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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      March 16, 1998
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline                                   March 16, 1998
1) The Church of the Brethren General Board, in its spring
meetings March 9-10 --
     1a) expands and refocuses its central offices site
          committee.
     1b) approves a new spiritual renewal and stewardship
          emphasis.
     1c) approves the creation of a new church development task
          team.
     1d) approves "Sudan: Partnership for Peace," a new
          three-year initiative.
     1e) passes a statement on the ongoing conflict between the
          United States and Iraq.
     1f) approved a proposal for how the new Mission and
          Ministries Planning Council will function.
     1g) rejected two proposals pertaining to its former South
          Korea mission.
     1h) approved the ongoing effort for SERRV International to
          separate from the Board as an independent organization.
     1j) heard a preliminary audit report that indicates the
          Board could have finished 1997 about $539,000 ahead of
          projections made in October.
     1k) heard various reports the the interim executive director
          and representatives of other denominational
          organizations.
     1l) heard reports from its Leadership Team.

1a) Where will the centralized offices of the Church of the
Brethren General Board be located in the future? That question,
which for the past three years has been asked by the Board, is
far from being answered. In fact, during its spring meetings held
March 9-10 at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in
Elgin, Ill., the Board approved expanding the committee that is
addressing the issue and redirecting the committee's focus. 

The location issue was initiated by the General Board's
Administrative Council in March 1995, as the group questioned the
cost effectiveness of maintaining duplicate services (computers,
finance, human resources, buildings and grounds) at the Board's
Elgin, Ill., and New Windsor, Md., locations, at a time when
projections showed a large reduction in expenses was needed.

The General Board's Redesign Steering Committee appointed a
subcommittee to consider the issue, but that subcommittee was
dismissed last March along with the Redesign committee. With the
Board acknowledging that two other organizations could be
affected by General Board location decision, a new site committee
was organized that included representatives from the Annual
Conference office and Brethren Benefit Trust. After convening
five times in person or by phone over the past year -- including
visits to both campuses -- the committee identified two factors
that prompted it to advise that the committee again be expanded
and refocused. 

The committee determined that the sale of either or both
properties would barely yield enough income to pay for site
development at an existing or a new location and employee
severance or moving expenses, thus leaving little to be invested
for the future. With that realization, the committee concluded
that the properties are most valuable to their present users,
said Wil Nolen, president of Brethren Benefit Trust and site
committee member.

The committee also reported that other denominational
organizations have expressed interest in locating at a central
denominational site, if a single site is to be established. The
committee added, however, that a General Board site decision
really isn't practical until it decides the future of three of
its New Windsor-based ministries and programs -- the conference
center, which the Board has stated must be self-supporting by the
year 2000; SERRV International, a trade organization that sells
handcrafts made by artisans from developing countries that is in
the process of incorporating and becoming independent; and
Material Resources, which collates and ships material relief
goods to countries worldwide for the Church of the Brethren and a
number of ecumenical organizations.

Thus, though the General Board asserted its role in the location
decision as owner of the Elgin and New Windsor properties, it
approved the site committee's recommendation to expand the
committee's size and focus to include national Brethren agencies
that are interested in being headquartered at a single
denominational site. The Board approved the recommendation that
it determine the future of its New Windsor-based ministries and
programs. The Board also approved a recommendation to consider
options for consolidating financial, computer and other services
among the General Board and other denominational agencies, even
if it maintains two sites for the near future.

The Board's actions did not include a timetable for when its next
steps should be completed.

1b) An emphasis on spiritual renewal and stewardship will be
launched by the General Board later this year in an attempt "to
increase the mission and ministry potential of local
congregations and, in turn, districts and the General Board." The
task force that formulated the plan (Board members Don Booz and
Ruth Clark, Board staff Beth Sollenberger-Morphew, and Northern
Ohio District executive Tom Zuercher) presented five
recommendations to the General Board, which were approved.

At the start of its work the team asked seven questions: What are
people in the denomination asking for? What is "spiritual
renewal" as it relates to stewardship? What are other
denominations doing? What is the Church of the Brethren doing and
what are the results? What has been done in the past? What needs
to be done in the future? How do we get there from here?

