wfn.org | Newsline for Aug. 12, 1997

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Newsline                                         Aug. 12, 1997
1) The Fall 1997 Peace Academy for senior high youth is
        announced. 
2) Atlantic Northeast District opens its search for an executive.
3) On Earth Peace Assembly to honor three people at its 1997
        Recognition Day. 
4) Two teams of Brethren youth conclude their summer ministries
        this weekend. 
5) The 1998 Professional Growth Event of the Church of the
        Brethren Association of Christian Educators (CoBACE) 
        is scheduled. 
6) An ecumenical "journey in faith" for church educators,
        pastors, teachers and other educational leaders is
        scheduled for Feb. 3-6, 1999, in Chicago. 
7) An essay contest for youth and young adults is announced by
        the World Council of Churches. 
8) 120 Church of the Brethren congregations to be included in a
        two-year research project.  

1) The Fall 1997 Peace Academy for senior high youth, sponsored
by On Earth Peace Assembly, is schedule for Nov. 8-9 at the
Brethren Service Center, New Windsor, Md. This event is for youth
who want to learn "how to resolve conflict, how to be a peace
advocate, how to engage our global world."  

In addition to a worship service, the two-day event will consist
of four sessions -- Peace in our lives: How can we resolve
conflict?; Peace in our communities: What does it mean to be an
advocate?; Peace in our world: What does one person do?; and
Integrating what we've learned.  

Cost is $35, although $15 scholarships are available.
Registration forms are due by Oct. 15. To receive a form or for
more information, contact Kate Johnson at 410 635-8706 or write
to On.Earth.Peace.Assembly.parti@Ecunet.Org.   

2) Atlantic Northeast District has announced its search for an
executive, who will succeed Allen Hansell. Hansell in October
joins the Church of the Brethren General Board as director of
Ministry.  

The executive's responsibilities are to provide leadership to the
district's board members and personnel, and to congregations and
pastors within the district.  

Qualifications include having a commitment to Jesus Christ and to
New Testament values, strong management and administrative
skills, and strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Pastoral experience and ordination are strongly preferred.  

Letters of interest and resumes should be sent to Office of
District Ministry, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin IL 60120. All
application materials are due Oct. 1.   

3) On Earth Peace Assembly's 1997 Recognition Day is scheduled
for Oct. 4 at the Brethren Service Center, New Windsor, Md.   

As part of the day's activities, Dale Aukerman and Parenting for
Peace & Justice Network will receive the M.R. Zigler Peacemaking
Recognition; Marie Hamilton will receive the Barbara Date
Recognition.  

The M.R. Zigler Peacemaking Recognition is given in
acknowledgement of the life of Christian peacemaking lived by
M.R. Zigler, OEPA's founder. People or organizations selected to
receive this recognition "have demonstrated a consistent
Christian peacemaking lifestyle which OEPA feels can be held up,
looked at and emulated." According to OEPA's release, Aukerman is
a minister, author and leader of the Mid-Atlantic Peace
Fellowship. He is a former director of Brethren Action Movement
and an adherent to the simple life. The Parenting for Peace &
Justice Network is an interfaith, interracial, transnational
association of families of all descriptions who seek "shalom" in
their living situations and in their broader community.  

The Barbara Date recognition is given in honor of Date's work as
a reconciler. She was the first staff member of the Church of the
Brethren Ministry of Reconciliation. Marie Hamilton is a
reconciler known for her prison ministry work and for advocating
reform within the criminal justice system.  

Other activities scheduled for Recognition Day include the OEPA
Board of Directors meeting, a time for board members to vote on
proposed bylaw changes, and nearly two hours of family
activities.  

For more information, contact Kate Johnson at 410 635-8706 or
write to On.Earth.Peace.Assembly.parti@Ecunet.Org.   

4) After spending the summer dealing with peace issues or with
conflict resolution and mediation skills, two teams of youth will
conclude their duties with a debriefing later this week at the
Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.  

The four-person Youth Peace Travel Team -- Mike Brinkmeier, Pearl
City, Ill.; Jackie Hartley, Lewistown, Pa.; Jessica Lehman,
Elgin, Ill.; and Nathan Musselman, Roanoke, Va. -- visited
Brethren camps throughout the summer, focusing on peace education
and youth empowerment. This seven-year-old program is sponsored
by Youth/Young Adult Ministry, Denominational Peace Witness, On
Earth Peace Assembly and Outdoor Ministries.   

