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Date: May 17, 2002
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) BBT board approves major changes to Brethren Medical Plan.
 2) Brethren young adult from Virginia imprisoned in Israel.
 3) Response begins in flood-ravaged areas of Virginia, W.Virginia.
 4) ABC announces 2002 caregiving awards.
 5) Two more Emergency Disaster Fund grants provide relief.
 6) Brethren Service Center receives award.
 7) Brethren bits: Nigeria, church plants, college news, and more.

COMING EVENTS
 8) Annual Conference appeal will support school kit campaign.

FEATURES
 9) Bob Gross reflects on a journey to Israel/Palestine.

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

 1) After months of considering ways to address concerns about
medical insurance, the Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) board in April
approved three major changes to the Brethren Medical Plan.

A new insurance carrier will be used by most plan members beginning
Jan. 1, 2003. The plan will also partially return to its pre-1998
days when it was self-insured, meaning that a portion of the plan's
liabilities will once again be covered by BBT. The third change
pertains to the setting of rates, which now will be determined
based on age and geography.

BBT said the moves were needed to continue providing high-quality
health care insurance while containing costs--a difficult challenge
of late with skyrocketing medical costs and changes occurring
throughout the industry, along with the Brethren Medical Plan's
aging membership and recent high medical claims. BBT insurance
staff had sought bids from alternative carriers in recent years
with no success.

The BBT board approved these changes during its spring meetings,
April 20-21, held at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in
Elgin, Ill. While approving the adoption of this plan for Jan. 1,
2003, it approved moving Bethany Theological Seminary to the new
plan on July 1 in conjunction with the start of Bethany's new
fiscal year.

The plan's new insurance carrier will be the Congregational
Employee Plan (CEP), a national plan for Anabaptist denominations,
sponsored by Mennonite Mutual Aid. Given the Brethren Medical
Plan's current membership, BBT will immediately be the largest of
seven church plans participating in CEP.

 From 1982 until 1998 the Brethren Medical Plan was totally
participating in CEP. This pooling of claims should reduce the
impact large claims have on the plan, which in turn should help
self-funded. Under the new plan, BBT will self-insure the first
contain costs. 

Plan members will now be rated based on age and geography. All
members of an employer group will be individually rated and then
averaged to establish a single rate for that group. For members of
the Ministers' Plan, a "group" will be an individual congregation.
Each church agency will be its own group.

"We want to establish a plan that will work out over the long
haul," said Jeff Garber, BBT's director of Brethren Insurance
Plans. "That's why we're moving to the age and geographic rating.
This change will make our plan competitive with what individuals
can go out and buy on their own."

Beginning this summer at Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky., and
continuing throughout the fall, BBT staff will hold a series of
meetings throughout the denomination to highlight plan specifics
and answer questions.

Congregations and agencies wishing to join this new plan are
required to have 75 percent of eligible employees participate;
eligible employees who have health insurance from their spouse's
employment are not included in this calculation. An open enrollment
period will be held this fall, where any qualified agency and every
Church of the Brethren congregation can sign up for this new plan
regardless of the health or medical history of their employees.

In other business, the board:
*heard updates on socially responsible investing initiatives,
including the current resolution against Tricon Global Restaurants,
for which BBT is the lead filer.

*directed the Investment Committee to seek options for community
development investments for the accounts of Pension Plan members
and Foundation clients. Individuals and agencies could place a
portion of their investment portfolio with a community development
bank or credit union, which then typically lends funds to create
new business and jobs.

*approved an Investment Committee recommendation to create for
Foundation clients a new bond fund that will permit the use of
high-yield securities. The current bond fund will be maintained
with its present guidelines of no high-yield investments.

*received a report noting that the average age of Pension Plan
retirees has risen for the first time in recent years, to 62.77
years. Brethren Pension Plan director Don Fecher attributed the
shift to plan members delaying their retirement due to the stock
market's downturn. The average monthly retirement benefit declined
about 40 percent from February 2001 to February 2002. Total
membership in the plan increased from 3,692 to 3,849 in that span.

The BBT board next meets July 2 in Louisville.

 2) A Church of the Brethren member has spent the last two weeks in
Israeli prisons following a peace demonstration in Bethlehem.

Nathan Musselman, a member of the Oak Grove congregation, Roanoke,
Va., was detained along with 12 others on May 2 after joining an
International Solidarity Movement action at the besieged Church of
the Nativity. Musselman and the other detainees held a
demonstration outside the church, serving as a diversion to allow
10 others to enter the church and deliver food and international
protection for Palestinians inside. The standoff has since ended.

"I think this is a good example of standing with the oppressed, and
of active peacemaking," said On Earth Peace co-director Bob Gross,
who traveled to the region in April (see separate report below). "I
am pleased that Nathan was part of it."

Israel quickly deported many of the detainees, but Musselman and
three others refused and said they would leave the country but only
of their own accord and with a letter indicating that they could
return to the region in the future with no restrictions on their
travel. When Israel declined that request, the four--though never
formally charged--remained in prison and went on a week-long hunger
strike to draw attention to their situation and the lack of due
process.

