wfn.org | CoB Newsline- Brethren homes, North Korea, BRF, BMC

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      May 30, 1997
Contact:  Paula Wilding
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline           May 30, 1997  

Newsline for the week of May 30. In the news today:  

1) Representatives from Brethren homes and districts will meet 
      for "Brethren Homes Forum on Collaboration," 
      Sunday-Tuesday. 
2) The seeds donated by the Church of the Brethren to North Korea 
      to help stave off imminent famine appear to be yielding "an
      excellent crop." 
3) Jimmy Ross, Annual Conference moderator-elect, undergoes 
      prostate cancer surgery. 
4) David Eller is named director of Elizabethtown College's Young 
      Center. 
5) An Emergency Disaster Fund grant of $10,000 is made in 
      response to an earthquake in Iran. 
6) The Brethren Bible Institute is scheduled for July 28-Aug. 1.
7) Brethren Revival Fellowship will sponsor several events at and 
      around Annual Conference. 
8) Brethren/Mennonite Council for Lesbian and Gay Concerns will 
      hold two events in conjunction with Annual Conference.   

1) Ways that the 25 Church of the Brethren retirement centers,
nursing homes and long-term care facilities can work
cooperatively with each other, with the denomination's 23
districts and with other organizations will be the focus of
"Brethren Homes Forum on Collaboration," June 1-3, in New
Windsor, Md. The forum will be sponsored by Fellowship of
Brethren Homes Steering Committee and the Association of Brethren
Caregivers. Michael Winer, consultant for the American
Association of Homes and Services to the Aging, will provide
leadership.  

The 25 Brethren retirement centers, nursing homes and long-term
care facilities are home to over 6,000 people. Operating budgets
range from $1.6 million to $17 million. But, according Cheryl
Cayford, interim associate director of ABC, in the June/July
"Agenda," all of the homes are faced with external influences --
regulators, health insurance companies, media, diverse
constituencies, accreditors, third-party payers, the practice of
managed care, labor unions and biomedical ethics. With so many
involved factors, the forum was designed to help the homes and
their staffs provide the best possible care. The forum will also
focus how the homes can work with Church of the Brethren
districts and organizations.  

"Planners of the forum hope that amid such wide diversity and
incessant challenges, Brethren homes and church leaders will
become increasingly intentional about working together for the
benefit of residents, the homes and the church," said Cayford.  

Panalists participating in the forum include Bob Cain, executive
director of the Brethren's Home, Greenville, Ohio; Nevin
Dulabaum, manager of News and Information Services for the
General Board; Warren Eshbach, former Southern Pennsylvania
District executive; Ron and Harriet Finney, co-executives of
South/Central Indiana District; Jeff Garber, director of
Insurance Plans for Brethren Benefit Trust; Rodney Mason,
president of Peter Becker Community, Harleysville, Pa.; Karen
Miller, interim General Secretary of the General Board; Wil
Nolen, president of Brethren Benefit Trust; and Brent Styan,
president of Anabaptist Risk Management.   

2) Nearly all of the barley seeds sent by the Church of the
Brethren to North Korea are growing. That's the word that David
Radcliff, director of the General Board's Denominational Peace
Witness, has received regarding the seeds provided earlier this
year by a grant from the Emergency Disaster Fund. "Germination
has been close to 100 percent in many fields, and it looks to be
an excellent crop," said Kim Joo of Minneapolis, a North
Korean-born agronomist who is working with the Church of the
Brethren on its food programs for North Korea, including the
March appeal by the Global Food Crisis Fund for $75,000 to be
raised to purchase corn seeds. Joo recently oversaw the arrival
and distribution of the corn seeds to several farms. While on
that trip, Joo visited several areas hit hardest by the famine
and reported the poor conditions of a hospital, as well as the
state of people affected by the famine.  

"While the situation remains critical, Brethren have played a
significant role in providing food to the people of North Korea
in their time of need," Radcliff said.   

3) The initial report following the prostate surgery of Jimmy
Ross, 1997 Annual Conference moderator-elect and pastor of Lititz
(Pa.) Church of the Brethren, is positive. According to Tracy
Wenger Sadd, pastor of Lititz's Christian Nurture, the surgery on
Wednesday went as planned and Ross is expected to return home on
Saturday. Ross will receive news today if further surgery or care
is needed.   

4) David Eller has been named director of Elizabethtown (Pa.)
College's Young Center for the Study of Anabaptist and Pietist
Groups, effective Aug. 15. Eller, a member of Green Tree Church
of the Brethren, Oaks, Pa., is currently the executive director
of Swedenborg Foundation, West Chester, Pa. Along with his
directorship of the Young Center, Eller will serve as professor
of history and religious studies.  

"Dr. Eller comes as an accomplished teacher, publisher and
scholar with strong leadership experience," said Theodore Long,
Elizabethtown president. "Highly regarded by his colleagues for
his professional achievements, he also has deep roots in the
Anabaptist heritage and will be able to work quite effectively
among the multiple constituencies of the Young Center." Eller has
contributed to "The Brethren Encyclopedia," "Brethren Life and
Thought" and "Messenger," and has held positions with Brethren
Press and Bethany Theological Seminary.   

5) About 4,000 people were killed, 6,000 seriously injured, and
50,000 left homeless as a result of a strong earthquake May 10 in
Iran. A grant of $10,000 was allocated last week from the
Emergency Disaster Fund to help those who were left homeless. The
grant will used by the Middle East Council of Churches and the
Iranian Red Crescent Society to purchase food, clothes, blankets
and other necessities.   

6) The 24th Annual Brethren Bible Institute will be held July
28-Aug. 1, at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College. The conference, which
is sponsored by Brethren Revival Fellowship, will include the
following courses: "Old Testament Survey," "Personal Evangelism,"
"The Life of David," "Homiletics," "Bible Geography," "The
Supporting Cast," "Church History," "Studies in Ephesians" and
"Studies in the Sermon on the Mount." For more information or to
register, write to Brethren Bible Institute, 155 Denver Rd.,
Denver, PA 17517.   

7) Brethren Revival Fellowship will sponsor several events prior
to and at Annual Conference. BRF's Annual Meeting, the first to
be held west of the Mississippi River, will be held June 29 at
Lindsay (Calif.) Church of the Brethren. "BRF Goals for Renewal
in the Church of the Brethren" will be the conference theme.
Leadership will include Harold Martin, James Myer, Tim Snell,
David Rittenhouse and Ken Leininger. BRF will sponsor three
events at Annual Conference -- an intercessory prayer time on
Tuesday, July 1; a dinner on Thursday, July 3; and a luncheon on
Saturday, July 5. For more information on any of the BRF events,
contact BRF at 717 626-5555.   

8) Brethren/Mennonite Council for Lesbian and Gay Concerns is
sponsoring two events in conjunction with Annual Conference.
"Wade on in -- Dancing at the Water's Edge," will be held June
28-30 at La Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren. BMC also will
sponsor a luncheon on Thursday, July 3, at Annual Conference. Eva
ODiam, former BMC board member and current pastor of Metropolitan
Community Church of the Spirit, Harrisburg, Pa., will be the
keynote speaker. For more information on either of these events,
contact BMC at 612 722-6906 or at BMCouncil@AOL.Com.   

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