The group reached five conclusions: There is a need for
stewardship education, but spiritual renewal needs to be a
priority emphasis of the General Board. The General Board cannot
be seen as "asking congregations for more money" under the
disguise of spiritual renewal. Congregational Life Teams need to
be involved with the process. Stewardship is a by-product of
spiritual renewal and stewardship education. The General Board
needs to create short- and long-term approaches to spiritual
renewal.

The task team's five recommendations, approved by the Board,
include: 
     * creating a 52-day "covenant calendar" that begins on World
Communion Sunday (Oct. 4) and concludes on Thanksgiving (Nov.
26). Each day will include scripture readings and prayer
requests.
     * developing Church of the Brethren-specific  "camera ready"
worship resources with calls to worship, offertory prayers and
personal stories.
     * developing "camera ready" daily activities for families
and individuals with specific spiritual disciplines such as
prayer partners, fasting ideas, Bible study and stewardship
activities that allow for witnessing of faith.
     * leading an Annual Conference insight session on spiritual
renewal.
     * presenting spiritual renewal at this year's National Older
Adult and National Youth conferences.

1c) The General Board approved creating a task team that will
produce a new church development proposal. New church development
is a ministry that was not clearly carried over from the Board's
old design to the new, even though it was listed as a priority.
Once task force members are named, a two-day conference will be
scheduled for the group to evaluate current church planting
philosophies, write recommendations regarding new philosophy
guidelines and models, review the status of the Board's Church
Loan Fund, project how recommendations for General Board/district
linkages for implementing new policies/practices might be
developed, and discover ways to network with other Anabaptist
denominations.

Once a new church development proposal is drafted, the task force
is expected to seek feedback and input from district executives.
The initial draft of the proposal is expected by Annual
Conference in July; a polished proposal will be submitted to the
General Board during its October meetings.

1d) A new three-year initiative to assist Christians in
war-ravaged, southern Sudan was approved by the General Board.
This initiative, which focuses on the needs of women and
children, will also fund peace and justice training, provide a
Brethren Volunteer Service worker, and purchase a computer and
bicycles. The three-year cost of this initiative should not
exceed $238,000, and will be provided by the General Board's
Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF).

"Sudan: Partnership for Peace" is an initiative of the General
Board's Brethren Witness office, in conjunction with the Global
Mission Partnerships office and the New Sudan Council of Churches
(NSCC), the Church of the Brethren partner in Sudan. This effort
reflects the General Board's affirmation in 1996 that the GFCF
can be used for longer-term development projects. 

The impact of the partnership project will be widespread -- 
     * Food supplements will be provided for children of the New
Cush community, which is located 80 miles from Kenya in a high
mountain valley. Vegetable seeds, garden tools, water containers
and soap will be provided to community residents. School supplies
for children and adult literacy programs will be included, as
will material for clothing, including school uniforms and
diapers. Total three-year cost: $143,000.
     * Financial support will be given to two projects in the
southeast border town of Narus. Blessed Bakhita School, southern
Sudan's only girls' primary school with 408 students, will
receive $5,000-7,000 per year. Start-up funding for small-scale
women's projects, such as poultry or breadmaking projects, will
be provided. Total three-year cost of the Narus projects:
$26,000.
     * Immediate food relief will be provided to the village of
Mundri, which has suffered from El Nino-related drought and by
locust infestation. Cost: $10,000.
     * The New Sudan Council of Churches will receive funding for
several of its initiatives and for equipment purchases, such as
$12,500 to provide six training sessions for Justice and Peace
Committees for inter-tribe and inter-community conflict
resolution. An annual $500 scholarship will be awarded to a
community Justice and Peace Committee for three years. The NSCC
will purchase a laptop computer and printer for its peace staff
-- $3,500. Justice and Peace Committee members wishing to respond
promptly to conflict situations will be eligible for one of the
six bicycles purchased by a $1,000 allocation. Finally, a
Brethren Volunteer Service worker will assist the NSCC's women's
capacity-building program.

In the United States, the campaign will invite Brethren members,
congregations and other groups to participate in this initiative
through advocacy work by traveling to Sudan in a delegation or by
sponsoring a child.

"This will allow for the development of a partner relationship
and a sense of Christian solidarity," wrote Brethren Witness
director David Radcliff.

