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

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: April 5, 2002
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) Annual Conference moderator, Seattle pastor build Nigeria
connections.
 2) BBT files resolution asking Tricon restaurants to go
smoke-free.
 3) NYC registration tops 4,000, but falls short of 1998 total.
 4) Ecumenical organizations provide prayer, aid, resources for
Middle East.
 5) Washington Office among those preparing for Colombia
Mobilization.
 6) Emergency Disaster Fund grant aids refugees in Texas.
 7) Brethren disaster response gears up for spring.
 8) Church of the Brethren group visits southern Sudan.
 9) Brethren bits: Philanthropy, college news, and more.

RESOURCES
10) Denominational website grows in content, number of visitors.

FEATURES
11) Oldest BVSer finishes project, urges others to "get involved."

****************************************************************
 
 1) Paul and Dorothy Grout and Janis Pyle, the General Board's
coordinator for mission connections, will travel to Nigeria on
April 8 for a 12-day visit with the Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria
(Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). Grout will be the first Annual
Conference moderator to travel to Nigeria since 1993, when Chuck
Boyer visited.

"We are pleased to again make this important connection between our
two churches," says Merv Keeney, director of Global Mission
Partnerships for the General Board.

As a part of the visit, Grout will preach at the "majalisa," or
annual meeting, being held April 10-13 at Kulp Bible College near
Mubi, Adamawa State. He will also visit the Kano congregation--
which has experienced recent violence resulting in the deaths of
six members--to convey sympathies and bring word of funds collected
through a "love offering" for the purchase of a new church property
in a safer location.

Another Nigeria connection occurred in the past month as John
Braun, pastor of the Olympic View Community Church of the Brethren
in Seattle, returned March 26 from six weeks of serving in the
African nation through Global Mission Partnerships.

Braun had started a relationship with EYN president Toma Ragnjiya
during a workcamp a few years ago, and was invited back as an
advisor to the president and to consult with Nigerian church
leaders about strengthening the church.

It has been a number of years since a Nigerian leader was invited
to the US in this exchange program; congregations that might want
to explore this option are being sought by the Global Mission
Partnerships office. Call 800-323-8039.

 2) In accordance with the 1981 Annual Conference Statement on
Tobacco, which directed the Church of the Brethren General Board to
develop education and action programs regarding the raising,
government subsidization, and use of tobacco, Brethren Benefit
Trust (BBT) has filed a resolution with Tricon Global Restaurants
asking that all company-owned restaurants be made smoke-free. The
resolution will be considered at Tricon's annual meeting in
Louisville, Ky. on May 16.

Tricon is the parent company of Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken,
and Taco Bell restaurants. It recently announced a plan to purchase
Long John Silver's and A&W, leading it to propose a name change to
YUM! Brands, Inc.

BBT is the lead filer of the resolution. Co-filers include Christus
Health, St. Joseph Health System, Sisters of St. Francis, and the
Congregation of Divine Providence. It continues a commitment by BBT
to merge social values with investment decisions, which it works at
through its association with the Interfaith Center on Corporate
Responsibility.

According to Will Thomas, director of Foundation Operations at BBT,
proxy statements will soon be distributed to Tricon shareholders.
Tricon's board recommends a vote against the resolution, fearing a
loss of business if smoking customers stay away. BBT is encouraging
investors to give careful consideration to their proxy votes rather
than simply voting with management or ignoring the opportunity.

Several Web sites are available for further information on
shareholder resolutions, including www.socialfunds.com, which lists
shareholder resolutions under way. The text of many shareholder
resolutions, including the Tricon resolution, is available at
www.iccr.org. Proxy voting guidelines are available at
www.domini.com and www.shareholderaction.org. 

 3) A total of 4,078 registrations for the 2002 National Youth
Conference (NYC) were received by the General Board's Youth/Young
Adult Ministry office through April 1, the end of the main
registration period.

While late registrations are still being accepted with a $50
surcharge, it will likely mark the first time in recent history
that attendance will have dropped from one NYC to the next. About
4,500 people participated in the 1998 NYC, and about 4,100 in 1994,
continuing an upward trend over the past few decades. It still
remains one of the largest gatherings in the denomination, along
with Annual Conference.

This year will be the fourth straight time that NYC, held every
four years, will take place at Colorado State University in Fort
Collins, Colo. Previous conferences were held in locations
including Estes Park, Colo.; New Mexico; North Carolina; and New
York. The 2002 NYC will be held July 16-21.

 4) The National Council of Churches (NCC) this week held a prayer
vigil for peace in the Middle East. The vigil, which took place
April 2 at the Interchurch Center Chapel in New York, was followed
by a brief press conference. The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. and NCC
general secretary Bob Edgar were among those participating, along
with Jewish, Islamic, and other Christian leaders.

