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Date: April 13, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN	NEWSLINE
April 13, 2005

ON EARTH PEACE FORMS PEACE RETREAT LEADERSHIP  TEAM

April 13, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- On Earth Peace, a Church of  the
Brethren agency, has formed a volunteer Peace Retreat Leadership
Team  to help increase the number of retreats and workshops it is
able to offer  across the denomination, reported Kim Stuckey
Hissong, On Earth Peace program  coordinator of Peacemaker
Formation. The new team will expand and energize  the existing
retreat program. Team members will be available to  provide
leadership for youth retreats, workshops, and worship  experiences
for congregations, districts, camps, denominational gatherings,  and
other groups.

Plans call for slowly expanding the number of team  members, making
sure that program staff can adequately support the  network,
according to Hissong. Retreats provided by the team will be  based
on an interactive, experiential model that challenges youth  to
consider Christian peacemaking in the context of faith and the
world.	Retreat sessions will draw on the Brethren heritage of
peacemaking and bring  scripture alive to examine how Christ calls
believers to live in these  times.

"If we are serious about being a resource to the  entire
denomination, we need to increase our identified leaders in  the
church," said Hissong. "There are so many great leaders in  our
denomination that are already doing peace education work. Formation
of  the Peace Retreat Leadership Team is an attempt to bring these
folks  together, recognize them for the work they are doing, and
provide support and  a place to develop and exchange ideas."

The team gathered for an initial  planning meeting at the New
Windsor (Md.) Conference Center in late February.  Current team
members are Carrie Eikler of Richmond, Ind.; Debbie Eisenbise  of
Kalamazoo, Mich.; Dena Lee of Kent, Ohio; and Rick Polhamus  of
Fletcher, Ohio. To schedule a retreat, or if you are interested  in
serving on the Peace Retreat Leadership Team, call Kim Stuckey
Hissong  at 410-635-8706 or e-mail kstuckey_oepa@brethren.org.	See
www.brethren.org/oepa/team.html for more information.

The Church  of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to
continuing the work  of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living
out its faith in community. The  denomination is based in the
Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is	one of the three
Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary  in
2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States	and
Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil,  the
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
# # #

For more  information contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News  Services
Church of the Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin,	IL 60120
847-742-5100 ext.  260
cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org

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The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl
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