wfn.org | Church of the Brethren Newsline for Sept. 6, 2002

[COBNews@aol.com]

NTitle: Newsline - Church of the Brethren news update
Date: Sept. 6, 2002
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) National Older Adult Conference takes place in North Carolina.
 2) Congregations, others plan ways to mark Sept. 11 anniversary.
 3) Next WCC Assembly will be held in Brazil.
 4) Brethren Service Center sends stream of aid to Angola.
 5) Brethren bits: YAC, Caring Ministries, and more.

COMING EVENTS
 6) Ministry of Reconciliation will offer conflict transformation
workshop.

FEATURES
 7) Middle Pennsylvania creates process to encourage discipleship.

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

 1) Surrounded by mountains and basking in bright sunshine, more
than 1,100 older adults from across the Church of the Brethren took
part in this year's National Older Adult Conference sponsored by
the Association of Brethren Caregivers.

It was the sixth edition of the biennial event, which has always
been held at Lake Junaluska, N.C. Days were filled with worship,
educational opportunities, crafts classes, recreation, musical
entertainment, and ice cream--lots of ice cream. The Fellowship of
Brethren Homes, Bethany Theological Seminary, and the Church of the
Brethren colleges sponsored ice cream socials on successive nights,
and all were very well attended. 

Participants represented 21 of the 23 districts and nearly 250
congregations. Pennsylvania was the state with the largest
contingent present, followed by Virginia. Wherever they came from,
though, they reported enjoying the Sept. 2-6 event.

"It's been very good," said Goldie Tomlonson of Tampa, Fla., who
will turn 91 on Sept. 30. "There are lots of spiritual messages,
and that's what makes it good."

Those messages centered around this year's theme, "While We Run
This Race." Many of the speakers--which included both Church of the
Brethren pastors and outside experts--touched on aspects of the
"cloud of witnesses" in Hebrews 11-12.

A central theme urged older adults not to retire into a life of
relaxation, but to actively volunteer, serve, advise, and impact
lives. Guest speaker Richard Morgan said that older people are
tempted to "whine, recline, or decline," but he instead called them
"to shine."

And in the closing celebration, Bethany professor Dawn Ottoni
Wilhelm said other generations desperately need the blessings that
older adults can provide--particularly in the way they have lived
out and continue to live out a "peculiar faith." "We need one
another to find the way ahead," she said.

American Baptist evangelist Tony Campolo, who also spoke at
National Youth Conference this summer, proved to be a big hit for
older adults as well. In a Tuesday morning address, Campolo
delivered a powerful call for older adults to be agents of social
change and to model a Christian lifestyle while staying active. He
also challenged them to help the Church of the Brethren return to
its roots as a peace church.

"It's time for us to organize ourselves and go out and do the work
of the Kingdom," Campolo said.

Other speakers included Frederick (Md.) Church of the Brethren
pastor Paul Mundey, Mennonite leader Katie Funk Wiebe, and
writer/consultant Marty Richards. Juniata College president
emeritus Bob Neff--"back by popular demand" after his sharing at
the 2000 NOAC--led a trio of morning Bible studies on running the
race.

Special all-conference concerts were provided by Pennsylvania
Anabaptist group "Ministers of Music" and the Brethren duo of Shawn
Kirchner and Joseph Helfrich. Afternoon entertainment options
offered each day--featuring Appalachian musicians and storytellers
and Brethren folk singer Peg Lehman--also proved popular.

A service project to assemble school and health "Gift of the Heart"
kits for disaster relief and other needs produced more than 600 of
the kits--nearly doubling the 2000 NOAC total. Used eyeglasses were
also collected for Eye Care Missions' work in developing countries.
Service project co-coordiator Gerry Graybill called it "an
excellent response."

Daily humorous "NOAC News" segments by the video team of Dave
Sollenberger, Larry Glick, and Chris Brown were another highlight,
as was a hole-in-one scored by Paul Wampler during the annual NOAC
golf tournament and gathering song times led by Nancy Faus.

