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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      May 7, 1999
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline                                          May 7, 1999
News
1) A $10,000 EDF grant for tornado response in Oklahoma and
     Kansas is allocated from EDF; ER/SM to open child care
     centers on Saturday. 
2) ER/SM prepares to assist refugees resettling into the United
     States; grants a $13,000 for an unusual Brethren Volunteer
     Service project in the Balkans.
3) Response to the conflict in the Balkans continues throughout
     the Church of the Brethren.
4) Over 27,000 cans of beef are processed during this year's
     annual canning project by Mid-Atlantic and Southern
     Pennsylvania districts.
5) Jim and Bonnie Martin, who have a son on death row, protest
     against the death penalty with other Brethren and about 200
     others in Harrisburg, Pa.
6) An estimated 3,500 people, including at least 12 Brethren,
     protest against the U.S. School of the Americas in
     Washington, D.C.
7) The On Earth Peace Assembly board holds its spring meetings.
8) A national teleconference on stemming violence in schools is
     scheduled for May 18.
9) The second of three Global Food Crisis Fund grants to provide
     food in Nicaraguan communities was allocated last week.
10) Bethany Theological Seminary will celebrate its 94th
     commencement on Saturday.
11) A Youth Pledge of Peace card has been sent to every Brethren
     youth group.
12) eMountain Communications is looking for a mascot for its
     Internet search engine.
13) ClearViewNet is featured at a national Internet trade show
     and in USA Today.
14) Sixty-six people attend this year's Southeastern District
     mens' and women's combined fellowship meeting.
15) The May Source packet includes eight resource and promotional
     fliers.
16) A new award honors a long-time Bridgewater (Va.) professor.
17) Collinsville (Va.) Church of the Brethren hosts Virlina
     District's Spring Mission Rally.
18) Tis the season for district disaster auctions.
19) Various ecumenical media education resources are available.

Personnel
20) Robert Blake is joining Association of Brethren Caregivers as
     program field staff.
21) Jim Sauder resigns as executive director of
     Brethren/Mennonite Council for Lesbian and Gay Concerns.
22) Bethany Theological Seminary and Earlham School of Religion
     are seeking a coordinator of Academic Services.

1) Church of the Brethren Disaster Child Care teams will begin
taking care of children in Wichita, Kan., on Saturday and in
Oklahoma City, Okla., on Monday, in response to this week's
devastating tornadoes that struck the midwest.

A $10,000 grant from the Church of the Brethren General Board's
Emergency Disaster Fund was allocated immediately following the
May 3 storms. This money was used to send assessors to Oklahoma
and to Kansas to determine the General Board's Emergency
Response/Service Ministries response. Stanley Noffsinger,
incoming ER/SM manager and Byron Frantz, Western Plains District
disaster coordinator, are on the scene in Wichita; Cheryl and
Doug Dekker, trained disaster child care givers from Norfolk,
Neb., and Golan Winkler, Southern Plains District disaster
response coordinator, are in Oklahoma City.

Child care centers are being established in both cities by ER/SM
at the request of the American Red Cross. Two centers are being
opened in Wichita, which will be staffed by Mary Snavely,
Sterling, Ill.; Millie Smith, Mount Morris, Ill.; Julie Sword,
Lanark, Ill.; Wilma Troxell, Akron, Ohio; Shirley Benner,
Ashland, Ohio; Shirley Barnhart, New Carlisle, Ohio; and Lorna
Grow, Dallas Center, Iowa; and Alene Gallup, Leaf Run, Ill. The
Wichita Church of the Brethren will provide hospitality and
transportation for the volunteers.

Jean Myers of Sinking Springs, Pa., will be coordinating child
care services in Oklahoma City, which begin on May 10. Two
members of the child care team will be Lois Wine, Wauneta, Neb.,
and Pauline Grossbach, Enders, Neb.. Lodging for the team will be
at Asbury United Methodist Church. 

In the meantime, ER/SM this week also sent eight bales of
blankets (200 total) to Oklahoma in response to a Church World
Service appeal.

2) The Church of the Brethren General Board's Emergency
Response/Service Ministries this week is working to respond to
Kosovar refugees preparing to resettle in the United States. And
last week, a $13,000 grant from the General Board's Emergency
Disaster Fund was allocated to help fund a new, short-term
Brethren Volunteer Service project in the Balkans.

