Newsline: McPherson College to celebrate 125 years

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

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

>McPherson College to celebrate 125 years

(Aug. 31, 2012) Elgin, IL -- McPherson College is celebrating 125 years since 
its founding, and its deep roots in the Church of the Brethren, with a special 
worship service on Oct. 21. The college is located in McPherson, Kan.

The service will start at 10 a.m. in Brown Auditorium on the campus of 
McPherson College. The McPherson Community Brass Quintet will play pre-service 
music beginning at 9:45 a.m.

All students, faculty, staff, friends of the college, and community members are 
welcomed. The planning committee features one person from the five closest 
Church of the Brethren congregations. Already, members of Church of the 
Brethren congregations in McPherson, Monitor, Hutchinson, Wichita, and Newton 
are planning to come to McPherson College for the special occasion.

The service will include an opportunity for people to participate in a large 
mass choir. Rehearsal will start at 8:30 a.m. in Brown Auditorium for anyone 
who wishes to participate.

The message will be delivered by campus minister Steve Crain, who is planning 
to speak on "Kneeling Before the Lord of the Harvest"--giving thanks for God's 
blessings.

Following the Children's Time in the service, childcare will be available for 
children age preschool and younger. Following the service, there will be a 
Sunday brunch available to all in attendance for $8 for adults and $6 for 
children at 11 a.m. in the nearby Hoffman Student Union.

Plans are also in the works to help those unable to attend to still be able to 
view this special time of worship. Watch for details on www.mcpherson.edu about 
how to access a planned live stream of the service online, and a video of the 
service afterwards.

McPherson College, located in central Kansas, is a four-year private liberal 
arts college offering more than 20 bachelors of arts and pre-professional 
programs, as well as an experiential graduate-level courses in teaching. 
Throughout the curriculum, students are given the "Freedom to Jump"--to explore 
their ideas, to learn through doing, and to make a difference in the world.  
McPherson College, associated with the Church of the Brethren, is committed to 
the ideals of scholarship, participation, and service--developing whole 
persons, prepared for fulfilling life vocations.

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.

(Adam Pracht, coordinator of development communications for McPherson College, 
provided this release.)

># # #

>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
>cobnews@brethren.org