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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      Aug. 7, 1998
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

11) Fifty-two meditations relating to the Family Pledge of
Nonviolence, an initiative of the Institute for Peace & Justice
Network (of which the Church of the Brethren is affiliated), is
available in the form of a 144-page publication titled “A Call to
Peace.”

This resource includes scriptures from many faiths; reflection
questions and action suggestions for people of all ages; and
songs, books, videos and art that enhance each meditation.

Cost is $4.95 each. Contact the Peace & Justice Network at 4144
Lindell Blvd. #408, St. Louis MO 63108. 

12) Gospel superstar Kirk Franklin, Gospo Centric and Interscope
Records have announced that they will contribute a total of
$250,000 to the National Council of Churches’ Burned Churches
Fund in anticipation of the profits from Franklin’s “The Nu
Nation Project” album, set for release Sept. 22.

“We are grateful that Kirk Franklin and his record company are
focusing attention on the continuing burning of churches and
synagogues,” said Joan Brown Campbell, NCC general secretary. “As
a gospel artist, his gift is especially fitting since many of the
churches that have been burned are precisely the ones whose
tradition gave birth to gospel music.”
     
“By the end of 1998, the NCC will have assisted in the
restoration of 156 burned churches,” Campbell said. “However,
sadly, we know of at least 20 churches at the present moment
trying to figure out how to rebuild. Yet because church burnings
are no longer in the national spotlight, it has been more
difficult to raise money. We want to assist as many burned
churches as new contributions will allow, so this kind offer
comes at a most opportune moment.”
     
“I was raised in the church,” Franklin said. “It is important
that we support the churches and synagogues that have been burned
or defaced. I couldn’t help but help. Those churches are part of
me.”
     

13) Patrick Mellerson, pastor of Butler Chapel A.M.E. church near
Orangeburg, S.C., along with Butler Chapel’s choir and other
members, will worship at Bremen (Ind.) Church of the Brethren on
Aug. 30. 

Members of the Bremen congregation were some of the 200 Brethren
who helped construct a new Butler Chapel facility last year, a
rebuilding project coordinated by the Church of the Brethren
General Board’s Emergency Response/Service Ministries. The
original Butler Chapel building was destroyed by arsonists.

“We feel that there is an important connection between Butler
Chapel and the Brethren that we don’t want to lose,” said Tom
Hostetler, Bremen pastor, who volunteered on the Butler Chapel
project. “People were so good to us there — we just want to
return the favor.”

Mellerson will preach at services scheduled for 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
A pot-luck dinner will follow morning worship.

14) Brethren Revival Fellowship will hold its annual general
meeting Sept. 12 at Heidelberg Church of the Brethren, near
Myerstown, Pa. David Rittenhouse of Dunmore, W.Va., will moderate
the 10 a.m and 1:45 p.m. sessions.

Olen Landes of Harrisonburg, Va., will speak on “What Happened to
the Use of the Bible in the Church of the Brethren in my Time?”
during the morning session; Eric Brubaker of Ephrata, Pa., will
speak on “How Can the Church of the Brethren Get Back to the
Bible?” in the afternoon.

Various reports will be given and committee members will be
elected.

A special item of business that will be brought by the BRF
Committee pertains to the establishment of a “Brethren Mission
Fund.” According to Craig Alan Myers, BRF member, BRF is
concerned about the lack of missions emphasis within the Church
of the Brethren — particularly the withdrawal of official
support for Brethren mission in South Korea. This proposed fund
is to “provide a channel through the Brethren Revival Fellowship
organization to help resource sound Brethren mission work or
Brethren workers where the gospel of Jesus Christ is being
presented for the salvation of souls.”

15) In July the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference
recognized two former General Board ministries as official
agencies of the church — Association of Brethren Caregivers and
On Earth Peace Assembly. The executive directors of these two
organizations — Steve Mason of ABC and Tom Hurst of OEPA —
along with Judy Mills Reimer, executive director of the General
Board, this week issued the following statement, which is being
mailed to all Church of the Brethren pastors and church board
chairs —

These are exciting times in the church of Jesus Christ as we look
through the window of the Church of the Brethren! We are blessed
by God’s guidance as we seek to be faithful to God’s call to us
walking into the 21st century. We thank you for sharing this
vision of being faithful to our God.

