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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date: September 3, 1999
Contact:  Walt Wiltschek
V:  410/871-0516
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) The denomination's Emergency Response/Service Ministries office
holds a special drought response meeting with ecumenical
participation.
 2) ER/SM continues its response to the earthquake in Turkey with
a major grant.
 3) More than 50 people join in an Area 1 urban celebration in
Harrisburg, Pa.
 4) College news: Elizabethtown earns plaudits for its academics;
Bridgewater enjoys high contributions; Manchester's graduate pledge
receives more national attention.
 5) Elizabethtown College's centennial celebration features several
September events, including a Sept. 19 vespers service to kick off
a year-long series.
 6) New Life Ministries adds a new partner: Christian Community of
Fort Wayne, Ind.
 7) The Rev. Patrice Rosner of St. Louis, Mo., has been named the
Director of Ministries in Christian Education for the National
Council of Churches.

COMING EVENTS
 8) Camp Harmony will host its 17th annual Brethren Heritage
Festival on Sept. 18.
 9) The General Board's Youth/Young Adult MinistryOffice is
sponsoring a youth ministry workshop Nov. 20 at the Hagerstown
Church of the Brethren in Hagerstown, Md.

PERSONNEL
10) The General Board announces a position opening for a full-time
Congregational Life Team member in Area 3.
11) Richard M. Hanley, currently District Executive Minister of the
Western Plains District, has been called to also be the District
Executive Minister for the Southern Plains District.

RESOURCES
12) The Global Missions Partnerships office of the General Board
has created the second installment of the "...in our midst"
congregational resources for pastors.
13) Brethren Press has sent out its packet of resource ideas for
1999-2000.
14) The Congregational Life Teams have a Stewardship Resource Box
available.

FEATURE
15) The Moler Avenue Church of the Brethren's small idea turns into
a large gift for Kosovo.
16) A change of plans couldn't stop ministry to the Old German
Baptist Brethren in Virginia.

 1) Cooperation -- across district lines, between agencies, and
ecumenically -- emerged as a theme of a special drought response
meeting sponsored by the Church of the Brethren's Emergency
Response/Service Ministries last Thursday. 

Representatives from most of the districts in the eastern part of
the country joined representatives from Church World Service,
Mennonite Disaster Service, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
America Domestic Disaster Response, and other agencies in New
Windsor, Md., to examine possible responses to the severe drought
in parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. It started as
just a meeting of Brethren district representatives but expanded as
others learned of the event and expressed interest.

Reports emphasized the long-term nature of the problem and the
complexities of meeting needs in various areas. Farmer Elvin
Molison of the Hanover (Pa.) Church of the Brethren said that this
year's crop losses and the longer-term effects of that loss will be
staggering, especially for the farmers themselves.

"The Church of the Brethren is ready, willing, and able to work
together," said Stanley Noffsinger, director of ER/SM. "I see that
as a great possiblity as a faith community to join hands."

Initiatives resulting from the meeting will be reported in the next
edition of Newsline.

 2) ER/SM has also been active in responding to the recent
earthquake and tragic aftermath in northwest Turkey. The General
Board approved a grant of $25,000 from the Emergency Disaster Fund
to support the humanitarian efforts of Church World Service, which
is seeking to send $500,000 in aid from its 35 member
denominations.

CWS has already committed an initial $250,000 to the effort,
including $100,000 from the CWS Blanket Fund for bedding, tents,
and tarps. The $500,000 will go toward long-term rehabilitation
work in Turkey, including the provision of material goods and
building homes. The official death toll from the quake has already
reached nearly 15,000, and about 200,000 people remained homeless
as of a recent CWS report.

ER/SM has also sent additional material resources, with two
10,000-gallon water bladders, four 3,000-gallon water bladders,
30,000 wool blankets and 500 rolls of plastic sheeting sent out
last week.

 3) Saturday, Aug. 14, was a day of worshipful celebration in
Harrisburg, Pa., as nine urban congregations representing four
districts across Area 1 came together for worship and an exchange
of ideas in an event called "Spirit in the City: An Urban
Celebration." 

More than 50 people representing urban and suburban congregations
listened to stories of established urban congregational life and,
following lunch, had the opportunity to share personal stories in
small groups as well as to ask the "what if" questions regarding
urban ministry: "What if there were unlimited resources for urban
ministry in your setting?" "What if your congregation had three
opportunities to make significant differences in your present
setting?" "What if several rural and suburban congregations
partnered with your congregation in providing urban ministry?" The
questions raised sparked the group's enthusiasm for continuing the
work of Area 1's Urban Task Team.

