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Date: Oct. 26, 2001
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) General Board holds fall meetings.
 2) An update on crisis response efforts.
 3) Annual Conference: Council meets; changes ahead for Brethren
Ministries Live.
 4) Global Food Crisis Fund grants go to California, Colorado.
 5) New report summarizes responses from visits with pastors. 
 6) Report from a recent district conference.
 7) Brethren bits: Nigeria, Nicaragua, and more.

COMING EVENTS
 8) Brethren plan significant presence at Ft. Benning protest.

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

 1) The Church of the Brethren General Board gathered in Elgin,
Ill., Oct. 20-23 for its fall meetings, which were held around the
theme "Living stones . . . built into a spiritual house," from I
Peter 2.

Worship centers made up of various sizes of rocks and stones helped
to visualize this theme as the board set about its task of
surveying the present and building for the future. Devotional times
and three worship services aided in focusing that work.

One major component of the meetings was the beginning of a
comprehensive planning process, led by Mennonite consultant Dennis
Koehn. Over the course of one afternoon and the following morning,
Koehn guided board members and staff in examining the
organization's vision statement, mission statement, and core
values. The consensus reached was to develop all three anew with
"fresh energy." That work will continue at the March meetings.

Other agenda items for the meetings, led by chair Don Parker of
West Salem, Ohio, included the following:

*Staff reported on the General Board's many responses in the wake
of Sept. 11 through both "direct care" and "denominational voice."
Board members then passed "A resolution on the events and aftermath
of September 11, 2001," written by staff members David Radcliff and
Greg Davidson Laszakovits. It offers calls for action and points
for reflection, and incorporates scriptures shared by those at the
meetings during a time of discernment. The full statement is posted
at www.brethren.org/genbd/GBResolutions/9-11-2001.htm. A Saturday
evening banquet also included a time for the sharing of personal
stories related to Sept. 11.

*The board approved a total budget of $9.3 million for 2002,
including both the General Ministries Fund and the net of four
self-funding programs. The General Board also reaffirmed its own
ministries by taking up a special offering for the General
Ministries Fund during the Sunday morning worship service. Board
members, staff, and others present at the meetings contributed more
than $24,000 in gifts and pledges--about one-fourth of the current
General Ministries Fund shortfall for 2001. The offerings also
included written statements of support and commitments of time and
talents to the ministries of the board. 

*A panel discussion led by Global Mission Partnerships director
Merv Keeney looked at the complex issues involved in relations
between the Church of North India (CNI), Brethren groups that have
separated from CNI and now seek recognition, and the US Church of
the Brethren. Keeney joined panel members Christy Waltersdorff,
Ernie Thakor, and Bob Gross in the detailed sharing. Board members
agreed to continue examining the issues and the General Board's
broader mission philosophy at its March 2002 meetings.

*One evening session considered the General Board's role in
evangelism, following up on a query passed at the 2001 Annual
Conference. General secretary Judy Mills Reimer said that a
"two-track" approach--a staff committee and a Congregational Life
Ministries-initiated focus group--will eventually yield one report
to be included in the 2002 Annual Conference booklet. Staff shared
what the General Board is currently doing related to evangelism,
and many in attendance shared passionate stories and viewpoints on
evangelism issues.

*A building-wide reception honored Elgin-based General Board staff
members who had reached tenure milestones. Those recognized were:
20 years--Wendy McFadden and Merv Keeney; 15 years--Lester Boleyn
and Judy Keyser; 10 years--Kim Bickler; 5 years--Guillermo
Encarnacion and Russ Matteson. The board later celebrated the
service of four staff members retiring this year: Lydia Walker, as
Disaster Child Care trainer/coordinator; David Huffaker, as
financial resource counselor; Allen Hansell, as director of
ministry; and Elsie Holderread, as manager of human resources.

*The board also heard concerns over the rapidly increasing cost of
medical insurance, received a summary of an effort to dialog with
pastors throughout the denomination (see separate story) and
strongly affirmed continuing such visits, and joined in a "kickoff"
celebration for next summer's National Youth Conference.

*Official visitors to the meetings included American Baptist
Churches USA observer Lester Aeilts, Cross-Cultural Ministry Team
representative Belita Mitchell, a group of students and faculty
member Tara Hornbacker from Bethany Theological Seminary, six
district visitors, and representatives from several partner
agencies. All shared reports and reflections during the meetings,
providing information, insights, and challenges.

 2) Updates on continuing post-Sept. 11 crisis response efforts by
the Church of the Brethren and others:

 *Disaster Child Care (DCC) coordinator Roy Winter shared at the
recent General Board meetings that the 80th DCC worker to serve in
New York arrived there this past weekend. More than 8,000 volunteer
hours have been given at family care centers in Manhattan in a
response of unprecented scope for the program, administered by
Church of the Brethren Emergency Response/Service Ministries. It
has required DCC to "respond in unique and creative ways," Winter
said. DCC team members have sponsored two training events to train
local volunteers who can then assist in staffing the centers and
working with children. Winter read a card sent to the volunteers by
an elementary student, who said, "Thank you for helping those kids
who needed someplace to stay."

