More upcoming events.

• Next week an international group of Brethren representatives will be at a steering committee meeting to start planning for the Historic Peace Churches of the Americas conference in 2010. The event will be the fourth continental gathering of the Historic Peace Churches, connected to the Decade to Overcome Violence. Brethren representatives include Irvin Heishman and Felix Arias Mateo from Iglesia de los Hermanos, Dominican Republic (Church of the Brethren in the DR); Marcos Inhauser from Igreja da Irmandade (Church of the Brethren in Brazil); and Stan Noffsinger and Don Miller from the Church of the Brethren in the US. The steering committee also includes Mennonite and Quaker representatives from across the Americas.
  
  
• A small group of Church of the Brethren young adults are scheduled to attend a "Youth Retreat" in Nigeria held by Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN--the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). The event is for EYN church members age 18-35. The Church of the Brethren’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry and Global Mission Partnerships Office have selected Ben Barlow and Jenn and Nate Hosler to attend on behalf of the Brethren in the US. The retreat will be held at the EYN Headquarters near the town of Mubi in northeastern Nigeria. The group is scheduled to depart for Nigeria on April 25 and return on May 9.
  
  
• The Ministry of Reconciliation of On Earth Peace is offering a "Grow Healthy Congregations" workshop on May 9 at Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. "In times of significant change, the health or lack of health of our congregations becomes increasingly evident," said an announcement. "In this introductory workshop, you will be invited to explore the congregation as an emotional system and delineate the attributes of a healthy faith community." The event will be led by Del Keeney, a certified Healthy Congregations Trainer and pastor of Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. Register by sending name, contact information, and number of participants to banspaugh@ane-cob.org or go to www.ane-cob.org to register online. Cost is $40 and includes continuing education credit.
  
  
• Glendale (Calif.) Church of the Brethren is celebrating its 80th anniversary on April 25-26. An event titled "This Is My Story, This Is My Song--The History of the Brethren on the Pacific Slope," will be held at 7 p.m. on April 25. Anniversary events on Sunday, April 26, begin at 9:30 a.m. with Sunday school led by former pastor Todd Hammond; worship featuring re-consecration of the church’s restored sanctuary at 10:45 a.m. with former pastor Matt Meyer; and a community meal after worship with a message by former pastor John Martin.
  
  
• Harrisburg (Pa.) Mayor Stephen R. Reed will be the guest speaker at the third annual Agape-Satyagraha Recognition Banquet at Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren, according to an announcement in the "Patriot-News." The event begins at 6 p.m. on April 29. The banquet is held by Brethren Community Ministries to recognize youth involved in training to develop leadership skills in resolving family, neighborhood, and peer conflicts without violence. Tickets are $15, contact Gerald W. Rhoades at GeraldWR@aol.com or 717-234-0415 ext. 12.
  
  
• A program director of the Foods Resource Bank’s food security program in eastern Zambia, Tim Bootsma, is to speak on May 2 at 7 p.m. at Pleasant Chapel Church of the Brethren in Ashley, Ind. The joint growing project of Pleasant Chapel with Peace United Church of Christ in Fort Wayne, Ind., has supported the Zambia-Eastern program for the past two years.
  
  
• Glendora (Calif.) Church of the Brethren and Modesto (Calif.) Church of the Brethren are hosting Pacific Southwest District workshops on May 2-3 led by Carl Bowman, Church of the Brethren sociologist and author of "Portrait of a People: The Church of the Brethren at 300" (available through Brethren Press). Ministers who attend will receive continuing education credit. The workshop is offered on May 2 at the Glendora Church, and on May 3 at the Modesto Church. Cost is $25 per person, or $100 for unlimited attendees from a church.
  
  
• Skippack Church of the Brethren in Collegeville, Pa., is hosting a Prayer Summit on May 5-6 sponsored by the Church of the Brethren Evangelical Network (COBEN). The network is described in a district announcement as "a loosely organized list-serve group for e-mail discussion among Brethren of like evangelical convictions." The moderator of the group is pastor Phil Reynolds of Bear Creek Church of the Brethren in Southern Ohio District. The prayer summit is "for renewal, for wisdom, and for the Lord's will to be done in our denomination," the announcement said.
  
