- Ruth Mary Halladay, who served as a missionary in Nigeria with the Church of the Brethren, died Feb. 6 at Timbercrest Health Care in North Manchester, Ind., at age 78. She served for three years as a teacher at the Teacher Training College and Secondary School in Waka, Nigeria, following Brethren Volunteer Service in Germany 1952-54. She also taught at several high schools in the US. She grew up in North Manchester, where her father taught music at Manchester College 1928-67. She was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Manchester College. In 1985 she retired from teaching high school in Hobart, Ind. A remembrance from Timbercrest noted that "it was Ruth's spoken and written wish...to be remembered with a minute of silence during worship on the Sunday following her death."
- Curriculum writers are sought for the new Sunday school curriculum, Gather 'Round: Hearing and Sharing God's Good News. The joint Brethren and Mennonite curriculum is accepting writer applications for its third curriculum year. A project of the Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Church Canada, and Mennonite Church USA, Gather 'Round will be available for congregational use beginning this fall. Curriculum units are designed for Preschool (ages 3-4, with tips for 2s), Primary (grades K-2), Middler (grades 3-5), Multiage (grades K-6, with tips for older students), Junior Youth (grades 6-8), Youth (grades 9-12), and Parent/Caregiver. Accepted writers will attend a writers conference Oct. 15-19, and begin writing immediately thereafter. First quarter materials will be due by Jan. 13, 2007. Writers generally commit to writing the entire curriculum year. Payment varies according to the writing requirements for each unit. For an application, contact the Gather 'Round project office at gatherround@brethren.org or call 847-742-5100. See www.gatherround.org for product samples and more information. Application deadline is May 31.
- The National Youth Conference (NYC) Office has extended the Feb. 15 registration deadline for a free t-shirt to March 15. If NYC participants register online by March 15, they will receive a free NYC t-shirt in the mail with their registration information. To register and for more information about NYC, a national Church of the Brethren conference for high school-age youth that occurs only every four years, go to www.nyc2006.org.
- One Great Hour of Sharing offering materials are available now from Brethren Press (call 800-441-3712). The offering emphasis on March 12 focuses on the needs of those around the world who live daily without access to water. The theme is "When was it that we saw you...thirsty?" from Matthew 25:37. Materials available free of charge include six pages of worship resources in English and Spanish; a "Scrapbook for Mission" with stories, facts, photos, art, craft patterns, and ideas related to mission in Sudan, Haiti, and Indonesia; a full-color poster; a video available in VHS and DVD formats titled "We Change the World"; "fishbank" boxes; bulletin inserts in English and Spanish; and offering envelopes.
- On behalf of the Church of the Brethren, the Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) has signed on to the Cover the Uninsured Campaign, which focuses attention on the plight of nearly 46 million uninsured Americans. This marks the third year that ABC has joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Cover the Uninsured Week." The campaign organizes a range of events to educate the public about the social injustice and compounding problems that the lack of health insurance brings to all Americans. ABC encourages Church of the Brethren congregations to participate in events planned for their areas during the week of May 1-7. This year, the campaign has plans for 2,240 events from coast-to-coast. To find out more, visit www.CoverTheUninsuredWeek.org. ABC has posted "A Call to Care for People Without Insurance" on the advocacy pages of its website at www.brethren-caregivers.org.
- The Brethren Witness/Washington Office is encouraging Brethren to join in the Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice, in Washington, D.C., March 10-13. The annual event began in 2003 as a gathering of religious advocates concerned about US foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East, the office said. In subsequent years the event has broadened to cover other areas of the world as well as economic justice, environmental justice, and global security issues. The theme of the 2006 event is "Challenging Disparity: The Promise of God--the Power of Solidarity." Visit www.brethren.org/genbd/WitnessWashOffice.html or www.advocacydays.org for information. Brethren who attend are encouraged to contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office at 800-785-3246.
- In spite of an ice storm, Disaster Child Care (DCC) was very fortunate to have nine volunteers participate in a Level I Training Workshop scheduled at Beaverton (Mich.) Church of the Brethren on Feb. 17-18. Marie Willoughby, district executive minister of the Michigan District participated. Leadership was provided by DCC trainers Sheryl Faus and Lavonne Grubb, both from Pennsylvania. DCC training workshops are scheduled throughout the US to train volunteers to recognize and understand fears and other emotions young children experience during and after a traumatic event. The training equips volunteers with the necessary tools to set up special child care centers in disaster locations. For more information about Disaster Child Care, a ministry of the Church of the Brethren General Board, go to www.brethren.org/genbd/ersm/dcc.htm.
- The University of La Verne (Calif.) College of Law has been granted provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association, making it the only ABA-accredited law school in the inland southern California area, announced university president Stephen Morgan in a release from the Brethren-related school. Representatives from the university traveled to Chicago to present its case before the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The council recommended provisional approval, and the ABA delegate body voted to make the university's College of Law the nation's 192nd institution to receive accreditation. Prospective students from across the country will now be able to study at the College of Law and following graduation will be able to sit for bar exams in any state and, should they pass, practice law there.
- The National Council of Churches USA (NCC) has "emphatically supported" a United Nations report that calls upon the United States to close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility "without further delay," according to an NCC release. The report of the UN Commission on Human Rights of the Economic and Social Council also recommended that the US refrain from "any practice amounting to torture" and either bring detainees to trial or "release them without further delay." In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, NCC general secretary Bob Edgar also renewed a request to allow the NCC to send "a small interfaith delegation" to Guantanamo "to monitor the physical, mental and spiritual condition of the detainees." A similar request was turned down by former Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2003 and 2004. For a copy of the letter go to www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/NCCGitmo.Rice.html.
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