Honor to whom honor is due: A reflection on St. Martin’s Day.

Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford

Dr. James Kim, founder of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology in N. Korea (second from left) at a reception held in his honor at the Church of the Brethren General Offices on Nov. 10. Also shown with a cake celebrating his visit is (from left) Jay Wittmeyer, executive director of Global Mission and Service for the Church of the Brethren; Howard Royer, manager of the Global Food Crisis Fund through which the Brethren work in North Korea was established; and Norma Nichols, staff at a sister university in China also founded by Dr. Kim.

The following reflection from chapel at the Church of the Brethren General Offices, Elgin, Ill., was given by Global Mission and Service executive director Jay Wittmeyer. He reflects on the original meaning of Nov. 11 celebrations, and the honor due to St. Martin and modern-day peacemakers like Dr. James Kim, founder of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology in North Korea, who visited with Brethren staff on Nov. 10:

“Pay to all what is due to them--taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due” (Romans 13:7).

Friday is an unique day, as the calendar will sync as 11/11/11. The eleventh day of the eleventh month in the eleventh year. Nov. 11 is, of course, a special day and has been recognized as a holiday for a long time in many countries. In the US it is Veteran’s Day. As is the American tradition, on Friday a ceremony will be held at the Arlington National Cemetery, commencing precisely at 11 a.m., and a wreath will be laid at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Eleven a.m. is significant because it was exactly at this time in 1918 that the armistice was signed bringing World War I to an end. My grandparents always referred to Nov. 11 as Armistice Day, or the day of cessation of arms that ended the Great War, the war to end all wars. Nov. 11 became Veteran’s Day after World War II. In the UK and Commonwealth nations, Nov. 11 is observed as Remembrance Day. Some also refer to it as Poppy Day because of that poem “In Flanders’s Fields.” Bright red poppies are associated with the day, an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

Nov. 11 was fittingly chosen for the cessation of WWI hostilities for it was St. Martin of Tours Day (http://stmartinoftours.org/about-us/st-martins-background). Martin (c. 316-397), a contemporary of Constantine, was an early pacifist of the Roman Empire. Martin Luther, born on Nov.10, was baptized on Nov. 11 and named after St. Martin. St. Martin is the patron saint of France.

Martin was forced to join the Roman army when he was young. One evening while on duty, he was riding in the rain when he saw a beggar lying cold along the side of the road. Martin tore his heavy officer’s cape in half to give part to the beggar. Later that night he had a dream in which he saw Jesus wearing the small cape. Jesus said, “What you do unto the least of these, you do unto me.”

Martin was baptized into the church at age 18. Just before a battle, Martin announced that his faith prohibited him from fighting. Charged with cowardice, he was jailed, and his superiors planned to put him in the front of the battle. However, the invaders sued for peace, the battle never occurred, and Martin was released from military service.

Give honor to whom honor is due. After a century of hard-fought and brutal wars, the essence of Nov. 11 has changed for us in the US--from pacifist to armistice to Veteran’s Day, where we honor those, and only those who have served in the armed forces. 

But the Christian community should give the same honor and respect to those who are in an even greater service--those who dedicate their lives in service to God. I believe we should honor all to whom honor is due. This includes war correspondents and journalists, missionaries, and professionals serving around the world in organizations like Doctors Without Borders. And what about those who avert war in the first place? What about the negotiators, the diplomats, the peacemakers? What would it mean for someone to actively work to bring peace and avoid nuclear war on the Korean peninsula? What honor should be due that person?

Dr. James Kim is doing that very thing and he visits us at the General Offices tomorrow. Robert and Linda Shank have served in North Korea for the past year with Dr. Kim at the university he began, the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. This is Dr. Kim’s story as told by Lord David Alton (http://davidalton.net/2011/10/14/report-on-the-first-international-conference-to-be-held-at-pyongyang-university-of-science-and-technology-and-how-the-university-came-into-being):

The story of Dr. James Chinkyung Kim:

In 1950, at the outbreak of the Korean War, Chinkyung (James) Kim was just 15 years old. Nevertheless, he enlisted and fought against the north. Of the 800 men in his unit, only 17 survived.

One night on the battlefield, after reading the Gospel of St. John, “There and then I vowed to God to work with the Chinese and the North Koreans, then our enemies,” Dr Kim says, the very forces against whom he had been bearing arms. “If I survived the war, I promised God that I would devote my life to their service, to peace and to reconciliation.”

After the war, penniless, he travelled first to France, and then on to Switzerland, where he met Francis Shaeffer who would write the highly influential “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” In 1960, he went to Britain where he studied at Bristol’s Clifton Theological College.

Later, he returned to Seoul, Korea, and in 1976 began a series of business enterprises in Florida. But he never forgot his vow--a promise he kept hidden in his heart--and, in the 1980s, he sold his businesses and home to finance a university college in South Korea. By1992 he was ready to export his model of education to China. Yanbian University of Science of Technology, in Yanji, northeastern China, became the country’s first foreign joint-venture university. It, in turn, became the model for Pyongyang.

Before that could happen, Dr. Kim would be arrested by Kim Jong Il’s North Korean Government, accused of being an American spy, and for 40 days he would languish in jail. He was sentenced to death.

