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

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Date: Nov. 16, 2001
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

Note: This issue is being sent two days early due to staff schedules. The 
next issue is also scheduled to be sent two days early, on Nov. 28. Thank you.

NEWS
 1) Weary CAIR team volunteers return to action; Dominicans grieve.
 2) Update on crisis response efforts.
 3) Bethany board looks at distributed education, capital campaign.
 4) Brethren Business Network finds inspiration at Chicago
conference.
 5) The church remembers Raymond Peters.

FEATURES
 6) Brethren help a northwestern Wisconsin town rebuild.

****************************************************************
 
 1) Just two days after a major response effort in New York closed,
Childcare in Aviation Incident Response (CAIR) volunteers have
returned to serve in the city.

CAIR/Disaster Child Care coordinator Roy Winter had traveled to
Manhattan on Saturday to wrap up the massive Sept. 11-related work,
which involved nearly 100 volunteers and thousands of hours
assisting more than 2,000 children at two family assistance
centers. It was a project of unmatched proportions for the program,
administered through the Church of the Brethren General Board's
Emergency Response/Service Ministries office (ER/SM).

On Monday, however, American Airlines flight 587 crashed into the
community of Rockaway Beach, in the New York borough of Queens.
That put the CAIR teams back in action. Six volunteers, all of whom
served in the Sept. 11 response, traveled to New York on Tuesday
morning. The current group, led by Jean Myers of Sinking Spring,
Pa., also includes Pat Bub (Telford, Pa.), Charlotte Ranck (Leola,
Pa.), Bev Lineweaver (Roanoke, Va.), John Elms (Beaverton, Ore.),
and Gloria Cooper (Pasadena, Calif.).

At least 260 people were confirmed dead in Monday's crash, which
occurred shortly after the jet left John F. Kennedy International
Airport bound for Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. More
than three-quarters of those aboard were Dominican or of Dominican
descent, according to news reports. Jerry and Becky Baile Crouse,
the General Board mission coordinators in the Dominican Republic,
say they haven't heard of any Dominican Brethren affected directly
but the country is grieving, with flags at half-mast and a
three-day period of mourning declared by the government.

ER/SM manager Stan Noffsinger said many families and children were
already at the family assistance centers on Tuesday, so he expected
the CAIR volunteers to quickly be busy.

In other disaster response news, the rebuilding project in
hurricane-ravaged Wilson, N.C., has been extended through at least
spring 2002 rather than ending in December as planned. Charlie
Gillam is serving as project director beginning Nov. 25. 

 2) Church response to the Sept. 11 aftermath and ongoing war in
Afghanistan is ongoing. Here are some of the latest updates on
crisis response efforts:

*The first installment of the $50,000 pledged to the Church World
Service (CWS) Pakistan/Afghanistan Crisis Appeal by the Church of
the Brethren General Board's Global Food Crisis Fund has been sent.
A grant of $25,000 was sent last week; the other $25,000 is
expected to follow by the end of the year. CWS staff had 7,500
shelter kits and 3,000 food packages poised for delivery at the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border and was awaiting a convoy to deliver
them. The organization is operating under principles that all
humanitarian aid should be provided on basis of need and done
through multilateral cooperation, and it is asking that military
intervention not exacerbate the current refugee crisis--especially
as winter approaches. CWS also recently sponsored a first-ever
international conference on the Moringa tree, being used as an
indigenous resource to combat hunger and malnutrition in Africa.

*On Earth Peace and The Middle Pennsylvania Center for
Congregational Ministries sponsored a pizza luncheon for area
pastors at the Martinsburg (Pa.) Memorial Church of the Brethren
this past Tuesday, giving them a time to share, pray, and seek
support during the current national crisis. Celia Cook-Huffman,
former member of the Ministry of Reconciliation steering committee,
facilitated the event. "My sense is that pastors need each others'
support and encouragement for learning to talk about and work our
way through this difficult time," said Martinsburg pastor
Christopher Bowman. "Being faithful to our own sense of calling and
also sensitive to diverse viewpoints in the congregation can be a
challenge."

