Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- Aug. 30, 2007 Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org
'BRETHREN HERITAGE COLLECTION' DVD SET OFFERS 75 YEARS OF HISTORY
(Aug. 30, 2007) Elgin, IL -- Twenty titles are included in the new "Brethren Heritage Collection," a four-DVD boxed set of Church of the Brethren-produced films and videos selected from the past 75 years. This collection is one of the special publications from Brethren Press for the 300th Anniversary of the Church of the Brethren, in 2008.
The collection brings together the more significant films and videos from the Church of the Brethren archives, including some never before released to the general public.
The Brethren Service era is well represented by documentaries on the lives of Dan West and M.R. Zigler, and a 2006 documentary on the work of the Brethren Service Commission in Europe also is included. A film about a German exchange student's experience at Bridgewater (Va.) College is part of the new set, a film that previously had been available only in silent form.
A 1947-era film detailing the church's "Chinese tractor unit" was re- edited to include narration for the first time. Mission work in Africa also is well represented, and a bonus track offers viewers an eyewitness perspective of a plane crash in Sudan in 2000 during the delivery of Bibles to Nuer Christians by the Brethren.
Other featured titles document a tour of Brethren sites in Europe by historian Don Durnbaugh and his wife, Hedda Durnbaugh, in 1995. Other documentaries cover 50 years of ministry in Puerto Rico, as well as the first 50 years of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. More recent titles include an overview of the Brethren peace position, and the Global Food Crisis Fund work in Guatemala.
Brethren video producer David Sollenberger compiled the collection, and wrote the study guide that accompanies it. "What makes this commemorative set unique is a background article for each title and a set of questions that can provide the basis for a post-viewing discussion in a group setting," Sollenberger said. He hopes that many of these videos will be viewed in group settings, so that their content may provoke lively discussion about how Brethren do mission and ministry, and how the church bears witness to the world.
Order the "Brethren Heritage Collection" from Brethren Press for $39.95 plus shipping and handling. Call 800-441-3712.
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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