 *A packet with numerous followup resources to Sept. 11 events is
scheduled to be mailed to congregations next week. It will include
a copy of the resolution passed by the General Board at its fall
meeting, a wrapup of those meetings, information on the Global Food
Crisis Fund project to send food packages to Afghanistan,
highlights of coverage on www.brethren.org, and several fliers on
other resources and upcoming programs.

 *The Disaster Child Care/Child Care in Aviation Incident Response
program of Church of the Brethren Emergency Response/Service
Ministries has created a resource titled "When Children Ask About
War." It includes sections such as understanding children's fears,
ways to acknowledge feelings, ways to encourage expression,
suggestions for monitoring TV viewing, and dealing with death. It
is available online at www.brethren.org//genbd/ersm/ChildCope.htm.
For a print copy, call 410-635-8748.

 *Knowing how to respond to the needs of congregation members and
the community in the aftermath of Sept. 11 has posed a daunting
task for pastors, including those in the Church of the Brethren.
"This whole episode for all of us in pastoral ministry has been
incredibly heavy," said Paul Mundey, pastor of the Frederick (Md.)
congregation. "The nature of it has not allowed us to totally know
what to do or to find adequate words. It's so unprecedented that
most of us have just been finding our way." Brethren Press and On
Earth Peace are among the many groups that continue to make
resources available for church leaders; a list of resource links
can be found at www.brethren.org/usresponse.

 *Workshops broadcast online by www.FaithandValues.com this past
Monday have now been archived at
www.faithandvalues.com/tx/00/00/03/34/3428/index.html. Church of
the Brethren Washington Office legislative associate Marc Rittle
participated in the morning session titled "Faith in the Face of
Terror." An afternoon session sponsored by Church World Service
looked at "Faith in America after 9/11."

 *Numerous US religious and secular leaders have joined together to
declare Nov. 3 as a national day of prayer and fasting for peace
and justice in America. The joint announcement, made on Thursday,
came from a group including Global Peace Initiative founder Dr.
K.A. Paul, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and representatives of many
faith traditions.

 3) The Annual Conference Council, which came into being at the
2001 Annual Conference when delegates accepted the Review and
Evaluation Committee report, met for the first time Oct. 17-18 in
Elgin, Ill. 

The initial meeting of the council focused on discerning its exact
role and function, according to Annual Conference executive
director Duane Steiner. It established three major focus areas for
its current work: finding a successor for Steiner, who plans to
retire at the end of 2002; planning for proper funding of Annual
Conference; and being the caretaker and interpreter of Annual
Conference polity. 

Members of the council include the current Annual Conference
officers--moderator Paul Grout, moderator-elect Harriet Finney, and
secretary Cathy Huffman; immediate past moderator Phill Carlos
Archbold; former moderator Earl Zeigler, who is serving as chair;
and district executive Sandra Bosserman. Steiner is an ex officio
member.

In other Annual Conference news, the Program & Arrangements
Committee has decided to take a different approach to the "Brethren
Ministries Live" report for 2002. The committee hopes to infuse
some new energy and creativity into the presentation.

Rather than having representatives of the five Annual Conference
agencies plan the report, which has dominated Sunday afternoon of
Conference the past two years, a three-person committee will work
with the agencies to plan and produce it. Frank Ramirez, Lee
Krahenbuhl, and Erin Matteson will make up that committee for 2002.

 4) Two new allocations from the General Board's Global Food Crisis
Fund bring to 15 the number of grants made from the fund this year.

One grant, for $15,000, will go to the Pomona (Calif.)-Inland
Valley Council of Churches' programs for poor residents of that
community. The funds help them provide food, shelter, counseling,
and employment skills to 40,000 clients per year.

The second grant is for $10,000 and will support Hand-in-Hand
Ministries of Grand Junction, Colo. The funds will be used to help
provide assistance to low-income families with money management,
family conflict resolution, and employment skills.

 5) A summary of pastoral visits carried out by the General Board
between April 2000 and July 2001 presents a number of insights into
issues faced by pastors in the denomination.

Fifty-six meetings with groups of pastors were held in all 23
districts through the endeavor, sponsored by the Ministry office
and Congregational Life Ministries. About 500 people attended one
of the meetings, representing nearly half the current pastors in
the denomination. Pastors were asked to share on topics including
things that energize them, those that drain them, what they
appreciated about the General Board, and what concerns them.

The things pastors listed as most energizing were nurturing their
spiritual life and taking time for personal development; preparing
for and leading worship; and realizing they are making a difference
in people's lives. Topping the list of most draining things were
negative attitudes in the congregation and unhealthy exercise of
power; lack of growth in numbers and in spirituality; and apathy.