Musselman and the other three men remained imprisoned near Tel Aviv
at press time, after earlier spending time at jails in Hebron.
Nathan's parents, Karin and Neal Musselman, and several friends
have been able to talk with him by phone periodically, and at last
report said he was well despite the difficult conditions. On
Sunday, Musselman told his parents he expected to return home early
this week, but the US embassy in Israel said his departure had been
delayed by the Israeli government.

In a May 8 article in the Roanoke Times, his parents said they
supported their son's action and "feel his cause is a just one."
They have urged Brethren to pray and to contact their congressional
representatives, the State Department, and the US embassy in
Israel, as well as Israeli officials. The Church of the Brethren
Washington Office issued an "action alert" to this effect; details
are at www.brethren.org/genbd/washofc/alert/IsraeliPrison.htm.
The Oak Grove congregation has planned a prayer vigil for
Musselman and the Middle East situation at 7 p.m. May 21. 

Musselman has been in the region for several years studying Arabic
at the University of Bir-Zeit in the West Bank, with hopes of
entering foreign relations work focusing on the Middle East. He has
sent several updates on conditions there to be posted on the
General Board's Brethren Witness site at
www.brethren.org/genbd/witness.

 3) Brethren are swinging into action to assist victims of severe
flooding in the "tristate area" of southern West Virginia, eastern
Kentucky, and southwestern Virginia. The region suffered flash
floods on May 4, the third time in 10 months that the area has been
flooded.

The town of Hurley, Va., was particularly hard-struck in the most
recent disaster. The town's business section was virtually
destroyed and at least 96 homes demolished, according to Western
Pennsylvania District disaster coordinator Shirley Norman. Another
135 homes were cut off from access due to the destruction of foot
bridges.

Norman also traveled to McDowell County, W.Va., where she
identified a need for cleanup volunteers, and to Pike County, Ky.
The Church of the Brethren General Board's Emergency
Response/Service Ministries office said it planned to draw
volunteers from the West Marva, Virlina, and Southeastern districts
to aid the McDowell County cleanup and other relief efforts.

The Virlina District put out an appeal for its congregations to
receive a special offering for Hurley this Sunday, and Southeastern
District has also requested contributions. Money is being requested
rather than material aid. Brethren can also contribute to the
Emergency Disaster Fund, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120.

 4) Four caregivers will be honored at the Association of Brethren
Caregivers Annual Recognition Dinner during Annual Conference in
Louisville, Ky. Phill Carlos Archbold, Charles Cable, and Janell
Clary will receive ABC's caregiving awards. John Garber will be
recognized on the occasion of his retirement from the Bridgewater
(Va.) Retirement Community.

Archbold, retiring this month as associate pastor of the First
Church of the Brethren, Brooklyn, N.Y., will be recognized for his
lifetime ministry to the Church of the Brethren and wider
community. Out of his local ministry, Archbold established and is
director of "The Positive Place," a program that provides
nonjudgmental ministry to people living with HIV/AIDS. Archbold
served as moderator of the denomination in 2001 and has spoken at
National Youth Conference. He has also been active with many other
community agencies. 

Cable, president and CEO of Brethren Hillcrest Homes, La Verne,
Calif., will be honored for his contributions to the field of
caregiving and health care. Cable has served as board chair of the
California Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and been
active on several committees of the American Association of Homes
and Services for the Aging. Cable is a member of the La Verne
Church of the Brethren.  

Clary will receive a caregiving award for more than 20 years of
services in health care. As a geropsychiatric nurse, Clary provides
clinical services to older adults and consultations on the mental
health needs of older adults and people with severe and persistent
mental illness at Prairie View Inc., McPherson, Kan. She is the
manager of several Prairie View clinics in long-term care
facilities and McPherson County and facilitates support groups for
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. She is a member of the
McPherson Church of the Brethren.

Garber will be recognized upon his retirement for 19 years of
service as president of Bridgewater Retirement Community, which he
guided through a period of growth and expansion. Garber is a member
of the Waynesboro (Va.) Church of the Brethren.

ABC's Recognition Dinner will be held June 29, at 5 p.m. Tickets,
at $20 each, are available from the Annual Conference office
(800-323-8039) and should be purchased prior to Conference.

 
 5) Grants continue to flow from the General Board's Emergency
Disaster Fund during a busy spring, with two new allocations
providing a combined $17,500.

One grant, for $10,000, will support a Church World Service (CWS)
appeal in Colombia. CWS is assisting more than 6,700 Colombians
affected by civil strife and military and guerrilla activity. The
funds will be used for food, health kits, cooking utensils, housing
construction, income-generating programs, and legal, mental, and
emotional health assistance.

The second grant is for $7,500 and will support a CWS appeal in the
US, for areas of the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic region, and the
South hit by a series of tornadoes. The funds will be used to
support the startup of interfaith groups that will organize
long-term recovery efforts and CWS assessments.

