wfn.org | Newsline - Church of the Brethren weekly news update

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      Jan. 9, 1998
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline                                 Jan. 9, 1997 

News 
1) The Manchester Church of the Brethren, North Manchester, Ind.,
     was destroyed Wednesday by fire. 
2) A Manchester congregation member reflects on what was lost,
     but what was saved. 
3) The Butler Chapel A.M.E. church in Orangeburg, S.C. will be
     dedicated this weekend. 
4) WWW.Brethren.Org, the new official denominational web site, is
     now online with information about the Butler Chapel 
     dedication and the Manchester church burning. 
5) The site committee assessing the future location of the
     General Board's centralized offices convenes, tours the
     General Offices in Elgin, Ill. 
6) The General Board's Executive Director Search Committee
     convenes. 
7) The General Board's Congregational Life Team coordinators
     convene for the first time to begin implementing the new
     ministry of the General Board and the districts. 
8) Carol Yeazell is named to a dual General Board/district
     position. 
9) The first Older Adult workcamp, sponsored by Association of
     Brethren Caregivers, is being held this week in Puerto Rico.
10) June Gibble joins Association of Brethren Caregivers as a
     part-time field staff. 
11) The General Board announces a half-time opening for an area
     financial resource counselor, to be located west of the
     Mississippi River.  
12) A shipment of typewriters and books donated by Brethren
     arrives in Nigeria. 
13) A retreat for families with gay and lesbian members, to be
     led by Debbie Eisenbise and Lee Krahenbuhl, is scheduled for
     March 20-22. 
14) The top three finalists of the National Youth Conference
     Speech Contest will be offered scholarships at Manchester
     College if they study religion or philosophy. 
15) Travel seminars to Russia for young adults and adults are
     being offered this summer by the National Council of
     Churches.  

Feature 
16) Brethren Volunteer Service worker Torin Eikenberry, who spent
     much of 1997 assisting in the reconstruction of the Butler
     Chapel A.M.E. church, describes his experience.     

1) The Manchester Church of the Brethren, North Manchester, Ind.,
was destroyed Wednesday by a fierce fire that was responded to by
10 area fire departments. Firefighters were on the scene most of
the day Wednesday after the fire was first reported by a
Manchester police officer at 2:06 a.m., while on his routine
nightly patrol.    

According to the Manchester News-Journal, it took more than 30
minutes to get an aerial fire truck on the scene, as the local
fire department does not have such equipment. The aerial fire
truck that did assist in dousing the blaze came from Wabash, a
20-mile trip. It was reported that firefighters were hampered in
dousing the blaze due to the fact that the church's natural gas
cutoff valve was located inside the building, preventing
firefighters from turning off the gas for some time.  

The intensity of the fire was evident from the fact that
raindrops poured in North Manchester Wednesday evening and well
into Thursday, and yet firefighters were reportedly called back
to the scene Thursday morning to extinguish the smoldering embers
located in a heap of what had served as the sanctuary.   

"It's a real overwhelming experience, a devastating experience,"
said Susan Boyer, pastor.  The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms arrived on the scene Wednesday and will spend
several days determining the cause of the fire, a normal response
by the agency, even though there is no indication of foul play. 

About 150 church members gathered in the pouring rain Wednesday
night for a short time of worship and prayer. This Sunday's
service, a time for grieving and worship, said Boyer, will be
held at the local high school. Until further notice, worship
services thereafter will be held at Manchester College's Cordier
Auditorium.  

Though the sanctuary is gutted, the newest addition that was
built in the 1970s  which included the Jubilee room, rest rooms
and the church's elevator  was relatively unscathed. So, too, was
a new $1.4 million Christian education wing that was under
construction at the opposite end of the building. The church's
offices and nursery school are housed on-site but in other
buildings, and thus were not affected.  

