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"Questions identified as needing answers include the following:
What are the denominational requirements or qualifications for
calling and maintaining persons in ministry? Is the church
consistent in its `list' and perceptions of the gifts and
qualifications of ministers? What is the nature and parameters of
the authority given districts in the calling, licensing, ordaining,
and disciplining of ministers? What is the Brethren understanding
of the relationship of baptism to the set-apart ministry? What
mechanisms, processes, assumptions can be established to provide
for creative dialogue on issues on which Brethren strongly
disagree? 

"The council noted that the General Board Office on Ministry has
agreed to review the denominational policies on ministry. The
council also continues to seek a dialogue with the Council of
District Executives concerning the questions raised by the query
`Clarification of Confusion.' The council continues to give
attention to this item in its meetings, noting progress and
information gathered. Finally, the council has reported its work to
Standing Committee and it continues to keep the District of
Michigan apprised of its progress toward responding to the
questions of the query."

A complete summary of the council's meeting can be obtained from
the Annual Conference office, 800-323-8039 or e-mail
annualconference@brethren.org. For the "Query of Clarification of
Confusion" and the council's response go to the Annual Conference
pages at www.brethren.org, click on Conference Statements.

2) National Older Adult Conference inspires new journeys with God.

More than 1,150 attendees were welcomed to the seventh National
Older Adult Conference (NOAC) by Scott Douglas, conference planner
and Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) director of Older
Adult Ministry, on Sept. 6. The event continued through Sept. 10 at
Lake Junaluska, N.C. Speakers and preachers inspired attendees to
continue their journeys with a new life brought by God, reported
ABC communication director Mary Dulabaum.

At opening worship, Kurt Borgmann, senior pastor of Manchester
Church of the Brethren, North Manchester, Ind., described how after
surviving a night of wrestling with God, Jacob received God's
blessing and his life changed. He called on those who may think
their life's work is complete to continue on a new journey with
God's blessing. During the service, Joyce Person created clay
pots as a metaphor for being crafted by God's hands.

Tom Mullen, retired from Earlham School of Religion, encouraged
participants to give gratitude to God even during difficult times.
In the closing service Deanna Brown, pastor of Beacon Heights
Church of the Brethren, Fort Wayne, Ind., used the New Testament
story of the wedding feast to illustrate how all are called to put
on garments of a new day. Attendees put on strips of cloth from the
first conference of the Historic Peace Churches in Africa
representing new clothes for their lives' work following NOAC.

Keynote speaker Deforia Lane, music therapist at Ireland Cancer
Center and University Hospitals of Cleveland, brought home the
healing power of music. Pam Brubaker, professor of religion at
California Lutheran University, used the gathering of manna and
Jesus' feeding of 5,000 as examples of how God has provided for
everyone if people take only what they need. Other presenters
included Bible study leader Stephen Reid, academic dean at Bethany
Theological Seminary; ventriloquist Steve Engle; and Tex Sample,
who talked about generational differences. More than 25 people
attended an Older Adult Ministry Training Seminar led by Sample,
held concurrently with NOAC.

Brethren favorites such as "Blessed Assurance" and "He Lives" were
sung in four-part harmony during a hymn festival led by Wil Nolen,
president of Brethren Benefit Trust. The event featured the
100-member NOAC choir.

Conference planners had much to be grateful for during a week of
rain brought by Hurricane Frances, which wreaked havoc in
surrounding low-lying areas. Despite the weather, attendees
participated in early morning exercises and devotions, afternoon
interest groups and handcrafts, and late afternoon entertainment
from local artisans. More than 60 turned out for a walk/run around
the lake sponsored by the Fellowship of Brethren Homes.

"Perhaps what helped attendees most were the daily doses of humor
provided by the infamous `video guys' during morning and evening
announcements," Dulabaum said. "Many people gave of their time and
talents by coordinating events and volunteering throughout the
week," she added. Participants donated seven boxes of eyeglasses
and collected 574 Gift of the Heart kits onsite--another 139 are
being completed by Harry and Gerry Graybill, coordinators of the
service projects. Attendees gave generously to caring ministries of
the church through offerings totaling $23,540 for ABC. The next
NOAC will be Sept. 4-8, 2006.

3) Disaster programs care for children, give grant.

