Brethren bits: Personnel, action alert, and more.

• Carol Yeazell has been named interim fulltime coordinator for the General Board's Congregational Life Team (CLT) Area 3. She has been part-time CLT staff for Area 3, which includes the districts of Atlantic Southeast, Shenandoah, Southeastern, Virlina, and West Marva. Her new toll-free number is 800-244-5896.
  
  
• The General Board is welcoming three young adult volunteers. Reid Merryman of Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren in South Bend, Ind., will work with the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office as a summer workcamp assistant. Brethren Volunteer Service worker Emily Tyler of McPherson (Kan.) Church of the Brethren, begins June 1 as one of three coordinators of National Youth Conference 2006. Hannah Edwards, a Ministry Summer Service worker from Jackson Park Church of the Brethren in Jonesborough, Tenn., will serve half-time in General Board communications and half-time at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, Ill.
  
  
• Pacific Southwest District is seeking a salaried, part-time director for its Center for Brethren Studies. The director will work with Training in Ministry (TRIM) students and licensed ministers, work to meet the needs of students from varied ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, work on development of an Academy Certified Training School (ACTS) program in coordination with Bethany Theological Seminary, and coordinate continuing education for clergy and laity. Qualifications include a Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, good communication skills with Spanish ability a plus, experience in education, familiarity with ministry training needs, and values congruent with the mission and spirit of the Church of the Brethren. Apply by writing or e-mail to Bryan Boyer, District Executive Minister, Pacific Southwest District, Box 219, La Verne, CA 91750-0219; e-mail districtexecutive@pswdcob.org; 909-392-4052.
  
  
• The General Board's Brethren Witness/Washington Office is encouraging Brethren to contact their representatives in Congress to support the Woolsey Amendment calling for an exit strategy from Iraq. The House of Representatives will consider this amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill 2006 today or tomorrow, May 25 or 26. "Debate of this amendment is critical as members of Congress will be challenged to consider their conscience, and their action, in relation to an exit strategy from US engagement in Iraq," the office said in an Action Alert. Amendment 26, "Withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq," is presented by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Democrat from California. It calls on the president to develop a plan to provide for the withdrawal of armed forces from Iraq. For more information call the Brethren Witness/Washington Office at 800-785-3246 or e-mail washington_office_gb@brethren.org.
  
  
• Searching for a different volunteer opportunity at Annual Conference this year? Volunteer to provide English to Spanish translation, helping Brethren from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Hispanic congregations in the US enjoy a fuller understanding of business sessions and worship services. Nadine L. Monn will coordinate the translators pool. To volunteer as a translator, and for information about the resources that will be available at the translators' table, call Monn at 215-844-1534 or e-mail nadine_monn@yahoo.com.
  
  
• The Gather 'Round writer application deadline has been extended, due to rescheduling of the annual writers' conference. The new application deadline for freelance writers interested in contributing to the second curriculum year is July 29. The writers' conference is now tentatively scheduled for the week of Jan. 8, 2006. Application packets are still available from Anna Speicher, project director, at gatherround@brethren.org. See www.gatherround.org for more information about the curriculum.
  
  
• Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the General Board, plans to join other heads of faith communities in a first-ever Interfaith Convocation on Hunger at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on June 6. The event will include a call for the president and members of Congress to join with Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of other faiths in a new national commitment to end hunger. The convocation takes place on the eve of National Hunger Awareness Day and culminates a gathering titled "One Table, Many Voices: A Mobilization to End Poverty and Hunger" organized by Bread for the World and others.
  
  
• Walt Wiltschek, editor of the Church of the Brethren magazine "Messenger," received an award of excellence from the Associated Church Press for his Nov. 2004 editorial, "Politics and Polarization." He won this top award in the category of editorial and opinion for magazines. Second place went to "The Christian Century." The judge wrote, "This was an extremely effective commentary.... It would be nice if we had more reasoned and civil voices such as his in the expanding media world today." "Messenger" and designer Paul Stocksdale also received an award of merit (second place) for the Dec. 2004 cover and an honorable mention for overall design of the Jan./Feb. 2004 issue.
  
  
• The General Board's Stewardship of Property Committee will meet May 31-June 2 at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., and June 2-4 at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The committee has set aside time to meet with board employees, longterm volunteers, annual conference agency executives, and representatives from Church World Service, Lutheran World Relief, Interchurch Medical Assistance, and the Mid-Atlantic District Office to discuss the board's Elgin and New Windsor properties and to answer questions.
  
