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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      January 7, 2000
Contact:  Walt Wiltschek
V:  410/871-0516   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) Ministerial students in the Dominican Republic reach an
educational milestone.
 2) Debra Noffsinger of Union Bridge, Md., creates the design
chosen for the Annual Conference 2000 logo.
 3) Bibles in the Nuer language are ready for distribution in
Africa.
 4) It doesn't take long for the first Emergency Disaster Fund
grant of 2000 to go out.
 5) Brethren composer Steve Engle introduced a new musical for the
Christmas season.

COMING EVENTS
 6) The 2000 Young Adult Conference will be held this spring.

RESOURCES
 7) The next installment of the "In Our Midst" series focuses on
Easter and Lent.

PERSONNEL
 8) Virlina District's Camp Bethel hires Tim Ward as program
director.
 9) The National Council of Churches seeks an executive director
for Church World Service and Witness.

                
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 1) The Class of 2000 is a special one in the Dominican Republic.
Ten people from the Caribbean nation were approved for ordination
in the Church of the Brethren after interviews last month, the
first group to complete a five-year ministry training program
organized by Brethren mission in the country. Another seven people
were interviewed and approved for licensing.

"I was deeply impressed with the faith commitment of these folks,
and their Biblical and theological understanding and commitment to
the Church of the Brethren," said General Board director of
ministry Allen Hansell, who led the interview process. "I came back
on a spiritual high ... and had a sense of appreciation for the
church."

The process is a joint effort of the General Board's Ministry
office and Global Mission Partnerships office. Joining Hansell in
the delegation for the interviews were Global Mission Partnerships
director Merv Keeney; Bethany Academy coordinators Harriet and Ron
Finney; Marcos Inhauser, a Bethany Theological Seminary graduate
and Brazilian church leader who designed the original training
program; Guillermo Encarnacion, the ministry training coordinator
for the Dominican Republic; and Jerry and Becky Crouse, Brethren
missionaries in the Dominican Republic.

"It was very exciting," Keeney said. "We interviewed some people in
their 50s who had only a second-grade education as far as a formal
education background but then had been farmers or in other fields
and got into congregational leadership. They may have had 10 to 15
years of pastoral experience and had a great depth of spirituality,
pastoral presence, and vision for the church."

The delegation members pointed to numerous highlights of the
experience, including the equal acceptance of men and women in
ministry and several husband-wife teams, the churches' embracing of
the ordination concept, and especially the enthusiasm and energy of
the ministerial candidates and their congregations.

"I felt like I was back in 1708 with the sense of excitement they
brought," said Hansell, referring to the Church of the Brethren's
beginnings in Germany. "They have an enthusiasm for the church that
we sometimes take for granted in the States."

Hansell, Keeney, and others will be back in the Dominican Republic
in mid-February for the general assembly of churches there. On
Saturday evening of that conference, the ordination and licensing
services for the 17 who were interviewed will take place. The
Ministry office has been working on translating all ministry
materials into Spanish, so all the certificates and cards presented
will be in the native language.

 2) The Annual Conference Program and Arrangements Committee has
chosen a design by Debra Noffsinger of Union Bridge, Md., as the
logo for the 2000 Conference to be held in Kansas City, Mo., in
July. The logo will appear on the banner in the convention center
and on other Conference materials.

The logo features a heart bearing the appearance of a woven
tapestry, with the words of the theme, "Love as I have loved you,"
and the theme's Scripture reference, John 15:12, looping over the
right side. Noffsinger said that thoughts presented by moderator
Emily Mumma, including a Scripture from Colossians, helped to
inspire the motif.

"I designed the logo with the thought of us all being woven
together with each other and with God into one fabric," Noffsinger
wrote in an explanation of the design. "Our love holds us tight."

Noffsinger, who is attending the Westminster (Md.) Church of the
Brethren after moving to Maryland from Kansas this past summer, has
entered designs in several previous years, but this is the first
time her design was chosen.

 3) The Nuer-speaking population of Sudan and Kenya will be able to
read the entire Bible in their own language for the first time with
the launching of a Nuer translation on Sunday in Akobo, Upper Nile
Province of southern Sudan.

The translation project has been in the works for more than nine
years, with the Church of the Brethren playing a significant part.
Former Brethren missionaries Lester and Esther Boleyn directed the
project for the Sudan Bible Society through much of the '90s. A
December launch had originally been planned, but shipping delays in
the printing process moved it back to January.