The day began with spirited worship and closed with powerful
anointing of each congregation. An extensive book display of urban
ministry resources was available for perusal throughout the day,
and an idea list of useful "next steps" was generated. Among those,
urban congregations across Area 1 are hopeful that rural/suburban
congregations seeking outreach ministries will consider urban
partnerships as a much-needed option in 2000 and beyond.

 4) Some news from the Church of the Brethren Colleges:
     *Elizabethtown College (Pa.), celebrating its centennial this
year, was ranked third among the best regional liberal arts
colleges in the North region for academic quality by U.S. News and
World Report. It is the sixth consecutive year that the college
received a top-five ranking. Elizabethtown was also ranked as one
of the top 10 best values among regional liberal arts colleges in
the North. The 13th annual America's Best Colleges issue appeared
on newstands Aug. 23 and can be viewed on the Internet at
www.usnews.com.
     *Contributions to Bridgewater College (Va.) for the 1998-99
year topped $5 million, the highest total since 1992-93. The
estates of former trustees A.D. Miller and Charles D. Lantz
provided more than $1.1 million of that amount.
     *An article on the Graduation Pledge Alliance, a nation-wide
effort based at Manchester College (Ind.) has received  wide
publicity. The Associated Press piece appeared in numerous large
newspapers around the country, including Chicago, Philadelphia, and
New York.                
    The Alliance promotes a voluntary pledge in which students
agree to be socially and environmentally responsible in their jobs.
About 60 percent of Manchester graduates have taken the pledge
since it began there in 1988. Graduates at 35 colleges and
universities took the pledge this year.

 5) In celebration of its centennial year, Elizabethtown College in
Elizabethtown, Pa., plans numerous special events. One of these
will be Sept. 19, when a series of vespers services kicks off at
5:30 p.m. beside Lake Placida. The service will include singing by
the Palmyra Church of the Brethren children's choir and choirs from
other Brethren churches, a re-enactment of Alexander Mack's
pilgrimage to America, and a candlelit prayer time.

Twyla Rowe, pastor of nurture at the Conestoga Church of the
Brethren (Leola, Pa.), assisted by Bob Kettering of the Lititz
(Pa.) church and Dana Statler of the Lancaster (Pa.) church, are
coordinating the service along with several area Brethren
congregations and the Centennial Church Partnership Committee.

Other September events for the centennial include a "Brethren
Hymnody and Hymn Sing" program directed by Dr. Hedda Durnbaugh and
presented by the college's Young Center for Anabaptist Studies at
7:30 p.m. on Sept. 16 and an exhibit on "Brethren at Home, Work,
and Worship" featuring century-old meetinghouse photos by
Elizabethtown College founder J.G. Francis Sept. 1-Dec. 15.
     
 6) New Life Ministries, an organization focused on evangelism and
church vitality in the Anabaptist/believers' church tradition, has
added a new partner: Christian Community of Fort Wayne, Ind. With
the addition, New Life now has seven partners, including the Church
of the Brethren.

Christian Community is a parachurch organization focused on
research, resource development, and congregational consulting,
according to Paul Mundey, senior pastor of the Frederick (Md.)
Church of the Brethren and chairman of the board of trustees for
New Life. Steve Clapp, president of Christian Community, will
represent the new partner on New Life's eight-member board of
trustees. Kristen Leverton Helbert, outreach director, will
represent Christian Community on New Life's eight-member management
team.

Christian Community works cooperatively with churches in more than
30 denominations and has done so previously with New Life and its
forerunner, The Andrew Center, on several projects.

 7) The Rev. Patrice Rosner of St. Louis, Mo., has been named the
Director of Ministries in Christian Education for the National
Council of Churches, the NCC reported last week.

Rosner has been a publishing executive with the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) and will begin her new position on Jan. 1,
2000. She will be based in the NCC's New York office.
An ordained minister, Rosner has also authored a book: "Consider
the Children: Planning for Young Children During Worship."

 8) Camp Harmony, in Hooversville, Pa. (Western Pennsylvania
District),will host its 17th annual Brethren Heritage Festival on
Sept. 18 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

The event includes booths that sell heritage-type products such as
crafts and quilts, others that demonstrate heritage activities like
wool-spinning or blacksmithing, a breakfast, a quilt auction, a
heritage center on Brethren history, a pumpkin contest,
entertainment, and other activities.

Goals listed for the event are promoting unity among congregations
in the district, strengthening a vision of the future by
remembering the past, helping people understand and appreciate the
heritage of the Church of the Brethren, and providing opportunities
for family interaction. Call the camp at (814) 798-5885 or
888-745-CAMP for more information.

 9) The General Board's Youth/Young Adult MinistryOffice is
sponsoring a youth ministry workshop Nov. 20 at the Hagerstown
Church of the Brethren in Hagerstown, Md.

