Newsline: Brethren periodicals to be digitized

From CoBNews <[email protected]>
Date Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:50:07 -0600

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl
Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, [email protected]

>BRETHREN PERIODICALS TO BE DIGITIZED

(Nov. 19, 2010) Elgin, IL -- The committee developing a Brethren 
Digital Archives is closing in on its goal of raising enough money to 
send the first phase of documents for digitizing by the end of the 
year. 

The longterm mission is to digitize periodicals produced by the 
Brethren movement, dating back to 1851 when Henry Kurtz began 
publishing the "Monthly Gospel-Visitor," forerunner of the Church of 
the Brethren's "Messenger" magazine.

The Brethren Digital Archives (BDA) is a collaborative effort of 
publishers, libraries, and archives affiliated with the various 
Brethren groups that trace their spiritual ancestry back to Alexander 
Mack and the first group of Brethren who were baptized in the German 
village of Schwarzenau in 1708. 

To accomplish the digitizing, the BDA committee has partnered with 
Lyrasis, the nation's largest regional membership organization 
serving libraries and information professionals. Grant funds make it 
possible to scan these publications for approximately $50,000, far 
less than the original estimate of $150,000, and the group is seeking 
to raise this amount by the end of the year. 

The Brethren Historical Library and Archives has been represented at 
the BDA by the late Ken Shaffer. Those who attended the group's 
September meeting included Steve Bayer of the Old German Baptist 
Brethren; Eric Bradley of the Morgan Library, Grace College and 
Seminary; Darryl Filbrun of the Old German Baptist Brethren, New 
Conference; Shirley Frick of the "Bible Monitor"; Liz Cutler Gates of 
the "Brethren Missionary Herald"; Larry Heisey and Paul Stump of the 
Brethren Heritage Center; and Gary Kochheiser of the Conservative 
Grace Brethren. 

For a full list of the partner Brethren groups and the periodicals to 
be digitized, or to make a  donation, visit 
www.brethrendigitalarchives.org. 

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 celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 
123,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has 
missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican 
Republic, Haiti, and India.

(This report was provided by Wendy McFadden, publisher and executive 
director of Brethren Press.)

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>[email protected]