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

[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      , 2000
Contact:  Walt Wiltschek
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline        March 17, 2000

NEWS
 1) The spring General Board meetings bring new mission, structural
changes, and more.
 2) More than 800 people learn about spiritual renewal at a
Renovare event.
 3) ABC, OEPA experience the financial growing pains of a new
church structure. 
 4) A General Board delegation gets a joyful reception from
"separated" Brethren in India.
 5) A report from Nigeria gives further details on violence
suffered by the EYN church.
 6) Thirteen young adults will be part of this year's Ministry
Summer Service program.
 7) Members of the New Sudan Council of Churches continue efforts
in uncertain times.
 8) An Emergency Disaster Fund grant aids in cleanup in Georgia and
Kentucky.
 9) Brethren bits: Desmond Tutu, One Great Hour of Sharing, and
other notes

PERSONNEL
10) Greg Laszakovits is named full-time coordinator of the
Washington Office.
11) Martha R. Beach is called as half-time district executive
minister of Atlantic Southeast.
12) Amy Short will become BMC's new executive director in May.

COMING EVENTS
13) "The God-Centered Life" youth spirituality project kicks off
next weekend.

RESOURCES
14) A new Source packet and Worshipful Work mailing bring resources
to congregations.

FEATURES
15) e-bulletins reach home computers before Sunday at E-town.

*HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY, FROM NEWSLINE!*

***************************************************************

 1) The Church of the Brethren General Board met this past weekend
in Elgin, Ill., using the One Great Hour of Sharing theme, "Gifts
of Living Water," based on John 7:38b. The Worshipful Work model of
discernment through prayer, silence, sharing, and singing was again
used for the business sessions.

Major items included a realignment of the General Board staff
structure, reducing the Leadership Team to five members plus the
executive director rather than the previous eight plus the
executive director. Sitting on the Leadership Team will be Brethren
Press, Brethren Service Center, Centralized Resources/Treasurer,
Congregational Life Ministries, and Global Mission Partnerships.
Stated goals of the plan, which involved no job cuts or changes in
compensation, included seeking to improve the communication and
efficiency of the Leadership Team, working to coordinate the
activities of the various offices, and giving a stronger voice to
the Brethren Service Center, located in New Windsor, Md.

The board also adopted a vision statement to guide its ongoing
work: "Of God, for God, with God." Other major actions included:

*Approval of a request from the Committee on Interchurch Relations
to have the General Board ask Annual Conference to join the World
Council of Churches' Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010).

*Adoption of a resolution seeking greater ethnic inclusion in
church leadership.

*Approval of continued exploration of renewed mission in Brazil,
with a recommendation and budget projections to be brought to the
board no later than its March 2001 meeting.

*Approval of a Mission and Ministries Planning Council request to
join Eastern Mennonite Missions in sponsoring the three-year
placement of Grace Mishler of the Union Center Church of the
Brethren (Nappanee, Ind.) at Ho Chi Minh City University in
Vietnam, where she will be establishing a social work program.

For a fuller report of the meeting, visit the Church of the
Brethren web site at www.brethren.org/genbd/gboard00.htm.

 2) More than 800 people met at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College March
10-11 to participate in a Renovare Regional Conference on Spiritual
Renewal. The conference, sponsored by Atlantic Northeast District
through its Spiritual Renewal Team and supported by several
Anabaptist church bodies in Pennsylvania, featured nationally
recognized author and speaker Richard J. Foster, founder of
Renovare.

Renovare is a word from Latin meaning "renovated." Our lives in
Christ must seek "continual renewal through spiritual exercises,
spiritual gifts, and acts of service," Foster said. "No spiritual
disciplines, no spiritual growth -- it's as simple as that."

Foster is a Quaker who has immersed himself in the history and
practice of spiritual disciplines. His most widely read book is
"Celebration of Discipline." He teamed up with Emilie Griffin, a
Roman Catholic from Louisiana, to lead the event. Together they
introduced the participants to a balanced vision of six spiritual
traditions of Christian faith and life. These include:
Contemplative (The Prayer-Filled Life); Holiness (The Virtuous
Life); Charismatic (The Spirit-Empowered Life); Social Justice (The
Compassionate Life); Evangelical (The Word-Centered Life); and 6)
Incarnational (The Sacramental Life).