ER/SM has been requested to assess the need for child care at the
Refugee Reception Center at Fort Dix in Trenton, N.J. Jean Myers
of Sinking Springs, Pa., and Patricia Ronk of Roanoke, Va., are
there this weekend assessing the kind of child care to provide.

At the same time, ER/SM staff at the Brethren Service Center in
New Windsor, Md., are preparing to assist with the resettlement
of Kosovar refugees, especially now that the United States has
lifted its stipulation that refugees must have family members
already located in the country. Without that condition, many more
refugees have the possibility of relocating in the United States
to wherever they can find homes. Thus, churches or individuals
wishing to sponsor a refugee should contact ER/SM at 800 451-4407
ext. 733.

Meanwhile, $10,000 of last week's $13,000 EDF grant is supporting
a new short-term Church of the Brethren/Quaker initiative created
to respond to the refugee crisis in Kosovo. These funds are being
used by Brethren Volunteer Service worker Gail Long to purchase
and then deliver relief supplies to Kosovar refugees. Long, who
served as a BVSer in the Balkans from January 1995 through
September 1997, returned to the region in April to lead this
project.

The remaining $3,000 is being used by ER/SM to support special
Kosovar refugee projects. This is in addition to the $140,000
already allocated from EDF in response to the Balkans conflict.

According to reports, Long has visited several refugee camps.
With other relief aid activists, she delivered about 100 boxes of
apples, 50 kilos of chickpeas, sanitary napkins, 10 kilos of
coffee, and pens, paper, and plastic sheeting to three camps. One
of these camps alone housed 25,000 refugees.

"Due to our small numbers and lack of bureaucratic red tape we
are at an advantage as we will be able, in conjunction with other
international and local nongovernmental organizations, to quickly
identify needs and act to procure and distribute aid without
lengthy waits and hassles," Long said. She added that larger NGOs
might be assisted by her group staying overnight in the refugee
camps, offering an international presence in case of an
emergency.

In addition to Long, BVS presence in the Balkans includes Frank
Klein, in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Jen Erickson, in
Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. M.C. Roth and Tamiko Horner, who were
serving in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, concluded their service a
month ago and have returned to the United States.

Doug Pierce returned to the United States earlier this year at
the completion of his project in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He will be
joining a new project in the Balkans in the near-future.

3) Response to the ongoing crisis in the Balkans continues
throughout the Church of the Brethren, including the following
two examples.

On May 15 at York Center Church of the Brethren, Lombard, Ill.,
Bob Williamson, associate director of the Lombard Mennonite Peace
Center will present a peace church perspective on the conflict,
based on his visits to Serbia in 1993, 1994, and 1996. The church
is asking its members to learn "the facts behind television
pictures" and to carry "a strong message of human need to our
local communities." It also has asked members to support the
Church of the Brethren General Board's Emergency Disaster Fund
appeal of $140,000 for assistance in the Balkans. 

Meanwhile, the Ashland (Ohio) Dickey Church of the Brethren on
Monday concluded a different kind of witness. May Patalano
explains --

When the e-mail appeal for personal items and health kits for
Kosovo refugees was received, Ashland Dickey members went into
action. A challenge was put forth to the congregation at the
April 25th worship service to bring enough items to fill the
church vestibule the following Sunday. 

A youth then had an idea. High school freshman Rachelle Matz and
I, Ashland Dickey's youth adviser, went to the local Wal-Mart the
following day to with two requests. We wanted permission to hand
out fliers to customers with the list of refugee needs, and we
wanted to set up a table to receive these items at Wal-Mart's
exit. The manager was very receptive and granted permission for
the youth to be at Wal-Mart from April 27 through May 1. 

Each day, the youth set up their stations for four hours in and
outside of Wal-Mart. During the project, enough items and
monetary donations were received to assemble 243 health kits,
including a large number of additional personal items. When the
congregation met for worship on May 2, members continued to bring
their own contributions. The final tally was 337 health kits and
a large number of personal items.

On the previous Sunday, a challenge had been extended for someone
to personally deliver the items to the Brethren Service Center in
New Windsor, Md. Mike and Cindy McNaull were led by the spirit
and they departed at 4 p.m., May 2, with their minivan full of
the donations. They arrived in New Windsor on May 3.

This experience was a wonderful point of celebration for the
youth, culminating coincidentally on National Youth Sunday, where
they led the worship service using the theme, "Spirit, Lead the
Way!"