They prayed for an immediate end to the violence in Israel and
Palestinian areas, asked President George W. Bush to "engage in the
peace process at the highest level," and called on Israel and
Palestine to begin immediate face-to-face negotiations. The World
Council of Churches has also called for an "immediate common
effort" by church bodies to bring about peace. Bush on Thursday
announced that he was sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to
the region and requested that Israel withdraw its forces from
Palestinian cities.

The NCC plans to send a delegation of religious leaders to the
Middle East later this month. A Christian Peacemaker Teams presence
in the West Bank also continues, with Church of the Brethren member
Rick Polhamus returning to Hebron last week to join fellow Brethren
Peggy Faw Gish and several others.

Church World Service (CWS), meanwhile, is seeking $75,000 to aid
the Middle East Council of Churches, a CWS partner, as it
distributes emergency food parcels to approximately 10,000
"vulnerable families" (about 60,000 people) in the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip.

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly has made available two free videotapes
related to the issue and other current events, one on "Religion,
War, and Violence" and another on "Islam," each 90 minutes long. To
order, contact Annalisa Loeffler at 212-560-6816 or
loeffler@thirteen.org.

 5) The Church of the Brethren Washington Office is inviting
Brethren participation in a major "Colombia Mobilization" event
April 19-22 in Washington, D.C., seeking to show solidarity with
the people of the South American nation.

The four-day event, convened by School of the Americas Watch and
Witness for Peace, will include rallies, workshops, lobbying, and
marches, culminating in nonviolent direct action on the 22nd. The
Washington Office is among those endorsing the event, calling for
an end to US military aid to Colombia as part of a "war on drugs." 

Other goals of the mobilization include expanded drug treatment and
prevention in the United States, promoting sustainable economic
development initiatives in Colombia and elsewhere in the region,
aiding refugees and others internally displaced by the conflict,
and making a personal commitment to nonviolence. For more details
on the mobilization, visit the Washington Office website at
www.brethren.org/genbd/washofc/Colombia.htm.

During the same period, Brethren Peace Fellowship and Fellowship of
Reconciliation are among groups participating in an April 20
protest against the "War on Terrorism." That event will include a
rally, a march to the US Capitol, and a protest on the National
Mall.

 6) A $10,000 grant from the General Board's Emergency Disaster
Fund will support the refugee work of Southwest Good Samaritan
Ministries in Los Fresnos, Texas. It is the fourth allocation to be
made from the fund this year.

The grant will assist in providing temporary housing, clothing,
food, health kits, medical and dental care, legal assistance, and
transportation to refugees being reunited with friends or relatives
already legally in the United States who will assume their care.

 7) Disaster response work through the General Board's Emergency
Response/Service Ministries office is continuing in several sites
this spring.

In Cordell, Okla., volunteers from Southern Plains and Western
Plains districts are constructing a home for a survivor of
tornadoes that struck the area in October and assisting with other
minor repair jobs. Donald Snavely of Illinois is the project
director through mid-April.

Work also continues in North Carolina, two and a half years after
Hurricane Floyd ravaged the northeastern part of the state. A
project in Wilson is creating "livable housing" for survivors of
the disaster, including roofing work, painting, and rehabilitation
of floors, walls, and ceilings. Marvin and Regina Zimmerman are
serving as project directors for the Wilson, N.C., site in April,
and Bob and Marianne Pittman will take that role in May.

A tornado recovery project in Siren, Wis., that began last fall
will resume next month, doing major repair work on and rebuilding
of homes. Paul and Patricia Haffner and Ed and Bonnie Bryan will
serve as project directors in May. 

In addition, the office is monitoring needs in Kentucky, Tennessee,
and southwestern Virginia, where heavy spring rains resulted in
severe flooding. More than 800 homes were damaged or destroyed.

 8) A Church of the Brethren Faith Expedition group traveled to
several communities in war-torn southern Sudan in late February and
early March. The group of 12 people representing nine districts
went to Sudan to learn about living conditions in the east African
country, to show support for Sudan's struggling people, to observe
Brethren-supported programs, and to prepare to share their
learnings after returning home.  

The group found that while the food situation has stabilized in
parts of the south, there are still daunting challenges in the
areas of education, health care, transportation, and general
economic development. The ongoing civil war, now in its fourth
decade, continues to cast a shadow over efforts to address these
problems. 

Bright spots in the group's eight days in the south included
several communities where efforts are being made to establish
schools, even when there are no funds for teachers' salaries or
materials; women's groups working to develop economic projects in
the absence of men--who are often either off at the front or
already killed in the fighting; and the church, which continues to
grow and bring spiritual vitality to a situation of material
desperation.