As of noon Thursday the estimated monetary damage to the church
had not been determined, said David Wine, president of Mutual Aid
Association, the Brethren-affiliated organization that insures
the Manchester church and about half of the 1,100 Church of the
Brethren congregations. Three MAA staffers  Glenn Welborn,
director of Loss Services; Debbi Hanson, director of Marketing;
and Jo Schwartz, director of Customer Services  all members of
Buckeye Church of the Brethren, Abilene, Kan.  were en route to
North Manchester Thursday to provide monetary adjustment services
and emotional support through counseling. "Clearly we take our
affiliation with the Church of the Brethren very seriously," Wine
said. "We feel we need to be the church at times like these."  

Some of the items lost can't be replaced by an insurance company,
such as the 20 baby quilts produced by the congregation's
quilting club, which were bundled up, ready for shipment to
Bethany Hospital in Chicago. Also lost by the club were five
sewing machines and a comforter, which, ironically, was made to
be handed out in case a local family lost its home due to fire.  

While church members are devastated about losing their house of
worship, they are aware that the church is the people, said
Boyer, who added the congregation is blessed that no one was
hurt.  

In a strong show of support, local congregations of the Church of
the Brethren and other faith backgrounds have overwhelmed the
Manchester congregation with tangible offers of support, Boyer
said. "We really would appreciate people's prayers for us as we
seek to hear God's vision for us and the church."  

A rebuilding fund has been established at the Indiana Lawrence
Bank, 106 N. Market Street, North Manchester, IN 46962. Letters
containing contributions to the fund should be clearly marked
with the words "Manchester Church Reconstruction."   

2) Wednesday night's vigil beside the shell of the Manchester
Church of the Brethren was attended by about 150 people,
including member Julie Garber, who serves as book and curriculum
editor for Brethren Press -- 

"As I stood shoulder to shoulder in the pouring rain Wednesday
night after the fire, I remembered that just Sunday in worship I
had been looking around the sanctuary thinking how plain, how
austere it was. I wasn't sorry; I was glad for the simplicity.   

"The real beauty in the congregation is in people such as
Elizabeth Gaier, who, as a teenager, made gigantic silhouettes of
Bethlehem from garbage bags to cover the barnish walls of the
sanctuary one Christmas. And philosopher-farmer Bob Beery. And
full-of-life Tim Rieman. And storyteller Joan Deeter. And
rich-voiced Marilyn Yoder. And Claire Brumbaugh-Smith, chirping
during the children's story. And John Fuller, the blind man who
could "see" everything. And the stately Edward Kintner in his
plain coat and button-up shoes. And hundreds of others who grace
and adorn the church.  

"Thank God they were standing there with me in body and spirit,
unscathed by fire. Even my life-long friend, Wendy Gratz, was
there. She had grown up in the church, but had long since married
into the Jewish faith. She, her husband, Lou, and the children
stood with us. We as a congregation lost a meetinghouse. We saved
a church."   

3) In March 1996, the Butler Chapel A.M.E. church in Orangeburg,
S.C., was destroyed by fire, one of more than 100 black churches
to be burned in a wave of race-related church burnings in
southern states over a two-year period. The burning of that small
congregation in that small town had no impact at the time on the
Church of the Brethren, as neither knew the other existed.  

However, the Church of the Brethren General Board and its
Emergency Response/Service Ministries decided to reach out to
sisters and brothers of faith, joining the movement of the
National Council of Churches to help rebuild some of the burned
black churches. Because of that, the lives of Brethren and Butler
Chapel members will forever be tied.  

Throughout much of 1997, Emergency Response/Service Ministries
was on-site at Butler Chapel, coordinating the rebuilding of that
congregation's church. The Church of the Brethren disaster
ministry and Brethren districts and congregations provided about
two-thirds of the labor that went into rebuilding the church, as
other groups and organizations looking to help rebuild a burnt
church were also assigned to Butler Chapel. In all, 197 Brethren
volunteered to work on the project, for a total of 1,140 work
days and 9,120 hours, labor that is valued at $109,440.  

Now that the building is completed, the celebrating begins. Today
through Sunday Butler Chapel will be holding a series of
dedication-service-related activities, with the dedication of the
building being held Sunday afternoon. Many Brethren will be in
attendance, with some traveling together on a bus supplied by
York (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren.  