1e) In light of the recent threat by the United States to force
Iraq to fully cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors by
using military force, the General Board approved a statement
saying it believes God's presence is in both the United States
and in Iraq. Thus, the Board pledges to "proclaim this faith to
our neighbors and friends," to "join with international
organizations and ecumenical colleagues to search for ways to
provide for the health and well-being of the Iraqi people and to
seek reconciliation between our peoples," and to "peacefully
resist all efforts to resolve this conflict by military force."

The statement was a softer, revised draft of a proposed statement
that the Board first approved and then reconsidered. The Board
voted on March 9 to table its discussion so that a rewrite could
be produced overnight. The statement adopted cites Iraqi
transgressions. It also states that the United States has been
uneven in its adherence to United Nations Middle East resolutions
and states that the Gulf War did not resolve the United State's
conflict with Iraq.

"Because of this conflict between the United States and the
government of Iraq, we have struggled to know how to respond out
of (our) faith," the statement reads. As the church of Christ, we
have been called to see things differently: we strain to see
beyond the appearance of an enemy to find the face of God."

1f) The Mission and Ministries Planning Council (MMPC) is one of
the most important but relatively undefined aspects of the
General Board's new design. The MMPC was created to discuss
mission and ministries proposals with congregations, districts or
the Annual Conference Standing Committee on behalf of the Board.

The MMPC on March 9 submitted a proposal for how it will
function, which was approved by the Board. 

Proposals for missions or ministries must be new or discontinued;
active missions or ministries will not be accepted. Petitioners
must describe their proposals, including goals and purposes. They
must also discuss how financial and human resources and, will or
should be provided.

The MMPC will also ask four additional questions of petitioners:
In what ways are you aware of God's presence or leading in this
mission or ministry? How might this mission or ministry impact
our denomination and the communities that surround those with
which we would work? How is this mission or ministry consistent
or in tension with the values and identity of the Church of the
Brethren? How is this project expressive of biblical faith and
practice?

1g) The General Board overwhelmingly approved a motion from its
Executive Committee to deny two requests relating to its former
mission in South Korea.

Since that mission was targeted for elimination in October 1996,
a World Mission Group -- consisting of about two dozen Church of
the Brethren members -- has petitioned the Board to allow the
group to support the former mission in some way. In October the
Board rejected the group's request as it did again on March 10.

The group was seeking permission to send a letter to all Church
of the Brethren congregations to determine which congregations
would have interest in supporting specific missions sponsored by
the General Board. Without the specific content being known, the
Board said it could not allow the mission group to send such a
letter in the Board's name. 

The group also said it was seeking permission to announce and
implement a three-year, $75,000-a-year appeal to congregations to
keep the Board's former staff member in South Korea working there
on the group's behalf. This request was also denied.

During its redesign process, the Board decided that its primary
focus would be in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, which
includes the church's mission in the Dominican Republic. It was
acknowledged during the South Korea debate that Merv Keeney of
the the General Board's Global Mission Partnerships office is
working with the World Mission Group to provide a staff member in
the Dominican Republic.

1h) The move toward independent incorporation by SERRV
International, the General Board's $5 million self-help hand
crafts trade organization, was affirmed by the Board. A proposal
for this action is expected to be presented in October. When
finalized, this move will remove the General Board from SERRV's
inventory liability and will allow SERRV to be more flexible in
the competitive handcrafts market.

1i) In other actions, the General Board --
     * directed its Executive Committee to meet with its employee
Leadership Team to discuss the creation of task teams that would
serve various functions in assisting in the work of the Board.
     * appointed Wendy McFadden, director/publisher of Brethren
Press, to serve as acting executive director in the absence of
the executive director. This appointment is effective until March
1999.
     * Approved changes to its former Crisis in Transition fund,
including a name change to Ministry Assistance Fund. This fund
will now address the short-term needs of active ordained
ministers. In conjunction with these changes, Brethren Benefit
Trust will take proposed changes to its Retired Church Workers
Fund, including a name change to Church Workers Assistance Plan,
to this summer's Annual Conference. The new plan will care for
the long-term needs of active ministers and other church workers
along with retired church workers.

1j) The Church of the Brethren General Board's preliminary 1997
audit shows that it could close its books about $539,000 ahead of
projections made in October, according to financial reports given
to the General Board by its Finance staff. October projections
had called for a loss of $237,000, but preliminary figures
released Wednesday show the Board should end the 1997 fiscal year
with $301,880 of income over expense.
 