4) This year's annual meat canning project by Mid-Atlantic and
Southern Pennsylvania districts yielded 27,495 cans of beef from
50,000 pounds of meat that was processed April 5-10. (see April 1
Newsline). A quarter of the cans will be distributed throughout
each district, 25 percent will go to Christian Aid Ministries
(the agency where the meat was canned), and 25 percent is
tentatively scheduled to go to Korea, El Salvador, and Kosovo.

About 250 volunteers from both districts worked on this year's
canning project.

5) Jim and Bonnie Martin, members of Spring Creek Church of the
Brethren, Hershey, Pa., made their voices heard May 1 at the
Pennsylvania State Capitol along with about 200 others -- voices
of fear; voices with hope for compassion. Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Ridge has been speeding up the number of executions in the
state and the Martins' son, Brad, currently sits on death row
awaiting lethal injection.

At the Capitol, the demonstrators, which included the Martins and
about 10 other Church of the Brethren members, protested against
the death penalty. They called for a two-year moratorium of
executions. Impassioned participants included attorneys who have
worked on death penalty cases and issues, death row survivors,
people with family members on death row, and musical performers.
All called attention to the seemingly inequity of death penalty
sentences and executions, which often appear to be based on
income levels and race. Speakers also cited those who have been
executed on death row only to be found innocent after their
death.

Upon leaving the Capitol, rally participants then marched to the
Governor's residence chanting and singing. Once there, nine
people chained themselves to the gates in acts of civil
disobedience, demanding the death penalty be abolished.
 
While the Martins do not want to see their son die, they do
believe justice must be served. Jim Martin says, "A penalty has
to be paid, but not the death penalty. It's time that we discuss
the issue again in our churches and our society. We need to be
more knowledgeable."

On May 3, eight days before Brad's scheduled execution, the
Martin family was informed that Brad received a Stay of Execution
by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. However, the legal battle is
far from over. 

"The Martins remain anxious, but hopeful and supported," said
Greg Laszakovits, who is working on death penalty issues this
year for the Church of the Brethren General Board's Brethren
Witness office and who joined the Martins at the Harrisburg
demonstration. Said Bonnie Martin, "We know we're not alone. God
and others have been there for us."

The Brethren Witness Office will soon be asking congregations and
individuals to get involved in this matter through a letter
writing and petition signing campaign urging Governor Ridge to
stop the killing in Pennsylvania. The 1987 Church of the Brethren
"Annual Conference Statement on the Death Penalty" states that
"Our Christian sense of justice compels us to abolish the death
penalty."  For more information on abolishing the death penalty,
call Greg Laszakovits at (800)323-8039. Pictures of this
demonstration will be posted at
www.brethren.org/picthis/index.htm by May 14.

6) An estimated 3,500 people protested against the School of the
Americas at the Pentagon and at the U.S. Capitol last weekend,
including at least 12 Church of the Brethren members. The school,
a U.S. Army training ground for Latin American and Caribbean
soldiers, is located at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga. Graduates
have been linked to thousands of human rights violations
including execution-style murders, rape, and genocide of
indigenous peoples.

The three days of demonstrations were planned and run by the
School of the Americas Watch, a grass roots organization with the
goal of closing the school. SOA Watch currently has two Brethren
Volunteer Service workers on its staff -- Tracy Stoddart of Grand
Junction, Colo., and Sebastian Kloppel of Lingen, Germany. Events
included speeches, a "Celebration of Hope" concert, nonviolence
training, informational workshops, congressional visits, and a
nonviolent protest and vigil at the Pentagon and at the Capitol.

The Monday morning acts of civil disobedience, during which 55
people were arrested at the Pentagon, were powerful components of
the weekend, said Torin Eikenberry, a Brethren Volunteer Service
worker serving in Elgin, Ill., with the General Board's
Youth/Young Adult Ministries office. 

"When I saw the first person arrested it seemed so unbelievable
-- it was something so minor," Eikenberry said "But it seemed to
underline why we were there --people in Latin America are also
being arrested, killed, and are disappearing for no reason. There
was a parallel there for me." 

Protesters vowed that if SOA is not closed, the yearly protest
against the school held the past few Novembers at Fort Benning
will again be held this year. "The weekend definitely inspired me
to do more to close the SOA." said BVSer Kristin Grimes, who
serves in Elgin, Ill., with the General Board's Brethren
Volunteer Service. "I'll be in Georgia in November to protest at
the base," she added.