Newsline will have a comprehensive report of the dedication next
week, and the event will also be covered in the March issue of
Messenger.   

4) Additional stories and pictures of the Manchester Church and
the Butler Chapel rebuilding are available at
http://WWW.Brethren.Org/genbd/rebuild.htm, the official Church of
the Brethren denominational web site. A full report on the Butler
Chapel dedication weekend will be posted on that web site by 6
p.m. Central Monday.   

The web site, a cooperative project among Bethany Theological
Seminary, Brethren Benefit Trust, Brethren Employee's Credit
Union and the General Board, is not fully operational at this
time, but does include the seminary's complete web site in
addition to the Manchester and Butler Chapel coverage. It is
hoped that the other partner organizations will have material up
on the site by Feb. 1.   

5) The site committee charged with determining the future
location of the General Board's centralized offices met this week
at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The
committee, which has representatives from the General Board, the
Annual Conference office and Brethren Benefit Trust, used the
time to do exactly what it did on Nov. 24 when it visited the
other main Church of the Brethren campus in New Windsor, Md.: It
toured the facility and met with the local development director
of a government organization. This week the group met with the
executive director of Development for the Elgin Area Chamber of
Commerce. In November the group met with the executive director
of the Carroll County Economic Council.  

Although both properties have been appraised, these meetings were
used by the committee to learn from the local experts an
assessment of the worth of both properties, and the kind of
attractions and inducements each area has in attracting/retaining
businesses. According to Joe Mason, the General Board's interim
executive director and chair of the site committee, both
development experts were loaded with data that proved to be
useful background material.  

The committee plans to convene again Jan. 14 via conference call
to plan the content for the progress report it will make to the
General Board when the board next convenes in March. There is the
expectation by many that the site committee will make its final
recommendation to the Board in March, because that
recommendation, which originally was scheduled to be made last
March, was extended for one year. However, Mason would not
elaborate if the committee's progress report would include its
final site recommendation. "I can't say what the content of the
progress report will be," he said, underscoring the need for
General Board members to receive the committee's report before
details are made public.     

6) The General Board's Executive Director Search Committee met
Thursday and Friday at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill., with
two tasks on its agenda as it works toward presenting one to
three candidates to the General Board at the Board's March
meetings.  

Applications by prospective candidates were due to the committee
in December. Thus, this meeting was intended for the screening of
applications to determine the candidates who will be included in
the first round of interviews. The committee also was expected to
plan the specific interview process, said Mary Jo Flory Steury,
committee chair.  

Though she would not elaborate on the number of applicants,
Steury said she is pleased by the standard the pool of applicants
has set. "We have what I feel are solid candidates to be
considering," she said. She added that the committee expects the
interview process to begin in early February.  

Steury said the committee as a whole feels a lot of support for
the work it is trying to accomplish. "I'm very grateful for the
words of support and encouragement and prayers that are being
said on our behalf."   

7) A major step in the evolution of the General Board's
Congregational Life Teams took place this week at the General
Offices in Elgin, Ill., as the coordinators for the five areas
that span the denomination's 23 districts met for the first time
to work on the launching of their respective teams.  

The five, convening with Glenn Timmons, director of
Congregational Life Ministries, had an agenda that included
meeting with other select General Board staff, being orientated
to the General Board and its ministries, and defining the
Congregational Life Team's start-up activities, which includes a
suggested process for developing a "covenant partnership" with
the districts in each of the areas. The fourteen people who
eventually will comprise the Congregational Life Teams staff will
work in cooperation and coordination with district boards and
staff, and as partners in the resourcing of and consulting with
congregations. Eleven of the 14 CLT staff have been named.  

The coordinators who met this week are Jeff Glass, Julie
Hostetter, Jan Kensinger, Beth Sollenberger-Morphew and David
Smalley.  Their main objective, following Ephesians 4:12, is to
"equip congregations for the work of ministry, for building up
the body of Christ," Timmons said. "That means assisting
congregations, clarifying their call, identifying their gifts and
resources, discovering local and global needs, and developing the
options for a ministry response." Timmons added, "The
coordinators are excited and eager to get started."  