*An international ecumenical delegation from the World Council of
Churches visited the US in the past week as a "living letter" to US
churches. The group visited "Ground Zero" in New York as well as
Washington, D.C., and Chicago before heading to the National
Council of Churches general assembly being held in Oakland, Calif.,
this week. Bishop Mvumelwano Dandala, presiding bishop of the
Methodist Church of Southern Africa, led the seven-member
delegation. "We are not bringing answers," Dandala says. "We are
bringing love."

*About 70 people attended the first in a series of Church World
Service Interfaith Trauma Response Team training events in New York
Oct. 26-27, designed to help clergy and other caregivers meet
short- and long-term challenges in the aftermath of the World Trade
Center attacks. More intensive training sessions are planned this
weekend. Church of the Brethren Emergency Response/Service
Ministries has been supporting various Church World Service
training events and forums since the attacks, as well as the
building of a database of trained critical incident debriefers and
spiritual caregivers/counselors.

 3) The Bethany Theological Seminary Board of Trustees gathered for
its semi-annual meeting Oct. 26-28 in Richmond, Ind. Among the
highlights:

The Academic and Student Affairs Committee shared an update on the
seminary's emerging distributed education program, with a planned
launch date of summer 2003. The program will contain paired courses
in an integrated learning arrangement, offered in a combination of
online, two-week intensive, and residential class formats. It will
meet current Association of Theological Schools accrediting
standards and allow for coordinated teaching and learning. A search
is under way for an associate dean/director of distributed
education.

The Institutional Advancement Committee gave a report on Bethany's
first "Exploring Your Call" event for high school juniors and
seniors, held in July 2001. The Committee shared an update on the
seminary's capital campaign, "Inspired by the Spirit: Educating for
Ministry," and the board approved a gift valuation policy for
campaign contributions. Gifts to the campaign as of Oct. 26 were
over $8 million.

The Finance and Business Affairs Committee brought several
recommendations to the board, which were approved, including an
adjusted 2001-2002 fiscal year budget, a tuition rate of $250 per
credit hour for the 2002-2003 academic year, and an audit report
for the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

The board discussed and approved a letter to US President George W.
Bush as a response to the national tragedies of Sept. 11. "It is
our stated mission as a seminary, not only to educate people for
ministry, but to bear witness to the beliefs of the Church of the
Brethren within the broader Christian tradition," the letter
states. "Since its beginning three centuries ago, our denomination
has understood that followers of Jesus are called to put away their
swords, offering instead a cup of cold water and a spirit of love
and reconciliation. . . . we pledge to continue to witness to our
denomination's understanding that war and the use of violence are
sins--as much because of the spirit that they nurture in ourselves
as because of the devastation that they leave in their wake." The
complete text of the letter can be viewed on Bethany's website at
www.bethanyseminary.edu/boardstatement.htm.

In other business, the board:
*Welcomed new members Michele Firebaugh of Aurora, Ill., and Kathy
Long of North Liberty, Ind.;

*Learned of the Oct. 26 death of former Bethany president Paul M.
Robinson;

*Met new staff at the Susquehanna Valley Satellite: Donna M.
Rhodes, director of Academy training; and Mary A. Schiavoni,
program coordinator;

*Participated in a faculty presentation by Richard Gardner,
academic dean and professor of New Testament studies, on his
commentary about the Sermon on the Mount. The presentation
illustrated Bethany's teaching and learning process and the
significant research opportunities provided to the seminary's
teaching faculty.

 4) Three Brethren related to the fledgling Brethren Business
Network were among about 650 participants at this year's "Business
as a Calling" conference, held Nov. 1-4 in Chicago. 

The annual event began through Mennonite Economic Development
Associates (MEDA) and was jointly sponsored for the first time in
2001 with Partners for Christian Development, a group within the
Christian Reformed Church. The conference sought to "explore and
celebrate this unique opportunity to serve God and others through
business," according to its flier. 

Speakers included Dr. Richard Mouw of Fuller Theological Seminary,
Amy Domini of the Domini Social Index Fund, and Don Eberly,
assistant director of the US Office for Faith-Based Initiatives.
Mennonite comedians Ted & Lee also performed, and a host of
workshops were offered. 