ABC staff member Scott Douglas, who coordinates the event with the
National Older Adult Cabinet and a planning committee of
volunteers, called NOAC his "favorite gathering of Brethren." He
says NOAC will be back at Lake Junaluska once again Sept. 2-6,
2004.

 2) Congregations across the United States are planning special
ways to observe the anniversary of September 11, with events both
before and after the actual anniversary date as well as on the day
itself.

Among them, the Ambler (Pa.) Church of the Brethren is holding a
three-day peace symposium Sept. 8-10 to lead up to the anniversary,
with presenters including On Earth Peace co-director Barb Sayler
and Church of the Brethren Washington Office coordinator Greg
Davidson Laszakovits.

The Washington (D.C.) City Church of the Brethren, meanwhile, is
planning a 2002 Peace Lectureship Sept. 27-29. It will feature the
Rev. Al Herring, a former Manchester College professor now serving
at the University of Louisville (Ky.). 

In North Carolina, the Peace Covenant Church of the Brethren in
Durham and pastor Phil Jones have helped to put together a
"September 11 Memorial March and Rally for Peace, Justice, and
Non-Violence." It will be held Sept. 7 in Raleigh, with a march
through the city followed by a rally at the State Capitol. The
rally will also speak out against possible military action in Iraq.
Church of the Brethren member Nathan Musselman, detained in Israel
for a peace witness event earlier this year, will be one of the
speakers.

On and around September 11, a string of churches across the country
plan to hold interfaith open houses. The open houses respond to a
call from the National Council of Churches, with congregations
welcoming their Muslim neighbors for refreshments and reflections.
The Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren has joined the effort
and will host an "Interfaith Conversations" event on Oct. 27.

Other congregations planning observances or events in relation to
September 11 are invited to send a description to cobnews@aol.com.
A special edition of Newsline will be sent on Sept. 11.

 3) A country that has recently been the site of renewed activity
by the Church of the Brethren will also be the host for the Ninth
Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The WCC Central Committee decided this week that the worldwide
meeting will be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2006. Delegates
made the decision by paper ballot after a recommending committee
split three ways on possible venues. Churches in Korea and Cyprus
also invited the Council to hold its assembly in Seoul and Nicosia,
respectively. Glasgow, Scotland, has also been considered earlier. 

The invitation to Porto Alegre came from the National Council of
Churches in Brazil (CONIC) in Brasilia. The WCC has never held an
assembly in Latin America.  

A site visit by WCC consultant Gordon How affirmed that the city
has ample infrastructure to support and house a meeting that will
be attended by as many as 3,500 people from around the world. Porto
Alegre was the least expensive of the three cities under
consideration. The exact dates for the 2006 meeting will be decided
later. 

In other news, a group of 37 Christian leaders from Britain,
Canada, and the United States who are attending the WCC meetings
issued a "Call to Stop the Rush to War" against Iraq. It quotes
Matthew 5:9 and says, "We call for restraint." US National Council
of Churches general secretary Bob Edgar was among the signers.

 4) The Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., has been
sending a stream of aid to the southern African nation of Angola in
recent months. working with Church World Service (CWS) and Angolan
partner ShareCircle.

Most recently, a shipment containing 553 cartons of canned chicken
and five large cartons of used computer hardware left New Windsor
on Aug. 13. The chicken came from the annual canning project of the
Mid-Atlantic and Southern Pennsylvania districts, which also
benefits a variety of US ministries. The computer equipment was
requested by ShareCircle. 

This was the fifth container of material aid provided by the center
in partnership with CWS in the past year and a half. It was
destined for the Bie' Province in continuing support of internally
displaced people in the country.