The official start date of the Congregation Life Teams is Jan.
15. For more information, contact Timmons at 800 323-8039.   

8) Carol Yeazell of Valrico, Fla., has been called to a dual
staff position of half-time Area 3 Congregational Life Team
member for the General Board and half-time executive of Atlantic
Southeast District, beginning Jan. 15.  

Yeazell is an ordained minister and has served as interim pastor
of Winter Park (Fla.) Church of the Brethren. She is fluent in
Spanish and has extensive experience working in Puerto Rico,
which is part of the Atlantic Southeast District. She has served
as executive director of Beth-El Farm Worker Ministry in Florida
and most recently as executive director of the United
States/Mexico Chamber of Commerce  Gulf States Region. She also
operated a family business for 25 years.   

9) The first Church of the Brethren workcamp geared specifically
for older adults began Thursday in Puerto Rico. Fifteen people
are attending the mission trip, the first in a series of related
trips that will be sponsored by the Older Adult Ministries
Cabinet and the Association of Brethren Caregivers. The workcamp
will conclude Jan. 19.  

The work project is with Yahuecas Church of the Brethren, located
near Castaner. During the trip, participants will also have
opportunities for church visits and sight seeing. Interest for
the trip was so great that 19 people were on a waiting list for
the workcamp/mission trip.  

Mary Sue and Bruce Rosenberger are leading the group. Mary Sue
served as a volunteer nurse in Castaner in 1965 and is now
chaplain at The Brethren's Home, Greenville, Ohio. She is author
of "Light of the Spirit: The Brethren in Puerto Rico 1942-1992."
Bruce, pastor of Greenville Church of the Brethren since 1981,
has led two previous workcamps in Puerto Rico.  

"This workcamp promises to be a meaningful journey," said Jay
Gibble, ABC program field staff. "It will be a cultural exchange
where those who go will learn about the life and mission of the
church in Puerto Rico while sharing their time, energy and
resources as a witness of God's love."    

10) June Adams Gibble has joined the Association of Brethren
Caregivers as half-time program field staff, effective Jan. 1.
Her responsibilities include providing leadership to the Church
of the Brethren's deacon ministry group and other ministry
groups.  

"With the creation of the program field staff position, we plan
to devote more staff time to working directly with individuals
and organizations of the denomination, in addition to fostering
interdenominational relationships within ABC's mission areas,"
said Steve Mason, ABC's executive director.  

Prior to joining ABC, Gibble served the General Board for 10
years as director of Congregational Nurture and Worship.  ABC,
which had served as a ministry of the General Board, became
independent Jan. 1 as a result of action taken by the General
Board in March 1997 as one facet of the Board's redesign.   

11) The Church of the Brethren General Board is seeking a
part-time area financial resource counselor who will serve west
of the Mississippi River. Requirements include having the ability
to combine people and technical skills, having a customer service
mentality, being familiar with Church of the Brethren culture in
the western United States, having a bachelor's degree, and being
able to travel regularly throughout the region. 

Application deadline is Feb. 28. For more information contact
Elsie Holderread at 800 323-8039.    

12) A shipment of used manual typewriters and books, donated by
Brethren from across the country, arrived in Nigeria on Dec. 18.
The materials included books for the Kulp Bible College library
near Mubi, textbooks and typewriters for the Mason Technical
School in Garkida, and a Braille Bible.  The shipment had been in
process for many months while the clearing and shipping processes
were being finalized by staff at the Brethren Service Center, New
Windsor, Md. 

"These items will expand the capabilities of these leadership
training centers of the Nigerian church," said Merv Keeney,
director of the Church of the Brethren General Board's Global
Mission Partnerships. "Leadership development has been a priority
of our joint mission in Nigeria in recent years as the Nigerian
church seeks to provide leaders for its fast-growing
congregations."  

