wfn.org | Church of the Brethren seminary looks to another 100 years

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Oct. 27,	2005
Contact: Cheryl  Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com)

CHURCH OF THE BRETHRENâS BETHANY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY LOOKS
FORWARD TO
ANOTHER 100 YEARS

Oct. 27, 2005 (Elgin, IL) --  "We hope you're here for another 100  years!"
Sally Hutton, mayor of Richmond, Ind., summed up the sentiments of many  who
were in town for the Bethany Theological Seminary Centennial Homecoming  Weekend
Sept. 30-Oct. 2. More than 200 people attended one or more of the  centennial
events over course of the weekend. Bethany Theological Seminary is  the
Church of the Brethren graduate school of theology.

Hutton was one of several speakers at a convocation Oct. 1, addressing a
colorful audience of current and former faculty in full academic garb, staff,
trustees, alumni, and students. Others who joined Hutton in celebrating
Bethany's presence in Richmond were Anne Reid, chair of the Board of Trustees;
Stephen Breck Reid, academic dean; Church of the Brethren Annual
Conference 
moderator Ronald Beachley; and Jay Marshall, dean of Earlham School of	Religion.

Bethany's immediate neighbor at the northeast corner of the Earlham
College 
campus, Earlham School of Religion is a partner in providing theological
education, sharing many facilities, faculty, and staff with Bethany. Each of the
schools "understands that the pursuit of truth is essential to education,"
Marshall said. They have provided a model of how to work together "without
losing our identity which is so important to us," he added. "I too hope
for 
another 100 years with Bethany, as we witness to our faith and we serve  God."

Bethany's president Eugene Roop gave the convocation address. "For 100
years, Bethany has worked to equip the saints for the ministries of the church,"
he said. Roop reviewed theological and social concerns that motivated education
 at Bethany, from its beginnings on Hastings Street in Chicago, through
the 
establishment of a campus on Van Buren Street on Chicago's west side, through
moves to Oak Brook, Ill., and Richmond, Ind.

Bethany was founded in a decade of high expectations, Roop said, hopes for
 a
new Christian age as well as developments in science, medicine, social
welfare, and world peace. A line from a hymn by A.C. Wieand, one of Bethany's
founders, expressed the sentiments of the era: "On the radiant threshold
of this
dawning day...."

Although the mood in 2005 is quite different--Roop referred to a current
culture of "blame and fear"--Roop called on the school and the church to renew
anticipation for the future. As for the ancient Israelites emerging from the
wilderness, on the verge of crossing the Jordan, and the disciples of Jesus,
ready to follow him down from the mountaintop, "the anticipation of a new day
overrides the cynicism of the day," Roop said. "The invitation of God's new
day  is the opportunity of life, by life, for life.... That is the
quintessential	teachable moment. That is when and where the church needs
a seminary," he
said.

In other homecoming events, a concert was given by alumni, faculty, staff,
students, and a Bethany Alumni/ae Choir. Nancy Faus-Mullen directed the choir
and much of the congregational singing during the weekend. An ice cream social
 was the venue for a surprise announcement that the seminary has achieved its
 initial goal for a fundraising campaign, receiving gifts and commitments
totaling more than $15,700,000. A wide variety of "mini-classes" were offered by
 present and past faculty on subjects such as "Brethren Leaders" and "What's
Up  in Preaching?"

A banquet featured Earlham School of Religion faculty member and humorist
Tom Mullen as master of ceremonies, leading a search for the most "Bethany-ized"
 person present. Former faculty member Donald Miller won the prize of an ice
cream scoop, after Mullen commented on the Brethren love affair with the
frosty	dessert. Bethany also sponsored a concert by the male a capella group
Cantus of  Minneapolis, Minn., which was open to the public and the
student body
at Earlham  as a gift to the Richmond community.

Added to the schedule was a memorial service for the late Donald
Durnbaugh, 
former faculty member who was to have taught one of the homecoming's
mini-classes.

"The future of Bethany will probably be different than any we can
anticipate," said Roop when he preached for the weekend's closing worship  service at
Bethany's Nicarry Chapel. To face that future, Roop said, Bethany  brings "an
incredible adaptability in seminary education."

For more about Bethany Theological Seminary see _www.brethren.org/bethany/_
(http://www.brethren.org/bethany/) .

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith  in
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its  300th
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil,
the 
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.

# # #

For more information contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org)

*****************************************************************
The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,
 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board.
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