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Date: August 29, 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 29, 2005

CARING MINISTRIES ASSEMBLY OFFERS `A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF COMMUNITY'

By Ruth Aukerman

August 29, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- I had never been to a Caring Ministries
Assembly before. I might have missed this one as well had it not been for
a 
Training in Ministry (TRIM) class that was offered in connection with it.
I am  so
glad that I went. This conference was the best Church of the Brethren
gathering in a long time for me. I cannot remember an Annual Conference,  district
meeting, TRIM experience, or any other recent spiritual event that has	touched
the core of my being as has this Caring Ministries Assembly.

Maybe the most important reason was the theme, "Peace Beyond Our Fears."  The
hymn, "Healer of Our Every Ill," with its prayer, "give us peace beyond
our 
fear and hope beyond our sorrow," was one of our favorites at the time
when my
 husband, Dale, was dying from lung cancer. So when in the assembly's
Bible 
studies, lectures, and sermons fears and anxieties were identified and then
held  up to the grace of God, this was very personal for me. Even big, global
fears  like the tsunami, terrorism, and 9/11 can be seen in a new light
and from
a new  perspective. Out of the pain and the sub-basement of my soul still
needs to come  much more gratitude for the life God has given me and is living
through  me.

The presenters and ministers of the word seemed to know my life, but I	found
out that I was not alone in my fears. Next to me sat sisters and brothers
who also were afraid of failure, isolation, or our economic and political
tomorrow, let alone the tomorrow of our dwindling, marginalized denomination.  Many
of them I knew by name but most were strangers. They came from a wide
spectrum of theological and political persuasions.

It was not the kind of conference where one is already of one mind, where
speakers preach to the choir. No, if we were to identify the demons that were
binding us we might each have different names for them, but I think we all came
 with the deep question: "Is God still with us? How long is Christ sleeping
while  the storm rages outside our little boat?" That for me was a different
level of  community--a community of those who know that they need to be freed
from  fear.

The bread we broke together assured us that God still is Immanuel,  spreading
a table in the presence of our personal, communal, or political  enemies. We,
the "worm" of the Church of the Brethren, are beloved by God.

Because of that we can and must return to our heritage of peacemaking and
peace witness. We as caregivers must call our people away from the spiral of
fear that paralyzes and is subservient to the principalities and powers of the
prevailing culture. Through ever-consistent prayer we must again be a living
peace church, all the more now, all the more even in the valley....

At a time when many pastors are afraid to speak truth to power and when
whole communities--and even Christian congregations--give in to irrational
 fears,
it simply was good to be reminded of who we are and whose we are. I am so
very thankful for this unapologetically Brethren conference, and to all
who 
prayed and worked so hard to make it happen.

For me it was a âkairos' event. God's timing is perfect.

---

Ruth Aukerman is a licensed Church of the Brethren minister from Union
Bridge, Md.

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. Mary
 Dulabaum contributed to this report. 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
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