the messages.

Pastor Nick Beam challenged worshipers to examine how they feel
when they meet strangers who look different or come from different
faiths or cultures. Joseph Helfrich interspersed thought-provoking
and inspirational songs including "When I'm Gone" and "In These
Times," from his most recent album entitled "While I'm Here."
Sharon Bledsoe told of her parents' trip though the Berlin Wall and
Rick Polhamus shared stories from his Christian Peacemaker Teams
experiences.

Bledsoe then invited worshipers to remove bricks from the wall
while reflecting on how words and actions can build bridges as well
as walls. The bricks were used to build a bridge to unite the
group, reminding all of Jesus' teaching to love God, neighbors, and
even enemies.

6) Brethren bits.

*In an update appropriate for Aug. 6--the 59th anniversary of the
first use of a nuclear weapon--demolition has begun on Building 771
at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons factory in Colorado. Clean up
began in mid-July of what was called "the most dangerous building
in America" in an Associated Press report. Hundreds of Brethren
have taken part in protests as well as prayer and worship services
at Rocky Flats. Church of the Brethren youth attending National
Youth Conferences in Colorado have witnessed outside its gates,
Brethren members have been put on trial for civil disobedience
committed there, and Brethren college students have traveled to
Rocky Flats to protest the building of nuclear bombs. The plant
once handled highly radioactive plutonium used in triggers for
nuclear weapons. Part of Building 771 was closed 30 years ago
because "radiation levels were off the charts," the AP report said.
The plant as a whole was closed in 1989. Decommissioning began in
1994 and may be completed in 2006. The land will be used for a
wildlife refuge.

*The Association of Brethren Caregivers is calling attention to a
unique seminar offered in conjunction with National Older Adult
Conference (NOAC): "Effective Ministry For, By and With Older
Adults" Sept. 6-8 at Lake Junaluska, N.C., for district executives,
pastors, chaplains, and lay leaders. Author and lecturer Tex
Sample, coordinator of the Network for the Study of US Lifestyles,
will provide leadership. The seminar will give a vision for older
adult ministry that includes four key partners: congregations,
retirement communities, districts, and denominational agencies.
Participants will learn "tools" to establish an older adult
ministry. Continuing education credit is available for Brethren
clergy and EFSM/TRIM students. The student fee is $285, cost for
others is $175 excluding accommodation and meal expense.
Registration includes participation in NOAC. Visit
www.brethren.org/abc/ or call 800-323-8039.

*Northern Plains District and Northern Ohio District will hold
conferences this weekend, Aug. 6-8. Northern Plains will meet at
the University of Northern Iowa with Beth Cage as moderator. The
conference will include a blood drive, an auction with proceeds
going to Heifer International, old Brethren style worship, and the
Mennonite duo Ted and Lee. Northern Ohio will meet at Ashland
University with Bruce Jacobsen as moderator, on a theme from
Ephesians 2:8-9, "Grace Alone." The conference will include
performing arts musicals, messages from the moderator and executive
minister John Ballinger, installation of moderator-elect Terry
Baldwin, a variety of insight sessions, and a silent auction for
the District Peace Endowment Fund.

*Michigan District will hold its conference next weekend Aug. 12-15
at the Wesleyan Conference Center in Hastings, where Bill Raymor,
Jr., will serve as moderator. The theme will be, "Renewing Our
Vision: Of God and His Word, Of His Church, Of Our Mission." The
event will include a workshop on "Peace and Unity" and a workshop
with Annual Conference moderator Jim Hardenbrook, a Love Feast, and
worship services led by James Myer of the Brethren Revival
Fellowship.

*Bridgewater (Va.) College has announced several upcoming events,
beginning with the Aug. 31 opening convocation featuring Phillip C.
Stone, Bridgewater's president, 9:30 a.m. at Nininger Hall. Also
beginning Aug. 31 is an art exhibit of "Sfumato: Italian Landscape
Monotypes" at the Cleo Driver Miller Art Gallery on campus. Charles
Goolsby, chair of the art department at Emory and Henry College,
will exhibit prints drawn from the most ancient sites of Rome. A
reception with the artist will be held 5-7 p.m. Sept. 6.

*Voices for an Open Spirit, a grassroots Church of the Brethren
organization, will hold its third annual Fall Gathering in
Portland, Ore., Oct. 1-3 with speakers Nancy Faus, professor
emerita of Bethany Theological Seminary, and Tom Mullen, professor
emeritus of Earlham School of Religion, on the theme "Weaving Story
and Celebration." Participants at the meeting also will be asked to
think about the accomplishments of the organization and adjustments
or changes that need to be made to look to the future. For more
information or to register, see www.voicesforanopenspirit.org.