They also suggested a practical strategy of spiritual renewal:
Renovare Spiritual Formation Groups. These small groups are
designed to meet weekly for mutual nurture and encouragement.
Through common disciplines of prayer, questions of Examen from each
tradition, and a group covenant, participants share in supporting
each others' spiritual growth.

In addition to six plenary sessions, the event included hardy
congregational singing, prayer, worship led by Renovare team member
George Skramstad, and opportunities for recommitment in the
spiritual life. Most of the participants were members of Church of
the Brethren, Mennonite, and Brethren in Christ congregations.

 3) The Association of Brethren Caregivers reports that 1999 ended
about as expected from a financial perspective. ABC had projected
a deficit of more than $100,000 when the 1999 budget was prepared,
and pre-audit figures for the year showed an actual deficit of
$117,862. The deficit was paid from organization reserves.

On Earth Peace Assembly, which was also spun off from the General
Board and then approved as a separate Annual Conference agency
along with ABC in 1998, showed a similar pre-audit deficit for
1999, at $96,746. OEPA used about $73,000 of endowment gain to
cover the extra program expenditures.

When ABC became an independent organization, the board implemented
a transition plan projecting three years of deficit budgets while
the denomination adjusted to its new organizational structure and
a new way of financially supporting the denominational agencies.
ABC's reserves will cover the deficits with the expectation that
the organization's operations will return to a financial balance by
the end of 2001. At the end of 1999, the second of the three years,
ABC was within the parameters of its transition plan.

ABC's total revenue for 1999 was $522,248. Congregational support
was $54,037 from 164 congregations in 1999, an increase from the
1998 total of $15,236 from 57 congregations. Support from
individuals in 1999 was $59,545 compared to the 1998 total of
$57,870.

"These are challenging times for ABC. Congregations are still
learning about ABC and the other organizations within the new
denominational structure," said ABC executive director Steve Mason.
"As this new understanding is made in congregations, they will
decide whether and how to support the denominational agencies. We
believe this support will be in measure to the value placed on the
services of these organizations. Once ABC's support base is
established, we will adjust our programs accordingly, if
necessary."

OEPA showed a total pre-audit income of $229,362 for the year,
including $59,319 of general gift income from individuals and
$40,735 from congregations.

 4) A recent delegation to India reported joy and meaningful
fellowship during a visit to "separated" Brethren in the country.
A General Board-appointed committee of Merv Keeney, Christy
Waltersdorff, Wendell Flory, and Ernest Thakor made the trip
earlier this month along with consultants Bob Gross of Ministry of
Reconciliation and Shantilal Bhagat.

The General Board had decided at its October 1999 meetng to explore
the possibilities of relationship with the group in India, which
grew out of early Brethren mission in the country, joined with the
Church of North India in 1970, and later left CNI. Since the
separation, the group has sought formal recognition by the Church
of the Brethren in the US.

"Everywhere we went, we were received with amazing warmth and open
hospitality," Waltersdorff said. "They have a very deep desire to
be recognized as the Church of the Brethren in India, feeling that
they need to belong to something larger than themselves."

Waltersdorff said the work of earlier Brethren mission is still
evident, with schools and hospitals founded by Brethren still
serving communities there. She said that the services of baptism,
love feast, and parent-child dedication the delegation observed
also followed Brethren style, recognizeable even in a different
language.

"They had a real strong sense of Brethren identity," Waltersdorff
said. "I was really impressed with the depth of their spirituality.
People are really committed to Christ, and the church is central to
their lives. Through the persecution they've experienced, it's made
them stronger."

 5) The three members of the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (the
Church of the Brethren's sister congregation in Nigeria) who were
killed in recent ethnic-religious violence were identified in a new
report this week as: Rev. Iyasco Taru, the pastor of the Badarwa
congregation; Musa Garba, a member of the Badarwa church; and John
Danfulani, also a member at Badarwa. Two members of the Narayi
church were seriously injured.

In addition, the large Badarwa church building and an old church
building there were burned during the widespread violence between
Muslims and Christians in the state of Kaduna late last month.
Numerous individual members also lost homes and/or business
properties.

The violence occurred as Christians were protesting Muslim attempts
to have Islamic "Sharia" law instituted in Kaduna, a
multi-religious state where Muslims are not in the majority,
according to EYN leader Bitrus Debki. The General Board took time
to lift up and pray for the situation in Nigeria at its recent
meeting.