Many of the typewriters had been collected by the Church of the
Brethren Western Plains District. Janet and John Tubbs, formerly
of the Rocky Ford (Colo.) Church of the Brethren, have served as
teachers and administrators of the technical school since May
1995. They recently requested computers for the technical
school's office management program. When technical specifications
can be clarified, this equipment will also be sought, Keeney
said.   

13) "Building Bridges Across a Chasm of Silence," a weekend for
families with gay and lesbian members, is scheduled for March
20-22 at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, Mount Pleasant, Pa.
Debbie Eisenbise and Lee Krahenbuhl, pastors of Skyridge Church
of the Brethren, Kalamazoo, Mich., will provide leadership.
According to seminar's brochure, this "connecting families
weekend" is intended to be "a safe, relaxing time to share our
common concerns regarding homosexuality as it affects our
families and our churches. Its purpose is to provide a context
and settings for connections, worship, support and understanding
for families with gay and lesbian members." Cost is $150. For
more information, contact Gwen Peachey at 717 354-7001.   

14) Manchester College and the General Board's Youth and Young
Adult Ministries this week announced that Manchester will offer
scholarships to the top three finalists of this year's National
Youth Conference Speech Contest, if those winners attend the
Northern Indiana Brethren-affiliated college and study religion
or philosophy.  

The first place finalist will receive a $4,000 scholarship over
four years. The second place finalist will receive $2,400; the
third will receive $1,600.  

The eight- to 10-minute speeches should be based on the theme,
"... with Eyes of Faith," using one of the following scriptures:
2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:1 or Mark 10:46-52. For more
information contact Brian Yoder at 800 323-8039.   

15) Two travel seminars to Russia  one for adults, one for young
adults  are being offered this summer by the National Council of
Churches.  

The adult seminar, which will take participants along Russia's
waterways, is scheduled for June 6-19. Cities scheduled to be
visited include Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kizhi, Petrezavodsk,
Irma, Yuroskavl, Kostroma and Uglich. The group will visit
churches during their journey along the Volga River, will talk
with church leaders and will participate in seminar discussions.
Cost is $2,800 from New York City. For more information, call
Bruce Rigdon at 313 882-5330.  

The young adult seminar, a workcamp for 25 participants, is
scheduled for July 26 - Aug. 15. After a two-day orientation
process in New York City, the young adults and two
leaders/interpreters will depart for the 17th century Iversky
Monastery in Lake Vladayskoke, near Novgorod. There they will
help renovate the monastery, participate in religious services
and visit some nearby villages as well as St. Petersburg and
Moscow. Approximate cost is $2,200. For more information, call
the NCC Europe office at 212 870-2667.   

16) It is an unfortunate irony that Torin Eikenberry, a Brethren
Volunteer Service worker who spent much of 1997 working on the
rebuilding of the Butler Chapel A.M.E. church in Orangeburg,
S.C., for the Church of the Brethren Emergency Response/Service
Ministries, is a member of the Manchester Church of the Brethren
that on Wednesday lost its building to fire. Although
Eikenberry's purpose in Orangeburg was to help rebuild a church,
his experience also rebuilt his understanding of the people who
form a congregation he knew very little about just a year ago. 

In the current issue of Volunteer, the BVS newsletter, Eikenberry
tells his story --

"Continuing the work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together." is
our denomination's identity tagline. If I recall correctly, Jesus
never rebuilt any churches, but he did spend a considerable
amount of time encouraging relationships and fostering
understanding between people with different cultures and
histories. This is the more important work of the Church of the
Brethren Emergency Response program. We use repairing and
rebuilding as a means to empower those recovering from the
destructive touch of nature and as an opportunity to build
relationships and cultivate understanding. Never have I seen this
work more fruitful than in Orangeburg, South Carolina.  

I departed for South Carolina and the Butler Chapel A.M.E. Church
rebuilding project with some trepidation. Lacking construction
experience, I questioned my ability to direct the rebuilding. In
addition, I was charged to instigate and facilitate discussion
among the volunteers on the topic of racism, as well as to build
and nurture a relationship with the Butler Chapel congregation.
Having only minor exposure to black culture, I felt unqualified
to facilitate real work on racism and feared offending the
volunteers and the congregation with which I would be working.
What I had not foreseen was the power of love shown through
volunteering.  