Another massive load of nine 40-foot containers from Lutheran World
Relief was assembled at the center in late August. The containers
carried clothing, blankets, quilts, school kits, layettes, and
soap. Staff also prepred an additional 20 containers of emergency
relief supplies--blankets, plastic sheeting, and water jugs--to be
sent to Angola by the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.
 

 5) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *The 2003 National Young Adult Conference, sponsored by the
General Board's Youth/Young Adult Ministry office, will be held May
23-25 (Memorial Day weekend) at Camp Eder in Fairfield, Pa. Keynote
leader will be Shawn Replogle, speaking on the theme "Being
Brethren in Today's Culture." Next year's young adult workcamp will
be May 29-June 7 in Northern Ireland. More details will be
available later this fall.

 *The next Caring Ministry Assembly, a biennial event sponsored by
the Association of Brethren Caregivers, will be held Aug. 14-16,
2003, at the Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren. The theme
will be "Healing Out of Silence." More information will be
available from ABC, or call 800-323-8039.

 *A network of Brethren called "Voices for an Open Spirit" is
continuing to develop following an initial meeting at Annual
Conference in Louisville, Ky., attended by about 200 people.
Another meeting was held at National Older Adult Conference this
week with an even larger attendance. Organizer Jim Lehman of Elgin,
Ill., says that while the initial conversation has focused on the
inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church due to this year's
Conference action, the concern of the group is really on the larger
brokenness, lack of openness, and disunity in the denomination on
a host of issues and in general life together. Members of the group
stood at the closing worship of Conference to symbolize their
disappointment over that brokenness, according to Lehman. Group
members are contemplating possible queries to the 2003 Annual
Conference; plans for a fall gathering of the group are under way.

 6) "Conflict Transformation Skills for Church Leaders," a day-long
workshop, will be offered by Ministry of Reconciliation on Oct. 5
at Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, Ind.

The workshop is designed for pastors, deacons, board and committee
chairs, and others in roles of congregational leadership. It will
include special skill-building sessions for pastors, deacons, and
anyone who facilitates meetings. Topics to be addressed include
effective listening, basic perspectives about conflict, positions
and interests in conflict, perceptions in conflict, and being a
"non-anxious presence." Pastors can receive continuing education
units for attending.

Leadership will include Matt Guynn (Ministry of Reconciliation/On
Earth Peace program associate), Trayce Peterson (Earlham College
director of campus ministries), Jeff Bach (associate professor at
Bethany Theological Seminary), and others. Tuition is $35, or $70
for three people from one congregation.

For more information or to register, contact Matt Guynn at On Earth
Peace, 609 W. Main St., Richmond, IN 47374 or 765-962-6234 or
mguynn@myvine.com.

 7) Attempting to avoid adding to the 80 percent of churches in
North America experiencing "survival mentality"--losing their sense
of purpose and pouring all their energy into survival and little
else--the Church of the Brethren's Middle Pennsylvania District is
inviting its congregations into a process called "Growing Faithful
Disciples."

The initiative comes out of the 2001 district conference, when
delegates called for congregations to expand their vision and heart
for a discipleship lifestyle. The result is a two-year process
emphasizing four elements of discipleship: worship, community,
stewardship of God's loving grace, and mission/outreach. It will
include biblical/theological, personal development, and
congregational development components.

"In a time when the church needs to go back to the roots of who it
is and what it is called out to be, Growing Faithful Disciples
seems appropriate," says Middle Pennsylvania District executive
Randall Yoder.

Assembled in partnership with the General Board's Area 1
(Northeast) Congregational Life Team, the process will include
study materials, leadership development materials, and activities
for "living and practicing a discipleship life and ministry." It
will be formally launched at this year's district conference, Oct.
18-19.

Growing Faithful Disciples will be tested in Middle Pennsylvania
before being offered elsewhere. "We have high hopes that this
process will be useful to many other districts in the next year or
two," Area 1 coordinator Jan Kensinger says.

Ten congregations have already reviewed the materials and given
positive feedback.

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. Danielle Hart contributed to this report.

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