Brethren bits: Annual Conference, 300th Anniversary.

• New Enterprise (Pa.) Church of the Brethren has announced a "Tour de Dunker Riders" bicycle ride to the 2008 Annual Conference in Richmond, Va., celebrating the Church of the Brethren 300th Anniversary. The Tour de Dunker Riders plan a three-day ride to Richmond, leaving the New Enterprise area on July 10, to arrive for opening ceremonies of the Conference on the evening of July 12. Riders will head home by motor vehicles on Sunday, July 13. For more information contact 814-793-3451.
  
  
• A special Annual Conference exhibit is planned by Virlina District to highlight the fact that "Virginia is not only the ‘birthplace of presidents’; it is also the birthplace of many Church of the Brethren leaders," according to an announcement in the district e-newsletter. The district has been collecting names of Virginians who have served in "beyond-the-local church capacities" in the denomination, to include in the exhibit.
  
  
• Enten Eller will lead an Annual Conference insight session on "Innovations in Communication: Technology for Theology," on July 14 at 12:30-1:30 p.m. Eller is director of Distributed Education for Bethany Theological Seminary. The session will explore some of the newer forms of communication, from podcasting and blogging to websites and wikis, and discuss how these tools are beginning to play a role in theological education and ministry preparation. Seminary admissions staff will be present to assist prospective students explore their call at Bethany.
  
  
• A luncheon for Bridgewater (Va.) College alumni and friends during Annual Conference in Richmond, Va., will be held at noon on Sunday, July 13, at the Marriott Richmond Downtown Hotel. The program will include a campus update from college president Phillip C. Stone and an introduction by Stephen L. Longenecker, professor of history, of a new book published by the Church of the Brethren colleges in commemoration of the denomination's 300th anniversary. The Merlin E. and Dorothy Faw Garber Award for Christian Service will be presented to Dale Ulrich, former provost, dean, and professor of physics, emeritus, and his wife, Claire; and to Dan Rudy, a senior philosophy and religion major from Mt. Airy, Md. Shirley Fulcher Wampler, a member of West Richmond Church of the Brethren, will preside at the luncheon. Tickets are $17 and may be ordered by sending a check payable to Bridgewater College to Office of Church Relations, College Box 186, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA, 22812, before June 27. Contact Ellen Layman at elayman@bridgewater.edu.
  
  
• "Sunlight streamed in through the open door of the Dunker Church at Antietam National Battlefield Sunday, falling in stripes across the wooden pews as those gathered inside sang hymns copied from a hymnal more than 100 years old," began a May 19 article in the "Herald-Mail" of Hagerstown, Md. Congregations from the Church of the Brethren and the Brethren Church joined for the special worship service celebrating the 300th Anniversary of the Brethren movement. "Today we have attempted to add some flavor of the way Brethren have done things in the past,. The more you know about where you come from, the better able you will be to see where you were going," Church of the Brethren member Lester Boleyn told the newspaper. Go to www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=194184&format=html to read the full article.
  
  
• Timbercrest Senior Living Community in North Manchester, Ind., has been holding a series of events marking the heritage of the Church of the Brethren, including a slide show from Schwarzenau, Germany, where the church originated; showing of the film, "By Water and the Word"; a Brethren hymn sing; and more. The final event was the dedication of a peace pole on May 31. The pole was presented to Timbercrest in honor of its Church of the Brethren heritage by Seniors for Peace, and features the message "May peace prevail on Earth" in six different languages. An article in the "Wabash Plain Dealer" at
  www.wabashplaindealer.com/articles/2008/05/27/local_news/local3.txt reports on the events.
  
  
• Middle Pennsylvania District is planning its 300th Anniversary celebration and 2008 District Conference to be held at Camp Blue Diamond on Sept. 26-28 in conjunction with a Heritage Fair. The theme will be "Continuing a Heritage of Faithfulness...Let Us Run with Perseverance" (Hebrews 12:1). District leaders plan to emphasize worship and celebration, focusing attention on the heritage the denomination will celebrate this year, and then reflect on the responsibility to maintain that faith and pass it to the generation(s) to follow. The meeting will be held in a large tent, adjacent to the lodge at the camp. Special leadership will be provided by Nancy Faus, Andy and Terry Murray, and Bonnie Kline Smeltzer. A Wall of Faith project also is planned to recognize the district’s "cloud of witnesses." Robert Sell will serve as moderator.

Source: 6/2/2008 Newsline Extra