wfn.org | CoB Newsline- Andrew Center, John Kline, women's program, Bethany

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      June 13, 1997
Contact:  Paula Wilding
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline           June 13, 1997  

Newsline for the week of June 13. In the news today:  1

) Ecumenical partners meet to decide the future of The Andrew 
     Center. 
2) More than 1,000 people are expected to attend the John Kline 
     200th birthday celebration this weekend. 
3) Bethany Theological Seminary announces several staff changes.
4) Three General Board Refugee Resettlement staff attended the
     Joint National Conference on immigration last week. 
5) The future of women's programs will be discussed in a 
     September meeting.  

1) The future of The Andrew Center, the Church of the Brethren
General Board's evangelism ministry, was the focus of a meeting
of Andrew Center leaders and ecumenical partners, May 30-31 in
Chicago. Twenty people from seven Anabaptist denominations and
church groups proposed creating a new organization called "New
Life Ministries" to succeed The Andrew Center. Funding to the
center by the General Board is scheduled to cease at the end of
this year as a result of the Board's redesign. However, the Board
has chosen to retain its ownership of The Andrew Center name.  

New Life Ministries will be governed by an Evangelism Management
Team consisting of representatives from participating
denominations and institutions. Possibilities for the future
include establishing a satellite office in Canada; planning
regional New Life Assemblies, seminars and training events;
adding church planting to the center's focus of evangelism and
church vitality; replacing the "New Beginnings" newsletter with a
one-page monthly mailing; outsourcing published materials to
LifeQuest (Christian Community) and to the Shalom Foundation
(publishers of "Together"); and establishing a site on the World
Wide Web.  

Participating organizations of the new center include the Church
of the Brethren, Brethren in Christ, Mennonite Brethren, the
merging Mennonite Church, the Ashland Brethren, the Shalom
Foundation, various Canadian Mennonite groups, Brethren and
Mennonite seminaries, Eastern Mennonite Seminary's John Coffman
Center for Evangelism and Church Planting, and Associated
Mennonite Biblical Seminary's Mission Training Center.  

The next step for participating organizations will come in the
fall, when they address their individual boards, requesting that
they be permitted to participate in this new venture. Funding for
the center -- $120,000 for a "bare-bones budget," according to an
Andrew Center press release -- will come from denominational
grants, sales and service of outreach materials, seminars and
contributions.   

2) A big birthday celebration with more than 1,000 people
expected to attend is scheduled for the 200th anniversary of John
Kline's birth this weekend at and around the Linville Creek
Church of the Brethren, Broadway, Va. Sponsored by the Linville
Creek congregation and Shenandoah District, and endorsed by the
Brethren Historical Library and Archives and the Brethren
Historical Committee, the celebration will feature six tours,
including John Kline's home; 15 exhibits; presentations; a dinner
theater and puppet play; and many other events for people of all
ages.  

John Kline, 1797-1864, lived in the Broadway, Va., area and was
known as a church leader. Kline traveled much, especially during
the Civil War as he spoke with leaders on both sides to exclude
Brethren from military service due to their beliefs. Kline
attended three Annual Meetings in the North during the Civil War
and secured passes that allowed him to pass across military
lines. Kline was murdered in 1864 near his home as he returned
from a visit. Kline is known as the "most significant Brethren
martyr," according to the "Brethren Encyclopedia."   

The Elder John Kline Bicentennial Celebration planning committee
sent a resource packet to all congregations in December that
includes registration information and event descriptions. For
more information, contact Shenandoah District at (540) 879-2515
or Jim.Miller.parti@Ecunet.Org; or Linville Creek pastor Paul
Roth at (540) 896-5001 or Proth@Bridgewater.Edu.   

3) Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, Ind., announced one
permanent and three interim appointments last week. Tricia Sadd
has been named coordinator of Academic Services, effective July
1. Sadd is a member of Chiques Church of the Brethren, Manheim,
Pa. She is a 1997 Bethany graduate, having earned a Master's of
Theology degree with distinction.  

Fred Bernhard and Bill Kidwell will serve as Campus Ministers on
an interim basis for the 1997-98 school year. Bernhard, who
pastors Oakland Church of the Brethren, Gettysburg, Ohio, served
as 1996 Annual Conference moderator. He also has served as an
adjunct faculty member at Bethany. Kidwell is a retired Church of
the Brethren pastor who has served on Bethany's Alumni
Coordinating Council. Both men hold degrees from Bethany.  

James Bowyer will serve as interim Choir and Music Director for
Bethany and Earlham School of Religion during the 1997-98 school
year. Bowyer will succeed Nancy Faus, who is retiring on June 30.
He is currently a student at Bethany and expects to complete his
degree program next May.   

4) Three staff from the General Board's Refugee and Resettlement
Office attended last week's Joint National Conference, sponsored
by Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program,
Episcopal Migration Ministries and Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service. Jane Yount, Tommy Tomic and Alex Kirkulescu met
with nearly 400 other conference participants in Arlington, Va.,
June 3-8, to discuss advocacy and continued partnership between
agencies dealing with immigration issues and immigrants. The
three Brethren representatives, all based at the Brethren Service
Center, New Windsor, Md., met with congressional representatives
Barbara Mukulski, Robert Erlich and Benjamin Cardin to discuss
concerns related to anti-immigration legislation.   

5) The future of women's programs in the Church of the Brethren
will be the focus of the National Women's Council of the Church
of the Brethren's Summit Meeting, Sept. 12-14, at Northview
Church of the Brethren, Indianapolis. As part of its redesign the
General Board approved reducing its funding for women's
ministries at the national level. Thus, National Women's Council
is inviting women from across the denomination to attend the
consultation to determine the scope of women's ministries in the
future. Women from each Church of the Brethren district have been
invited to attend the summit. For more information, contact
Cynthia Mason, National Women's Council volunteer coordinator, at
814 466-6101.   

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