Keynote leader for the event is Mark Yaconelli, a well-known and
popular speaker in youth ministry, who will address the topic
"Youth and Spirituality." The fee is $10, which includes lunch.
Registration deadline is Oct. 15.

For registration forms or more details, call Chris Douglas in the
Youth/Young Adult Office at 1-800-323-8039, extension 297.

10) The Church of the Brethren General Board announces a position
opening for a full-time Congregational Life Team member in Area 3.
This area covers the Atlantic Southeast, 
Shenandoah, Southeastern, Virlina, and West Marva districts.

The position requires working in an area covenantal partnership of
General Board and districts and calls for resourcing congregations,
a variety of leadership development events, consulting with
congregations and district groups, and the networking of
individuals and congregations. Team members also work
collaboratively with district staff in response to agreed-upon
projects. 

Experience and education required include ability to work with
diverse cultures and congregations, five years' experience in
congregational life program development and administrative work, an
ability to combine people skills and technical skills, and a
bachelor's degree. A master's degree in a related field is
preferred.

Location is negotiable within the West Marva District. Relocation
may be necessary.

Interviews will begin after Oct. 15, 1999, and continue until the
position is filled. For application and information, contact Elsie
Holderread, Office of Human Resources, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL
60120 or call 1-800-323-8039, extenstion 259, or fax to (847)
742-8212 or e-mail eholderread_gb@brethren.org.

11) Richard M. Hanley, District Executive Minister of the Western
Plains District, has been called as the District Executive Minister
for the Southern Plains District effective immediately.

The Southern Plains and Western Plains districts have approved this
joint staffing configuration to address the issues of wide
geographic boundaries for the districts and limited financial
resources. Hanley will be assisted by a District Coordinating
Minister who will care for many of the administrative functions of
both districts. Regional District Ministry Advocates will also be
called to serve in outlying areas of both districts assisting with
pastoral placement, pastoral care and congregational consultation.

Correspondence to Southern Plains District should be sent to: P.O.
Box 394, McPherson, KS 67460-0394. Phone is (316) 241-4240, fax is
(316) 241-4241.

12) The Global Missions Partnerships office of the General Board
has created the second installment of the "...in our midst"
congregational resources for pastors, this one focusing on mission
education.

"As we turn the page on a new millenium, new doors are opening for
mission, both within America and beyond," Global Missions
Partnerships director Merv Keeney writes in a cover letter. "Built
around Annual Conference statements on mission that are grounded in
scripture, these materials provide a solid foundation for
reflection and action."

The resources will be sent out to pastors in the denomination and
join the first installment of the series, which focused on
spirituality. 

13) Brethren Press has also sent out a packet of resource ideas,
coordinated by new manager of marketing and sales Russ Matteson.
The packet includes a 1999-2000 Brethren Press catalog, the year
2000 Living Word Bulletin brochure, information on various
curriculum materials, and fliers on new books from Brethren Press,
including "Zella's Mountain" and "A Scripture of Leaves" (2nd
edition).

Another flier highlights two books addressing violence issues as
they pertain to children and youth: "On Killing," by David
Grossman, and "A Peaceable School," by Vicky Dill. For further
information, call Brethren Press at 1-800-441-3712.

14) In this season of stewardship campaigns, the Congregational
Life Teams have a new Stewardship Resource Box available for
leaders responsible for stewardship education programs in
congregations and districts.

Linda McCauliff, a member of the Congregational Life Team in Area
1, has collected a wealth of resources and organized them in a
handy box for sharing. Each Stewardship Resource Box contains a
variety of resource materials including samples of curricula for
every age level, Bible studies, sermon and worship aids, videos on
giving and consumerism, workbooks on Biblical stewardship and
creation, Annual Conference statements, the new "Giving" magazine,
and a bibliography of additional resources. Individuals may make
arrangements to borrow the box and make note of resources they wish
to order for their use. 

Choosing the contents for the boxes was a collaborative effort for
members of the Congregational Life Team and the District Executive
Ministers and Associates from the five districts of Area 1. A box
has been prepared for each of the Congregational Life Teams across
the denomination, and arrangements to borrow the box can be made by
calling your Area Coordinator: Area 1, Jan Kensinger,
1-888-411-4275; Area 2, Beth Sollenberger Morphew, 1-800-323-8039;
Area 3, Julie Hostetter, 1-800-244-5896; Area 4, David Smalley,
1-888-526-9589; Area 5, Jeff Glass, 1-888-826-4951.

15) When Eddie Edmonds, pastor of the Moler Avenue Church of the
Brethren in Martinsburg, W.Va., had a brainstorm, he didn't expect
such a flood of caring to result.

