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

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Date: Jan. 7, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:  CoBNews@AOL.Com

Newsline       Jan. 7,	2005

"For we are God's servants, working together...." 1 Corinthians  3:9

NEWS
1) Churches receive mailing on Brethren tsunami  response.
2) National Youth Cabinet named for 2005-06.
3) Grant supports  health care for Afghan refugees.
4) Brethren bits: Note, remembrance, and  much more.

RESOURCES
5) Week of Prayer marks advance in Protestant and  Catholic
cooperation.

FEATURE
6) Losing the battle for  Fallujah.

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

1)  Churches receive mailing on Brethren tsunami response.

Through  partnership with Church World Service (CWS)--the global
humanitarian arm of  the National Council of Churches--and church
organizations in the affected  countries, "the Church of the
Brethren was part of an immediate response"  following the
earthquake and tsunami in south Asia, according to Roy Winter,	the
General Board's director of Emergency Response.

Winter made the  statement in a Jan. 6 mailing to Church of the
Brethren pastors and church  leaders. The mailing provided
information about the Brethren tsunami relief  effort and included
a bulletin insert, information about how to give to the  General
Board's Emergency Disaster Fund, and assembly instructions for	CWS
Gift of the Heart Health Kits and Interchurch Medical Assistance
(IMA)  Medicine Boxes. The information in the mailing is posted  at
www.brethren.org.

"While other relief organizations are trying to  mobilize staff, our
local partners are responding, meeting the needs of  survivors and
assessing unmet needs," Winter wrote, calling it an "amazing  level
of response.... All these efforts are supervised by monitors  and
local CWS staff. This way we can ensure that our relief supplies
are  being distributed properly and used as intended." CWS has
dispatched $1  million in immediate aid to the region and has set a
goal of $5 million to be  raised to support its recovery work.

Today an additional $40,000 grant  from the Emergency Disaster Fund
was approved for tsunami relief, which with  the initial grant of
$30,000 makes a total of $70,000 given in Church of the  Brethren
funds to date.

The day after the disaster, work began at the  Brethren Service
Center warehouses in New Windsor, Md., to assemble and	pack
material aid on behalf of CWS and IMA. Three shipments of over	35
tons of supplies were sent Jan. 4. Nine members of the center  staff
worked on the shipments, which included 5,000 blankets valued  at
$19,950 and 35,000 health kits valued at $420,120 for Indonesia;
7,875  health kits valued at $94,500 and 75 medicine
boxes--providing basic medical	supplies, medicines, and antibiotics
for 75,000 people for a period of three  months--valued at $270,000
for Sri Lanka; and 12 medicine boxes valued at	$38,981.66 for
Thailand.

The shipment to Thailand was prepared in a  matter of hours by the
board's Service Ministries staff and director Loretta  Wolf
following a request from CWS. The Embassy of Thailand was shipping
a  container of materials for the disaster survivors and IMA was
able to make  medicine boxes available as part of that shipment. The
request came in at  noon and Embassy personnel picked up the boxes
at 4:30 that  afternoon.

CWS assessment teams indicated humanitarian access to the  province
of Aceh, Indonesia, remains extremely limited, Winter reported	in
a Jan. 5 update on the situation in one of the worst-hit areas.
"Team  members describe `a tense and dispiriting situation in which
most of those  displaced by last week's tsunami have no shelter,
experience shortage of	food, no doctors, no hygiene materials, no
cooking utensils and no  blankets,'" he said. "Relief efforts in
these very remote areas is made  difficult because of limited
transportation for supplies, a limited supply of  fresh and clean
water, and poor communication access. Nearly half of the  province's
residents are reported to have lost at least one relative,  and
trauma from the disaster has taken a serious toll on residents as
they  cope with the disaster. The Church of the Brethren will be
working with CWS  to address these needs."

"Another headline issue is all the children left  homeless," he
said. "CWS Indonesia is developing a proposal with local  partners
to provide 2,000 children who have been displaced by the  disaster
much-needed psychosocial activities. The program would focus  on
programs/activities for children ages 6-12 and in internally
displaced  camps located in Aceh. This will be one of several
components of CWS'  multi-tiered recovery effort in Aceh that the
Emergency Disaster Fund grants	will support."