"Hurricane Charley, Frances, and now Ivan. Things are happening so
fast it's hard for me to give you an accurate and complete report
on the current situation," wrote Helen Stonesifer in a Sept. 14
update. She coordinates Disaster Child Care for the General Board.

As Hurricane Ivan was expected to hit western Florida, two teams of
child care volunteers were evacuated for a second time. Hurricane
Frances caused the evacuation of three of four childcare teams at
work in Florida following Hurricane Charley. Volunteers had
returned to work in Kissimmee, Orlando, Englewood, and Wauchula by
Sept. 8. Since the project opened Aug. 22, 31 volunteers have made
contact with over 750 children. FEMA has requested additional child
care volunteers to staff more centers scheduled to open as a result
of Frances and Ivan.

The Emergency Disaster Fund allocated $15,000 to support the child
care, fund clean up, and help establish a rebuilding project. The
Disaster Response office is sending Larry Williams, a disaster
project director from Frederick, Md., to Florida to evaluate areas
of need for a rebuilding project. He will work with Atlantic
Southeast District disaster response coordinator John Mueller to
determine project sites and volunteer housing options, and to meet
with other disaster programs, reported Emergency Response director
Roy Winter.

Winter already is assessing the next storm to come through the
Caribbean. "As Hurricane Ivan unleashes rain and destruction on
gulf coast states, now hurricane Jeanne strengthened while over
Puerto Rico," he said. "I have reports of a foot of rain in Puerto
Rico with more coming. At this point I have not been able to reach
anyone in Puerto Rico, but expect there will be a lot of flooding."

The Emergency Response office issued guidelines for those wanting
to donate relief materials. "It is vitally important that people
wishing to donate material goods go through the proper channels and
donate only those items that are specifically requested by
authorized relief agencies," disaster response coordinator Jane
Yount said. She asked those wanting to donate to Florida to see
www.volunteerflorida.org or call 800-FL HELP-1. Donations will go
to a partnership of disaster relief organizations and the Tampa
Fair authority, to be distributed to local relief agencies for
those in need. Another option for material donations is Gift of the
Heart kits, particularly Emergency Clean-up Buckets and Health
Kits, Yount said. For more information visit
www.churchworldservice.org/kits.

In other news, Disaster Child Care has been requested to provide
child care at the Lummi Indian Totem Poles Ceremony Sept. 19. A
team of four will staff the child care center. The Lummi Nation
from Washington State, with other tribes and intertribal
organizations, is delivering a final pair of totem poles to help
the country heal from the events of Sept. 11, 2001. A 2002 Healing
Pole and a 2003 Honoring Pole commemorated the tragic events in New
York and Shanksville, Pa. Now Liberty and Freedom Totem Poles will
be placed at the Pentagon. For more information visit
www.lummihealingpole.org.

The program also is providing child care at the Disaster Relief
Auction at the Lebanon (Pa.) Area Fairgrounds Sept. 25. Trained
volunteers who are available to help are asked to call 717-665-6416
or email gsfaus@juno.com.

A Level I Disaster Child Care Training Workshop will be offered
Sept. 18-19 at Frederick (Md.) Church of the Brethren. Currently 32
people are registered. For more information visit
www.disasterchildcare.org or call 800-451-4407.

4) Brethren Volunteer Service summer unit completes orientation.

Brethren Volunteer Service Unit 260, which completed orientation
July 25-Aug. 13 at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.,
has entered into service at projects across the US and in Europe.