The delegation met with Mark Sloan and Merlyn Kettering--General
Board-supported staff with the New Sudan Council of Churches
(NSCC)--and had briefings with other key staff of the NSCC, the
Church of the Brethren's partner in Sudan and host for the visiting
group. The team also saw projects supported by the Global Food
Crisis Fund of the Church of the Brethren.

The delegation included General Board members Roy Unruh and R. Jan
Thompson and was organized by the Brethren Witness office in
cooperation with the Global Mission Partnerships office of the
General Board. 

 9) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *Sixteen Brethren are among those attending the 25th North
American Conference on Christian Philanthropy this week in
Nashville, Tenn., including the five members of the General Board's
Funding team and a contingent from Southern Ohio District. The
conference is sponsored by the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, based
in Indianapolis.

 *Volunteers in Southern Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic districts
are in the midst of their annual meat canning project, held at
Christian Aid Ministries in Ephrata, Pa. The project, which aims to
can tens of thousands of pounds of chicken, began April 1-4 and
will continue in the coming week, April 8-10. It is the 25th year
for the effort.

 *Bridgewater (Va.) College recognized two faculty members and two
students--three of them from the Church of the Brethren--on its
Founder's Day this past Tuesday. Assistant professor of philosophy
and religion Carol A. Scheppard, a member of the Lebanon Church of
the Brethren (Mount Sidney, Va.), received the Ben and Janice Wade
Outstanding Teaching Award. Senior Sarah Harvey, a member of the
Bethel Church of the Brethren (Broadway, Va.), and senior Matt
Huffman, from the Bridgewater congregation, received Student
Leadership Awards.

 *Mid-Atlantic District executive Don Booz has been named chair of
the Central Maryland Ecumenical Leaders Group. The group meets
regularly to exchange ideas and discuss issues that affect the
church, including an annual meeting with the governor of Maryland
and the mayor of Baltimore.

 *The Brethren Village retirement community in Neffsville, Pa., was
recently named one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania
by the state's Department of Labor & Industry. It was ranked No. 20
among the state's top 50 companies with more than 250 employees.

 10) Traffic to the denominational website, www.brethren.org,
continues to grow, with an average of 1,900 visitors per day over
the past two months. It follows an upward trend, with the average
number of visitors more than quadrupling over the past two years.

The number of pages and resources available on the site has also
increased exponentially during that period. Recent major additions
include an enhanced Emergency Response/ Service Ministries site
with significant new information, a section on the 2002 National
Older Adult Conference, additional downloadable logos, street
addresses for Church of the Brethren congregations in the "Find a
Church" section (along with all known websites, e-mail addresses,
and phone numbers), Annual Conference details, and new Committee on
Interchurch Relations materials.

Additions to the site are regularly posted at
www.brethren.org/update.htm. The most-accessed pages include Annual
Conference, Find a Church, information on Brethren history and
beliefs, home pages for Church of the Brethren agencies, the Photo
Journal, Brethren Volunteer Service, Newsline, and links. The
website is a cooperative effort of the Annual Conference office,
the five Annual Conference agencies, and the Brethren Employees
Credit Union.

 11) Gene Petry doesn't think of himself as a record-setter, but
the Akron, Ohio, native--at age 85--recently became the oldest
person to complete a term in Brethren Volunteer Service. He served
for six months at Camp Ithiel in Gotha, Fla., through BVS' older
adult program, finishing up this week.

"I'm just thankful I had the health and had the strength to do the
work I had to do," says Petry, a retired dentist and a member of
the Eastwood Church of the Brethren. "I had good genes, and I took
good care of them, and God's given me good health."

He had assisted in several disaster response projects with his
nephew Larry, who talked him into entering BVS. Petry developed
carpal tunnel in one arm shortly after starting at the project in
early October and missed five days when he broke the wrist of his
other arm in late February. Even so, he says he has no regrets
about serving. 

"I had a good experience and enjoyed the work," Petry says. "I
enjoyed being with so many good people. I made some good friends
and got reacquainted with some old friends."

His tasks at the camp covered everything from painting and trimming
hedges to cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry. Petry says he had
"learned to do a lot of things" in the 12 years since his wife
died. 

"He's a very friendly, outgoing man," Camp Ithiel director Mike
Neff says. "He has a cheerful demeanor, and was a friend to all our
guests. He was always very active and involved."

Orientation for another BVS older adult unit begins later this
month in New Windsor, Md., and Petry has some simple advice for
other retirees thinking about serving: "Get involved."

"I had lost confidence in myself because I wasn't doing anything
actively for so long," Petry says. "After having that work and
responsibility, now I feel so much better. It's like I'm starting
a new life."

 

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. Nancy Miner and David Radcliff contributed to this
report.

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