At the 1997 Annual Conference, the delegate body accepted a new
design for the Church of the Brethren General Board that
established the Association of Brethren Caregivers and On Earth
Peace Assembly as independent agencies — no longer part of the
General Board’s program as of Jan. 1, 1998. At the 1998 Annual
Conference, ABC and OEPA were formally recognized by the delegate
body as official agencies of the Church of the Brethren. The
boards and staffs of these three official agencies are committed
to serving the Church of the Brethren within their respective
areas of mission and ministry. They also believe that the church
will be better served if these agencies actively seek ways to
work collaboratively within this new denominational structure.

Official actions of Annual Conference related to the redesign of
the General Board do not affect the other two official agencies
of the Church of the Brethren — Bethany Theological Seminary and
Brethren Benefit Trust. Their programs will continue as in
previous years. We affirm our support of their ministry and
pledge to explore ways to work collaboratively with them for the
well-being of the Church of the Brethren and those it seeks to
serve.

The implications of the action of the 1998 Annual Conference
delegate body for ABC, the General Board and OEPA are less clear.
Many questions are likely to emerge as we clarify the manner in
which these three agencies will best serve the denomination. We
hope to anticipate many of the questions and we will also address
those that are brought to our attention. Since congregations,
districts and agencies are currently in the budget-building
process, it is not surprising to us that questions about funding
are foremost on the minds of many. We hope the information
provided in this correspondence will help answer some of these
questions.

ABC, the General Board and OEPA are each responsible for their
own funding. Until Jan. 1, 1998, a portion of ABC’s and OEPA’s
annual funding flowed from the annual outreach budgets of
congregations and districts through the General Board. This is no
longer the case. Congregations and districts that desire to
continue their support of ABC, the General Board or OEPA will
need to send that support directly to the respective agencies at
the following addresses — 

Association of Brethren Caregivers  
1451 Dundee Avenue
Elgin, IL 60120

Church of the Brethren General Board  
1451 Dundee Avenue
Elgin, IL 60120

On Earth Peace Assembly
500 Main Street
P.O. Box 188
New Windsor, MD 21776

The more challenging task will be to determine how much should be
sent to each agency. We understand this and hope that you will be
in a position to provide a full measure of financial support to
all denominational agencies. As a practical matter, we expect
that each congregation and district will engage in a process of
prioritization, as you do every year, which will guide your
decision making on the matter of financial support of each
agency. The only difference this year is that there are more
official denominational agencies to consider. This will
undoubtedly make the process more complex. 

Many factors may influence the decision of your congregation or
district on budget matters. We have taken the liberty to suggest
a few for your consideration:

1. What is the scope of the mission of each agency?
2. What is the size of each agency in terms of budget or
     personnel?
3. What is the relevance of each agency’s mission and ministry to
     local priorities?
4. What is the quality of programming offered by each agency?
5. How responsive is each agency to the needs that are deemed
     most important by the local congregation or district?

There may be other factors that bear consideration in this
process and some listed here may not be relevant. Although the
answers to some of these questions can be generated only locally,
others can be answered from other sources (such as the Annual
Conference program booklet, district conference displays or
booklets, district offices or each agency’s office).
Nevertheless, we believe that, although this is not a simple
process, it is an important one. 

The Association of Brethren Caregivers, the General Board and On
Earth Peace Assembly are seeking to model the benefits of working
cooperatively for the good of the denomination. We also believe
that each of the five official agencies of the denomination
warrants your consideration for support so that we may carry out
our respective missions on behalf of the Church of the Brethren.
We encourage you to prayerfully discern God’s guidance as you
work through this important process.

We look forward to the possibilities of working in partnership
for the good of God’s work on Earth. God’s blessings to you!

16) One hundred thirty people who call themselves “Brethren”
attended the second Brethren World Assembly in July at
Bridgewater (Va.) College. Frank Ramirez, pastor of Elkhart
(Ind.) Valley Church of the Brethren, was one of the attendees —

“Faith and Family — Challenges and Commitments” was the theme of
the second Brethren World Assembly, held July 15-18 and
co-sponsored by host Bridgewater College and the Brethren
Encyclopedia. A quarter century after Brethren “saint” M.R.
Zigler gathered together representatives of the five major
Brethren groups in America for what he called a handshake at the
Tunker Meeting House in nearby Broadway, Va., the practice of
gathering face-to-face continued as 130 Brethren came together
for worship, fellowship, sightseeing and to hear a number of
papers on the conference theme.

Carl Bowman, noted Brethren historian and Bridgewater College
sociologist, in his keynote speech painted a vivid word picture
of Brethren life in the 1890s, the 1930s and the 1990s. Life for
rural Brethren a century ago, Bowman said, consisted of hard work
that required a collective family effort.  