The Boleyns, now at the Cedar Creek Church of the Brethren in
Citronelle, Ala., left for Sudan this past Monday to be part of the
ceremonies and celebration. David Sollenberger of the Annville
(Pa.) Church of the Brethren is also attending to provide video
coverage. Look for additional coverage in the next edition of
Newsline.

 4) Just five days after the calendar turned to 2000, the Church of
the Brethren General Board's Emergency Disaster Fund provided its
first allocation of the new year.

A grant of $10,000 was approved to support continuing relief and
reconstruction efforts related to the effects of Hurricane Floyd in
North Carolina. Monies for the grant had been given via designated
gifts from congregations and individuals in the Virlina District,
where most of the damage from the storm occurred.

 5) Composer Steve Engle, whose hymn "I See a New World Coming" is
included in Hymnal: A Worship Book, introduced another work during
the recent Christmas season.

Engle joined with musicians from the Stone Church of the Brethren
(Huntingdon, Pa.) and Juniata College to debut a musical
composition titled "Rumors of Angels." This two-hour musical based
on the story of Mary and Joseph in the gospels was performed before
a "standing-room-only" crowd.

Engle calls "Rumors of Angels" a "sort of a Christmas 'Fiddler on
the Roof.' " His original script and musical score follows Mary and
Joseph from when they fell in love, to their betrothal, the
Immaculate Conception, their wedding, and the birth of Jesus in
Bethlehem. The production, made up of church, college and community
personnel, featured 11 lead characters, a 40-voice choir, and a
28-piece orchestra. Kim Murray Simmons portrayed Mary, and Brent
Hurley was Joseph.

Financial support for the production came from Dr. Thomas Kepple,
president of Juniata. The Middle Pennsylvania District, where the
Stone church and Juniata are located, also made a contribution and
enabled district pastors and families to attend as a gift during
the Advent season.

 6) This year's Young Adult Conference, with the theme "Finding
Common Ground," will be held over the Memorial Day weekend, May
27-29, at Camp Harmony in Hooversville, Pa.

All who consider themselves young adults are invited to attend and
share their visions and challenges, as well as listen to the
diversity within the Church of the Brethren. The conference will be
led by Matt Guynn and a YAC leadership team. Registration fee is
$80; for a registration brochure call 1-800-323-8039, ext. 286, or
go to the Church of the Brethren web site (www.brethren.org) and
print one.

The conference had been held over Thanksgiving weekend in the past,
but the steering committee moved it to Memorial Day in 1999 in
hopes that more young adults could participate. The 2000 Young
Adult Steering Committee, which plans the conference, consists of:
Ben Barlow, Chris Fitz, Heidi Gross, Jacki Hartley, Scott
McDearmon, and Heather Collinsworth Shively.

 7) The winter installment of the "In Our Midst" resource series
will feature a one-time Lenten and Easter worship resource for
hands-on use in congregational settings from March 12 through
Easter Sunday, Apr. 23. Approximately 35 contributors participated
in writing original worship pieces, including calls to worship,
invocations and prayers of confession, invitations to give, and
benedictions, for each Sunday during Lent and Easter.  Each weekly
theme complements the suggested lectionary text and The Living Word
Bulletin Series.

The resource also contains compiled bibliographies of "Sources for
Music" including music publishing companies; "Children's Resources
for Lent and Easter"; and an introductory bibliography of writings,
"Learning About Worship." Other materials include a design for a
worship center, a complete Love Feast and communion service, a
special children's sermon for Palm Sunday, an Easter message called
"Turning Around Right," and a special series of Lenten meditations
for personal spiritual enrichment.

The packet is expected to be sent to pastors in early February;
additional information is available by contacting a regional
General Board Congregational Life Team member.

 8) Tim Ward has been hired as the new program director for Camp
Bethel in Virlina District. Ward is a graduate of Emory and Henry
College of Virginia and has a master's degree in environmental
education from Miami of Ohio University. He served on Camp Bethel's
1999 summer staff as the nature resource person.

 9) The National Council of Churches is accepting applications for
the position of Executive Director, Church World Service and
Witness. CWSW is the humanitarian development, relief and emergency
assistance program of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ. 

This is a key post and senior staff administrator, who will provide
leadership and direction for CWSW and the National Council of
Churches as a whole.  Please send resume to the NCCC Office of
Human Resources, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 650, New York, NY 10115.
Full job description and application will be sent to individuals
whose resumes have been received. The deadline for accepting
applications is Jan. 15.

 

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.

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