In April legislation was proposed on Capitol Hill that would
eliminate funding to the SOA. Contact the Church of the Brethren
Washington Office at washofc@aol.com or at 202 546-3202 for more
information. Pictures of this demonstration will be posted at
www.brethren.org/picthis/index.htm by May 14.

7) The On Earth Peace Assembly Board of Directors met for its
spring board retreat at Shepherds Spring Outdoor Ministries
Center, Sharpsburg, Md., April 16-18.
During its meetings, the board --
* reaffirmed its March 1997 decision to leave the Brethren
     Service Center in New Windsor, Md., and called a new site
     committee, giving it the mandate to recommend a new         
     OEPA headquarters site to the board at its October meeting.
* developed mission statements, investment strategies, and
     regulations for its endowments.
* endorsed the idea of an annual Reconciliation Sunday for Church
     of the Brethren congregations, and directed staff to pursue
     plans to implement such a program.
* felt called to cooperate with the Church of the Brethren
     Womaen's Caucus and the Brethren/Mennonite Council for
     Lesbian and Gay Concerns in areas where OEPA's mission
     coincides with the groups' activities.

In program reports from staff, the board heard -- 
* of the plans for OEPA's five-day 25th birthday celebration in
     late October. Promotional and registration information will
     be distributed in May.
* that OEPA is working cooperatively with Mennonite denominations
     to develop a peace curriculum for congregations.
* that OEPA is a collaborating partner in the development and
     sponsorship of the Western Christian Peacemaking Conference,
     scheduled for Oct. 8-11 at George Fox University.
* that a flier will be available by July listing weekend Peace
     Retreats for junior and senior youth for the 1999-2000
     school year.

The board also met with its seven-member Ministry of
Reconciliation steering committee. MoR reported -- 
* that there have been increased congregational requests for its
     Matthew 18 workshop.
* that a new urban ministries program in violence transformation
     is being developed.
* on the creation of a permanent Calling & Ministry Committee
     that is developing specific criteria by which people will be
     called, trained, and affirmed by MoR as being qualified     
     to intervene and assist congregations with conflict
     prevention or mediation. 

8) Pastors, school officials, caregivers, and families can learn
more about stemming violence in schools by participating in a May
18 satellite teleconference, which will be offered at more than
135 locations nationwide.

Planned months ago by United Methodist Teleconference Connection,
the 90-minute "Kids, Guns, Violence: How to Make A Difference"
will lift up the broader problem that school violence represents
and highlight solutions that can make a difference.

"Recent events at Littleton, Colo., demonstrate again the urgent
need for church leaders to work collaboratively with parents,
teachers, schools, and community leaders to stop teen violence,"
says June Gibble, Association of Brethren Caregivers staff
representative for Family Life Ministry. "It is so easy to point
blame when tragedies happen, but we need to seek out positive
steps to stop teen violence."

Visit the United Methodist Teleconference Connection web site at
www.umcom.org/umtc/violence or call ABC at 800 323-8039 for a
list of telecast sites. To participate, contact a host site prior
to May 18.

9) Last week the Global Food Crisis Fund sent the second of three
grants to provide food for Nicaraguan communities that saw their
crops destroyed by last fall's Hurricane Mitch. The $15,000 grant
will help feed families in areas where the Brethren partner
church Mision Cristiana is active. The total Brethren commitment
is $60,000 over six months, ending with the August harvest.

"With a series of international crises, it is easy to forget the
suffering still being experienced in areas no longer in the
headlines," said Brethren Witness director David Radcliff, who
manages the fund. "It will be years or even decades before the
nations of Central America recover from Mitch. We must let them
know they are not alone in their efforts to rebuild."

Contributions to the Global Food Crisis Fund can be sent to the
Church of the Brethren General Board at 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin,
IL  60120.

10) Bethany Theological Seminary on Saturday will celebrate its
94th commencement. Fifteen students will receive Master of
Divinity degrees while three students have completed degrees with
peace studies emphases. 

The morning invitation-only ceremony for conferring degrees will
take place in Bethany's Nicarry Chapel. A 2 p.m. public worship
celebration will be held on the adjacent Earlham College campus.