“Daily life was locally focused, grounded in church, family and
the struggle to survive. Life was a labor. Children were the best
pension fund. Most had not crossed the urban threshold where time
was something you sold and work was something you traveled to,”
Bowman said.

Men and women worked in different portions of the farm economy.
Both were essential to the economy of the farm. “They knew what
each one had to do and they did it.” Bowman said. “The
boundaries, though clear, were not rigid. Children were
essential. Life was a collective family project — slow,
repetitive and continuous. Most things weren’t rushed. Brethren
tarried over their activities.” 

Sunday meeting was a time to catch up. “They were a stern bunch
encouraging gentle laughter and quiet joy,” he said.

Bowman contrasted this with the Brethren of the 1930’s — an era
of telephones, light bulbs, radios and automobiles — when the
world shrank and the bloodlines of the Brethren were broadened.
It was an era of saving souls for Christ, of paid pastors and
parsonages, and a time when a board or committee was created for
everything.

Brethren began to live what he described as “a middle American
Christian life,” in which the husband became the primary wage
earner and the woman was recognized as the frail housekeeper (as
compared to her hard working agrarian sisters of old) who needed
to be protected. 
     
“The Brethren family of the 30s and 50s was a historic
aberration,” Bowman said, “when family had one foot in wage labor
and one foot in subsistence living.” This family model has come
to be recognized as the historic norm, Bowman said, which doesn’t
fit the demands of the world today, in which both husband and
wife need to work to make ends meet and Brethren make their peace
with a world in which time is lacking but guilt is in abundance. 

Bowman suggested several prescriptions for an era in which
“Families have given up meals and settled for eating.” Chief
among them was found in his statement, “Faith provides the only
rudder to steer a course.”

Over the course of the conference other speakers emphasized some
of the same points.  Brenda Colijn of the Brethren Church spoke
about the biblical understanding of the family as a household,
emphasizing that in the New Testament that definition was
broadened to include a wider range of people.  

“This is a significant development,” she noted. “In the Old
Testament God has a house but no household.”  In the New
Testament, she said, the house of God is a spiritual building,
which included God’s people. She added that one of Alexander
Mack’s favorite images for the church was that of the household.

Nancy Faus, retired professor from Bethany Theological Seminary,
recounted the history of family spirituality and devotions among
the  Brethren and prescribed several remedies for the
difficulties faced by the modern family, including the
suggestions that family devotions, scripture reading, and singing
be restored.

“Don’t worry or feel guilty if daily worship is always possible.
Once or twice a week is more often than what many families are
doing. Find a regular time, make it intentional and put it on
your calendar in ink, so it is as important as everything else
you’re doing that week. So often we say that family time will
come when we have finished other things. It never will.”

Other highlights included a tour of the Linville Creek area,
which included visits to sites associated with martyred Elder
John Kline, as well as a trip to Tunker House, where the
Encyclopedia movement had its beginnings. There were also
elective workshops and a special forum for men and women to meet
separately, then gather together to share their learnings.

Regarding the future of cooperation among the Brethren bodies,
Fred Benedick of the Old German Baptist Brethren said, “What
Gamaliel said applies to us. Early on the Old German Baptists had
some doubts, but today all the publications (of the Encyclopedia)
are the type we fully welcome.”

17) A special camp for traumatized children was held in July in
Arkansas; some of the leadership was Church of the
Brethren-trained. David Gill, a Presbyterian minister and
director of Ferncliff Camp, explains —

An extraordinary thing happened the last week of July at
Ferncliff Camp, just west of Little Rock, Ark. Children came, had
fun, learned about themselves, then left with renewed energy and
enthusiasm. The unusual part is that all the children were all
from the Jonesboro Westside Middle School, scene of a March 24th
shooting that took the lives of four children and a teacher,
wounded 10 others, and robbed survivors of their sense of safety
and peace. 

The hearts of the nation went out to the people of Jonesboro and
the faith community wondered how best to respond to the tragedy.
I knew the powerful spiritual and healing experience a camp could
offer the children, but there would be many obstacles before that
vision would be realized. When the shooting happened, the
Jonesboro school and community were immediately besieged by media
and sightseers. They were wary of offers from the outside. 

Within days of the shooting, I made discreet inquiries to
Jonesboro clergy, organizations and contacts in the community. I
knew that the initial overture to the school would have to come
from respected local sources. The Jonesboro Ministerial Alliance
lent their enthusiastic support and, after scores of phone calls,
I found Karen Pate, a local parent/volunteer who embraced the
idea of the camp and helped keep it moving through the local
decision-making processes. With less than 10 days before the end
of school, I received the approval and an invitation was extended
to Westside students to visit Ferncliff Camp for a week, free of
charge. 

