wfn.org | Newsline: Pennsylvania Brethren partner with New Orleans church

["COBNews Newsline" <cobnews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- July 3, 2008
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director
800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org

PENNSYLVANIA BRETHREN PARTNER WITH NEW ORLEANS

>CHURCH

(July 3, 2008) Elgin, IL -- Several Church of the Brethren congregations
are exploring taking part in Churches Supporting Churches, the
ecumenical effort to partner with congregations in areas affected by
Hurricane Katrina. University Baptist and Brethren Church in State
College, Pa., has made the commitment to participate and has been
partnered with St. John's Baptist Church in New Orleans.

The Church of the Brethren is one of six denominations and three
ecumenical organizations that have joined together in the National
Council of Churches working group. Brethren Disaster Ministries and
the Brethren Witness/Washington Office are representing the
denomination. David Jehnsen, a Church of the Brethren member from
Columbus, Ohio, serves as vice-chair to the working group and was
instrumental in its formation.

Members of the University Baptist and Brethren youth group recently
visited and worshiped with the St. John's church prior to their
participation in a denominational work camp. Brittany Hamilton, one
member of the youth group, commenting on the spirit of the worship,
said, "They were really praising Jesus." The youth group and the
congregation anticipate hosting members of St. John's Baptist Church as
they make a visit to State College in late fall.

Altoona (Pa.) 28th Street Church of the Brethren hosted an informational
program on Churches Supporting Churches for Altoona area churches on
June 22, and has expressed interest in developing a partner relationship
with one of the 32 New Orleans congregations identified by Churches
Supporting Churches. In addition, a leader in the Church of God, from
Martinsburg, Pa., attended the gathering and is organizing partner
possibilities in that area.

At the Altoona gathering, Phil Jones, director of the Brethren
Witness/Washington Office and a Church of the Brethren representative
to the working group, presented details of the program and gave an
update on the New Orleans area almost three years following Katrina.

"Hope is still alive," he said. "Even as you walk through the completely
devastated area of the Lower Ninth Ward, where almost no rebuilding
has occurred, even here you find hope. Hope is found in a small, modest,
brightly painted home that has been rebuilt within site of the levee that
broke and poured the mighty Mississippi into their homes." He said an
elderly woman at the home proclaimed that it is "a beacon...an
invitation" for the community to return. Many of the partner churches of
Churches Supporting Churches are located in this community and
desperately want to return, Jones said.

Jones has traveled numerous times to New Orleans since Katrina, in
order to attend meetings related to Churches Supporting Churches. Zach
Wolgemuth, associate director of Brethren Disaster Ministries, has
helped provide some resources for longterm recovery and rebuilding
efforts, and has helped explore the possibility of responding to
rebuilding needs in church neighborhoods.

The goal of Churches Supporting Churches is to help 36 congregations
in 12 predominantly African-American neighborhoods that have been
destroyed by the hurricane. The mission is to "restart, reopen, and repair
or rebuild the churches in order for them to be agents for community
development and to recreate their community."

Contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office, 337 N. Carolina Ave.,
SE, Washington, DC 20003; pjones_gb@brethren.org; 800-785-3246.

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 more than 125,000
members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and
sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and
India.

># # #

>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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