The disaster has prompted increased giving to the  Emergency
Disaster Fund. Ten days after the tsunami hit, specific  giving
already totalled $18,165 according to LeAnn Wine, the  board's
director of Financial Operations. In addition, "it seems the  volume
of (unspecified) EDF donations coming in is higher than  normal,"
she said.

See www.brethrendisasterresponse.org for more  information.
Tsunami-related resources from the National Council of Churches  at
www.ncccusa.org include worship and prayer resources, advice  on
connecting with Asian immigrant communities dealing with the
tsunami  aftermath, and action opportunities through
FaithfulAmerica, the NCC's online  advocacy ministry. Continuing
coverage of the relief effort can be found  at
www.churchworldservice.org.

2) National Youth Cabinet named for  2005-06.

The General Board's office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry  has
named a National Youth Cabinet for the years 2005-06, director
Chris  Douglas has announced. The first meeting of the new cabinet
will be Jan.  14-17 at the denomination's General Offices in Elgin,
Ill. Among other  business, the group will choose a theme for the
2006 National Youth  Conference (NYC).

Members of the cabinet are Leigh-Anne Enders of  Mechanicsburg (Pa.)
Church of the Brethren; Zac Morgan of La Verne (Calif.)  Church of
the Brethren; Rachel Stevens of McPherson (Kan.) Church of  the
Brethren; Nick Kauffman of Goshen City (Ind.) Church of the
Brethren;  and Erin Smith of Palmyra (Pa.) Church of the Brethren.
Adult advisors	serving on the cabinet are Becky Ball-Miller of
Union Center Church of the  Brethren in Nappanee, Ind., and Shawn
Flory-Replogle of the McPherson  church.

Working with the cabinet will be Douglas and the three	NYC
coordinators: Cindy Laprade, Beth Rhodes, and Emily Tyler.  (Tyler's
appointment has just been announced as well--see "Brethren bits"  in
this Newsline.)

3) Grant supports health care for Afghan  refugees.

A grant of $15,000 from the General Board's Emergency Disaster	Fund
has been given to support Church World Service (CWS) work  with
refugees in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The funds will be used to
help  maintain and expand an ongoing CWS program that ensures access
to  community-based health care for the refugees.

CWS has been working with  Afghan refugees since 1979, reported the
board's Emergency Response office.  "This effort continued through
the political upheaval and war in 2002 when  there were over a
million refugees," the grant request said. "The Church of  the
Brethren responded to this incredible need by working with the	CWS
Emergency Response Program over the last two years." The work  has
focused on refugees in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan and  Afghan
refugees living in Mansehra, Pakistan. "CWS/IRP is working  to
expand these programs at the request of the Afghanistan Ministry  of
Health, while at the same time US government funding has  been
decreasing for this project," the grant request stated.

4)  Brethren bits: Note, remembrance, and much more.

*In a note to the Dec.	31, 2004, Newsline report, "Historic
Brethren pipe organ receives citation,"  the Harttman pipe organ
referred to in the story is known to Brethren as the  Kurtz organ.
Henry Kurtz, editor of the first Brethren periodical "The  Gospel
Visitor," owned the organ and probably brought it with him  from
Germany, reported General Board archivist Ken Shaffer. The organ  is
known to the Organ Historical Society by the name of its maker,
Johan  Christoph Harttman.

*Bernard N. King, 98, a former district executive and  Brethren
college minister, died Jan. 2 at Hanover (Pa.) Hospital.  King
served as district executive of Middle District, based in
Huntingdon,  Pa., from 1961-67. He was college minister at McPherson
(Kan.) College	1938-44 and at Bridgewater (Va.) College 1957-61.
Born in Denton, Md., he  attended Blue Ridge College in New Windsor,
Md., and was a graduate of  Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa.;
Bethany Biblical Seminary in Chicago,  Ill.; and the School of
Theology, Boston University. He was ordained to the  ministry at
Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon in 1931, and promoted  to
eldership at McPherson, Kan., in 1940. His pastorates included
churches  in Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Florida, and
Pennsylvania. King  was very active in First Church of the Brethren
in York, Pa., where he lived  after his "second" retirement after a
first retirement in Florida. He also  was active in the faith
community of the Brethren Home Community in New  Oxford, Pa. He
wrote his memoirs in a book, "A Dunker Boy Becomes  Ecumenical," in
1996. A memorial service will be held at the Nicarry Meeting  House
at the Brethren Home Community on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 11  a.m.

