- A Church of the Brethren Reception will be held
in the Annual Conference exhibit hall in the Charlotte Convention Center
on Sunday evening, June 30, following the Concert of Prayer. “You are
invited to a reception sponsored by the Church of the Brethren Mission
and Ministry Board and the General Secretary in the Exhibit Hall on
Sunday evening 8:45-10 p.m.” said an announcement. “Come enjoy
complimentary ice cream novelties and popcorn while you visit the
various exhibit booths and engage with those staffing the exhibits.”
- The Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) Fitness Challenge
at the 2013 Annual Conference will be a 3,000 Miles for Peace
fundraising event benefiting On Earth Peace, says an announcement from
BBT. The annual 5K run/walk will be held on Sunday, June 30, starting at
7 a.m. at Freedom Park, approximately three miles from the Charlotte
Convention Center. Participants provide their own transportation to and
from the event. Directions will be available from the BBT booth in the
exhibit hall, or go to www.brethrenbenefittrust.org/2013-fitness-challenge
for links to driving directions. The 3,000 Miles for Peace nation-wide
fundraiser supports youth peace education, conflict resolution, living
peace churches, and nonviolent social change efforts of On Earth Peace,
in honor of the late Paul Ziegler. Participants should first register
for the BBT Fitness Challenge using the link at www.brethrenbenefittrust.org/2013-fitness-challenge
; then click on the “Fundraise” button at the same website to set up a
personal fundraising page. The registration fee is $20 for individuals
until May 31 ($25 after May 31) or $60 for families of four or more.
Mail registration forms and payment to BBT by May 31 for the early-bird
race fee. Go to www.brethrenbenefittrust.org/2013-fitness-challenge .
- Advanced Deacon Workshops are offered pre-Annual
Conference in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, June 29, for deacons and
other caregivers to attend in person or via webcast. The morning session
“Listen and Play: Ministry with Children in Times of Stress” is from 9
a.m.-12 noon (eastern) with leaders from Children’s Disaster Services
and the Deacon Ministry. The afternoon session “Conflict Transformation”
from 1:30-4:30 p.m. (eastern) is based on training provided to the
Annual Conference Ministers of Reconciliation Team, and is designed for
those who already have a good understanding of conflict transformation,
prior training, or experience. To attend in person go to www.brethren.org/ac/documents/2013-deacon-workshops.pdf
to register online and pay by credit card, or download the registration
form and mail it with a check . Cost is $15 for one workshop; $25 to
attend both workshops. Continuing education units are available through
the Brethren Academy for those who attend in person and those who view
the live webcast. Registration is not required to view webcasts and
there is no fee, but viewing live sessions is limited to the first 95
participants and a donation to cover costs is appreciated. Continuing
education units are not offered for viewing recorded sessions. The
deadline to register is June 21. Go to www.brethren.org/ac/documents/2013-deacon-workshops.pdf .
- A Bible Visits Exhibit will be featured in the
Annual Conference exhibit hall in Charlotte. A note in the Virlina
District newsletter reports that the exhibit highlighting the Bible will
offer children, youth, and adults the opportunity to share their love
for God’s Word by submitting poems, choruses, or hymns they have created
about the Bible. These will be put on display at the Bible Visits
Exhibit, “which will share how and why the Bible came to us and how it
is being shared around the world today,” the newsletter said. All items
to be put on display must be submitted by June l to Bible Visits, c/o Al
Huston, 6210 Townsend Lane, Waxhaw, NC 28173.
- The Global Women’s Project is celebrating 35
years at this Annual Conference. It has been 35 years since Ruthann
Knechel Johansen, now president of Bethany Seminary, delivered the
speech, “Giving Birth to a New World,” which gave impetus to the Global
Women's Project. The speech was delivered at a July 1978 women’s event
at Manchester College. Johansen “reminded us that ‘neither a great
social program nor a sophisticated theology are prerequisites to live in
harmony with life. We need only the simple stuff of life--a commitment
to the essential goodness by transcending the old order and creating new
relationships and structures that nurture justice,’” remembers Pearl
Miller of the Global Women’s Project steering committee, in a recent
newsletter. “She challenged the gathered women ‘to refuse to purchase
luxury (non-essential) items, or to tax our luxuries and redirect the
luxury monies toward meeting the needs of people who are victims of our
consumption.’ I felt the current of excitement that pulsed around
Cordier Auditorium as women nodded and clapped and cried ‘Yes, here is
something we can do.’” Conferencegoers are invited to celebrate the
anniversary by stopping by the Global Women’s Project booth in the
exhibit hall for “Tea Time” on Tuesday afternoon, July 2. Also, those
who were at the 1978 North Manchester Women’s Gathering are invited to
share memories at http://globalwomensproject.wordpress.com .
- The Open Table Cooperative is starting off at the
Annual Conference in Charlotte with “a truly Open Table
Reception/Supper, inviting any and all to ‘come…eat…without money and
without price’ (Isaiah 55:1),” said an announcement. “We’ll offer a
variety of finger foods and share them along with a stimulating panel
discussion on Saturday evening before the opening worship.” The
reception is scheduled for 5 p.m. on June 29 in the Charlotte Convention
Center, no ticket is required.
- Service projects and other witnesses to the host city
during the 2013 Annual Conference include two special opportunities for
junior and senior high youth, and young adults and single adults. On
Monday and Tuesday, July 1 and 2, the young adult and single adult
groups will serve meals at the Charlotte Rescue Mission from 10:30 a.m.
to 12 noon. On Monday, July 1, the junior high and senior high will help
with the Trout Unlimited River Clean Up, accompanied by David Radcliff
of the New Community Project. For more about these and other activities
during the Conference, visit www.brethren.org/ac .
- The Fellowship of Brethren Genealogists will hold
its Annual All-Member Business Meeting at 12 noon on Monday, July 1,
during the Annual Conference in Charlotte, N.C. The agenda will include a
presentation by Tom Crago on the fellowship’s past and future, and
recognition of several early Brethren families by the newly established
First Brethren Families Project, as well as election of officers and
other business. Crago’s address and the First Brethren Families Project
awards ceremony will be open to all interested in attending. The
business portion of the meeting is for members only. Conferencegoers are
invited to visit the Fellowship of Brethren Genealogists display booth
in the exhibit hall, where volunteers will be on hand to answer
questions about fellowship activities including the First Brethren
Families Project. The meeting room location will be announced at the
display booth.
- The Annual Conference Blood Drive is held at the
Westin Hotel this year. Those interested in donating blood should go to
the Westin Hotel across from the Charlotte Convention Center on Monday,
July 1, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. or on Tuesday, July 2, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Laura Stark, a professor at Vanderbilt University,
is researching the partnership between the US National Institutes of
Health (NIH) and the Historic Peace Churches (Church of the Brethren,
Mennonites, and Quakers) during the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. During those
decades, medical research in the US increased substantially and required
many healthy volunteer participants for medical work and testing, so
the NIH set up a number of programs with colleges and denominational
groups to recruit volunteers. Beginning in 1954, Brethren Volunteer
Service (BVS) and several Brethren colleges partnered with NIH to send
young people to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., to serve as
subjects of clinical trials and to work as research assistants for these
trials. Stark hopes to attend Annual Conference and would like to talk
with Brethren who participated in NIH programs while in BVS or in
college, in order to discuss the experiences of the “normal control”
research subjects. If you are interested in learning more about
Professor Stark’s research or if you can donate an oral history
interview about your personal experience, contact laura.stark@vanderbilt.edu or 860-759-3406.
Source: 5/30/2013 Newsline
No comments:
Post a Comment