Edmonds wanted to make health kits for Kosovo as the war was raging
this spring. He had seen Church of the Brethren General Board
executive director Judy Mills Reimer's use of Exodus 22:27, "... if
your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am
compassionate," and thought it would be great to get the community
involved.  When he called the local newspaper, The Journal, it soon
turned into a front-page story, and the donations started pouring
in. They came from other churches and from individuals, small
donations and large ones. 

The work added up quickly. Edmonds said that shoppers sent out with
cash to get supplies for the kits soon cleaned every store in the
area out of some items, like metal nail files, so they had to go
into the whole surrounding region of Maryland, Virginia and West
Virginia.

Edmonds estimated that about 250 individuals were involved,
representing about 60 congregations in addition to Moler Avenue.
The net result: 1,911 health kits put together and delivered to New
Windsor in four pickup trucks, plus $1,000 cash to offset shipping
costs. At an estimated value of $12.50 per kit, that represents
$24,887.50 worth of caring -- all started with one church in a
small city in the West Virginia panhandle.

"It was a wonderful project," Edmonds said. "It really touched a
cord in the community here."

16) For over a year, Bob Jones, pastor of Monte Vista Church of the
Brethren, Callaway, Va., had been busy preparing for the Old German
Baptist Brethren Annual Meeting in Roanoke. Bob was coordinator of
the Church of the Brethren food services, the group that would
provide food and drink for thousands of Old German Baptist Brethren
for the duration of their conference.

The overall steering committee including Bob and Melvin Montgomery
of Germantown Brick Church of the Brethren, Rocky Mount, Va.; Joyce
Harmon of Roanoke Oak Grove Church of the Brethren; and Susan
McKimmy of Hollins Road Church of the Brethren, Roanoke, was in
place. A team of coordinators for food preparation, desserts,
concessions, cashiers, hosts and hostesses, and volunteers was also
in place. Food had been purchased, desserts were being prepared,
and volunteers were ready for the May 22-25 event. But then Bob had
his plans changed.

On May 10 he was taken to the hospital for a heart catheterization
and a shunt insertion. On May 12 he had another catheterization,
and on the 13th he underwent quintuple bypass surgery. He was
released from the hospital on May 18, and on the way home, he asked
his wife and co-worker, Doris, to drive by the Annual Meeting site.
After surveying the scene for about an hour, he went home to rest.

Each day he dropped by to observe how things were going. By this
time, Melvin Montgomery and his wife, Kay, who had worked on the
Annual Meeting in Wirtz, Va., 13 years earlier, had stepped in to
coordinate the final week's efforts. Bridget and Bill Stovall,
interim pastor at Bassett (Va.) Church of the Brethren, moved their
RV to the site so that Bob could rest as needed during the four-day
event. He attended Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday, only missing
Monday.

Feeding almost 5,000 Old German Baptist Brethren sisters and
brothers required a great amount of planning and a lot of cooking.
Volunteers from 46 Church of the Brethren congregations in Virlina
District plus some from Buckeye Church of the Brethren (Abilene,
Kan.), and Union Bridge (Md.) Church of the Brethren were joined by
a few United Methodists, Episcopalians, and Baptists to give 648
volunteer days' worth of work. Among the items served were 1,452
hamburgers, 505 gallons of soft drinks, 50 pounds of popcorn, 35
gallons of sno-cone syrup ad 8,750 pounds of ice, 28 hams and 1,200
barbequed chicken halves, more than 1,200 ice cream cups and
novelties, and more than 700 pies, cakes, and cobblers.

Virlina District's intention was that the money made by the sale of
food was to be given to "Partnership for Peace," a General Board
ministry of food relief for the people of Sudan. On Saturday
evening, however, another ministry opportunity emerged when fewer
people were served than anticipated. So again plans had to change,
and the extra food was shared locally with other hungry people.

Volunteers took the meals to the Roanoke Area Ministries' feeding
program and to the Rescue Mission. This provided the opportunity
for people to see firsthand the effect that their caring and
sharing had on others. At the end of the conference there were
leftover items that provided extra donations to Roanoke Area
Ministries, the Rescue Mission, and Camp Bethel. In the end, about
$8,500 was also sent to the Sudan food relief ministry.

The greatest outcome of this event, said Bob, was not only feeding
the Old German Baptist Brethren, but also the experience of working
and being together for Church of the Brethren brothers and sisters.
What happened in those few days was more than serving food -- it
was also a ministry.

Newsline is produced by Walt Wiltschek, interim Newsline editor for
the Church of the Brethren General Board's News Services, on the
first, third and fifth Friday of each month. Newsline stories may
be reprinted provided that Newsline is cited as the source and the
publication date is included.

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 410 871-0516, or write
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