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

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: May 2, 2003
Contact: Walt Wiltschek
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

NEWS
 1) Cross-Cultural Consultation celebrates, prays in Orlando. 
 2) Midwest youth meet for regional conference at Manchester.
 3) Global Food Crisis Fund gives major aid to Dominican Republic.
 4) Church leaders express concerns about post-war Iraq; aid
continues.
 5) BVS Unit 253 older adult participants head to assignments.
 6) "Gospel Visitor" finds its way onto microfilm.
 7) Brethren bits: Disaster training, New Windsor, awards, more.

PERSONNEL
 8) Bethany Theological Seminary seeks admissions officer.
 9) Fahrney-Keedy Memorial Home seeks president/CEO.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to staff schedules, the issue of Newsline that
would normally be sent on May 16 will instead be sent May 13.
Newsline will resume its regular schedule on May 30.

****************************************************************
 
 1) A host of languages and a variety of music styles joined in
worship of the same God as Brethren from across the US and Puerto
Rico met in Orlando, Fla., April 24-27.

More than 70 people attended at least part of the annual
Cross-Cultural Consultation, making it the largest gathering in the
five-year history of the event -- planned by the Cross-Cultural
Ministries Team with support from the General Board's
Congregational Life Ministries office. The theme this year was
"Tuning in to the Heartbeat of God," based on Isaiah 60:1-5. Most
events were held at Camp Ithiel, with groups attending Orlando-area
congregations Sunday.

Energetic and passionate worship and music permeated the
consultation, along with prayer times, presentations, discussion,
Bible study, and informal fellowship -- some over meals prepared by
the Orlando Haitian fellowship and the Rios de Agua Viva
congregation, also of Orlando.

Following one worship time, participant Sonia Griffith of the First
Central congregation in Kansas City, Kan., said the consultation
"is new life for me. It really is." 

Three people from the Haitian fellowship were baptized in the
camp's pool during the weekend, and bread and cup communion and a
time of anointing highlighted other worship times. A blessing and
sending was given for Irvin Heishman of Harrisburg, Pa., as he and
his wife, Nancy, prepare to become mission coordinators in the
Dominican Republic this summer.

In a panel discussion on the current condition of cross-cultural
relations within the denomination, General Board member Merle
Crouse said that, "The Brethren are moving, but they're not moving
very fast. This gathering is an example of what's happening!" He
noted that more than half of the people in Atlantic Southeast
District now regularly worship in a language other than English.

James Washington, pastor of Faith Center Fellowship in Whitehouse,
Texas, and a member of the General Board-appointed Anti-Racism Team
challenged the denomination to work more intentionally at those
relations. "We need to take time to build the whole building,"
rather than just putting up a facade of cooperation and respect, he
said.

Participants worked on a possible query for Annual Conference,
questioning what barriers remain for cross-cultural ministry to
flourish in the Church of the Brethren. It is expected to be
introduced in congregations, who could then carry it through the
usual district process. Plans and ideas for other future events by
the group were also discussed.

Simultaneously translating between English, Spanish, and Creole
during the event provided some challenges and occasional laughs,
but the group worked through them. After one extended period of
praise and singing, music leader Gilbert Romero of Los Angeles
said, "There is one language we can all say together. Hallelujah!"

 2) Picking up on an emphasis from last summer's National Youth
Conference, the 2003 Regional Youth Conference at Manchester
College explored vocation with the theme, "Called By a New Name."

About 100 Midwestern senior high youth and advisors attended the
April 25-27 event on the North Manchester, Ind., campus. The
weekend included four worship services coordinated by Melissa
Bennett of nearby Goshen, each focusing on different aspects of
naming and call.

In Friday evening's opening service, Richmond (Ind.) pastor Kelly
Burk talked about her unexpected call to pastoral ministry and said
she felt that "shift in direction one of the greatest gifts of my
life." Rachel Gross shared about her calling to simple living and
her work with the Death Row Support Project Saturday morning, and
five Manchester students talked that evening about the various
stages in their faith journeys.

In Sunday's closing, Brethren Witness director David Radcliff
challenged the group to listen for God's voice in new ways. He
showed slides of people around the world who have been part of his
own journey. "Just outside our window another world awaits, and
God's telling you to open the blinds," said Radcliff, who also held
a talkback session on peace and justice issues with youth Saturday
evening. 