Robert Neff of Alexandria, Pa., former professor of Biblical
Studies at the Seminary, will speak at the morning ceremony. Neff
taught at Bethany from 1965-1977. He was general secretary of the
Church of the Brethren General Board from 1977-1986, and served
as president of Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa., from 1986 to
1998. Nancy Faus of Richmond, Ind., and Bethany Professor
Emerita, will speak at the afternoon service. She began her
tenure at Bethany in 1975 as campus minister and coordinator of
chapel and music. In 1978 she became a full-time instructor, and
was named Brightbill professor of ministry studies in 1991.

11) A youth Pledge of Peace has been sent to every Church of the
Brethren youth group by Chris Douglas of the General Board's
Youth/Young Adult Ministries and by David Radcliff, director of
Brethren Witness. The pledge was developed in response to the
recent school shooting in Colorado, as these are part of a
pattern of violence in U.S. schools. The pledge invites youth to
be more inclusive of all people in their circle of love, to see
each person as a child of God, and to turn away from
entertainment that promotes or sanitizes violence.

"Our hope is that making the kind of sacrifices required in this
pledge, you will help keep families and teenagers from making the
much more difficult sacrifice that we witnessed in Littleton,
Colo.," Douglas and Radcliff wrote.

Copies of the pledge, along with ideas for study resources on
this issue, are available from either office. A copy will also be
posted at www.brethren.org/picthis/index.htm by May 14.

12) eMountain Communications is looking for a mascot for its
Internet search engine, ClearViewSearch, which was launched
mid-March as part of Brethren Benefit Trust's new Internet
Service Provider business. Within the next few weeks, BBT will
send letters to Church of the Brethren youth and young adults
inviting them to enter the ClearViewSearch Mascot Design Contest.
Letters to local pastors and church board chairs will follow. 

"We are looking for entries from anyone enrolled in 7th grade
through their senior year in college," said Michael Addison,
project director. "We want our younger entrants to know that a
great idea is more important than their level of artistic talent.
Our web designers can refine the winning design idea for use on
the Internet." The mascot can be an animal, a person, or an
imaginary character. It will appear as a surfing companion every
time someone uses ClearViewSearch. Entries are due by June 15.

The grand prize is a personal computer for the designer and a
year's free Internet service for the winner's church. The winning
artist from each age group will receive a t-shirt. For more
information, write to clearviewnet_bbt@brethren.org or call
800-250-5757.

13) Concentric Network Corporation, the firm that is providing
the network backbone for Brethren Benefit Trust's new
ClearViewNet Internet service, featured ClearViewNet during its
main stage presentation at Spring Internet World '99, April
14-16, in Los Angeles.

"Concentric representatives told me they were so impressed with
our Web site that they changed their show strategy at the last
minute in order to include us," said Michael Addison, project
director. Spring Internet World is purported to be the world's
largest event for e-business and Internet technology.

In related news, ClearViewNet was featured in the May 6 USA Today
in an article related to Internet Service Providers that filter
out potentially inappropriate and offensive content, a key
characteristic of ClearViewNet.

14) Sixty-six Church of the Brethren members representing nine
congregations attended this year's annual Southeastern district
women's and men's fellowship's combined meeting April 26 at
Jonesborough, Tenn. Host pastor Curtis Rhudy, a bell choir, and a
number of vocalists and musicians led the opening worship
service. Julie Hostetter, coordinator of the General Board's Area
Three Congregational Life Team, led a session on Annual
Conference's recent Ethics for Congregations paper.

The offering raised $366, which will be sent to the General
Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries to assist with
refugee programs in Albania and Macedonia.

15) The May Source resource packet in mid-April was sent to each
Church of the Brethren congregation. This month's materials
include --
* a flier on the Church of the Brethren General Offices open
     house in Elgin, Ill., just prior to this year's Annual
     Conference in Milwaukee.
* a flier on this year's first-ever Multicultural Dinner at
     Annual Conference.
* a flier on more than two dozen Youth/Young Adult Ministries and
     Congregational Life Team events at this year's Annual
     Conference.
* a brochure on Ministry of Reconciliation's Matthew 18 workshop.
     MoR is a ministry of On Earth Peace Assembly.
* a brochure for a June 23-26 stewardship event in Toronto.
* the General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries' 1998
     annual report.
* a Radical Disciples Network catalog that includes Bible
     studies, topical and special interest studies, and youth
     ministry resources.
* a copy of the 1999 One Great Hour of Sharing poster.