 6) Thirteen young adults have registered to be part of this year's
Ministry Summer Service program, a cooperative effort of the
General Board's Youth/Young Adult and Ministry offices. The program
offers opportunities to explore church vocations through 10-week
placements under a mentor in congregations or other settings.

This year's orientation will occur June 2-9 at Bethany Theological
Seminary in Richmond, Ind., with mentors and project sites in six
states, from Pennsylvania and Delaware to California. Volunteers
receive food, housing, and a $45 per month stipend from the
congregation, plus an available tuition grant of $2,000 for college
students.

 7) The New Sudan Council of Churches, a coalition of Christian
churches (including the Church of the Brethren) that work together
in southern Sudan, has not been part of the pullout by some
non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

World Vision and Doctors Without Borders were among 11 NGOs to pull
out of southern Sudan recently after refusing to sign a "memo of
understanding" from the Sudanese People's Liberation Army rebel
group, which sought more control over activities in the region amid
bombings from the war with the northern part of the nation.

Mark Sloan, a Church of the Brethren volunteer with the NSCC, said
that many NGOs did sign the memorandum. He said that NSCC advised
its church-related NGO partners to sign the memo, and all of them
did so. Those NGOs that had earlier declined to sign are now
seeking negotiations to re-enter southern Sudan and continue their
work.

 8) A new Emergency Disaster Fund allocation of $10,000 will
support disaster recovery efforts following winter tornadoes in
Georgia and floods in Kentucky.

In Georgia, deadly tornadoes destroyed more than 250 homes, most of
them trailers, and killed 22 people. In Kentucky, the flooding of
the Ohio River and its tributaries affected 10 counties. Sixty-one
homes were destroyed and 75 severely damaged in Lewis County, where
unemployment stands at about 18 percent.

An additional allocation request for $84,980.00 will support
Emergency Response/Service Ministries disaster projects from 1998
and 1999 that had expenses in excess of allocation. Those include
Mississippi Coast/Hurricane Georges ($9,700), Hurricane Georges in
Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic ($24,280) and other
hurricane cleanup in the Dominican ($51,000). All of those projects
have since been closed.

 9) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere:
 *Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu will address
a sold-out crowd at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College this evening, part
of the college's centennial series.

 *A worship service held Wednesday with On Earth Peace Assembly
staff celebrated the leadership of executive director Tom Hurst,
whose last day with the organization is today, and called the staff
"to count on one another to forge new relationships in the days
ahead," closing with a time of anointing.

 *Congregations across the country next Sunday will observe One
Great Hour of Sharing, a mid-Lenten special offering emphasis to
support relief, development, hunger, and refugee ministries of the
General Board. Alan McCain, a relief worker in earthquake-stricken
Turkey, said, "What we earnestly hope for is that you will, every
one of you, take One Great Hour of Sharing ... very seriously."
McCain's work included distribution of Church World Service layette
and health kits, a ministry supported by Church of the Brethren
Emergency Response/Service Ministries.

 *Rev. Wendy Pomeroy, ordained in the United Methodist Church, was
recently named the new director of the Church World Service
Immigration and Refugee Program.

 *The National Church Arson Task Force reports a continued decrease
in the number of church arsons, with 100 churches burned or
targeted in bombings in 1999. That's down from almost 300 in 1996,
when many black churches in the South were burned.

 *A new study by a Christian research organization in Illinois says
that individuals are giving a smaller percentage of their income to
the church, about 2.56 percent in 1997.

 10) Greg Laszakovits has accepted the call to be full-time
coordinator of the Church of the Brethren Washington Office
beginning April 1. The position is currently held by interim Loyce
Borgmann, who was praised at the recent General Board meeting for
"saving the day" by keeping a presence on Capitol Hill during the
transition of the past few years.

Laszakovits holds a master of divinity degree with peace studies
emphasis from Bethany Theological Seminary and recently concluded
a volunteer assignment as coordinator of racism awareness for the
General Board under the office of Brethren Witness. In 1994-95 he
served a Brethren Volunteer Service term as workcamp coordinator
for the Youth/Young Adult office.

Laszakovits is a graduate of Northern Arizona University with a
bachelor of arts in history and political science. He served as
associate/youth pastor for Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren
(Dayton, Ohio) in 1997 and 1998 during his time at seminary. The
past three summers he also served as a mentor to youth during the
Youth Theology Institute in Atlanta, Ga. 
 

