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[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      July 2, 1999
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline                                          July 2, 1999

News
1) The 213th Church of the Brethren Annual Conference is underway
     in Milwaukee, Wis.
2) Phill Carlos Archbold is elected moderator of the 2001 Annual
     Conference.
3) Three Church of the Brethren members participate in an
     ecumenical conference on global warming.
4) The Global Food Crisis Fund approves a grant for India's Rural
     Service Center.
5) The papers of Loren Bowman and Kenneth Morse have been received
     by the General Board's Brethren Historical Library and
     Archives.
6) Christian Peacemaker Teams announces upcoming delegations to the
     Middle East and Mexico.

Personnel
7) Mark Flory Steury has been called as executive of Southern Ohio
     District.
8) Jim Yaussy Albright has been called as executive of
     Illinois/Wisconsin District. 
9) Russ Matteson has been called as marketing manager of Brethren
     Press.
10) Jon Kobel is the new manager of office operations for the
     General Board's executive director.
11) Barb Leininger Dickason is named program coordinator of On
     Earth Peace Assembly.
12) Mike Leiter will serve as On Earth Peace Assembly's coordinator
     of communications.
13) The General Board seeks a half-time Area Five Congregational
     Life Team member.
14) West Marva District seeks an executive.

Feature
15) Sarah Leatherman Young, pastor of Prince of Peace Church of the
     Brethren, Littleton, Colo., gives a follow-up report on her
     congregation's recent public programs and initiatives to help
     reduce violence in society.

1) More than 3,400 conferencegoers have converged in Milwaukee,
Wis., to attend the 213th Church of the Brethren Annual Conference.
As of Friday morning, 868 delegates and 2,868 nondelegates had
gathered to hear items of business ranging from congregational
structure to ministerial leadership to caring for the poor. 

One item added to the agenda since the conference began involves a
General Board-approved statement on children and violence. This
proposed statement, a last-minute addition by the General Board
that was drafted Tuesday afternoon, calls on congregations and
their members to actively work to change the current culture of
violence in communities and schools and to reaffirm the 1978 Annual
Conference Statement "Violence and the Use of Firearms" in its call
to eliminate all weapons used for human destruction. This agenda
item comes in the wake of the tragedy at Columbine High School and
other such tragedies that have occurred involving children and
violence. In other conference activity, Brethren are hearing
messages throughout this week invoking the theme of servant
leadership, challenging congregations to look within to fill their
leadership needs. 

2) Phill Carlos Archbold, pastor of Brooklyn First Church of the
Brethren, New York, N.Y., was elected this week to serve as
moderator-elect of the denomination during the next year and then
to serve as moderator, the denomination's highest elected official,
for the 2001 Annual Conference in Baltimore.

Others elected this week by Annual Conference delegates included --

*Annual Conference Program and Arrangements Committee (3 year term)
     - Marla Bieber Abe, Akron, Ohio

* General Board-At-Large Representatives (5 year term) - Roy Unruh,
     Cedar Falls, Iowa

* General Board-Northern Indiana (5 year term) - Jill Bosler Best,
     Syracuse, Ind.

* General Board-Michigan (5 year term) - Daniel McRoberts,
     Caledonia, Mich.

* General Board-West Marva (5 year term) - Winoma Marguerite
     Spurgeon, Vienna, W.Va.; 

* On Earth Peace Assembly (5 year term) - Tom Leard Longenecker,
     Pasadena, Calif.

* Association of Brethren Caregivers (3 year term) - Phil Flory,
     Bridgewater, Va.; Heidi Loomis, Boalsburg, Pa.

* Brethren Benefit Trust (5 year term) - Raymond Donadio, Jr.,
     Greenville, Ohio

* Elector, Bethany Theological Seminary (5 year term) - Gene Fahs,
     North Manchester, Ind.

* Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Committee (5 years term) -
     Ronald D. Beachley, Davidsville, Pa.

*Committee on Interchurch Relations (3 year term) - Belita D.
     Mitchell, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

3) Three members of the Church of the Brethren were among the 70
participants representing 19 faith communities and at least four
state ecumenical organizations assembled near Lansing for the
"Global Warming and God's People: The Michigan Interfaith Global
Warming Conference," June 14-15. They were Marie Willoughby of
Copemish, Don Flint of Sterling Heights, and Jane Reynor of
Vestaburg. 

The conference was organized by the Eco-Justice Working Group of
the National Council of Churches in collaboration with the Michigan
Ecumenical Forum. This training event was part of a year-long
campaign designed to develop support for international treaties
like the Kyoto Protocol and to help people of faith in nine
selected states across the United States to see global warming as
a religious issue. Participants were equipped to become part of a
statewide network to spread the message of this campaign throughout
the faith community of Michigan, and they committed themselves to
a statewide campaign to fight global warming by educating their
congregations and synagogues, challenging their political leaders
and engaging in dialog with members of the business and farming
communities. 

