Brethren bits: More personnel announcements.

• Lois Grove has been named district minister of Leadership Development for Northern Plains District. The new position was created by the district board with "awareness of the need for a dedicated effort to identify, call out, train, and nurture leadership in our district," from an announcement in the district newsletter. Responsibilities will include communicating with individuals and churches for the purpose of identifying gifts of leadership and offering opportunities for training, identifying needs and opportunities for professional growth for ministers, and ongoing development of ministers’ spiritual awareness and growth.
  
  
• Elizabeth Mullich began Feb. 16 as secretary for Brethren Disaster Ministries, at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. She most recently has been the primary caregiver for her mother. Previously she was an executive secretary at Fairhaven in Sykesville, Md. She also has worked for the Columbus (Ind.) Philharmonic Orchestra in several administrative roles.
  
  
• Sharon Norris began Feb. 23 as office assistant for the Church of the Brethren’s Material Resources program located at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. She most recently worked for a small beverage distributor in an administrative role. She also has worked for Random House in customer service.
  
  
• John and Mary Mueller have been named to a new role as project consultants for Brethren Disaster Ministries, on a contract basis. They formerly worked as regional project directors. Their new position was created to assist Brethren Disaster Ministries in achieving a number of goals identified through a recent survey, including teaching construction skills to volunteers, increasing the number of homes rebuilt, and maintaining leadership teams. The Muellers will support the work of Brethren Disaster Ministries project leaders and volunteers by providing construction expertise, project estimation, consultation, spiritual support, household and transitional management, and teaching construction skills.
  
  
• The 2009 Youth Peace Travel Team has been announced: Chelsea Goss of Mechanicsville, Va.; Jessica Flory-Steury of Kettering, Ohio; Marianne Houff of Bethel, Pa.; and Bethany Funkhouser of Strasburg, Va. The team will represent the Church of the Brethren as it travels to camps across the denomination throughout the summer. The Youth Peace Travel Team is sponsored by the Church of the Brethren’s Outdoor Ministries, Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Brethren Volunteer Service, On Earth Peace, and Brethren Witness/Washington Office. The program is designed to share with Brethren youth the message of peace and justice that has been a core faith tradition of the church throughout its 300-year history. The team also will attend and lead sessions at the National Junior High Conference, Annual Conference, and a workcamp at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
  
  
• Matt Witkovsky has begun a Brethren Volunteer Service assignment at the Brethren Witness/Washington Office. He is a graduate of Elizabethtown (Pa.) College and was a member of the Church of the Brethren’s Youth Peace Travel Team in 2006. His work will focus on issues of eco-justice, the Middle East, and the death penalty, and he will assist with the Christian Citizenship Seminar.
  
  
• Several Fahrney-Keedy Home and Village employees received awards at this year’s Staff Recognition Dinner. Fahrney-Keedy Home and Village is a Church of the Brethren retirement community near Boonsboro, Md. Receiving Service Excellence awards were Karen Gish, assistant director of the Dietary Department, who is in her 36th year at Fahrney-Keedy; and Gail Hammond, who works in the Housekeeping Department and who is in her second year at the community. Besides these honors, many on the staff received recognition for years of service including Barbara Weber, Social Services director, and Janet Filler, Nursing Department, for 40 years; Ginger Lowery, Environmental Services, for 35 years; Martha Wolfe, Human Resources, for 20 years; Donna Clark and Kathy Cosens, both of Nursing, for 15 years; Deborah Martz, Environmental Services, and Mary Moore, Nursing, for 10 years; Kelly Keyfauver, Rose Wenger, Pamela Burger, Carrie Davis, Ronda McGilton, and Carla Spataro, all in Nursing, for 5 years; and Marvin Ickes, Dietary, for 5 years.
  
  
• The World Council of Churches (WCC) seeks young adult stewards for an upcoming Central Committee meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Aug. 19-Sept. 4. English-speaking young adults aged 18-30 from WCC member churches are eligible to apply. The Church of the Brethren is a member church of the WCC. The Stewards Program includes a week-long Ecumenical Learning Program prior to the meeting, assisting with staffing during the meeting, and an ecumenical project to be done when the stewards return home. The WCC will be responsible for lodging and meal expenses during the time of the program. Travel costs to and from Geneva are paid by the stewards or their church. The deadline for applications is March 31. Go to http://www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p1/info_stewards_2009.pdf to download a brochure about the program. Go to http://www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p1/applic_form_stewards_2009.pdf to download an application form.

Source: 2/26/2009 Newsline Extra