Unit members, their congregations or hometowns, and their projects
are: Matthew Bahn, Codorus Church of the Brethren, Loganville, Pa.,
to the Greenhill YMCA in Northern Ireland. Kat Beirne, Davis,
Calif., to the San Antonio (Texas) Catholic Worker House. Rachel
Bell, Columbia City, Ind. Martin Bleisteiner, Frankfurt, Germany,
to the Oakland (Calif.) Catholic Worker House. Allison Bryan,
Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren, Fort Wayne, Ind., to the
Peace and Reconciliation Group, Northern Ireland. Matt Clemens,
Harrisonburg, Va., to Brot und Rosen, Hamburg, Germany. Catherine
Detweiler, Salem, Va., to the Brethren Nutrition Program,
Washington, D.C. Lauren Eby, York Center Church of the Brethren,
Lombard, Ill., and Robyn Holl, University Park Church of the
Brethren, Hyattsville, Md., to Mladi Most, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ryan
Henry, York (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren, to Hopewell Inn,
Mesopotamia, Ohio. Natalie Hershberger, Roaring Spring (Pa.) First
Church of the Brethren, to Camp Stevens, Julian, Calif. Sarah
Huffman, Mill Creek Church of the Brethren, Port Republic, Va., to
the Center for Environmental Public Advocacy, Slovakia. Adrian
Lubkowitz, Egelsbach, Germany, to the Tri-City Homeless Coalition,
Fremont, Calif. Gayle McMenamy, Chicago, Ill., to the Brother David
Darst Center, Chicago. Sarah Mertz, Omaha, Neb., to School Of 
Americas Watch, Washington, D.C. Jenn Morris, North Manchester,
Ind., and Neemita Pandya, Naperville (Ill.) Church of the Brethren,
to the Tri-City Homeless Coalition, Fremont, Calif. Stephan Pickl,
Munich, Germany, to CentrePeace, Bellefonte, Pa. Pascale Reinke,
Ahnatal, Germany, to Casa de Esperanza de los Ninos, Houston,
Texas. Amy Robandt, Salt Lake City, Utah, to Gould Farm, Monterey,
Mass. George Stiff, Dallas, Texas, to the Center for Ecology and
Energy, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Tim Verni-Lau, Rockford, Ill., to
Samaritan House, Atlanta, Ga. Matt Whitten, Moscow Church of the
Brethren, Mount Solon, Va., to the Brethren Witness/Washington
Office. Katie Yoder, Goshen, Ind., to the International Fellowship
of Reconciliation, Germany.

5) Brethren bits.

*A wrap-up video of National Young Adult Conference 2004 is
available. The video runs about 20 minutes and gives viewers a
taste of the NYAC spirit, according to Becky Ullom, who served as
coordinator. To order your copy, contact David Sollenberger at
lsvideo@comcast.net. A DVD or a VHS tape costs $15.

*The Church of the Brethren's next Cross Cultural Consultation and
Celebration will be held April 21-24, 2005, in Richmond, Ind. A
preliminary schedule for the meeting begins with worship at
Richmond Church of the Brethren the evening of April 21, said
organizer Duane Grady, Congregational Life Team staff of the
General Board. April 22 will be spent at Bethany Theological
Seminary interacting with students and faculty and in conversation
with the Multi-Ethnic/Cross Cultural Study Committee. Participants
will worship with the community at Bethany and adjacent Earlham
School of Religion. Stephen Reid, Bethany's academic dean, will
preach. On April 23 Fumitaka Matsuoka, former academic dean at
Bethany, will address the meeting and there will be sharing with
the Cross Cultural Steering Committee. Congregations in Indiana and
Ohio will be invited to the evening worship service, which will
feature the choir of Harrisburg (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren.
The consultation will end with a 9:30 a.m. service at the Richmond
church on Sunday April 24. For more information call 800-505-1596
or e-mail dgrady_gb@brethren.org.

*Haruun Ruun and Emmanuel LoWilla of the New Sudan Council of
Churches (NSCC), and Phil Jones of the General Board's Brethren
Witness/Washington Office, completed a first week of lobbying and
visits on Capitol Hill. In a meeting with David Smock of the US
Institute of Peace they learned of the Institute's support of NSCC
work in interfaith dialogue. A significant grant was offered by the
Institute. In State Department meetings Charles Snyder, special
director for Sudan Affairs, confirmed recent developments in regard
to the signing of the Southern Sudan Peace Accords and reassured
the NSCC leaders that all efforts were being made to move the final
signing forward. Meetings with Senator Brownback (R Kan.) and other
congressional staff afforded opportunities to express thanks for
resolutions naming the violence in Darfur, Sudan, as genocide. Ruun
encouraged members of Congress to continue to keep pressure on
Sudan to bring the genocide to an end through targeted sanctions on
the Khartoum leadership. The three will spend next week in New York
at the United Nations and ecumenical agencies. Ruun and LoWilla
will conclude their US visit at the Brethren Service Center, New
Windsor, Md., Sept. 23 when Brethren are invited to a program
beginning at 7 p.m.