In a statement released at the training session, 32 of the state's
senior religious leaders announced their commitment to combat
global warming and called upon their congregations to join them.
They pledged to carry a strong message back to the faithful: Global
warming is real, it will harm God's creation, and the issues around
it must be addressed as a matter of religious faith and moral
obligation.

4) Christian Peacemaker Teams has announced upcoming delegations to
the Middle East and Mexico during the fall and winter. Trips to the
Middle East are scheduled for Nov. 18-30 and Feb. 4-16. Rebuilders
Against Bulldozers Teams will meet with Israeli and Palestinian
peace and human rights workers and then join with CPT's long-term
team in Hebron to document cases of Palestinian families whose
homes are threatened with demolition by Israeli authorities.

Trips to Chiapas, Mexico are scheduled for Nov. 4-15 and Feb.
18-29. Delegates will learn about justice issues underlying the
conflict in this southern Mexican state and meet with villagers
facing ongoing violence and harassment from soldiers and
paramilitary groups.

Contact CPT at 312 455-1199. CPT is an independent peace initiative
of Church of the Brethren and Mennonite members and congregations.

5) A $51,000 Global Food Crisis Fund grant has been allocated for
the Rural Service Center in India. The agency assists poor Indians
by providing basic agricultural services. The funds will go to
basic program support and assistance in the purchase of a tractor.
The allocation is to be given over a three-year period. The
approval for $27,000 was given for the 1999 portion of the request,
including $12,000 for basic program support and $15,000 for the
tractor purchase.

6) The papers of two prominent Brethren have been received recently
by the General Board's Brethren Historical Library and Archives.
The papers of Loren Bowman, who served as General Board general
secretary from 1968 to 1977, were donated by Bowman in May. The
papers of Kenneth Morse, who served as Messenger magazine editor
from 1950 to 1971 were donated by Marjorie Morse in June. The
Bowman papers include statements he made to the General Board and
staff, letters he received when he was appointed general secretary,
and letters he received upon his retirement. The Morse papers
include materials he collected to write the book, "Preaching in a
Tavern." Both sets of papers will be processed for use by
researchers.

In related news, the Brethren Historical Committee is at work to
publish a booklet about the life and ministry of Sarah Righter
Major, the first woman preacher among the Brethren. Her life
exemplifies the struggle of women to serve as leaders in the Church
of the Brethren. The text for the booklet was written by Nancy
Kettering Frye and was first published in "Pennsylvania Folklife"
(Winter 1996-97).

7) Mark Flory Steury has been called to serve as executive of
Southern Ohio District beginning Oct. 1. Mark has served as pastor
of Mack Memorial Church of the Brethren, Dayton, Ohio, since 1993.
Previously he served as co-pastor with his wife, Mary Jo, at Troy
(Ohio) Church of the Brethren. Flory Steury is a graduate of
Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind., and has a masters of
divinity degree from Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, Ind.

8) Jim Yaussy Albright has been called as executive of
Illinois/Wisconsin District beginning Sept. 13. He currently is
serving the Huntington and Markle congregations in the
South/Central Indiana District. In addition to his pastoral
experience, Yaussy Albright has had extensive training in conflict
resolution in congregational settings. He also co-founded and
co-directed the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Mediation Service beginning in
1986. Yaussy Albright is a graduate of Manchester College, North
Manchester, Ind., and has a master of divinity degree from Bethany
Theological Seminary, Richmond, Ind.

9) Russ Matteson has been called as marketing manager for Brethren
Press, beginning July 19. Matteson currently is general manager of
Borders Books and Music in Wheaton, Ill. Previously Matteson and
his wife, Erin, co-pastored Fellowship in Christ Fremont (Calif.)
Church of the Brethren. Erin currently pastors Faith Church of the
Brethren in Batavia, Ill. Matteson holds a bachelor of arts in
economics from Grinnell (Iowa) College and a master of divinity
degree in peace studies from Bethany Theological Seminary.

10) Jon Kobel began serving as manager of office operations for the
General Board's executive director's office on June 21. Kobel has
a bachelor of fine arts degree from Judson College, Elgin, Ill.
Previously he worked for several hotels and held various positions
at David C. Cook Publishing in Elgin.

11) Barb Leininger Dickason of Mt. Airy, Md., began serving as On
Earth Peace Assembly's program coordinator in mid-June. She
succeeded Audrey Osborne. Dickason recently relocated to Maryland
from Syracuse, N.Y., where she was working on a master's degree.
She is a graduate of Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind.