Other highlights of the conference included a concert by Brethren
folksinger Joseph Helfrich, a Friday night square dance, an
assortment of workshops, reflection groups for deeper exploration
of God's call, and the opportunity to join in the college's Peace
Week activities. 

 3) A major grant from the General Board's Global Food Crisis Fund
will continue to undergird a Global Mission Partnerships project in
the Dominican Republic. The grant, approved last week, will send
$80,000 to support the work of community development specialists
Peggy and Jeff Boshart.

It is the second straight year that the fund will support the
Bosharts, both Church of the Brethren members. The money also
provides a loan pool for a micro-loan project that the couple has
initiated.

Working with Church of the Brethren leaders in the Dominican
Republic, the Bosharts are distributing the micro-loans with the
aim of raising the living standards of impoverished citizens of the
poor Caribbean nation. So far, the loan fund has provided $30,000
in loans to projects in eight communities, helping community
members begin small economic enterprises.

"The Bosharts' work is life-changing," said General Board Mission
Connections coordinator Janis Pyle, who recently visited the
Dominican Republic. "The micro-loan program enables storefront
operations to be expanded, small business ventures to begin, and
extra crops to be planted. One farmer we met said because of the
extra pesos he brings in, he no longer has to worry about whether
his family will have enough money to buy food."

The grant is the third made from the fund this year and represents
one of its largest commitments.

 4) More than 75 church leaders, including General Board Brethren
Witness director David Radcliff, met for an interfaith summit on
post-war Iraq April 29-30 in Chicago.

The group, which included Muslims, Christians, and Jews, jointly
issued an "Urgent Call for Reflection, Hope, and Action" that asks
President George W. Bush to draw back from the use and threat of
"first strike" war and from unilateral US control over Iraq's
reconstruction, and to promptly transfer to the United Nations and
nongovernmental organizations the authority to coordinate
humanitarian relief and begin reconstruction.

"War is a blunt instrument, which provides no lasting solution but
too often leads to further violence," the statement says. "We ask
the American people to reflect now on the price of unilateralism."

In a separate document, the group called for a national day of
prayer and reflection, with a special emphasis on interfaith
gatherings.

In other recent Iraq-related developments:
*Church World Service reports that a fourth "All Our Children"
shipment of $50,000 worth of medical supplies is headed to four
primary health clinics in Baghdad. Immediate humanitarian aid will
be provided for more than 9,000 children through the clinics in the
project's first phase. The Church of the Brethren Emergency
Disaster Fund has contributed $25,000 to the $1 million effort. 

*"Gift of the Heart" health kits continue to be urgently requested.
Details are at www.churchworldservice.org/kits/iraq-kits.html, or
call 888-297-2767. Complete kits can be sent to the Brethren
Service Center in New Windsor, Md.

*A Religion News Service story last week noted that an increasing
number of international aid organizations are refusing to take part
in relief operations in Iraq if those operations fall under US
military control. Church World Service is among those not providing
aid through any efforts organized or coordinated by the US
military, working instead at the community level. Opposition has
also come from the American Friends Service Committee, World
Vision, and others. "The blurring of lines between the military and
humanitarian work is dangerous," American Friends Service Committee
spokeswoman Janis Shields said. Catholic Relief Services has
expressed opposition but said it will work through military
channels if needed.

*Church of the Brethren members in the Washington, D.C., area were
among those participating in a joint Muslim-Christian peace effort.
The group assembled 325 boxes of soap, toothpaste, and other
products into relief kits that were then loaded into a truck at the
Northern Virginia Mennonite Church in Fairfax City, Va. The
packages were to be flown to Iraq via Mennonite Central Committee.
Oakton Church of the Brethren member Loyce Borgmann was quoted in
a Washington Post article on the effort.