16) A new award has been created at Bridgewater (Va.) College in
honor of Dale Ulrich, a 38-year member of the faculty and
longtime member of Bridgewater Church of the Brethren. The Dale
V. Ulrich Award for Excellence in Physics recognizes Ulrich,
professor of physics and former dean and provost. This year's
recipient, senior Matthew Whitaker of Parkersburg, W.Va.,
received a plaque on Tuesday during the annual Academic Awards
Convocation. 

17) The Collinsville (Va.) Church of the Brethren hosted the
Virlina District Spring Mission Rally on May 1st. Sixty-four
people attended this annual event, representing 19 congregations
and the General Board.

"RENEWED! For Ministry and Mission" was the theme for worship,
which was planned and led by Julie Hostetter, coordinator of the
General Board's Area Three Congregational Life Team. Participants
then attended two workshops from the 13 offered.

18) Tis the season for district disaster auctions as Middle
Pennsylvania and West Marva districts will be holding theirs this
weekend. Mid-Atlantic District held its annual auction last
weekend. 

Middle Pennsylvania District is holding its third annual auction
today and Saturday at Morrisons Cove Memorial Park in
Martinsburg. West Marva's fifth annual spring disaster auction is
scheduled for Saturday at the Barbour County Fairgrounds.

Mid-Atlantic District's auction was held last weekend in
Westminster, Md.

Totals from these auctions will be published as soon as the
information is available.

19) Events like the shooting at Columbine High School are times
when people of faith gain a renewed interest in media awareness
resources. Here are some current choices identified by Howard
Royer, the General Board's staff for Interpretation --

* "The Church and Media," a booklet of statements on
     communications issues adopted by the National Council of
     Churches. Reference is made to the Church of the Brethren
     Annual Conference media statements of 1962, 1978, and 1985.
* "Media Awareness Year," a poster, bibliography, and cover
     letter sent to all Brethren congregations in March 1997.
* "Family Week 1997," which also played up Media Awareness Year
     with a poster, bibliography, and study resources.
* "Video Violence and Values" by David Pomeroy of the National
     Council of Churches. ($5.95 plus p/h, call 513 948-8733.)
* "Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television, and the
     First Amendment" by Newton Minow and Craig LeMay. ($20, Hill
     and Wang publishers.)
* The National Television Violence Study, Executive Summary,
     1994-1995. (Call 818 508-2080.)
* "Games That Byte: Helping Youth Evaluate Computer Games" is a
     hands-on curriculum "that helps youth evaluate the unspoken
     assumptions and harmful effects of violent video games." 
     Produced by Christian Peacemaker Teams, it is available from
     Brethren Press at brethren_press_gb@brethren.org or at 800
     441-3712.

Contact Royer at hroyer_gb@brethren.org or at 800 323-8039.

20) Robert Blake will join the Association of Brethren Caregivers
as program field staff beginning July 15. In this role, Blake
will provide staff leadership for Denominational Deacon, Family
Life, Lafiya, and Voice ministries. Not new to ABC, Blake has
served for two years on ABC's Lafiya Steering Committee.

Blake, who will succeed June Gibble upon her retirement from ABC
July 4, joins ABC after working for 19 years as director of
Pastoral Care Department and chaplain at Sherman Hospital, Elgin,
Ill. Blake is a licensed Church of the Brethren minister and
former pastor. 

21) After 10 years of service, Jim Sauder on Thursday announced
his resignation as executive director of the Brethren/Mennonite
Council for Lesbian and Gay, effective June 1. It is hoped a
successor will be in place by October 1. Possible candidates can
obtain more information from bmcouncil@aol.com or at 612
722-6906.

22) Bethany Theological Seminary and Earlham School of Religion
are seeking a coordinator of Academic Services. The person chosen
for this position will be an employee of the Earlham School of
Religion, but will be a member of both ESR and Bethany
administrative faculties and will be a critical link in the
academic programs of each school.

It is anticipated that interviews will occur the first week of
June. Contact Jay Marshall at marshja@earlham.edu or at 765
983-1423.

Newsline, the Church of the Brethren news service, is produced by
Nevin Dulabaum, manager of the Church of the Brethren General
Board's News Services. Greg Laszakovits contributed to this
report. To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 800 323-8039,
ext. 263, or write CoBNews@AOL.Com. Newsline is available at
www.brethren.org and is archived with an index at
http://www.wfn.org.