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Date: August 20, 2004
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline       Aug. 20, 2004

"O Lord...be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of
trouble." Isaiah 33:2 

NEWS
1) Brethren affected by Hurricane Charley, take part in relief
effort.
2) Logo and writers selected for `Gather 'Round' Brethren and
Mennonite curriculum.
3) SERRV International changes its name to `A Greater Gift.'
4) Brethren bits.

RESOURCES
5) Film, monologue celebrate Heifer founder Dan West.

FEATURE
6) How can we rejoice when others hurt?

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

1) Brethren affected by Hurricane Charley, take part in relief
effort.

Hurricane Charley, which cut a swath of destruction across Florida
Aug. 13, was the state's worst disaster since Hurricane Andrew in
1992, according to the General Board's Emergency Response/Service
Ministries (ER/SM). Atlantic Southeast District reported that two
Churches of the Brethren sustained structural damage and one church
member has not been heard from since the storm. Brethren responses
to the disaster include a first grant from the General Board's
Emergency Disaster Fund, a shipment of relief supplies, and the
dispatching of Disaster Child Care volunteers and an assessment
team of denominational and district leaders.

"We covet your prayers and concerns," said Atlantic Southeast
district executive Martha Beach. She and pastor Jim Longenecker, of
the Arcadia congregation, called for prayers for member Viola
Aldrich. "She is from Punta Gorda, and there is no communication in
that area," wrote Longenecker in an e-mailed prayer request
distributed to many across the denomination. "Please pray she is
OK."

The damaged churches were Arcadia, which sustained severe damage
and lost one-third of its roof, and Community Church of the
Brethren in Orlando, which lost part of its roof causing the
drywall inside the building to collapse. Other churches and Camp
Ithiel had trees or large tree limbs come down, and many lost water
and electric service. In a Sebring trailer park where several
Brethren live, including Sebring pastors Cecil Hess and C. Wendell
Bohrer, eight homes were completely destroyed and many others
severely damaged. One couple from the Sebring congregation had a
large tree fall in the middle of their home, Beach reported.

ER/SM staff were in touch with district leaders and other partners
in disaster relief since before the storm made landfall. A shipment
of relief supplies was made from the Brethren Service Center in New
Windsor, Md., Aug. 19, including 32 cartons of Health Kits and 185
cartons of Cleanup Kits. A first grant of $5,000 was made from the
Emergency Disaster Fund. Disaster Child Care project managers were
dispatched Aug. 18 and 12-15 child care volunteers have been sent
to a staging area in Brandon, Fla., to be deployed from there once
it is determined the exact location where they will be serving. An
assessment visit was made Aug. 19-20 by Beach, Emergency Response
director Roy Winter, and district moderator and disaster
coordinator John Mueller, starting in Fort Myers and Arcadia then
traveling to Orlando to the Community church and Camp Ithiel.

Winter issued a call for volunteers to help with what he called "a
significant Brethren clean up" effort. "It'll be a long time before
we start the rebuilding effort, months and months," he said, adding
that there will be a need for patience with the pace of work
required by the extensive destruction. To volunteer, call the
Emergency Response office at 800-451-4407 ext. 3.

The Brethren effort will be made despite what Winter called "huge
problems with housing for volunteers and survivors." The Red Cross
is considering the need for longterm shelters for thousands of
people, he said. Winter also expressed a concern of ecumenical
agencies--Church World Service and the National Council of
Churches--for "more vulnerable populations" such as migrant workers
and farm laborers.

Brethren also are invited to respond to a Church World Service
(CWS) appeal for "Gift of the Heart Emergency Clean Up Buckets."
The five-gallon buckets with resealable lids are filled with
supplies to enable survivors to begin the job of cleaning up after
a disaster. Value of each bucket and contents is $45. Buckets are
being collected at the Brethren Service Center. For bucket contents
and requirements see www.churchworldservice.org, click on "How to
Help," then click on "Gift of the Heart Kits."

The ER/SM office issued a list of other appropriate responses,
including a call for able-bodied people who live in or near
affected areas to participate in organized clean-up efforts,
warning that "volunteers must be connected with a bona fide
disaster response agency"; a request not to send unsolicited
donations of materials; a call to support the relief effort with
cash donations to the Emergency Disaster Fund, Church of the
Brethren General Board, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120; and a
call for Brethren to "pray constantly" and "lift up all concerned,
the victims, the volunteers, the emergency personnel on site, and
the ER/SM staff."