*Emily Tyler of McPherson (Kan.) Church of the Brethren has  been
named as the third coordinator for the National Youth  Conference
(NYC) 2006. As a Brethren Volunteer Service worker, she will  serve
with Beth Rhodes and Cindy Laprade to give coordination to the
youth  conference. More than 4,500 youth and advisors are expected
to attend. NYC	will be held in Fort Collins, Colo., July 22-27,
2006. Tyler is a 2003  graduate of McPherson College and has spent
the past year teaching elementary  music in Wichita, Kan. She also
appeared as an instrumentalist in the Church  of the Brethren
Christmas Eve service aired on CBS, playing the flute. She  will
begin in the position on June 1.

*On Dec. 1, 2004, Marcia Smith	began work as director of Alumni
Development and Events Coordination for  McPherson (Kan.) College.
A McPherson native, Smith graduated from McPherson  College with a
B.S. in Business Administration. She is an active volunteer  for USD
418 and the Mennonite Relief Sale effort. Her position	incorporates
working with the community and alumni to strengthen ties with  the
college and providing leadership for college and community events
on  campus. Church relations also play a major role in her
responsibilities, as  she will work with the campus ministries team
and churches across the  country. "Because of McPherson College's
historical ties to the church it is  important to have someone to
coordinate efforts that reach out to  congregations," said Shawn
Flory-Replogle, campus pastor and co-pastor of	McPherson Church of
the Brethren. "We are excited to have Marcia working with  us on
such an important constituency." For more information  call
800-365-7402 or e-mail info@mcpherson.edu.

*The deadline is  approaching for those interested in applying to be
on this summer's Youth	Peace Travel Team. Every summer the General
Board's Youth and Young Adult  Ministry Office and Brethren/Witness
Washington Office, the Outdoor	Ministries Association, Brethren
Volunteer Service, and On Earth Peace  sponsor a team of high school
youth and college-aged young adults to travel  to Church of the
Brethren camps to present peace education. Four people ages  18-22
will be selected for the 2005 team's eight-week journey. A  stipend
is available to team members. Deadline for applications is Feb.  4.
Contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office for applications  at
800-785-3246.

*Church World Service, a faith-based international  humanitarian aid
organization, seeks a deputy director for Program, based in  New
York, N.Y. This senior program management position supervises  five
program directors and overseas program representatives and  is
responsible for helping to maintain positive working relationships
with  local partners in 80 countries and colleagues at 36
Protestant, Orthodox, and  Anglican communions. The successful
candidate will have over 15 years of  increasingly responsible
program management experience, success in ecumenical  environments,
and experience in developing and managing government grants.  Skills
in facilitating group interactions and working with  cross-program
teams is important, as well as communications and  interpersonal
skills. Job description is located on the Church World	Service,
Human Resources, Job Opportunities website  at
www.churchworldservice.org. Send resume and cover letter to  Church
World Service, Inc., Attention: Karen de Lopez, P.O. Box  968,
Elkhart, IN  46515; fax 574-266-0087;  e-mail
cwshr@churchworldservice.org. Deadline is Jan. 31.

*"Nourishing  the Soul" is the theme for an upcoming Church of the
Brethren Clergy Women's  Retreat to be held Nov. 14-17 at Timber-Lee
Christian Center in East Troy,	Wis. Jan Richardson will be the
keynote speaker. A brochure with registration  information will be
available in February. Cost including registration, room,  and board
is $175 for those registered by June 1 and $200 by August  1.
Fulltime seminary and TRIM students can attend for $100 if
registered  by June 1 and $125 by August 1. For more information
contact the General  Board's Ministry Office at 937-274-0872.