12) Mike Leiter has been hired as On Earth Peace Assembly's
coordinator of communications and funding, beginning in August.
Previously Leiter has worked for Manchester College, North
Manchester, Ind., for the General Board, and a Brethren retirement
home.

13) A half-time Area Five Congregational Life Team member is being
sought by the General Board's Congregational Life Ministries
office. Three Brethren districts encompass this region -- Pacific
Southwest, Oregon/Washington, and Idaho. The preferred location for
this individual is Central or Northern California. Contact Elsie
Holderread at eholderread_gb@brethren.org or at 800 323-8039.

14) An executive is being sought by West Marva District.
Application deadline is Aug. 1. Contact Nancy Knepper at
nknepper_gb@brethren.org or Elsie Holderread at 800 323-8039.

15) Following the two recent public events for people concerned
about the effects of violent videos and computer games, which were
sponsored by Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren of Littleton,
Colo., Newsline wondered what were the results. Pastor Sarah
Leatherman Young explains --

Jesus pictured the Kingdom of God as a tiny grain of mustard seed
that, when planted, can blossom into a great tree. That's what it's
been like watching the "game swap" idea grow. It was a simple idea
that grew out of a discussion by a small study group. The
conversation turned to potential ways we could help our community
create peace out of the tragedy of the shooting at Columbine High
School. We ruled out a gun buy-back program, but then envisioned
something affluent families might buy into. The idea was to provide
an opportunity to get rid of the bad at the same time we would
improve family life by swapping violent video and computer games
for something positive that encouraged family time together: family
friendly board games. Since it's been acknowledged how fond the
killers at Columbine were of playing "Doom" and similar games, many
families are rethinking this form of entertainment.

It might have been one more good idea we would have gotten around
to sometime if it weren't for one brother who said, "Now let's not
just sit on this. I want some action taken by the time we meet next
week!" So, two days later I placed a call to the office of the man
I knew who could most powerfully address the issue: Lt. Col. Dave
Grossman. It quickly became apparent what a foolhardy idea this
was. His office told me he was booked into the year 2000, and I
didn't even have the nerve to ask his speaker's fee! Dejectedly, I
left my name and phone number and was about to hang up when I was
put on hold for another call. In God's providential timing, it was
Grossman calling in from the Senate hearings where he was
testifying on this issue. His office manager mentioned who was on
the other line and why, and when she came back on my line she said,
"The Colonel said to tell you he'll be there, and he's waiving his
fee." Hallelujah! We were off and running.

During the coming three weeks our church office at times looked
like a press room with mailings, releases, e-mails, and faxes
flying. Sometimes it seemed like it would never come together, but
one by one the pieces fell into place: Hasbro sent 300 board games
to be swapped; the Brethren Witness office gave us a grant to cover
expenses; a clergy colleague secured the community college as an
event site; author Jim McGinnis sent 100 copies of "Creating Family
Circles of Peace" for those who would sign the Family Pledge of
Non-Violence; Grossman, a licensed minister in the Southern Baptist
denomination, was scheduled to speak to two groups of people on a
Saturday and from the pulpit on Sunday; and about two days before
the event, the media began to take notice.

There was only one problem that I hadn't anticipated: the small
percentage of kids willing to give up their games! Talking to youth
about this issue is a very hard sell. In fact, it's a bit like
trying to convince them to give up pizza. After all, they've grown
up with these games and are reluctant to admit the games might be
a problem. I heard responses that in other circles would sound like
classic addiction statements: "Other people may have a problem with
them, but I can handle them"; "I just play them for recreation";
"Everybody does it" and so forth. The responses from this event
made me see the potential magnitude of the problem, and to realize
that Grossman may be right when he claims the adrenalin rush and
pleasure the kids get out of the violent games make them addictive.
A huge educational task is ahead of us, but I and others are
committed to the long haul.

In the meantime, it's been an amazing blessing to watch this
mustard seed idea blossom into a grassroots movement. Television
and radio stations have reported on it without further prompting
from us, and people from all over metro Denver are giving words of
encouragement and offering to help. "USA Today" ran a picture of
the event along with an article on Grossman. And we even made the
General Board Live Report at this year's Annual Conference, which
was a totally unexpected honor.

We encourage all Churches of the Brethren to get educated on the
topic of children and violence and to talk to your kids about it.
I myself can no longer look at these violent games as just games.
They are, to use Grossman's term, "murder simulators," and they
have no place in our homes. We at Prince of Peace will be glad to
give resource information to interested individuals and
congregations. Write to 7000 S. Windermere, Littleton, CO
80120-4024 or call (303) 797-1536.
   

Newsline is produced by Nevin Dulabaum, manager of the Church of
the Brethren General Board's News Services. Newsline stories may be
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