 5) Brethren Volunteer Service Unit 253, the annual older adult
unit, completed orientation last month in New Windsor, Md. Of the
six participants, five have been placed in assignments:

Joel and Beverly Eikenberry of Manchester Church of the Brethren,
North Manchester, Ind., will go to the World Friendship Center,
Hiroshima, Japan; David Webster, from Monte Vista Church of the
Brethren, Roanoke, Va., to CooperRiis, Mill Spring, N.C.; Thelma
Keeling, from Bakersfield (Calif.) Church of the Brethren, to The
Palms of Sebring, Fla.; and Peter Andros of Tucson, Ariz., to
Westside Food Bank in Surprise, Ariz.

Dean Bade of Toledo, Ohio, chose not to take an assignment at this
time.

 6) "The Gospel Visitor," originally named "The Monthly
Gospel-Visiter," has now been preserved on microfilm. It was the
first periodical published for Brethren and is a forerunner of
today's "Messenger."

In April 1851, Henry Kurtz began publishing the "Visitor" in the
loft of a spring house. At first controversial, eventually the
paper became popular, and other periodicals also began to be
published among the Brethren. At the end of 1873, the "Visitor" was
merged with another paper and later took the name "The Primitive
Christian."

The microfilming of "The Gospel Visitor" came through the efforts
of the Brethren Historical Library and Archives, located at the
Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. There are
five reels of microfilm: one under the title "Monthly Gospel
Visitor," and four under the title "Gospel Visitor." Copies of the
microfilm are expected to be available for purchase from Scholarly
Resources Inc. of Wilmington, Del., by the end of the year.

 7) Brethren bits: Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
 *More than 40 disaster project directors from across the
denomination will gather for hands-on training at Camp Harmony in
Western Pennsylvania District May 4-9. The directors will help the
camp with repair and building projects and receive updates on new
programs and topics such as safety and doing disaster assessment.
The volunteer group is coordinated by the Church of the Brethren
General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries office.

 *"Messenger," the denominational magazine, received two awards at
the Associated Church Press annual meeting held this past week in
Indianapolis. An honorable mention -- the organization's
third-place award -- went to editor Fletcher Farrar for his feature
story on the rescue of the trapped miners in Somerset, Pa., and to
publisher Wendy McFadden for her monthly "From the Publisher"
column. More than 1,000 entries were submitted from dozens of
publications in a wide variety of categories.

 *Change Inc. has become the newest tenant at the Brethren Service
Center in New Windsor, Md. The Westminster, Md.-based organization
provides services to people with developmental disabilities. It
will occupy the former Canning Center room for four hours each day
for at least six months, for an initial project of repackaging
items for resale. Change Inc. had outgrown its previous facility
and is awaiting a larger space in Westminster to become available.

 *About 100 senior high youth and advisors from across the country
will gather for the Church of the Brethren Christian Citizenship
Seminar this week, beginning May 3 in New York and ending May 8 in
Washington, D.C. This year's theme is "It's a Small World After
All," focusing on globalization issues. . . . This Sunday is also
designated National Youth Sunday.

 8) Bethany Theological Seminary has announced an opening for a
full-time admissions officer, beginning July 1.

The position is responsible for a wide range of student development
activities, including helping to develop and implement a
recruitment plan, representing the seminary at off-campus events,
planning vocational discernment events, conducting interviews, and
evaluating applications.

Applications should hold a bachelor's degree, and two to five years
of professional experience in a people-related field is preferred.
Experience in communications technology and multicultural
recruitment is also a plus.

Those interested should submit a letter of application and resume',
along with the names of three references, to Executive Director of
Student and Business Services, Bethany Theological Seminary, 615
National Road West, Richmond, IN 47374. Deadline for receiving
applications is May 15. 

 9) Fahrney-Keedy Memorial Home of Boonsboro, Md., a Church of the
Brethren retirement community, is seeking applications for the
position of president/CEO. The home provides care for more than 200
residents.

The home's board of directors is looking for someone with home
administration credentials who "appreciates a faith-based
environment and has strategic planning skills, experience in fund
development and marketing, innovative program development, and a
willingness to work collegially."

For more information, contact Ralph McFadden, Fellowship of
Brethren Homes, c/o Association of Brethren Caregivers, 1451 Dundee
Ave., Elgin, IL 60120. Phone 847-742-5100, ext. 305, or e-mail
rmcfadden_abc@brethren.org.

Newsline is produced by Walt Wiltschek, director 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. David Radcliff, Karen Roberts, and Ken Shaffer
contributed to this report.

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