wfn.org | Newsline: Church of the Brethren redesigns Congregational Life Ministries, closes Washington Office

[cobnews <cobnews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl Brumbau gh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN REDESIGNS CONGREGATIONAL LIFE MINISTRIES, CLOSES WAS HINGTON OFFICE

(March 25, 2009) Elgin, IL -- The Church of the Brethren is redesigning its  Congregational Life Ministries and has eliminated the Congregational Life  Team, effective April 6. The denomination also closed its Washington Office , as of March 19.

The actions are part of a plan created by executive staff to respond to fin ancial challenges facing the denomination and the decision of the Mission a nd Ministry Board to reduce the operating budget for core ministries by $50 5,000 this year.

The decisions eliminate positions of eight Congregational Life Team members , effective April 6, and the position of director of the Brethren Witness/W ashington Office, effective March 19.

"As I informed staff before the Spring board meeting, the level of financia l losses that we are looking at necessitate a cut in staff," said general s ecretary Stan Noffsinger. "It is a heavy burden to reduce staff at this tim e. It has been our desire all along to not end any positions, but the scope  of this is greater than our ability to merely reduce operational expenses.  There is not one ministry area in the church that is going unscathed in th is process. It is a situation affecting the whole church."

At the Spring meeting, the expectation for income to support the core minis tries of the church this year was revised downward by almost $1 million. Th e board was informed of a loss of about $7 million in net assets in 2008, c aused by the market downturn, as well as a 10 percent decrease in total giv ing to the denomination compared to 2007.

"The board took its responsibility seriously, and at each decision moment w ere cognizant of the impact for employees as well as members of the church  who have passion for ministry areas that will be affected," Noffsinger said .

All employees were part of a staff meeting and conference call prior to the  Spring board meeting, at which the general secretary announced that staff  reductions would be made following the decision of the board, if the budget  reduction was approved. After the board meeting, at another all-employee m eeting and conference call, he reviewed the board's decisions and announced  that staff reductions would come over the next two weeks.

"We are doing what we can to help out employees who lose their positions,"  Noffsinger said, "including a three-month severance package and an outplace ment service that walks with people until they get new employment."

>Congregational Life Ministries:

The plan for Congregational Life Ministries outlines a new staff configurat ion with four director-level positions to be based at the Church of the Bre thren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The four positions are Intercultural M inistries, Transforming Practices, Spiritual Life and Discipleship, and You th and Young Adult Ministries.

Jonathan Shively, executive director of Congregational Life Ministries, ack nowledged how difficult the decision has been to eliminate the Congregation al Life Team, a program of the church in place since the beginning of 1998.  "This is tough for the church, and we know it," he said.

The redesign is intended to maintain vital ministries while still making st aff reductions necessary to meet the reduction in budget, Shively said. "Ou r relationship and service to congregations is not going to go away," he sa id. "It's going to look different, and feel different, but we still have a  commitment to congregations."

The Congregational Life Team has worked for more than a decade to provide a  bridge between the denomination and congregations across the US and Puerto  Rico. The team has supported local church pastors and leaders as well as d istrict staff and leaders; has helped congregations through coaching, consu lting, and strategic visioning; and has resourced the church in a variety o f areas including evangelism, church organization, Christian education, and  intercultural ministry. Team members also have represented the Church of t he Brethren through a variety of ecumenical assignments.

The original vision was for a Congregational Life Team of between 15 and 17  staff members, working in five geographic areas across the country. The cu rrent redesign of the program has become necessary "not because the CLT mod el was not working, but with the necessity to do ministry with less staff,"  Shively said.

The two new director-level positions will emphasize building capacity for l eadership in local congregations and districts. Staff will shift from point -of-service ministries in geographic areas to ministries that build up cong regational leadership and develop networks to exchange services and resourc es throughout the denomination.

"The denomination's role shifts from trying to address the wide range of sp ecific, individualized needs to building intentional resource networks and  increasing the capacity of disciples at all layers of the church's life to  lead one another effectively and faithfully," Shively said.

The new director-level position for Transforming Practices will focus on he lping leaders influence change, expand mission, cultivate evangelism, and a ssist the church through the process of transformation. A director of Spiri tual Life and Discipleship will promote discipleship, resource spiritual fo rmation, and facilitate understanding of congregational ethics guidelines.

In addition, former Congregational Life Team member Ruben Deoleo will conti nue on staff as director of Intercultural Ministries responsible for equipp ing the denomination toward its intercultural vision and commitments. Chris  Douglas continues as director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, which p rovides leadership in understanding youth and young adult culture, trains t he church for ministry with young people, and provides programmatic opportu nities for youth and young adults.

For more information about the redesign of Congregational Life Ministries,  contact executive director Jonathan Shively at jshively_gb@brethren.org or  800-323-8039.

>Washington Office:

Following the closing of the Washington Office, Jay Wittmeyer, executive di rector of Global Mission Partnerships, will be structuring a listening proc ess to gather broad denominational feedback for reshaping the way the churc h carries out the work of witness, peacebuilding, and justice.

As the listening process takes shape, executive staff emphasized that the C hurch of the Brethren will continue its longstanding relationships with par tners in peacemaking, continues to have representatives on the boards of ec umenical institutions to speak out and support the denomination's witness f or peace and justice, will continue giving grants to peace partners such as  Churches for Middle East Peace, continues the practice of the general secr etary signing on to advocacy statements from the National Council of Church es and other ecumenical bodies, continues advocacy for healthcare reform th rough the Caring Ministries and the Fellowship of Brethren Homes, and will  continue providing opportunities and events such as the Christian Citizensh ip Seminar.

Some of the work responsibilities of the Washington Office will be centered  at the General Offices, including resources to be made available through t he Global Missions Partnerships office, online resources to support efforts  for peace witness, continuing Faith Expeditions, opportunities for politic al advocacy, and the work of the church to support conscientious objection.

The conscientious objection work is extremely important to the Church of th e Brethren, Wittmeyer said, and will be done through the office of Global M ission Partnerships at the church's General Offices. At that location, indi vidual conscientious objector files may be kept safe in the vault in the Br ethren Historical Library and Archives.

Services or functions previously handled by the Washington Office should be  channeled through the Global Mission Partnerships office; call 800-323-803 9. The upcoming Christian Citizenship Seminar that has been co-sponsored by  the Brethren Witness/Washington Office and the Youth and Young Adult Minis try will be led by Chris Douglas, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministr y.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continu ing 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 t raditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated it s 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts more than 125,000 members across the  United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nig eria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org