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[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Newsline     September 19, 1996
Date:      Sept. 11, 1997
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

1) Annual Conference Moderator David Wine releases the first issue of his 
          newsletter.
2) Over 3,000 Gift of the Heart kits were constructed by Brethren from April
through August.
3) The Ethics in Ministry Relations paper approved this summer at Annual
Conference should 
          replace all other ethics papers, says the paper's writing
committee.
4) Brethren Revival Fellowship makes several decisions at its annual meeting.
5) Don Miller signs a National Council of Churches statement on Iraq.
6) The General Board staff welcome a visitor from Iraq on Sept. 20.
7) Two Andrew Center seminars to take place this weekend.
8) A Brethren joins the staff of the New Sudan Council of Churches.
9) The 1996 Urban Peace Tour kicks off at Bethany Theological Seminary next
week.
10) The October SOURCE packet is in the mail.

1) The first issue of ModCob (which stands for Moderator of the Church of the
Brethren), a new monthly newsletter designed to keep the denomination in
touch with its Annual Conference moderator, David Wine, is being sent to
recipients this week. "In this time of great change in society and the Church
of the Brethren, I really believe that Annual Conference needs to be the
stabilizing 'umbrella' that holds the fabric of the Church of the Brethren
together," Wine said. The newsletter will be sent to pastors, district
leaders and executives, Standing Committee members, congregational delegates
and General Board employees. The newsletter will be used as a vehicle to
answer many of the questions Wine is asked by Brethren he meets during his
travels as moderator. Also included in each issue is the moderator's travel
schedule. To contact Wine, write: 1425 3200 Ave., Abilene KS 67410; call: 800
255-1243, ext. 11; fax: 800 238-7535; or e-mail: dwine@maabrethren.com.

In other Annual Conference news, submissions for the Annual Conference 1997
logo, based on the theme "Count Well the Cost," are due Nov. 8. Drawings and
explanations of the logos should be sent to Annual Conference, 1451 Dundee
Ave., Elgin IL 60120; call: 800 323 8039; e-mail: Annualconf@AOL.Com.

2) According to figures supplied by the Brethren Service Center, New Windsor,
Md., 3,115 Gift of the Heart kits were constructed by Brethren from April
through August and delivered to the Maryland facility. Many of these school
and health kits, which contain staples not readily available in developing or
war-torn countries, will be sent to people of the former Yugoslavia. School
kits include pencils, eraser, ruler, crayons and more; health kits include a
toothbrush and toothpaste, comb, band aids and more. Since 1995, over 8,200
kits have been constructed by Brethren.

3) With the adoption of the Ethics in Ministry Relations paper by the 1996
Annual Conference, the committee responsible for writing the paper is
recommending that congregations, church boards and ministry commissions
discontinue using previous ethics papers, replacing them with the 1996 paper.
"We are concerned that people will be confused with the different editions
floating around," said Jan Eller, co-director of Ministry for the General
Board and member of the committee assigned to write the Ethics in Ministry
paper. "We want to make sure that we are all using the correct document.

"We anticipate that pastors and church board chairs will want to have copies
of the ethics paper, as well as district ministry commissions and boards,"
Eller said. "The revision of the paper has produced a very readable and
usable paper." The paper is available for $2.50 from Brethren Press -- call:
800 441-3712; email: Brethren.Press.parti@Ecunet.Org

4) Over 140 people from ten districts attended Brethren Revival Fellowship's
annual meeting last weekend at Harris Creek (Ohio) Church of the Brethren.
According to Harold Martin, a member of the BRF Committee, Dean Garrett,
pastor of Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren, near Union City, Ind., was
elected to the BRF Committee for a four-year term. Kenneth Leininger, Denver,
Pa., and David Kent, St. Thomas, Pa., were re-elected to five-year terms. The
1997 annual meeting has been scheduled for June 29 at the Lindsay (Calif.)
Community Church of the Brethren.

5) General Secretary Donald Miller signed a statement of concern on Iraq this
week with 20 other heads of communions. The signers of the statement, which
was produced and released by the National Council of Churches, wrote of their
disapproval of the actions of Sadaam Hussein and the U.S. military, while
drawing attention to the Iraqi people and their hardships. "We voice our
insistence that U.S. actions as well as the actions of other nations be
informed of the consequences for all who may be caught in the potential
violence and for their families," the statement reads. "We urge all
governments, including our own, to pursue a course of discernment, diplomacy
and cooperation that will both protect human life and embody the responsible
uses of power."

6) In other news concerning Iraq, the Church of the Brethren General Board
staff will host Michael Nahhal, relief coordinator in Iraq for the Middle
East Council of Churches, on Sept. 20 at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill.
Since 1991, Nahhal has served the Middle East Council of Churches, an agency
of which the Church of the Brethren is a partner. "We invited Nahhal to the
General Offices for the alternative perspective to what is happening in
Iraq," said Mervin Keeney, representative for Africa and the Middle East.
Nahhal is visiting the U.S. with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
International Peacemaker Program. 

7) The Andrew Center is sponsoring two congregational events on Sept. 21. Bob
Kettering, interim director of The Andrew Center, will focus on "The Hard
Lessons of Church Growth" in a Teaching Church event at the Waterbrook
Brethren Church, Woodstock, Va. On the same day, Steve Clapp, senior
consultant, will lead "Building Congregational Self-Esteem and Outreach" at
First Church of the Brethren, Wichita, Kan. For information on The Andrew
Center events, call 800 774-3360; e-mail Cob.Evang.parti@Ecunet.Org.

8) Merlyn Kettering began serving as organizational consultant for the New
Sudan Council of Churches in July. Kettering, who has over 20 years of
development management experience, will serve the NSCC in capacity building
and institutional development. Kettering resides in Nairobi, Kenya, with his
wife and two children. Most recently Kettering served in the Caribbean,
Africa and Asia on projects funded by the U.S. Agency of International
Development and the World Bank.

9) The 1996 Church of the Brethren Urban Peace Tour is set to begin Sept. 25
at Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, Ind. The tour will visit five
Church of the the Brethren congregations in Ohio and Indiana between Sept. 25
and Sept. 29, and is sponsored by the General Board's Urban Ministry program.
The tour includes the Bittersweet Gospel Band of Los Angeles and 15-20 people
from various Brethren urban churches. The tour schedule is:

Sept. 25: Bethany Seminary, Richmond, Ind.
Sept. 25: Castine Church of the Brethren, Arcanum, Ohio
Sept. 26: Oakland Church of the Brethren, Gettysburg, Ohio
Sept. 27: Lower Miami Church of the Brethren, Dayton, Ohio
Sept. 28: Ashland-Dickey Church of the Brethren, Ashland, Ohio
Sept. 29: Pleasant Dale Church of the Brethren, Decatur, Ind.

10) The October SOURCE resource packet was sent to congregational leaders
during this past week. Included in this month's packet are various resources
including how to legally involve congregations in the political process, the
1997 Living Word Bulletins catalog, a petition on climate change, information
on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the "Journal of Stewardship" and
many other resources. To subscribe to the SOURCE mailing list, call 800
323-8039, ext. 262; email: CobNews@AOL.Com

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