*On Earth Peace and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) invite Church
of the Brethren peacemakers to join a Delegation to the Middle East
Nov. 22-Dec. 4. On Earth Peace co-director Bob Gross will lead the
group. The delegation will meet with Israeli and Palestinian peace
and human rights workers; join the CPT Hebron team in daily street
patrols, accompaniment, and documentation; and join in a public
witness. CPT, a project of Brethren and Mennonite congregations and
Friends meetings, has maintained a team in Hebron since 1995. Cost
is $1,800. On Earth Peace will assist Brethren in raising funds.
For more information call 260-982-7751 or e-mail bgross@igc.org or
see www.cpt.org.

*The fall orientation unit for Brethren Volunteer Service will take
place Sept. 26-Oct. 15 at the Brethren Service Center, New Windsor,
Md. A total of 27 volunteers will take part from the US and
Germany. Ten are members of the Church of the Brethren. During
orientation they will explore peace, justice, nonviolence, cultural
differences, and other political and social issues facing society.
The volunteers also will spend time in Baltimore doing service
projects. Following orientation, volunteers will begin one- or
two-year terms of service in the US, Europe, and Central America.

*A Cross Cultural Music Tour in Kansas and Iowa Sept. 29-Oct. 3
will give the flavor of worship in the African-American, Mexican,
and Haitian traditions. Tour members are Gilbert Romero, pastor of
Bella Vista Church of the Brethren, East Los Angeles, Calif.; James
Washington, Sr., pastor of Faith Center Fellowship, Whitehouse,
Texas; James Washington, Jr., of Faith Center; Jennie Nichols, of
First Central Church of the Brethren, Kansas City, Kan.; Michaela
Camps, of First Miami (Fla.) Church of the Brethren; and Duane
Grady, General Board Congregational Life Team staff and organizer
of the tour. The group will be at First Central in Kansas City on
Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.; Panther Creek Church of the Brethren near Adel,
Iowa, on Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.; Eldora State Training School in Iowa,
a juvenile detention facility for young men, on Oct. 1 at 3 p.m.;
South Waterloo (Iowa) Church of the Brethren Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.; and
Ivester Church of the Brethren, Grundy Center, Iowa, on Oct. 3 at
10:30 a.m. for worship and love feast. For more information call
800-505-1596 or e-mail dgrady_gb@brethren.org.

*The 28th Annual Brethren Disaster Auction will be held Sept. 24-26
at the Lebanon (Pa.) Area Fairgrounds, sponsored by Atlantic
Northeast and Southern Pennsylvania Districts. The event raises
money for disaster relief with heifer and livestock auctions, a
pole barn auction, a quilt auction, and auctions of numerous other
goods, as well as the sale of food and arts and crafts. A special
feature this year is the blitz-build of a modular house to be
donated to a disaster survivor in need. The build starts at 7 p.m.
Sept. 23. A Treasury of Great Hymns Festival presented by a
several-hundred voice choir and orchestra will conclude the event
on Sunday Sept. 26 at 5:30 p.m. For more information visit
www.BrethrenAuction.org.

*Elizabethtown (Pa.) College has secured a $500,000 grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities, to create an endowment for
the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. Professor
Donald B. Kraybill has been named as the first scholar to hold an
endowed faculty chair in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies to be
created with the endowment. The endowment will enhance the center's
visiting fellows program, expand the collection of books and
archival material, and help develop a website. David B. Eller is
director of the center. The grant requires a four-to-one match and
the college will need to raise an additional $2 million for a total
endowment of $2.5 million.

*Alaska was the destination for two Learning Tours in August
sponsored by the New Community Project (NCP), a Brethren-related
nonprofit. A delegation of 13 people from five districts spent six
days in Denali National Park and four days along the southeastern
coast of Alaska to explore God's creation and Christian
responsibility as stewards of the earth. A second group spent eight
days in Arctic Village, a native American community 150 miles north
of the Arctic Circle, where they were hosted by the Gwich'in people
and learned about the Gwich'in way of life, including their
dependence on the Porcupine Caribou Herd. The 130,000-strong herd's
calving grounds are along the coastal plain of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, an area under constant threat of oil drilling. A
list of 2005 tours is at www.newcommunityproject.org.