 11) Martha R. Beach has been called to serve as half-time district
executive minister of the Atlantic Southeast District beginning
March 20. Beach has extensive local congregation and district
experience in the Middle Pennsylvania District: She has been board
chair of her local congregation for numerous terms and chair of the
Trustee Board of the Morrison's Cove Home as well as other district
involvements. She also has broad experience in the insurance
industry as owner of her own agency and representative for several
other agencies.

Beach and her husband, Robert, live in Tampa. She will work from
the district office at Camp Ithiel in Gotha, Fla.

 12) The Brethren Mennonite Council for Lesbian and Gay Concerns
Board of Directors has announced that Amy Short will be BMC's new
executive director beginning June 1.

Short has worked with BMC over the past 18 months as a volunteer
through the United Church of Christ Voluntary Service program. In
her full-time position as assistant to the director and coordinator
of the college network, she has given leadership to BMC's youth and
young adult initiatives and provided support for the growing
administrative needs of the organization. Short will transition to
her new role in late May and will continue to work with interim
executive director Anna Dennis until then. The organization is
seeking a new volunteer to replace Short this summer. Possible
candidates can obtain more information directly from the BMC
office.

 13) The first event of "The God-Centered Life" youth spirituality
project, a cooperative effort between the General Board's
Youth/Young Adult Ministries Office and Shepherd's Spring Outdoor
Ministries Center, will take place March 24-26 at Shepherd's
Spring, Sharpsburg, Md.

This opening workshop is for parents, mentors, youth leaders, or
others who work with youth. It will provide training and experience
in various spiritual practices and rituals from the Christian
tradition, and suggest ways these experiences can be used to deepen
the spiritual lives of youth. According to the program's mission
statement, it aims to help others in "discerning the presence of
God" in all areas of their lives.

"My hopes are that we are able to develop a model where youth go
into adulthood with a more adult faith than they do now," said Rex
Miller, administrator of Shepherd's Spring, after planning this
winter. "We think it's going to enliven the church when youth get
excited."

Miller; Chris Douglas, director of Youth/Young Adult Ministries;
and Paul Grout, pastor of the Genesis Church of the Brethren,
Putney, Vt., will serve as leaders for this initial event. A
week-long spiritual life camp for senior high youth is planned for
early July. Cost for the March weekend is $25, with a limit of 65
participants. For more information, call Shepherd's Spring at 301
223-8193.

 14) The April Source packet sent to congregations this week
includes two items to help prepare for this summer's Annual
Conference. One flyer gives details on on-line access to a pair of
study committee papers coming to Conference as unfinished business
items. Also included is the ballot going to Standing Committee,
from which they will prepare the ballot for Conference delegates.

Among other materials in the Source packet are a guide for church
treasurers, summer workcamp updates, Vacation Bible School
information, details on a video-based peace curriculum for youth,
Brethren Employees Credit Union auto loan rate information, and a
New Life Ministries report.

A second mailing going to Source recipients this month includes
information and resources of the Worshipful Work model of doing
church business. The mailing includes a list of people who have
been trained in the method, a list of books and logo items, and a
poster with the "Worshipfully -- Continue the Work of Jesus" theme.

 15) You've heard of e-mail, e-commerce, and e-business. How about
e-bulletins? Sending out the weekly order of service and
announcements has become part of a larger electronic ministry at
the Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren -- appropriate for
a place known as "E-town."

"It's been a kind of ministry we didn't even expect it to be," said
Joyce Stoltzfus, co-pastor of the congregation. Older members who
can't attend regularly and out-of-town college students have
particularly benefited, she said. One person even called up on a
Friday, amazed that someone was already praying for a concern that
was newly listed in the following Sunday's bulletin.

Henry Long, a retired Elizabethtown College professor of sociology,
prepares and sends out the electronic bulletins and other updates
to about 140 e-mail addresses on a list he maintains. He's been
connecting the church's electronic-savvy population for more than
two years.

"I just started it informally, and it gradually grew," said Long,
who also sends out a calendar, church news, volunteer requests,
inspirational readings, and even occasional jokes. "I do whatever
moves me," he said. "It's a lot of fun."

Newsline is produced by Walt Wiltschek, manager of news services
for the Church of the Brethren General Board, 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. Ed Poling contributed to this report.

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 1-800-323-8039, ext.
263, or write CoBNews@AOL.Com. Newsline is available at
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