Once the camp seemed a possibility, I began soliciting support
for the huge undertaking. Nationally, the Disaster Response
offices of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) were quick to lend their financial and
personal support. Local churches embraced the cause, including
the Presbytery of Arkansas, Arkansas Interfaith Task Force, the
Episcopal Diocese, Catholic Diocese, the Unitarians and the
United Methodist Church.

Arkansas state senator John Brown helped secure funds from the
Governor’s Office, and an investment firm in Jonesboro
contributed the last $2,000 needed to reach the $32,000 budget. 
The support was great as people were glad to be able to do
something for these children.

Meanwhile, I contacted the Emergency Response/Service Ministries
of the Church of the Brethren and made arrangements for Lydia
Walker, coordinator of Training and Outreach who is based at the
Brethren Service Center, New Windsor, Md., to visit Ferncliff to
train staff, counselors and volunteers on how to work with
children who had experienced trauma. The Design Team for the
camp’s curriculum included people of varied backgrounds and
talents such as a Catholic Priest social worker and a Baptist
teacher from Jonesboro, a Unitarian therapist from Little Rock
and a Presbyterian nurse from Hot Springs. These were just a few
of many that helped to plan and staff a curriculum that would
nurture and encourage the youngsters.

Over the next couple months, the camp began to take shape as the
roster grew. At first we didn’t know if any of the 230 Westside
Middle School kids would want to come. Then we thought the idea
would be successful if 25 signed up. We set our limit at 50, but
eventually we accepted 68 kids because we couldn’t bear the idea
of turning any away. Many of these children had been on the
playground and some were among those wounded. 

Knowing a week at Ferncliff would equate a year of Sunday School
and that a camp experience would be remembered for the rest of
the campers’ lives, the Design Team put the schedule together
carefully. Helping with that process, Debbie Spencer, a Westside
6th grade science teacher who was on the playground the day of
the shooting, offered unique insight to the needs of the
children. “This camp is a good idea. It gives the children a
chance to gather together in the summer and to grieve if they
need to.”  

The Design Team wove physical activity, Bible study, art, music,
devotionals, games, story telling, environmental education, quiet
time, team building, learning, journal writing, conflict
resolution, photography and healthy meals into the schedule. 

I then assembled a team of resource people to lead the activity
blocks so the counselors could concentrate on the children. While
the activities were fun, each event reinforced God’s love and
encouraged self-assurance while offering the children a chance to
come to grips with their feelings of anger and grief.   

College-aged counselors lived with the children in bunkhouses,
participated in the classes and set an example of empathy,
energy, good humor, enthusiasm and teamwork even though
temperatures of 100 degrees plus and high humidity left clothes
damp with sweat.

“Most of the children attending this camp have never been away
from home and over half are not regular members of a church,”
says Father Jack Harris of the Jonesboro response team, who also
served as the camp chaplain and adult adviser to one of the boy’s
groups. “I hope they will learn, go back home and look for a
church experience.” 

There was a lot of gift giving at the camp — backpacks,
personalized with each child’s name, held a flashlight, a water
bottle, a drink mug and sunscreen; Post Cereal of Jonesboro
donated hundreds of pounds of food; t-shirts were specially
designed; and the Arkansas 4-H Center loaned Polaroid cameras for
children’s use. One staff member labored to make 68 “Ferncliff
crosses” out of horseshoe nails and wire, which were given out on
the last night.

Teachers freely gave of their skills, a local disk jockey donated
his time to emcee a night of skits and songs; one evening the
Central Arkansas Astronomical Society brought its telescopes to
star gaze. As the children got to know the counselors and
teachers, trust built as smiles and hugs became more and more
frequent — gifts of love.  

Circles and music go hand in hand at camp. Before breakfast each
morning, the campers, counselors and staff joined hands in prayer
and song. Both healing and high energy music accompanied the
campfires, morning devotionals and many gatherings. Again and
again, the children asked to sing one song in particular:

     Lord prepare me, to be a Sanctuary
     Pure and holy, tried and true
     With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living 
     Sanctuary, for you

The children of Jonesboro’s Westside School will remember the
love, peace and sanctuary they found at Ferncliff and carry it in
their hearts. Are all their fears relieved and problems solved?
Of course not, but seeds were planted to help each child take
another step in the healing process.

Newsline is produced by Nevin Dulabaum, manager of the General
Board’s News Services. Newsline stories may be reprinted provided
that Newsline is cited as the source.

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 800 323-8039, ext.
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