*Peace Church of the Brethren  will celebrate its 100th year of
service to the Portland, Ore., community  during the weekend of Feb.
25-27. "All friends of the Peace Church family are  invited to
attend and celebrate with us," read a note from Patrick  Fiegenbaum,
the congregation's clerk. Guests will include all living  former
pastors of the congregation, as well as past and  present
congregants. The celebration will feature a panel of former  pastors
on how their tenures at the church influenced their lives  and
careers. Current pastor Kerby Lauderdale will also participate.  The
celebration will culminate with worship led by Andrew Murray,  who
served at Peace Church in the 1970s. Murray is professor of Peace
and  Conflict Studies and Religion at Juniata College in Huntingdon,
Pa., and  director of the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict
Studies. Contact Peace	Church of the Brethren, 12727 SE Market St.,
Portland OR 97233; 503-254-6380;  e-mail peacecob@3dwave.com; or see
www.peacecob.org.

*Bear Run Church  of the Brethren in Mill Run, Pa., contributed $410
to a local  "Give-a-Christmas" drive in Uniontown, Pa. The drive
headed by "Sparkle," an  animated Christmas star mascot, aimed to
raise $35,000 for the work of the  Salvation Army. "Dear Sparkle,"
read a letter from the congregation.  "Enclosed please find our
donation from the Bear Run Church of the Brethren  to help make
Christmas a little more merrier for some families. May God  bless."

*Jeff Sweigart, his wife, Lisa, and many other volunteers  from
Cocalico-area churches, prepared a Thanksgiving feast for more	than
450 people at the Pioneer Fire Hall in Lancaster County, Pa.
Sweigart  and family attend East Cocalico Church of the Brethren in
Reamstown, Pa. "We  notified 32 churches and got responses from 18,"
Sweigart told the  "Intelligencer Journal." He added that his family
is familiar with organizing  such events. "My wife's parents, Carol
and Barry Haller, started the one in  Denver," Sweigart said. "It's
a way to give back to the community." The  dinner included turkey,
potato filling, brown gravy, pepper cabbage, sliced  green beans,
and cranberry dressing, as well as six tables of pies,	whipped
cream, cherry cobbler, spice rolls, and German chocolate  cake.
Karen Zimmerman of Ephrata Church of the Brethren  organized
deliveries of food for those who could not come to the	hall.

*Forty people from Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren	in
Hagerstown, Md., took part in a walkathon on the Washington Mall
Nov.  20, raising $2,000 for the Brethren Nutrition Program in
Washington, D.C. The  17th annual Help the Homeless Walkathon found
more than 20,000 people  participating. The five-kilometer event
sponsored by Fannie Mae Foundation  and other organizations raised
money for Washington area groups that serve  the homeless. Last year
the walkathon raised $6.5 million. The "Washington  Post" included
mention of the church's participation in its article on  the
walkathon.

*The Forum for Religious Studies at Bridgewater (Va.)  College has
published "At the Crossroads: An Historic Peace Church in the  21st
Century," a CD of reflections by scholars who met in the aftermath
of  Sept. 11, 2001, and on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq, to
consider the  state of the peace movement in the Church of the
Brethren. Reflections by  Jeff Bach, Christina Bucher, David Eller,
Earle Fike Jr., David Metzler,	Celia Cook-Huffman, Roya Stern, and
Timothy McElwee are included. The CD is  edited by Steve Longenecker
and Carol Scheppard. Order for $5 plus tax and	$1.40 in shipping
and handling from Forum for Religious Studies, Box 20,	Bridgewater
College, Bridgewater, VA 22812. Make checks payable to	Bridgewater
College. For more information e-mail  slongene@bridgewater.edu.

*John L. Heatwole of Bridgewater, Va., author  of "The Burning" and
a noted sculptor and woodcarver, will address the annual  meeting of
the Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center Board of Directors  on
Feb. 4 at 6 p.m., at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren. Heatwole
will  speak on the theme, "The Everyday Lives of Our ancestors," and
the Valley  Table Singers will provide music. The board and staff of
the CrossRoads	Center will reflect on the accomplishments of 2004
and plans for 2005, which  include opening the center to visitors
this spring. The public is invited to  attend the dinner meeting for
$12.50 per person. Deadline for reservations is  Jan. 28, e-mail
info@vbmhc.org.