In other news, a Disaster Child Care center was opened in Upper
Darby, Pa., Aug. 9, after severe storms brought heavy rain to
several counties in the southeast of the state. The storms caused
millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses, roads, bridges,
and other infrastructure. Approximately 30 childcare contacts have
been made by ten volunteers.

2) Logo and writers selected for Gather 'Round Brethren and
Mennonite curriculum.

Creators of the forthcoming Sunday school curriculum, "Gather
'Round: Hearing and Sharing God's Good News," have announced a logo
and a team of writers for the first curriculum year.

Those selecting the logo appreciated the bold, clear rendering of
the title words along with the warmth and energy of the circular,
hand-in-hand figures, said Anna Speicher, project director. "We
wanted to convey the invitational tone of the curriculum in a style
attractive to both children and adults." 

Writers for the first curriculum year are Carol Duerksen, Susan
Fuentes, Sarah Pinnell, Frank Ramirez, Rebecca Seiling, Dianna
Ullery, and Tim Wiebe-Neufeld. These individuals are writers,
pastors, and educators. Three are Brethren, four are Mennonites.
They hail from Kansas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington
State, Alberta, and Ontario.

Additionally, Bible background pieces will be written by Old and
New Testament scholars Robert W. Neff, Alexandria, Pa., and Michael
McKeever, Elgin, Ill. 

The curriculum writers will attend a conference at Camp Alexander
Mack in Milford, Ind., Sept. 19-23, during which they will be
oriented to the project, worship together on the first quarter
Bible theme, "Creation and First Families," and begin writing
sessions in a collaborative setting. A unique Internet tool will
allow them to continue the collaboration by posting their sessions
for each other to read and respond to during the rest of the
writing process.

"Gather 'Round" is a curriculum project of Brethren Press,
publishing house for the Church of the Brethren, and Mennonite
Publishing Network, which represents Mennonite Church USA and
Mennonite Church Canada. The curriculum, which begins in 2006, will
be for children and junior youth, ages 2 through 8th grade, and
parent/guardians. For more information contact Anna M. Speicher,
project director, at 800-323-8039.

3) SERRV International changes its name to `A Greater Gift.'

Beginning Aug. 10, SERRV International has changed its program name
to "A Greater Gift," according to a release from the organization's
marketing team.

The new name comes with a new logo and a new tagline, "Hope and
justice with every purchase." The logo is loosely based on a West
African symbol that radiates energy and represents the seven seas
and seven continents, and can be viewed at www.agreatergift.org.

"You can see our new look in our 2004-2005 Catalog, which will be
arriving in your mailboxes soon!" said the release. "Our stores,
handcraft marketing program, and website will all carry the new
name. We feel the new identity will reach a broader audience, which
will help us increase our impact on world poverty."

While the stores, handcrafts, and website will change names, SERRV
International will remain the legal name of the organization. SERRV
was formerly a Church of the Brethren denominational program. For
more information contact A Greater Gift at 888-243-4423 or e-mail
marketing@serrv.org. 

4) Brethren bits.

*J. Roy Valencourt, a former General Board staff member,
missionary, seminary professor, and ordained minister in the Church
of the Brethren, passed away March 20 in Goshen, Ind. Valencourt
first served the General Board as adult curriculum editor 1966-69,
editing the "Brethren Adult Quarterly" and teacher resources
published in "Leader" magazine and serving on the editorial board
of "Brethren Life and Thought." From 1969-75 he and his wife Carol
and family were called to Ecuador where Valencourt worked in
curriculum development at the Theological Training Center in Quito.
He also helped complete legal steps that closed out the Ecuador
mission. From 1984-86 the Valencourts returned to mission work at
the Theological College of Northern Nigeria. He was active in the
Civil Rights Movement and represented the Church of the Brethren in
a program in which hundreds of college students registered voters
in Mississippi in the summer of 1964. Valencourt also taught a year
at Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind., and a total of 24
years at Livingstone College and Hood Theological Seminary in
Salisbury, N.C. He was a pastor at Lakeview Church of the Brethren,
Brethren, Mich.; Trinity Church of the Brethren in Detroit; and an
A.M.E. Zion church circuit. He was a member of New Paris (Ind.)
Church of the Brethren and a graduate of Manchester, Bethany
Theological Seminary, and Vanderbilt University.
     
