In addition to its decision to cease operation of the New Windsor
(Md.) Conference Center (reported in Newsline on Sunday, Oct. 16, go
to
www.brethren.org/news/2011/board-decides-to-cease-conference-center-operation.html,
the Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board in its Fall
meeting appointed LeAnn Wine as treasurer, and Ed Woolf as assistant
treasurer; gave provisional approval to a revision of the
denomination's Ministerial Leadership Paper; and approved a
$300,000 grant from the Emergency Disaster Fund to continue disaster
relief and rebuilding in Haiti following the earthquake of 2010.
The Executive Committee of the board also named chair-elect Becky
Ball-Miller as Church of the Brethren representative to a National
Council of Churches delegation to Cuba this November.
Find a photo album at
www.brethren.org/album/mission-and-ministry-board-october-2011/mission-and-ministry-board.html.
Ministerial Leadership Paper
The board gave provisional approval to the Ministerial Leadership
Paper, which is a proposed revision of an existing polity document of
the denomination. The action ensures a place for the paper on the
Annual Conference business docket next year, where delegates will be
asked to consider it as a study paper before it is brought back for
final approval a year later.
In the meantime, the paper will undergo further development with
leadership from associate general secretary Mary Jo Flory-Steury, who
also supervises the Ministry Office. The document will go back to the
Ministry Advisory Council and the Council of District Executives for
continued refinements, and then return to the Mission and Ministry
Board next March for recommendation to Annual Conference.
The document's revision is aimed at more consistency and
accountability in the credentialing and quality of ministerial
leadership in the denomination, and enhancement of the calling process
for ministers. The concepts of the priesthood of all believers and of
circles of ministry are key for the paper. Ministry circles are
conceived as offering both accompaniment and accountability for people
discerning a call to ministry and for established ministers, helping
ensure healthy connections in the congregation, among peers, with
mentors, and with the wider community.
"No paper is perfect," Flory-Steury commented, "but a paper can point
us toward healthy practices for sustaining our ministers."
Disaster relief in Haiti, Horn of Africa
Roy Winter of Brethren Disaster Ministries gave a 20-month report on
the church's work following the Haiti earthquake. With the
$300,000 grant approved at this meeting, the program will have come
close to spending all of the more than $1.3 million donations to the
Emergency Disaster Fund that were earmarked for Haiti earthquake
response.
Continuing aspects of the earthquake response include home
reconstruction and repair, several agricultural development projects,
capacity building for the Church of the Brethren in Haiti, volunteer
housing combined with a denominational offices for the Haitian
Brethren, a health care initiative in partnership with IMA World
Health, and trauma recovery with STAR Haiti.
Winter described the drought in the Horn of Africa as "a real tragedy
that nobody is talking about." For example, Church World Service (CWS)
has had only a meager response to its appeal for $1.2 million toward
relief in areas of northeast Africa where 20 percent of people are
without food and 30 percent of children are acutely malnourished. Of
the $283,484 that CWS has received so far, the Church of the Brethren
has given $65,000 to date--the most of any US denomination, Winter
said. He plans further grants to aid the millions of Africans faced by
starvation. Brethren grants to the Horn of Africa famine have come
from both the Emergency Disaster Fund and the Global Food Crisis Fund.
In other business, departing employees were recognized following
recent layoffs, and appreciation and thanks were expressed for their
years of service. The meeting also included reports on the "remapping"
process for staff as new strategic goals are implemented, finances, a
denominational vision statement, Brethren Disaster Ministries domestic
and international work, conferences for junior highs and older adults,
the Outdoor Ministry Association, a Global Christian Forum in
Indonesia, the Lybrook ministry of Western Plains District, digital
communication and forthcoming Brethren Press books, and exploration of
a mission relationship in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board held its Fall
meeting Oct. 15-17 at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The meeting
was led by Ben Barlow, who started his term of service as chair with
this meeting, and Becky Ball-Miller, who also started her term as
chair-elect. In addition, the board welcomed six new members. The
board worked with a consensus model of decision making.
As at every Mission and Ministry Board meeting, the group spent time
in worship and devotions. Decisions such as that made about the
Conference Center were marked by time for prayer, hymns, and silence.
Source:10/20/2011 Newsline