The Brethren contingent included Wendi Hutchinson, director of
church relations at Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind., who
is overseeing the development of the Brethren Business Network, and
Dennis and Connie Novotny of Elgin, Ill.

"This is what I believe, and what we should be doing-- to use
business to help others," says Dennis Novotny, who owns a drafting
and design business in Elgin. "Business and faith are one, not
separate. To see that there were more people who felt that way was
good."

Novotny is part of a growing group across the denomination being
connected through the network. A website and list server has
already been established, and Hutchinson now hopes to build
chapters in several cities. She has identified clusters of interest
in places including Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, and Washington.

The dream, someday, is to have an organization like the
well-established, nearly 50-year-old MEDA network or the newer
Partners for Christian Development group. Some energy has been
percolating around the idea for a Brethren Business Network for
nearly a decade, but it has only really gathered steam in the past
two years as Manchester took it under its wing.

"A man from Partners for Christian Development stated that it took
10 years for them to grow their organization," Hutchinson says.
"That gave me hope that Brethren Business Network will take off. It
takes time to build name recognition and share the vision."

Activities of MEDA and Partners for Christian Development include
providing internships and scholarships for students, compiling
directories of services available within the denomination,
championing socially responsible investing, and doing international
and domestic economic development projects with training programs
and micro-enterprise loans.

 5) The church is remembering the life of another long-time church
leader following the death of Raymond Peters on Nov. 1. Peters, 95,
died at Timbercrest retirement community in North Manchester, Ind.

He was called to the ministry in 1925, served several pastorates in
Virginia, and was executive secretary for the then-Southeastern
Region of the denomination from 1938-40. 

Peters began his service with the denomination at-large as director
of youth in 1940, then played a key part in bringing together
several separate boards and staff groups into the combined General
Brotherhood Board. He became the first general secretary of that
board in 1947 and served until 1952.

Peters was then elected to the General Board in 1955, serving on
the Ministry and Home Missions Commission, and became chair in
1959. He served another term from 1961-1965, chairing the Brethren
Service Commission. He served as moderator of Annual Conference in
1966-1967 before returning to serve on the General Board from
1967-1972 and then on the Annual Conference Committee of Health and
Welfare. Several memorial services were planned.

 6) It seems ironic that Siren, Wis., is just up the road from a
town named "Luck," for luck is certainly not a commodity the small
community has had much of in the past year.

A massive tornado ripped through the town in June while on a
rampage 41 miles long and up to a mile wide in places. Dozens of
businesses were damaged or destroyed, as were many outlying farms
and homes. It came as a shock in a region in the far northwestern
part of the state not known for severe weather outside of winter
snows.

"My wife and I were going to the basement, being hit by debris, and
we looked back and it was just sky," said Dick Quinton, whose farm
was destroyed by 265-mile-per-hour winds in the funnel cloud. His
daughter and two grandchildren were also visiting that day but made
it into the basement. "No one was hurt," he said, "and that's what
we're very thankful for."

The town is also thankful for an abundance of help. Scores of
volunteers from church and community groups have taken turns
helping Siren to rebuild. Those workers have included groups from
the Church of the Brethren, as districts have taken turns sending
teams through the General Board's Emergency Response/Service
Ministries program since September. 

Brethren volunteers have been working at five projects in the area
through the fall, three of them downtown and two in outlying rural
areas. They have framed a house and put it under roof, built a
garage, and did siding and drywall jobs in addition to the complete
rebuilding of Quinton's home. The project will be wrapping up this
week before winter sets in, but an invitation has been extended to
return in the spring.

"When I retired as a truck driver, people wondered what I was going
to do. They thought I'd go back to work," said Art Hall, a Siren
volunteer from the Lakewood Church of the Brethren in Northern Ohio
District. "I said, 'No, I'm going to do the Lord's work.' This is
one facet of the Lord's work," he said of the disaster relief
efforts. "There are many things I could be doing, but this is
challenging and very rewarding to be able to give."

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 that Newsline is cited
as the source. Marcia Shetler and Ken Shaffer contributed to this
report.

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