*J. Irwin Miller, a leader in the ecumenical movement and in
industry, died Aug. 16 at his home in Columbus, Ind. He was 95.
Miller was the first lay president of the National Council of
Churches (NCC) 1960-63 and had served on the executive committee of
the World Council of Churches. He also led the Cummins Engine Co.
for more than 40 years, overseeing its transformation from a small
Indiana firm to a Fortune 500 company. He is noted for leadership
of the ecumenical movement on race, peace, and economic issues in
the 1950s and '60s, an NCC release said. "Esquire" magazine
proposed Miller as the ideal Republican candidate to run against
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. Miller also was a close friend of Church
of the Brethren general secretary Norman Baugher. A story told of
their friendship has Miller flying his friend home in a corporate
airplane, when Baugher fell ill at an NCC meeting. "Miller added to
the NCC's credibility," remembered Howard Royer, who recently
completed 50 years as a General Board staff member. "He was more
than a corporate executive; he was a churchman with a social
conscience." A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday,
Aug. 21, at North Christian Church, a congregation of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) and Miller's home church.

*Aug. 25 will be observed as "Sudan: Day of Conscience" by the
General Board's Brethren Witness/Washington Office, joining with
the National Council of Churches and Save Darfur Coalition. On that
day the office staff will join with the Washington, D.C., Darfur
Coalition in front of the Sudan Embassy at 2410 Massachusetts Ave.,
from 12-1 p.m. "We invite Church of the Brethren members to join
with us, and encourage those who cannot be here to plan events in
your local community. Please let our office know of your plans as
they are scheduled," asked an Action Alert from the office. "Lives
are hanging in the balance on a massive scale." Churches are
encouraged to plan activities--such as a service or vigil; meetings
with local, state, or congressional representatives about the
crisis; and support for the Darfur grants made by the General
Board's Emergency Disaster Fund--to urge "immediate and decisive
action to stop the killing, rape, and destruction of villages, and
to assure that humanitarian relief reaches all those in need," the
alert said. The office has been part of the Darfur Coalition
through the summer, and in July director Phil Jones was arrested
for nonviolent civil disobedience at the Sudan Embassy. The office
has developed a new Sudan Study Guide that will be available soon.
For more information and suggestions of activities contact the
office at 800-785-3246 or see www.savedarfur.org or
www.ncccusa.org/news/04savedarfurcoalition.html.

*Brethren Volunteer Service/Brethren Revival Fellowship orientation
unit 261 will hold its training Aug. 22-Sept. 1 at the Brethren
Service Center in New Windsor, Md. Coordinators John and Ruby Shank
hope to have 11 volunteers take part.

*Becky Ullom, director of Identity and Relations, and Katie
O'Donnell, a member of Green Tree Church of the Brethren in Oaks,
Pa., represented the General Board on a recent trip to the
Dominican Republic. They attended the Church of the Brethren
national youth/young adult camp where they led two Bible studies
focusing on the theme of being obedient to the Lord. In addition to
attending the four-day camp they also visited local Church of the
Brethren congregations; several micro-loan projects with Jeff and
Peggy Boshart, the board's staff for economic development in the
DR; and workcampers from Ridge Church of the Brethren,
Shippensburg, Pa. Mission coordinators Nancy and Irvin Heishman
hosted Ullom and O'Donnell during their time in the DR.

*A work team from Ridge Church of the Brethren, Shippensburg, Pa.,
spent a week in the Dominican Republic in early August. The group
helped to repair the San Luis Church of the Brethren, which has
been damaged by sinking due to unstable soil in the entire San Luis
area. The group of 16 worked with San Luis members and a small
construction crew to lay block, build walls, and form and pour
lintels, reported Irvin Heishman, DR mission coordinator for the
General Board. The Ridge group also brought gifts of Bibles,
clothing, and Sunday school materials, shared in devotions and
worship, helped cook meals, and visited the homes of San Luis
members. In this rebuilding project--funded by the General Board's
Emergency Disaster Fund, the Ridge congregation, Southern
Pennsylvania District, Brethren World Mission, and the San Luis
congregation--engineers were called in and designed a foundation
deep and sturdy enough for the region, according to board staff.
The San Luis congregation also "provided an enormous amount of
sweat equity," Heishman said. His report expressed the gratitude of
the San Luis congregation and construction crew for the "tremendous
boost" given by the Ridge group.