*CBS has confirmed a Jan. 12 airdate  for "60 Minutes" to feature
Heifer International and the story of Beatrice	Biira, a young
Ugandan woman whose life was transformed when her family got  a
dairy goat. Airtime is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. The goat, named
Mugisa	(or "Luck" in the Okonzo language), produced milk for the
family to drink and  sell. For the first time the family could
afford to send Beatrice to school.  Today she is a freshman on full
scholarship at Connecticut College, majoring  in international
studies. Beatrice is also the subject of the  best-selling
children's book, "Beatrice's Goat," by Page McBrier and  illustrated
by Lori Lohstoeter. CBS correspondent Bob Simon  accompanied
Beatrice on a trip back to her home in Urganda. "60 Minutes"  also
filmed a ceremonial "Passing on the Gift," in which villagers  who
have received goats from Heifer International give offspring to
others	in need in their community. Heifer International was begun
as a Church of the  Brethren program by Brethren leader Dan West.
Heifer International currently	supports projects in 50 countries
that create sustainable small-scale farm  enterprises to improve
nutrition and supplement income. For more information  about Heifer
International call 800-696-1918 or see	www.heifer.org.

*The National Council of Church's Eco-Justice Program  seeks art,
poems, and prayers for use on Earth Day Sunday. This year,  Earth
Day falls on April 22 and Earth Sunday falls on April 24.  This
year's theme is oceans and seas. The resources for use on  Earth
Sunday will feature art, poems, and prayers contributed by people
of  faith in an Earth Day Contest. "The Church of the Brethren has
long been part	of the National Council of Churches and urges
Brethren to participate in this  contest by submitting your entries
by January 15," reported the General  Board's Brethren
Witness/Washington Office. Submit entries by e-mail to	Cassandra
Carmichael at Cassandra@toad.net or mail to Eco-Justice  Programs,
National Council of Churches, 110 Maryland Ave., NE, Washington, DC  
20002. The Brethren Witness/Washington Office would like to  receive
copies of any Brethren submissions.  E-mail
washington_office_gb@brethren.org or mail to 337 North	Carolina
Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003.

*The General Board's Brethren  Witness/Washington Office is calling
the attention of students grades 9-12 to  the 2004-05 National Peace
Essay Contest of the US Institute of Peace. "As  members of the
Church of the Brethren we are called to advocate Christ's  message
of harmony and reconciliation," the office said. "This	contest
provides an excellent opportunity for youth to explore means  of
coming to international peace and conflict resolution." The essay
topic  for the competition is "Transitions to Democracy," and will
require students  to analyze two countries' attempts at such a
process. Winners at the state  level will receive a college
scholarship of $1,000 and can compete for the  national award of a
$10,000 scholarship. All state winners receive an  all-expense-paid
trip to Washington, D.C., for the week-long awards program  in June.
Visit www.usip.org/npec to register, receive a National Peace  Essay
guidebook, and view the question for this year's contest.  Contest
deadline is Feb. 2.

*"Sourcebook 2005," a publication of the  Stained Glass Association
of America (SGAA), will be available free to any  church,
institution, or architect beginning Feb. 1. The "Sourcebook"  was
created for architects, churches, and others who commission,
maintain,  or work with stained glass. The book features information
about types of	stained glass, selecting and working with stained
glass craftspeople, stained  glass repair and restoration, and the
programs and membership of the SGAA.  Full-color pages of portfolio
advertising by accredited members of the SGAA  also are included. To
order call 800-438-9581, e-mail  sourcebook@stainedglass.org, or see
www.stainedglass.org.

5) Week  of Prayer marks advance in Protestant and Catholic
cooperation.

The  2005 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is scheduled for Jan.
18-25. This  year the annual effort marks a new stage of cooperation
between the World  Council of Churches (WCC) and the Roman Catholic
Church, the WCC reported.  

For the first time, the text for the week has been jointly  prepared
and jointly published by the WCC Faith and Order Commission and  the
Roman Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting  Christian
Unity. WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia and the secretary of	the
Pontifical Council Brian Farrell said that the joint work  will
hopefully usher in the "birth of a new era of collaboration"
between  the two bodies.