I arrived in Orangeburg with several misconceptions and a good
deal of bias. I felt that I would be held responsible for the
hundreds of years of subjugation and crimes that persist today. I
foresaw tepid welcomes, guarded looks and begrudging cooperation
from the members of the church, and I was a little scared of the
response I would get from those who were pleased by the burning.
I also assumed I would be working with people ignorant of the
world outside South Carolina and unskilled in all but menial
labor. I didn't know how to begin a relationship with people of
such a different intellectual and cultural background. In the
end, I was too scared to reach out first. Fortunately, the Butler
Chapel members were not at all intimidated by our differences.
They welcomed me with warm smiles and open arms, though they,
too, were nervous about me.   

During the two weeks before any Emergency Response volunteers
arrived in Orangeburg, I worked with several members of Butler
Chapel and the surrounding community. Together, we filled the
foundation and poured the concrete floor of the church. At noon,
we sat together for lunch and conversation, and as I began to
understand the local dialect, I found that I was among
interesting people. Each day, I learned more about my colleagues
and discovered that we shared many commonalities to offset our
differences. I was surprised to discover that many Butler Chapel
folk were well educated, quite cosmopolitan, highly skilled and
quite open about racial issues. As that knowledge set in, I
became aware of my assumptions and felt ashamed that I held the
same stereotypes I despise in others.   

Throughout the summer, I dutifully managed the rebuilding project
and developed a program to introduce and discuss the vague,
confusing subject of white privilege (systemic racism). All of
those discussions helped me recognize white privilege and enabled
me to work against it in my daily interactions. Still, as I grew
to know, accept and love the members of Butler Chapel, my
feelings of guilt increased and I began to skirt conversations
about the evolution of racism in the area. My new friends picked
that up on some level, and we began to pull away from each other
while our conversations began to be confined to discussions of
work.  

Thankfully, pastor Patrick Mellerson realized what was happening
and confronted me. He and I share a friendship unique in my
experience. It found its seed in our common curiosity and grew as
we shared all of our ignorance and questions about each other's
culture. It provided a safe place for us to learn about our
differences without fear of giving offense.   

In this vein, Patrick came to me and asked what was wrong. I
began to express my shame and guilt. I explained that I had
cherished, in the back of my mind, the thought that I was
innately superior to any black. As I elaborated, speaking of my
assumptions about the education, skills and provincial nature of
blacks, Patrick listened silently. His response  "Let me ask you
this: Do you still feel that way now?"  was more powerful for
coming from that silence. I answered, "No. The more I talk with
you all, the more I realize that we all share the same love,
needs and worries, the same feelings." He told me then that he
had shared some of my assumptions. He described a childhood where
everyone wanted to be white, where "get down with your black
self" was an insult. He explained that he had often held
stereotypes and had wondered about our real motives for helping
rebuild the church. In the end, he told me that talking to me and
the volunteers had convinced him that we were helping out of
love. He said he could not have imagined that there were so many
white folks who would take their vacations, come all the way to
South Carolina and work for a week to help rebuild the church.   

"That's love," he said, "and you can't be racist if you love your
brothers and sisters."  

As I thought about his words, I realized that we all have biases
and stereotypes based on experience and familiarity. There is no
shame in that. What we should feel guilt about is refusing to see
the truth about someone because of some superfluous
characteristic. We need to reach past the restrictive nature of
such assumptions if we wish to build relationships and learn.    

Patrick often says, "If you want to talk about color, let's talk
about red. That's the color of all our blood."   

I am humbled that he can say that with the authority of love and
belief while I still struggle to free myself of fear and
prejudice.           

Newsline is produced by Nevin Dulabaum, manager of the General
Board's News and Information Services.   

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 800 323-8039, ext.
263, or write CoBNews@AOL.Com. Newsline is archived with an index
at http://www.cob-net.org/news.htm and at http://www.wfn.org.