*A World Hunger Auction was held Aug. 14 at Antioch Church of the
Brethren, Rocky Mount, Va., raising $26,000. With funds raised at
other events added in, the grand total for hunger relief was around
$38,000, according to a preliminary report in Virlina District's
e-newsletter.
                                                       
*On Aug. 28-29 Pine Creek Church of the Brethren, North Liberty,
Ind., plans to celebrate 150 years of ministry. Planned activities
include a live black-smithing demonstration and a beard judging
contest, as well as presentations on Brethren dress and Amish and
German Baptist Brethren history and worship styles, a hog roast,
and much more. Sunday morning will feature an old-fashioned service
with lined hymns and men and women seated separately. For more
information call the church at 574-784-2806.

*Lititz (Pa.) Church of the Brethren will celebrate its 90th
anniversary and dedicate newly renovated and expanded church
facilities on Sunday Oct. 17. The $3.7 million renovation was
undertaken with the theme, "Building Together That More May Know
Him." The celebration will include worship services with guest
preacher Phill Carlos Archbold, a homecoming choir, review of the
congregation's history with former pastors, a buffet meal, a
community open house, and tours. Contact the church at
717-626-2131, e-mail lititzcb@ptd.net, or see www.lititzcob.org.

*Atlantic Northeast District is sponsoring a work camp to Nigeria,
June 13-July 4, 2005. The workcamp is in response to a request from
the leaders of Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the
Brethren in Nigeria) according to Charles Bieber, secretary of the
district's EYN/ANE Ministry Team. Participants will work on a
classroom building and a staff house at Gavva, the center for EYN's
Literacy Program. Anticipated cost is $2,300. Applications may be
made through the district office at 500 Cedar St., Elizabethtown,
PA 17022; 717-367-4730; e-mail lwilliams_ds@brethren.org.

*Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the General Board, will
visit Shenandoah and Virlina Districts with three informal times of
conversation scheduled on Aug. 23 and 24. The first conversation
will be in Shenandoah District Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. at Bridgewater
(Va.) Church of the Brethren. The Aug. 24 conversations in Virlina
District will be 2-3:30 p.m. at Central Church of the Brethren,
Roanoke, Va., and 7-8:30 p.m. at Antioch Church of the Brethren,
Rocky Mount, Va. The agenda will include time to learn about the
ministries of the General Board and to share affirmations,
concerns, and future direction of ministries.

*Northern Plains District has announced its new website:
www.npcob.org. The site offers information on congregations,
upcoming events, and youth programs, and gives links to related
organizations and Church of the Brethren agencies. The district
newsletter can be downloaded from the site as a pdf. Brian Gumm is
the webmaster.

*Camp Bethel, Fincastle, Va., has reported nine weeks of summer
activities with 652 campers and counselors. Susan Chapman, program
director, explained the theme for the summer, "Be the Change"--"the
change God calls us to make in our lives and in the world," she
reported in the Virlina District e-newsletter. "Campers felt God's
touch in a counselor's hug, smelled God's miracles in the campfire
smoke, tasted God's goodness in blueberries found by the trail, saw
God's beauty while hiking Horseshoe Bend, and felt the Holy Spirit
during singing and worship," she said. The camp has received
re-accreditation following a three-year visit by the American
Camping Association, receiving a score of 100 percent on all
standards of visitor inspection. For more information see
www.ACAcamps.org and www.campbethelvirginia.org.

*"The Christian Family--Under the Design of God" served as the
theme for the Brethren Alive Conference held at Elizabethtown (Pa.)
College, July 23-25. As many as 200 people participated in the
services, workshops, and the Brethren Revival Fellowship General
Meeting. "The theme messages by Garnet Myers, Kenneth Nell, Merv
Keller, and Craig Smith were powerful in their delivery, and rich
in their content," reported Harold Martin, editor of the "BRF
Witness." Eric Brubaker and Walter Heisey were reelected to serve
on the BRF Committee for five-year terms. Tapes of the main
sessions and each of the workshops are available. Cost is $5 per
tape for each session. Contact Kurtis Brubaker, 1269 Woodlyn Dr.,
Denver, PA 17517.

*Stephen Simons, a member of Prince of Peace Church of the
Brethren, South Bend, Ind., is in Athens, Greece, working as a
physician for the US Olympic team. Currently he is stationed at the
boxing venue, according to his pastor David Hendricks. When track
and field events begin--which Simons called his "passion" in an
interview with South Bend's Newscenter16--he will be working at the
Olympic Stadium. Simons is a specialist on foot problems and works
at an orthopedic sports clinic in South Bend, teaches at a medical
school, and travels across the country lecturing on sports
injuries, Hendricks said. Simons told his pastor that the Olympics
are "an experience of a lifetime." His ongoing "Doctor's Diary"
from the Olympics, complete with photos, can be found at
www.wndu.com. (If Newsline readers know of other Church of the
Brethren members with involvement in the Olympic games, please send
information to cobnews@aol.com.)

