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

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: August 4, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com)

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN NEWSLINE
August 4, 2005

LEADERS ARE ANNOUNCED FOR CHURCH OF THE BRETHRENâS `TOGETHERâ LAUNCH  EVENT

August 4, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- Leaders have been announced for the launch
event of TOGETHER: Conversations on Being the Church. TOGETHER is an outgrowth
of the ecclesiology conversation begun by the district executives in the Church
 of the Brethren. A program to extend the conversation to the whole of the
Church	of the Brethren is being carried out by a committee of staff of
denominational	agencies and districts. "This consultation is a first step toward a
new and  common understanding within the church concerning who, whose, and what
we are,"  planners said.

Lisa M. Hess and Brian D. Maguire will lead the TOGETHER launch event in  New
Windsor, Md., on Feb. 24-26, 2006. They also will help lead conversations at
the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in 2006. Hess teaches practical
theology--ecclesiology, ministry formation, Christian education, and
leadership  development--at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. She is an
ordained  minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Maguire is pastor of
Westminster  Presbyterian Church in Xenia, Ohio. Prior to entering the ministry he
worked as  an attorney and human relations consultant helping Fortune 500
corporations,  nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, and state and
local  governments through periods of change.

Maguire and Hess will facilitate a training process for district leaders
at 
the launch event. Each district will select, elect, or discern one facilitator
 and two general representatives to send to the meeting. One Standing
Committee  member per district, as well as the district executives, also will be
invited to  participate. Annual Conference officers and leaders from the
Conference agencies  will attend as well.

The launch is envisioned as "a dynamic encounter with people from across  the
denomination, discussing `What does it mean to be the church?'" planners
said. The hope is for district leaders to be prepared to model and lead
different styles of conversation on that question in their own areas.  Participants
also will become familiar with the study guide for the TOGETHER  conversations,
which will be available for use in districts and congregations	and at the
2006 Annual Conference. The training will focus on awareness of  relationships
within the Church of the Brethren structure, the broad scope of  church history
including Brethren history and Pietism and Anabaptism,	 recent patterns of
church growth and development, the decline in mainline	denominations, and
generational differences in society.

Following the launch, the TOGETHER committee will develop dates and places
for area and district meetings in conjunction with district executives,
the 
Congregational Life Ministries staff of the General Board, and Ron and Harriet
Finney, the volunteer coordinators for the regional events.

Plans for Annual Conference 2006 include an exhibit explaining the
conversation process, a report to the Conference, insight sessions,
special  guest
speakers, and experiences of the conversation process in small groups.
Conversations also will take place at National Youth Conference and National  Older
Adult Conference in 2006. Information and insights from all of the  conversations
will be compiled. A culminating TOGETHER event is planned for  Annual
Conference 2007.

For more information contact Mark Flory Steury, chair of the TOGETHER
committee, at _mfsteury_ds@brethren.org_ (mailto:mfsteury_ds@brethren.org) . For
information about the launch event contact Julie Hostetter at
_jhostetter_gb@brethren.org_ (mailto:jhostetter_gb@brethren.org) .

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_
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org)

*****************************************************************
The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,
 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board.
Newsline  stories may be reprinted provided that Newsline is cited as the source.
To  receive Newsline by e-mail, write _cobnews@aol.com_
(mailto:cobnews@aol.com)  or call 800-323-8039 ext.  260.