With the Board's redesign, which reduced its budget by $2,000,000
from 1996 through 1997, finance staff were unable to precisely
project end-of-the-year totals last fall, as nearly one-third of
the Board's employees were released during the year and many
adjustments were made to the budgets of various ministries. Thus,
projections were based on budgeted income and expense parameters.
Though income came in close to budget, expenses were about
$437,000 under budget.

Expenses were contained through employee vacancies, deferred
maintenance and purchases,  and other one-time savings. Other
contributing factor included  
   
Other factors included good response to an end-of-the-year mail
campaign, solid investments and congregational support and strong
individual donations.

Of the Board's so-called "income producers," SERRV International
appears to have had a great year. Original budget projections
estimated SERRV would end 1997 with $3,010 of income ahead of
expenses -- that number now appears to be $314,290. The New
Windsor Conference Center at the Brethren Service Center,
Material Resources and the physical plant at the Brethren Service
Center collectively are expected to post about $31,780 of income
ahead of expenses. Brethren Press is the one area that appears to
have a worse deficit than projected --about $129,000 instead of
$26,470.

1k) During its two days of official meetings, the General Board
heard a series of reports:
     * from Joe Mason, interim executive director, who said
Brethren should celebrate the following -- the prospect of the
highest-attended National Youth Conference, to be held this
summer; the strong response to combat famine in North Korea; the
General Board's better-than-expected year-end financial report;
the filling of all major General Board staff positions; the 75th
anniversary of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria; the 50th
anniversary of Brethren Volunteer Service and the success of the
General Board's largest Disaster Response building project, the
Butler Chapel A.M.E. church in Orangeburg, S.C.
     * from Annual Conference, which is trying to find ways to
officially relate to Association of Brethren Caregivers and On
Earth Peace Assembly, two former General Board ministries.
     * from Bethany Theological Seminary, which on March 28 will
celebrate the long-awaited and anticipated sale of its former Oak
Brook, Ill., campus property.
     * from Brethren Benefit Trust, which said it is moving ahead
with plans to provide financial services for individual Brethren
members. Wil Nolen, BBT president, also stated that the
incredible investment environment of the last decade has seen its
retirement stock fund increase an annual average of 17.1 percent
over the past 10 years, while its balanced fund averaged a 13.6
percent annual increase.

1l) Although the Board conducted its official business Monday and
Tuesday, March 9-10, Board-related meetings began the preceding
Friday with all day meetings of the Executive Committee. Saturday
morning and early afternoon were used by the Board and staff to
discuss finances and financial philosophies that will govern the
way money is used and budgets are prepared in the future. The
Board also used the time to evaluate its new design.

The Board used late Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday to
interview the two executive director candidates. However, a
two-hour block late Sunday afternoon was used by the Leadership
Team to report to the Board. Using a "fishbowl" format, the nine
Leadership Team directors sat around tables in the middle of the
Conference Room A, surrounded by General Board members and staff,
district executives and others in attendance, with each giving an
example of a current challenge they are facing or a project on
which they are working:
     * Allen Hansell, director of Ministry -- how to call 500 new
church leaders within the next five years.
     * Judy Keyser, treasurer/director of Centralized Resources
-- the need to make capital purchases, even though the future
location of the General Board's centralized offices is not known.
     * Joe Mason, interim executive director -- the need to start
on next year's consultation between General Board staff and
district executives.
     * Wendy McFadden, director/publisher of Brethren Press --
presenting a new model for Christian education.
     * David Radcliff, director of Brethren Witness -- the
challenge of keeping a Washington Office operation with a
volunteer coordinator.
     * Glenn Timmons, director of Congregational Life Ministries
-- the tensions and expectations of the new design, particularly
the creation of Congregational Life Teams.
     * Merv Keeney, director of Global Mission Partnerships --
his effort to provide a part-time staff person in the Dominican
Republic.
     * Ken Neher, director of Funding -- establishing funding
philosophies.

Newsline is produced by Nevin Dulabaum, manager of the General
Board's News and Information Services. Newsline stories may be
reprinted in newsletters and other publications, including web
sites, provided that Newsline is cited as the source and the
publication date is included.

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.