  
• The Brethren Historical Library and Archives is trying to contact the following people for a publication project: Chester Burns, Duane Conrad, Bruce Dickey, Willis Kohli, David Koser, Roger May, Gordon Moore, Roland Nobles, Sam Petre, John Warner, and Rodney West. If you know how to contact any of these people, please e-mail Kenneth Shaffer at kshaffer_gb@brethren.org or call 800-323-8039 ext. 294, or write to the Brethren Historical Library and Archives, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120.
  
  
• "Hurry, there's a BVSer waiting for you!" says the Brethren Volunteer Service office. BVS is looking for individuals, Sunday school classes, churches, or families to help support volunteers. Through the Adopt-A-BVSer program, you can be matched up with a volunteer in the field. Adopting can mean anything from letter writing to sending care packages, sending e-mail or making a phone call, and is a way to support those serving and to connect them to the wider denomination. For more information call Elizabeth Waas Smith at 800-323-8039 ext. 418 or e-mail ewaassmith_gb@brethren.org.
  
  
• On May 14, Daleville (Va.) Church of the Brethren hosted a Global Women's Project benefit concert with Brethren folk singer Peg Lehman. The Global Women's Project was created in 1978 and seeks to educate Brethren about the global poverty, oppression, and injustice that women suffer. The project advocates a reduction in consumption and the collection of a self-imposed "luxury tax," which is used to fund women's development projects. Current grants made by the project are funding a New Sudan Council of Churches soap-making project in Tambura, Sudan; a rural health clinic in Mulukuku, Nicaragua; a sewing machine training program in El Salvador; and an education center in Uganda.
  
  
• Lower Miami Church of the Brethren in Dayton, Ohio will celebrate its 200th anniversary on June 5, 12, and 19. The congregation is known in Southern Ohio District as the "mother church," the first Brethren church west of the Miami River. For more information call 937-263-5111.
  
  
• Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren in Weyers Cave, Va., celebrated its 151st year on Sunday May 22 with a Brethren Heritage Day. The guest speaker was Earl Fike Jr. of Bridgewater, Va. The day included a covered dish picnic and a "Remember When" program.
  
  
• "Nourishing the Soul" is the theme for the Church of the Brethren Clergywomen's Retreat Nov. 14-17 at Timber-Lee Christian Center in East Troy, Wis. Jan Richardson will be the keynote speaker. Cost including registration, room, and board is $175, or $200 after June 1. Cost for fulltime seminary and TRIM students is $100, or $125 after June 1. The Pacific Southwest District Board recently voted to pay the registration fee for all licensed and ordained women in the district to attend the retreat, reports Myrna Long Wheeler, who is on the planning committee. "Considering the added cost for west coast women to travel to Wisconsin, this is a great incentive to women clergy and a great supportive response." The retreat is sponsored by the General Board's Ministry Office. A brochure with registration information is available--call 800-323-8039 ext. 207 or e-mail mparis_gb@brethren.org.
  
  
• Thousands of graduates from more than 100 colleges and universities across the nation are taking the Graduation Pledge and pinning a small green ribbon on their gowns at commencement this year, according to a release from Manchester College. The college has hosted the Graduation Pledge Alliance since 1996, under the direction of professor Neil J. Wollman. The pledge began at Humboldt State University in California in 1987. Seniors take the pledge to declare that in their future jobs their concerns extend beyond how they personally benefit. The pledge reads, "I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work." See www.graduationpledge.org or call Wollman at 260-982-5346 or e-mail njwollman@manchester.edu.
  
  
• More than 250 pastors and church leaders attended the New Life Ministries Leadership Training Event April 26 in Telford, Pa. "Renewing the Church--Reclaiming the Gospel" featured nationally known authors and speakers Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo. McLaren challenged the group to help people experience God by helping them learn to pray. Campolo encouraged those in attendance to "declare the Good News--that God is at work in this world, changing the world from what it is into what it ought to be." Workshops included several led by Brethren: "Hospitality and the Vital Church" by Fred Bernhard, "Reaching Young Adults" led by Steve Clapp, "Hosting an Invite-a-Friend Sunday" led by S. Joan Hershey, and "Keys to Positive Change" led by Paul Mundey. For more information see www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org or call director Kristen Leverton Helbert at 800-774-3360.

Source: 05/25/2005 Newsline
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