*Christian and Muslim leaders have denounced the Aug. 1 bombing of
churches in Iraq. At least 11 people died and 50 were injured. Half
of those killed were Muslims who lived nearby, according to
Religion News Service (RNS). The Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
leader of the Shiite Muslims in Iraq, condemned the attacks as
"hideous crimes" and asserted the importance of respecting the
rights of Christians. "This action further undermines efforts to
rebuild Iraq as a democratic society where all religious
communities and peoples can live in harmony," said Samuel Kobia,
general secretary of the World Council of Churches. The Council on
American-Islamic Relations condemned the bombings as a perversion
of Islam. The attacks were coordinated to target Sunday evening
services. Bombs struck three Catholic churches, an Armenian
Catholic church, and a Chaldean seminary. Another bomb was disarmed
before it detonated. Officials blamed an al-Qaida ally and said the
bombings were meant to drive Christians out of the country. An
estimated 800,000 Christians live in Iraq, about 3 percent of the
population.

*Fifteen-passenger Ford vans are the subject of a lawsuit by
families of young adults killed or injured in a 2003 accident in
California, according to Religion News Service (RNS). "The vehicles
are often called `church vans' because of their popularity with
church groups," RNS said. In 2001 the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration issued a "Consumer Advisory" that
15-passenger vans transporting ten or more occupants had a rollover
rate in single vehicle crashes that was nearly three times the rate
of those that were lightly loaded, and that such vans need to be
driven by experienced drivers. In 2002 the National Transportation
Safety Board informed Ford that "fully loading or nearly loading a
15-passenger van causes the center of gravity to move rearward and
upward, which increases the vehicle's rollover propensity and could
increase the potential for driver loss of control in emergency
maneuvers." The government prohibits public elementary and
secondary schools from transporting students in 15-passenger vans.
Settlement money from a fatal accident in Mexico involving a
15-passenger van has been used to create "Van Angels," a nonprofit
program to help churches and schools retrofit vans to prevent
rollovers by adding two rear tires.

7) Joan Lowry called to leadership in Southern Plains.

Joan Lowry has been called as executive minister of Southern Plains
District, effective immediately. The position is part time. She
will maintain the district office in her home in Norman, Okla.

Lowry had served in the position of district administrative
secretary for the past year while the Southern Plains board
evaluated district staff options. She has served pastorates in
Southern Plains at Thomas (Okla.) Church of the Brethren for eight
years and Waka (Texas) Church of the Brethren for a year and a
half. She is a graduate of the district's three-year reading course
for ministry education and a member of Big Creek Church of the
Brethren near Cushing, Okla., the congregation through which she
and her husband first entered the denomination in 1991.

     
8) Kathy Royer will serve as seminary's director of Admissions.

Bethany Theological Seminary has announced the appointment of Kathy
Royer as director of Admissions in the Office of Student and
Business Services. Her work for the seminary, located in Richmond,
Ind., will begin Sept. 20.

For the past nine years Royer has served in various roles at
Hospice of Miami County, Ohio, most recently as staff development
coordinator. She is an ordained minister in the Church of the
Brethren and served for two years as pastor of spiritual formation
at Cedar Grove Church of the Brethren, New Paris, Ohio. She is a
graduate of Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa, received a master
of divinity degree from Bethany, and is working on a doctorate at
the Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend, Ind.

9) Faith Expeditions will tour the South, Guatemala, Nigeria, Iraq.

Faith Expeditions sponsored by the General Board's Brethren
Witness/Washington Office and Global Mission Partnerships Office
will take Brethren on a "Nonviolent Tour of the South" as well as
to Guatemala, Nigeria, and Iraq.

The tour of the South will take place Sept. 2-5 led by Bernard
LaFayette, Jr., director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace
Studies at the University of Rhode Island and a colleague of Martin
Luther King, Jr. Participants will travel in the footsteps of King
through Tuskegee, Montgomery, Selma, Hayneville, and Birmingham,
Ala., and will visit the King Center Complex in Atlanta, the Rosa
Parks Museum in Montgomery, and the Edmund-Pettus Bridge in Selma.
Cost is $290, excluding airfare. A $100 nonrefundable deposit is
due Aug. 13.

An Oct. 28-Nov. 5 expedition to Guatemala will visit poor
communities where grassroots development is taking place.
Participants will learn about threats to God's people and creation,
study the roots of poverty and injustice, and view environmental
degradation as well as efforts to restore the earth. The expedition
will be led by Tom Benevento, Latin American/Caribbean program
volunteer for the General Board. Cost is $850.