*Sharon S. Burner, a member of Highland Avenue Church of the
Brethren in Elgin, Ill., is a 2004 recipient of the "Sunshine Peace
Award." The award is a national recognition by the Sunshine Lady
Foundation, founded in 1996 by Doris Buffett to recognize
individuals "who help to build communities that are intolerant of
domestic violence." Burner works at Elgin's Community Crisis Center
as coordinator of the Domestic Violence Program. She has developed
resources for women and children who are victims and survivors of
domestic violence and has participated in initiatives exploring
responses to domestic violence by law enforcement, health care
systems, and mental health agencies, according to a release from
the center. Burner also serves on the Family Violence Coordinating
Council for the 16th Judicial Circuit in Illinois. For more
information about the award see the foundation's website
www.sunshineladyfdn.org.

5) Film, monologue celebrate Heifer founder Dan West.

As Heifer International celebrates 60 years since its founding by
Brethren leader Dan West, two new resources--a film and a
monologue--tell the story of West's life and work. The resources
are available through Brethren Press.

"Dan West Peacemaker," a short film on video and DVD, premiered at
Annual Conference this year. It reviews West's work on three peace
programs begun in the 1940s under the auspices of the Church of the
Brethren: "Heifers for Relief," which became Heifer International;
the peace studies program at Manchester College; and Brethren
Volunteer Service.

Work on the film began almost two years ago when when Florence
Crago, who volunteers in the Heifer International gift shop, was
asked by visitors for a video on Dan West and discovered that none
was available. After her husband Glen died, Florence decided to use
his memorial fund to create such a resource and contacted Brethren
videographer David Sollenberger, who agreed to write and produce
it. Dan West's daughter, Jan West Schrock, a former director of
Brethren Volunteer Service, assisted with production arrangements.
Sollenberger interviewed numerous church members for background
insights and stories and the Brethren Historical Library and
Archives (BHLA) provided archival material. Major funding came from
Heifer International and the Glen Crago Memorial Fund, with help
from Manchester's peace studies department and the General Board's
funding office. Order the video (item number 1071) or the DVD (item
number 1070) for $15 from Brethren Press, 800-441-3712.

The monologue telling Dan West's story, and the story of Heifer's
beginnings during World War II in Europe, was written by Schrock
and John Haman, an actor and award-winning playwright with input
from the BHLA's Ken Shaffer and Brethren Press editor Nancy Klemm.
The monologue can be read as a letter or given as a drama in
worship services or other church gatherings. See
www.Brethren.org/genbd/BP/LivingWaters, where the piece is offered
free of charge for congregational use through Brethren Press's
Living Waters Online. The worship resources created by pastors and
laypeople in the Church of the Brethren are available for use in
congregational settings provided credit is given to authors.

Looking forward to the 60th anniversary of Heifer International,
which she called Dan West's most visible legacy, Schrock said of
her father, "Peacemaking was all he was really about." Placing the
work of Heifer International in a context of peacemaking "lifts up
his true legacy," she said.

6) How can we rejoice when others hurt?

By Glenn Kinsel

Had Hurricane Charley followed the projected path, our modest
mobile home in St. Petersburg, Fla., could have been among those
pictured in the news media showing immense destruction. Our area
was spared.

One part of me wants to praise God for this kind of deliverance.
The better part of me tugs at my conscience and asks me to humbly
hold the many hurting ones all the closer.

 From one vantage point, it is very clear that someone else suffered
am glad for our good fortune and the good fortune of all our
in my place. That indeed is the New Testament message of the grace
immediate neighbors who can go on living a settled life.
that we all proclaim. So I live this day with mingled feelings. I

But I can't immerse myself in celebrating my good fortune. I must
work harder than ever to place myself at the center of the
destruction. I must pray that all people who love others will
express that love in active care. I must, indeed, do some
suffering--the kind of suffering that will strengthen me to carry
out the biblical admonition to carry another's burdens.

May God renew my will and strength to be my brother's and sister's
keeper.

--Glenn Kinsel is an administrative volunteer with the General
Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries, and a retired
pastor.

*****************************************************************
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. Nancy Klemm, Harold Martin, Pat Patillo, 
Helen Stonesifer, and Jane Yount contributed to this report.

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