Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- Aug. 16, 2007 Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org
BRETHREN WORLD ASSEMBLY WILL CELEBRATE 300th
ANNIVERSARY
(Aug. 16, 2007) Elgin, IL -- The village of Schwarzenau, Germany, is the site of the 2008 Brethren World Assembly and 300th Anniversary Celebration to take place the weekend of Aug. 2-3 next year. The event is being planned by the Board of Directors of Brethren Encyclopedia, Inc.
The celebration will mark 300 years since the first group of eight Brethren were baptized in the Eder River in Schwarzenau in August 1708. The Brethren Encyclopedia board has representation from the six largest Brethren denominations and faith groups that are descended from that first group of Brethren.
Dale R. Stoffer, vice president of the board of the Brethren Encyclopedia and dean of Ashland Theological Seminary, Ohio, is serving as chair of the planning committee. The secretary for the board, Dale V. Ulrich of Bridgewater, Va., is serving as coordinator.
A preliminary schedule for the assembly and celebration in Schwarzenau includes:
--On Saturday, Aug. 2, time during the day for visitors to meditate at the Eder River, walk around the village of Schwarzenau, visit the Alexander Mack Museum--named after the founder of the Brethren, hike as Mack did from the Httental to the mill along the river, visit the castle and museum in nearby Bad Berleburg, and take a walking tour of nearby Marburg; a meal tent where a lunch and dinner will be served for a fee; an evening concert by the McPherson (Kan.) College Choir, the Schwarzenau Ladies Choir, the Schwarzenau Men's Choir, and the Bad Berleburg Choir.
--On Sunday, Aug. 3, a morning worship service at 10 a.m. with preachers James M. Beckwith, 2008 moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, and Frederick G. Miller, Jr., pastor of Mount Olivet Brethren Church in Virginia; a meal tent where lunch will be served; a 2 p.m. Anniversary Program with guest speaker and German academic Dr. Marcus Meier, author of the book "The Origins of the Schwarzenau Brethren" to be published in English by Brethren Encyclopedia Inc. in 2008; and a 4:30 p.m. closing gathering at the Eder River.
Registration for the assembly and celebration including Sunday lunch in Schwarzenau is $85. For a registration form, schedule, and more information, including a list of some nearby hotels and a map of the area, contact Dale Ulrich, Brethren Encyclopedia Coordinator of the 300th Anniversary Celebration, 26 College Woods Dr., Bridgewater, VA 22812; daulrich@comcast.net; 540-828-6548. A list of tours also is available.
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 almost 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.
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For more information contact:
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260 cobnews@brethren.org
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