wfn.org | Record funding reported by Church of the Brethren agency

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Jan. 19, 2006
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100  F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com)

RECORD FUNDING FIGURES REPORTED BY CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN GENERAL  BOARD

Jan. 19, 2006 (Elgin, IL) --  In preliminary year-end funding figures,	the
Church of the Brethren General Board has reported record funding for 2005.
 The
figures came from pre-audit reports of cumulative donations received from
Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2005. Donations of more than $3.6 million to the boardâs
 Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) almost equalled donations to the boardâs Core
Ministries Fund, which exceeded $3.7 million in giving received from
individuals  and congregations.

âThe remarkable giving to EDF has added $2 million new dollars in giving to
General Board ministries, and that must be celebrated,â said Stan Noffsinger,
general secretary of the board. Comparable figures from 2004 reveal âthe
generosity of the Brethren,â Noffsinger said. In 2004 the EDF received giving of
less than a million dollars, totaling $838,037. Giving to the Core Ministries
 Fund was slightly higher the previous year, totaling $3,829,879 in 2004.

The EDF provides grants to support disaster relief work carried out by
Brethren Disaster Response, Disaster Child Care, Church World Service, longterm
disaster recovery groups, and refugee services.

The Core Ministries Fund supports much of the work of the boardâs program
units that are not self-funded, including Congregational Life Ministries, the
Youth and Young Adult Office, Global Mission Partnerships, and Brethren
Volunteer Service among others.
In other pre-audit year-end totals, other  funds of the General Board also
fared well in 2005: the Global Food Crisis Fund  received giving of more than
$295,000 (as compared to $290,820 in 2004); the  Emerging Mission Fund received
donations of more than $75,000 (as compared to	$42,788 in 2004).

A complete audited financial report for the General Board will be
available 
this summer with the boardâs 2005 Annual Report.

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)

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The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,
 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board.
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