Eight allocations have now been made from the Emergency Disaster
Fund this year.

 6) The Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., was honored at
the Carroll County (Md.) Chamber of Commerce luncheon on May 9 as
an organization exemplifying positive character.

Loretta Wolf, manager of Service Ministries, accepted the Golden
Apple award from the Character Education Steering Committee of
Carroll County Public Schools. The service center was recognized
for the off-site repackaging project of Church World Service
clean-up kits, done with the help of "at risk" students of the
nearby Gateway School. Cheryl Held, a crisis counselor for Gateway
and a member of the Westminster (Md.) Church of the Brethren, was
instrumental in developing the cooperative project. 

 7) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *John Tubbs, mission co-coordinator in Nigeria for Global Mission
Partnerships, says that to his knowledge no members of the
Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (Church of the Brethren in Nigeria)
were killed in the May 4 crash of an EAS Airlines plane in the
northern city of Kano. The plane tore through a densely populated
neighborhood when it crashed shortly after takeoff en route to
Lagos. The flight came to Kano from Jos, a center of Brethren
activity; Tubbs said the husband of a professor at the Theological
College of Northern Nigeria was believed to have died in the crash.
In all, about 150 people died on the plane and on the ground.

 *More than 90 people have registered for the "Church Planting: The
Next Step" event to be held at Bethany Theological Seminary in
Richmond, Ind., May 20-24. Keynote leaders for the conference,
sponsored by Bethany and the General Board, include Jeff Wright,
Steve Sjogren, Cynthia Hale, Tara Hornbacker, and Glenn Timmons.
David Shumate, Scott Holland, and Jonathan Shively are leading
other plenary presentations, and Nancy Faus will coordinate several
times of worship during the week. 

 *A new church project is off to a strong start in Virlina
District. A group has begun meeting for Bible study in Sunset
Beach, N.C., near Myrtle Beach. Twenty-one people attended the
initial meeting on April 21, with plans to meet each Sunday
morning. A summer day camp was also slated to open at the project
May 6.

 *Camp Swatara (Bethel, Pa.) administrator Marlin Houff and General
Board general secretary Judy Mills Reimer will be the featured
speakers at Camp Bethel's 75th anniversary celebration, to be held
Memorial Day weekend in Fincastle, Va.

 *Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa., has been chosen as the site for
the 2004 National Science Olympiad, which brings more than 100
teams from high schools and middle schools around the country for
competition. The event will take place May 21-22, 2004.

 8) Church World Service has set a goal of sending "Gift of the
Heart" School Kits to at least 50,000 children in Afghanistan, and
Brethren will help the organization reach that goal with a special
appeal at the 2002 Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky.

The Emergency Response/Service Ministries booth, part of this
year's General Board exhibit, will serve as a collection point for
the kits. A list of specific contents for the school kits, along
with packing/shipping instructions, can be found at
www.churchworldservice.org/heart.html. A kit plus an additional $10
donation will provide a study chair and desk for a student, a
teacher's desk and chair for each classroom, plus much-needed
school supplies.

Kits not brought to Conference can be sent to School Kits for
Afghan Children, Church World Service, Brethren Service Center
Annex, 601 Main St., PO Box 188, New Windsor, MD 21776-0188. More
details are also available in the June "Source" packet mailing.

 9) From April 16 to 28, On Earth Peace co-director Bob Gross
traveled to Israel/Palestine with an emergency delegation sent by
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). His role was to provide a
nonviolent international presence in situations of violence and
threat. 

"I was blessed by the opportunity to take part in the delegation,"
Gross says, "and by the examples of many Palestinians and Israelis
who are working for peace and justice."

Gross wrote some reflections for the "Directors' column" of the On
Earth Peace newsletter, detailing his experiences in Bethlehem,
food distribution efforts, attempts to reach Ramallah, peace
demonstrations, and prayer gatherings. He concludes with these
thoughts from April 27 in Jerusalem:

"As a way of bringing together many of the realities of our
experience here, we all took part in a prayer walk today, through
West and East Jerusalem. We stopped to reflect and pray at sites of
violence against both Palestinians and Israelis.

"Even as we walked and prayed for an end to the killing, we
received word of the killing of four settlers near Hebron, just
this morning. The cycle of violence and retaliation goes on.

"We ended our prayerful pilgrimage at the site of Jesus'
crucifixion and resurrection, remembering that in Jesus, God showed
us the way to overcome violence and death. As we had at each of the
sites on our walk, we sang: 'Lord, listen to your children praying.
Lord, send your spirit in this place. Lord, listen to your children
praying. Send us love, send us power, send us grace.'

"We were standing in a chapel which was once a cistern, hewn out of
solid rock. Our voices filled that space and resounded outward. May
we all join in that prayer, and may the echoes never end."

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, Kathleen Campanella, Howard Royer, and
Joel Ulrich contributed to this report.

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