On Earth Peace Assembly's 1997 Conflict Resolution Team also
concludes its service this week. The seven youth who completed
their terms were assigned to four Brethren camps, working with
staff, counselors and campers on conflict resolution and
mediation skills. 

Serving at Camp Mardela, Denton, Md., were Chris Power of Prairie
City (Iowa) Church of the Brethren and Madylyn Metzger of
Springfield (Ill.) Church of the Brethren. Serving at Shepherd's
Spring, Sharpsburg, Md., was Jessica Hunter of San Diego First
(Calif.) Church of the Brethren. Serving at Camp Swatara, Bethel,
Pa., was Jim Lucas of Antioch (Va.) Church of the Brethren and
Erin Gratz of La Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren. Serving
at Camp Eder, Fairfield, Pa., was Brian Bucher of North
Manchester (Ind.) Church of the Brethren and Sara Stover of
Quinter (Kan.) Church of the Brethren.  

To conclude their summertime service, the young adults will spend
Friday and Saturday in consultation with Tom Hurst and Kate
Johnson, director and program director of On Earth Peace
Assembly, respectively.   

5) The 1998 Professional Growth Event of the Church of the
Brethren Association of Christian Educators (CoBACE) is scheduled
for March 4-6 at Lindenwood Retreat Center in Donaldson, Ind., 25
miles south of South Bend, Ind. "Spicing up the seasons," the
event's theme, will address "a wealth of ideas for making the
seasons of the church year come alive for all ages." Guest
presenter will be Phyllis Wezeman, director of Parish Resource
Center, South Bend. CoBACE's membership consists of about 100
teachers, pastors and other educators within the Church of the
Brethren. Its event at Annual Conference routinely draws 30-50
people. For more information on "Spicing up the seasons," contact
Larry Dentler, CoBACE chair, at 717 292-1861.  

6) An ecumenical "journey in faith" for church educators,
pastors, teachers and other educational leaders, has been
scheduled for Feb. 3-6, 1999, in Chicago. Theme of the event is
"http://FaithOdyssey.edu: God's People Transformed for the 21st
Century." This Ecumenical Church Educators event is sponsored by
the Church of the Brethren and 12 other religious organizations.
June Gibble, the General Board's departing director of
Congregational Nurture, and Donna Forbes Steiner, associate
executive of the Church of the Brethren's Atlantic Northeast
District, have served on this event's ecumenical planning
committee. The last such event, called "Imagine All Things New,"
was held in 1993 and was attended by about 50 Brethren.  

Additional information is expected to be released in early 1998.
For more information, call Forbes Steiner at 717 367-4730.   

7) A well-crafted essay on the topic of "Jubilee" is the ticket
needed by one youth or young adult to get to Southern Africa in
late 1998. As part of the World Council of Churches' 1998 World
Assembly, scheduled for Dec. 3-14, in Harare, Zimbabwe, the WCC
is sponsoring a biblical essay contest. First prize is an
all-expenses-paid trip to the assembly.  

"The subject of Jubilee has been chosen because the next WCC
assembly will take place in the organization's 50th anniversary
year," said Jan Kok, director of the WCC's Communication office.
The assembly's theme, "Turn to God -- Rejoice in Hope," is based
on Leviticus 25 and Luke 4:18-19.  

Entrants must be born on Jan. 1, 1964, or thereafter, because,
according to the WCC, it is aware "of the continuing need to
widen the circle of those who are involved in the ecumenical
movement."  

Entry deadline is May 1, 1998. For more information, write to WCC
Publications, Assembly Essay Competition, P.O. Box 2100, 1211
Geneva 2, Switzerland, or ec@wcc-coe.org.   

8) One hundred twenty Church of the Brethren congregations are
going to be surveyed over the next two years as part of "The
American Congregational Resource Study," a two-year project of
the Protestant Church-owned Publishers Association. Brethren
Press, the Church of the Brethren publishing house, and the
publishing houses of about 35 Protestant denominations, serve as
members of this association. A sampling of some congregations
from each participating member will be included in the survey.  

The project's goal is to understand congregational resource
needs, and to determine how publishers can best provide these
resources.  

Reginald Bibby, a sociologist at University of Lethbridge,
Alberta, Canada, will serve as principal researcher. Funding for
this project is being provided by Lilly Endowment, Inc.   

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