  
• Camp Bethel is holding its 8th Annual Sounds of the Mountains Story and Music Festival on April 24-25. Camp Bethel near Fincastle, Va., is an outdoor ministry center of the Church of the Brethren’s Virlina District. Featured are Donald Davis, Odds Bodkin, Kim Weitkamp, Joseph Helfrich, and the Celtibillies. Go to www.soundsofthemountains.org.
  
  
• The Juniata College Choral Union will highlight its spring concert with "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day," by Georg Friedrich Handel, at 7:30 p.m. on April 28 in Rosenberger Auditorium on the campus in Huntingdon, Pa. The Choral Union is directed by Russell Shelley, Elma Stine Heckler Associate Professor of Music. It is the largest choral ensemble at Juniata with a student membership of more than 90 and about 25 members from the area.
  
  
• The Brethren Heritage Center in Ohio welcomes the public to a Grand Re-Opening Celebration on May 2, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and on May 3 from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. The Center, a library, museum, and archive of cultural heritage materials documenting the various branches of the (German Baptist) Brethren movement, opened in 2003 and has recently expanded and renovated its space to better serve the public. The Grand Re-Opening weekend will include guided tours, live music, the first public viewing of a traveling exhibit on Bethany Theological Seminary’s Rare Book Collections, presentations by William Eberly (Manchester College) and Murray Wagner (Bethany Theological Seminary) and Heritage Center staff members, a silent quilt auction on Saturday, new and used books sale on Saturday, and home-made refreshments. The Brethren Heritage Center is located in Brookside Plaza, 428 Wolf Creek St., Brookville, Ohio. The committee is inviting all the Brethren denominations to help provide music. If you would like to represent your congregation and the Church of the Brethren musically, call Tim Binkley at 937-890-6299 to sign up for a time slot. For directions or more details, call 937-833-5222 or see www.brethrenheritagecenter.org.
  
  
• The Springs of Living Water initiative led by Church of the Brethren minister David Young, which aids congregations and districts to work for church renewal, has requested prayer for three upcoming events: on April 25, renewal teams in Northern Ohio District meet at Mohican Church of the Brethren for a training event; on May 2, all of the churches in Western Pennsylvania District have been invited for an interpretative leadership training event at Somerset Churchof the Brethren; and on June 6, Shenandoah District is holding a training event for church renewal teams. Young also reported that "Net Results" magazine plans to publish an article on Springs of Living Water titled, "Church Renewal in Times of Fear and Opportunity."
  
  
• The annual Christian Peace Witness for Iraq in Washington, D.C., on April 29-30, is marking the 100th day of the new administration. Organizers are inviting participants to affirm, "Yes We Can...End the War." The April 29 opening convocation at National City Church features speakers Diana Butler Bass, an Episcopalian author and Senior Fellow at the Cathedral College of Washington National Cathedral, and Noah Baker Merrill, a Quaker and co-founder of Direct Aid Iraq. The evening worship at the Washington Convention Center includes speakers Fr. Daniel Berrigan, Jesuit priest and peace activist, and Tony Campolo, Baptist speaker and social activist, among others. Worship will be followed by a candlelight procession to the White House. On April 30, the event concludes with a 9 a.m. witness and nonviolent action on the steps of the Capitol building. Go to www.ChristianPeaceWitness.org for more information.
  
  
• Churches for Middle East Peast (CMEP) is holding its annual conference June 7-9 at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., on the theme, "Israeli-Palestinian Peace: Hope for Things Unseen." "The recent Gaza crisis demonstrates the urgent need for US engagement to bring about a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," said a flyer for the event. "Your elected officials need to hear from American Christians who care about the two peoples of the Holy Land and expect robust US diplomatic action in 2009." Speakers at the conference include Amjad Attalah, Michael Kinnamon, Daniel Levy, Trita Parsi, and Daniel Seidemann. Participants also will have an opportunity meet with elected officials. CMEP is a coalition of 22 US churches and church organizations including the Church of the Brethren. Go to www.cmep.org to register.

Source: 4/22/2009 Newsline Special