The first quarter of 2005 is the tentative time period in which a
Faith Expedition will be made to Nigeria. Participants will visit
communities that make up Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (Church of
the Brethren in Nigeria) and explore what peace and nonviolence
mean for the Nigerian and US cultures. Cost is approximately
$2,000.

A tentative date for a tour to Iraq will be Spring of 2005. The
tour will visit the Al Khuraish school in Baghdad, rebuilt with
funds from the General Board's Emergency Disaster Fund, and
dialogue with people of different faiths and cultures on the search
for peace and healing. The expedition will be hosted by the Middle
East Council of Churches and may include visits to Jordan, Lebanon,
and Israel and Palestine. Approximate cost is $1,800.

Requirements for participants in all Faith Expeditions are
willingness to grow in faith, respect for other cultures, openness
to adventure, and willingness to endure very basic living
conditions. Scholarships are available for Brethren youth and young
adults age 22 or younger. Contact the Brethren Witness/Washington
Office at 800-785-3246 or e-mail washington_office_gb@brethren.org.

10) ABC encourages National Children's Sabbath observance.

The Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) is encouraging
congregations to honor the National Observance of Children's
Sabbath Oct. 15-17. On behalf of the Church of the Brethren, ABC is
partnering with the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) to support the
event.

National Observance of Children's Sabbath seeks justice and care
for the 12 million US children who live in poverty, and the 8.5
million who do not have health care insurance, according to a
release from ABC. The theme for this year's observance is "Say That
I'm a Child of God: Assuring Justice and Care to Leave No Child
Behind."

The CDF has created a 2004 Children's Sabbath Resource Manual with
planning materials and worship resources. The 174-page, interfaith
manual is available from the Religious Action Division of CDF for
$7. Call 202-662-3589 or order online at www.childrensdefense.org.
Next year, Children's Sabbath will be observed Oct. 14-16, 2005.

11) Peacemaker shares Iraqi Christians' pain and fear.

--by Peggy Gish

Even with occasional sounds of gunshot or mortar fire in the
distance, my first four days back on the Christian Peacemaker Teams
(CPT) team in Baghdad had been fairly calm. I had been adjusting to
the increased precautions the team now took, and still felt
emotionally distant from the violence the Iraqis were experiencing.
On Sunday, Aug. 1, that changed.

Doug Pritchard and I were taking part in a Chaldean worship service
in our Karada neighborhood when we heard the blasts of two bombs,
exploding outside two nearby churches. Like the Iraqis around us,
we were stunned and shaken. There had been some violence against
Christians, but this is the first time Iraqi churches had been
targeted since the invasion. Out on the street, we stopped to get
information about the other churches and listen to Iraqis share
their fear and grief. A woman standing at her gate motioned for us
to come in.

Her young adult daughter spoke English, and she told us the story
of how her father, a Christian, was recently killed because he sold
liquor. They were still mourning his death. They had not attended
their church this evening because they were afraid they might be
attacked if they went out of their home. "Now our church has been
bombed, and I don't know if my friends are dead or alive," she
agonized. Her mother added, "Now Christians may have to leave Iraq.
There is no safety here now. What are we going to do?" Their world
seemed to be crumbling around them.

The mother bravely held her emotions in, but when we kissed each
other in the usual farewell manner, she began to cry. I had been
feeling sad for them, but now it touched me on a deeper level. I
felt more keenly her pain as a wife and mother. We stood there for
a short time, hugging and kissing each other and allowing the tears
to flow. We embraced as Iraqi and American and as woman and woman.

Earlier in our conversation I had been thinking that at such a time
we North Americans had nothing to offer them, and she may have
thought the same. But now in this moment, in the midst of violence
and feelings of hopelessness, we were given an unexpected gift. I
didn't have to know how our team might respond to these new acts of
violence. I didn't have to try to do something for her or know what
would result from this time together. The protective barriers of
our hearts were broken down, allowing us to hold each other closely
in our pain and fear.

--Peggy Gish, a member of the Church of the Brethren at New
Covenant Fellowship, Athens, Ohio, returned to Baghdad in late
July. She has spent 11 months in Iraq with Christian Peacemaker
Teams, beginning before the war. CPT is a program of Brethren,
Quaker, and Mennonite churches. For more information see
www.cpt.org.

*****************************************************************
Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, 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. Mary Dulabaum, Ray Glick, Mary Kay
Heatwole, Irvin Heishman, Rick Polhamus, and David Radcliff
contributed to this report.

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