*Church of the Brethren historian Donald F. Durnbaugh will speak at
an event sponsored by the Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage
Center, 7 p.m. Sept. 25 at Harrisonburg (Va.) Mennonite Church. The
title of Durnbaugh's presentation is "Like Precious Faith: Brethren
and Mennonites Through Light and Shadow." A reception will follow.
The event launches a membership plan the center is offering for
individuals and congregations. For more information call
540-438-1275 or see www.vbmhc.org.

6) Jo Young Switzer called to Manchester College presidency.

The Manchester College Board of Trustees on Aug. 28 appointed vice
president and dean Jo Young Switzer as president of the college,
effective July 1, 2005. Switzer, a 1969 graduate of the college in
North Manchester, Ind., will be Manchester's 14th president and its
first woman president. She will succeed Parker G. Marden, who will
complete his 11th year as president when he retires on June 30,
2005.

Switzer has led academic affairs at Manchester since 1993. She also
has chaired Manchester's Department of Communication and taught at
Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. Her doctorate
and master's degree are from the University of Kansas, in
communication studies. She has completed post-doctoral study at
Indiana University.

7) Organizers announce plans for Mission Alive 2005.

Mission Alive 2005, a national missions conference of the Church of
the Brethren, is planned as a missions challenge to the entire
denomination according to a recent letter from the steering
committee. The event will be held April 1-3, 2005, in Goshen, Ind.

The letter, sent to pastors and witness chairs across the
denomination, expressed the hope that at least one representative
will attend from each congregation. Congregations were encouraged
to plan for travel, housing, and registration costs in their 2005
budgets.

Speakers and topics for keynote sessions are Nathan Showalter,
Mennonite leader and missiologist in Shanghai, China, on "The
Biblical face of mission: Guidance from scripture"; Grace Holland,
a Brethren in Christ mission specialist, on "Changing faces of
mission: Learnings from mission experience"; Art McPhee, professor
of missions at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, on "New
faces of mission: Emerging models of mission"; and Annual
Conference moderator Jim Hardenbrook on "Set your face...toward
mission: Accepting the challenge, and going forth to serve!" Other
conference features will be a panel discussion with Church of the
Brethren leaders, worship services, workshops, and missionary
reunions. Registration opens Dec. 1 at www.brethren.org.

8) Lectionary readings posted on website, `Guide' topics announced.

"Revised Common Lectionary" readings for 2005 have been posted on
www.brethren.org in a joint effort of the General Board's
Congregational Life Ministries Office and Brethren Press. The text
that is featured on each Living Word bulletin in 2005 is italicized
for worship planning.

Topics for 2004-2005 "A Guide for Biblical Studies" also have been
announced by Brethren Press. This adult Sunday school curriculum is
based on the International Sunday School Lessons and features
Brethren writers writing for Brethren. Each lesson includes the
popular "out of context..." by Frank Ramirez.

In September, October, and November the Guide will study "The God
of Continuing Creation" by John David Bowman and Liz Bidgood
Enders. In December and January and February of 2005, the
curriculum will focus on "Called to Be God's People" with writers
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford and Melanie Jones. In March, April, and
May 2005 Richard Shreckhise and Paula Bowser will write on "God's
Project: Effective Christians (Romans and Galatians)." June, July,
and August 2005 will feature "Jesus' Life, Teaching, and Ministry
(Matthew, Mark, Luke)" by Frank Ramirez and Steve Bollinger.

The Guide is $2.75 per book; $5 for large print. Print copies of
the list of lectionary readings are also available. Call customer
service at 800-441-3712 or e-mail brethrenpress_gb@brethren.org.

*******************************************************
Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, 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. Mary Dolheimer, Mary Dulabaum, Mary Kay
Heatwole, Phil Jones, Nancy Klemm, David Radcliff, Fred Swartz,
Walt Wiltschek, and Genelle Wine contributed to this report.

Newsline is a free service sent only to those requesting a
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cobnews@aol.com or call 800-323-8039 ext. 260. Newsline is
available and archived at www.brethren.org. See Photo Journal at
www.brethren.org/pjournal/index.htm for photo coverage of events.
For additional news and features, subscribe to the Church of the
Brethren magazine "Messenger." Call 800-323-8039.