The things pastors said they most appreciated about the General
Board included Newsline, Congregational Life Teams, and Brethren
Volunteer Service. Top areas of concern also included the
Congregational Life Teams, along with feeling overwhelmed by too
much information and too many requests for funds, and feelings of
isolation.

Steve Clapp of Christian Community Inc., which compiled the summary
from the written reports of each meeting, concluded, "We are living
in a time when it is not easy to be a local church pastor, and not
easy to be district or denominational staff. The visits with
pastors opened important dialogue which gives a better picture of
the opportunities and problems faced by pastors in the local
church, and of how denominational programs and services look to
pastors."

Strong affirmation was given by pastors for the visits, with
requests that such visits continue. Additional highlights and
reflections on the report will be provided in an article in the
January/February issue of Messenger.

 6) Report from a recent district conference:
 *Illinois/Wisconsin District: Held Oct. 12-14 at the Mount Morris
(Ill.) Church of the Brethren with the theme "Encourage One
Another." Delegates called people to serve in district positions,
heard reports, and approved the 2002 budget. Delegates also
approved the constitution and bylaws for a New Church Development
Board and called four people to serve on that board. An independent
entity from the district board, the New Church Development Board
will use more than $500,000 in funds from the sale of properties of
closed churches for new church starts in the district. A Saturday
evening concert featured the Soul Notes and Peg Lehman. District
moderator Jane Bicksler spoke at Friday evening's opening worship,
and Annual Conference moderator Paul Grout spoke Sunday morning.
Willard Dulabaum was consecrated as moderator, and Vicki Matheny as
moderator-elect.

 7) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *Wendy McFadden, director and publisher of Brethren Press, has
been named to the Communication Advisory Group of the World Council
of Churches. This is one of seven advisory groups for the WCC, each
providing expertise and advice to staff in a specific area of the
council's work. Communications is one of four clusters within the
WCC structure and includes media relations, visual arts, the World
Wide Web, publications, language service, and the library. The
seven members of the Communication Advisory Group represent a
variety of disciplines and geographical areas. The current group
will serve through 2005. 

 *Reports from Nigeria indicate renewed violence in the northern
city of Kano has claimed more lives. Rioting between Muslims and
Christians occurred in the city Oct. 12-14. Death toll estimates
range from about 30 to more than 100. No recent word has been
received from Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (Church of the Brethren
in Nigeria) members in Kano. Similar violence has been reported in
other smaller towns in Nigeria, as well as in Kenya, Indonesia, and
elsewhere.

 *Statistics from this past summer's youth/young adult workcamps
sponsored by the General Board's Youth/Young Adult Ministry office
show that Atlantic Northeast had the most participants of any
district, with 109, followed by Southern Ohio with 89 and
Mid-Atlantic with 67. All but four districts had at least one
participant. A total of 533 people attended a workcamp.

 *The General Board's New Church Development Advisory Committee and
Bethany Theological Seminary are collaborating on an event titled
"Church Planting: The Next Step" May 20-24 at Bethany's main campus
in Richmond, Ind. Designed as a followup to events held at Ashland
Theological Seminary in the past year, it will be open to all those
interested in church planting. Registration forms are expected to
be available Jan. 1.

 9) An estimated 100 Brethren and friends will gather Nov. 17-18
in Columbus, Ga., to witness at the Western Hemispheric Institute
for Security Cooperation (WHISC), a training school for Latin
American soldiers.

Located at Ft. Benning and formerly named the School of the
Americas, the WHISC changed its name and mission statement through
an act of Congress in January 2001. According to the School of the
Americas Watch in Washington D.C., graduates of the school are
responsible for multiple cases of human rights abuses among the
people of Latin America.

Brethren groups planning to travel to Columbus include members or
students of Bethany Theological Seminary, Brethren Volunteer
Service, Bridgewater College, Manchester College, McPherson
College, Juniata College, On Earth Peace, and the Church of the
Brethren Washington Office.  

Following a Saturday rally opposing the training of Latin American
soldiers, Brethren and others will gather for singing and
fellowship. On Sunday, School of the Americas Watch will facilitate
a "funeral procession" to the gates of Ft. Benning in memory of
those who have lost lives in Latin America. Thousands of mourners
are expected to join the solemn procession.

The Church of the Brethren will also sponsor a literature table at
the rally. Those interested in supplying materials should contact
the Church of the Brethren Washington Office at 202-546-3202.
Additional details about the event are available at
www.brethren.org/genbd/washofc.

 
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, with other editions as needed.
Newsline stories may be reprinted provided Newsline is cited as the
source. Marc Rittle and Carol Kussart contributed to this report.

To receive Newsline by e-mail or fax, call 800 323-8039, ext. 263,
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