The theme for the week is "Christ, the One Foundation of  the
Church," from 1 Corinthians 3:1-23. Texts were prepared by members
of  the theological committee of the Ecumenical Council of Churches
in Slovakia.  The common task of churches is to "bring the spirit of
reconciliation and  cooperation, peace and justice into the
society," said the chairman of the  council, Julius Filo, and the
chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops	in Slovakia,
Frantisek Tondra, in a joint invitation to the	week.

Materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are  available
at  http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/wop2005contents.html.

6) Losing the  battle for Fallujah.

By Cliff Kindy

On Nov. 4, 2004, the US  military bombed Fallujah, Iraq, as a
prelude to an assault on the city of  300,000. Over the next four
days, US forces attacked and took over an  emergency clinic and the
main hospital. The major ground invasion started  Dec. 8.

More than seven weeks have passed since the first bombing  runs,
meant to rub out Fallujah's estimated 3,000 insurgents	in
preparation for elections on Jan. 30. US troops outnumbered  the
insurgents threefold and had support from Iraqi forces. Yet  despite
superior American firepower, the battle for Fallujah  continues.

On Dec. 24, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) visited refugees  from
Fallujah living in a camp south of the city. One young man had
tried  to return home four days earlier. At the outskirts of
Fallujah, he saw US  artillery firing into the city center and told
skeptical CPTers that the  resistance forces still held the city.

The following day, however, CPT  read a security update that quoted
an Iraq National Guard	officer  stating, "We made a big mistake
when we told the (refugee) families that they  could  return to
Fallujah.... I think now that the battle has begun all	over again
in Fallujah, or that  history has taken us back to the first  day of
the battle...."

Red Cross/Red Crescent (RC) staff told CPT that  water and
electricity are still not hooked up across the city. The RC  also
indicated that two weeks after US forces had entered the city,	they
told the RC to close its offices "because it was too dangerous."
They  have not been operating in Fallujah since Dec. 5 but still
provide relief	convoys to four cities that house more than 17,000
refugee families from  Fallujah.

In addition, an Iraqi journalist friend of CPT has visited  several
groups of refugees from Fallujah now living in Baghdad who  also
believe Fallujah is still not inhabitable. He reported that
families  from one section of Fallujah were allowed to return. US
officials offered  them trailers if their homes were destroyed but
forced them to submit to an  iris scan and fingerprints. Their
information would be put on identity cards  that would limit their
freedom of movement within Fallujah. According to RC  spokespersons,
most of the 1,400 returnees left again because their homes had	been
destroyed.

A foreign journalist told CPT that 175 Fallujah  families were
living in tents at Baghdad University. On the day of the  press
conference announcing their return home, these families held  a
demonstration. They demanded an apology from the US, $1 billion  in
compensation to Fallujah's residents, and assurances that  the
people--as opposed to foreign contractors--would be allowed to
rebuild  their own city.

Both the US and UN predict a nearly total Sunni boycott  of the
coming elections in large part because of the Fallujah	attacks.
Lack of Sunni participation will jeopardize the validity of  the
election and calls into question the wisdom of trying to  subdue
Fallujah using violence.

--Cliff Kindy is a Church of the  Brethren member serving with
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). He has spent	much of the past two
years in Iraq with the CPT team based there. CPT is an	initiative
of the historic peace churches--Church of the Brethren,  Mennonites,
and Quakers--with support and membership from a range of  Catholic
and Protestant denominations. Supporting violence-reduction  efforts
around the world is its mandate. For more information contact  CPT
at 773-277-0253, e-mail peacemakers@cpt.org, or see  www.cpt.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. Kelly Burk, Kathleen  Campanella, Chris
Douglas, Patrick Fiegenbaum, Darren Hendricks, Cliff Kindy,  and Roy
Winter contributed to this report. Newsline is a free service  sent
only to those requesting a subscription. To receive it by e-mail,
or  to unsubscribe, write cobnews@aol.com or call 800-323-8039, ext.
260.  Newsline is available and archived at www.brethren.org. For
additional news  and features, subscribe to the Church of the
Brethren magazine "Messenger."	Call 800-323-8039.