Ordered to write a will and, in keeping with his vow to give everything back to his country, he told his captors that once they had executed him they could have his body parts for medical research. In his will and testament he wrote to the US government that “I died doing things I love at my own will. Revenge will only bring more revenge and it will be an endless cycle of bitter hatred. Today, it will stop here and the hate will not see a victory. I am dying for the love of my country and my people. If you take any actions for my death then my death would truly have been for nothing and for no reason.”

In explaining what then occurred, James Kim says that “The North Korean government was moved and allowed me to return to my home in China.” He made no public complaints about what had happened and two years later “They invited me back to North Korea and asked whether I would forget our differences and build a university for them like the one I had established in China?”

Dr. Kim believes his own experience is evidence that the North Korean regime “can be touched and messages can be communicated at some level. On a much grander scale we need to deepen the experience of reconciliation.”

We give honor and respect to Dr. James Kim for his reconciling work in North Korea and to all who serve around the globe on Nov. 11, St. Martin’s Day.

-- Wittmeyer closed the chapel service with a quote from the hymn, “The Church of Christ in Every Age”: “We have no mission but to serve in full obedience to our Lord, to care for all, without reserve, and spread his liberating word.” For more about the Church of the Brethren’s work in North Korea go to www.brethren.org/partners/northkorea. For more about conscientious objectors from the Historic Peace Churches (Church of the Brethren, Mennonite, and Quaker) who served in Civilian Public Service instead of going to war, go to http://civilianpublicservice.org. 

Source:11/16/2011 Newsline

Brethren bits: NCC and district personnel, church and college news, much more.

• The National Council of Churches (NCC) Governing Board has approved a “process for a stable and grace-filled transition” after general secretary Michael Kinnamon announced his intention to leave the position due to health reasons. “Members of the governing board received the news with reverence and respect for Kinnamon’s leadership of the council during the last four years,” said an NCC release. The action by the board came after Kinnamon, 63, said his cardiologist insisted that the stresses of his current position must be reduced immediately.

Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford

Jillian Foerster will serve at RECONCILE in South Sudan as a Brethren Volunteer Service worker sponsored by the Church of the Brethren's Global Mission and Service office.

• Jillian Foerster, a Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) worker from Mill Creek Church of the Brethren in Port Republic, Va., will soon begin as administrative associate at RECONCILE International in Yei, South Sudan. Her placement is sponsored by the Church of the Brethren’s Global Mission and Service program. She plans to leave for Sudan near the end of November. She holds a degree in international relations with a minor in economics.

• Don Knieriem has begun in a new data analyst and registration specialist position with the Church of the Brethren Information Services. His primary responsibilities will be database management, reconciliation of discrepancies between multiple databases, and in building, testing, and support for both registration and donation forms. He is a member of Wilmington (Del.) Church of the Brethren and graduated in 2008 from the University of Delaware with degrees in mathematics and computer science. He served as a Brethren Volunteer Service worker for Brethren Disaster Ministries and as a staff volunteer in the BVS office.

• Carol Mason, Jim Miller, and Debbie Roberts have accepted appointments as area ministers for Oregon and Washington District. When the district reduced its executive position to quarter time it also established the area minister positions. “We recognized that the far-flung geography of the Pacific Northwest would frustrate the attempts of a quarter-time executive to provide needed support to pastors and churches,” explained the district newsletter. Area ministers will work closely with new district executive Colleen Michael.

• Nancy Davis' service as Northern Plains District financial and office secretary concludes Dec. 31, as announced in the district newsletter. “We are grateful for Nancy's years of excellent service,” the announcement said. Phyllis Prichard of Ames, Iowa, has been appointed to begin serving on Jan. 1, 2012, as the district’s next financial secretary. The district has opened a new post office box in Ames, effective immediately. The old post office box in Ankeny, Iowa, will stay open only until the end of the year. The new address is Northern Plains District/Church of the Brethren, P.O. Box 573, Ames, IA 50010-0573.

• Applications for the 2012 Youth Peace Travel Team are due Jan. 13. College-age young adults (ages 19-22) are invited to apply. Through the summer, the team travels to camps and conferences talking about the Christian message and the church’s tradition of peacemaking. The team is sponsored by the Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Brethren Volunteer Service, On Earth Peace, and Outdoor Ministries Association. Go to www.brethren.org/yya/peaceteam.html.

• Abraham Harley Cassel (1820-1908) is the focus of the latest "Hidden Gems" webpage from the Brethren Historical Library and Archives. Cassel was a 19th century book collector and antiquarian whose collection in his home in Harleysville, Pa., was the major informational source for Martin Grove Brumbaugh’s "History of the German Baptist Brethren" (1899). Go to www.brethren.org/bhla/hiddengems.html.

• Church of the Brethren United Nations representative Doris Abdullah was moderator of a Nov. 10 event in the “Sacred Season Series” sponsored by the Subcommittee for the Elimination of Racism of the NGO Committee on Human Rights. Held at the UN Plaza in New York, the event was on the theme “Spirituality, Environmental Justice, and Human Rights.” Abdullah also has called attention to Nov. 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The day was designated by the UN General Assembly in 1999 as the date of a brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic. For more information about the day go to www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday.

• New Covenant Church of the Brethren in Chester, Va., has honored Elaine McLauchlin Lowder for 70 years of playing piano for the church. According to the Virlina District newsletter, she began playing at Hopewell Church of the Brethren when she was 16 years old and has continued to play for church, weddings, and special occasions ever since.

• Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren in Fort Wayne, Ind., is hosting a presentation on “Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) Witness for Justice in the Middle East” given by Brethren member Peggy Gish. The event is Nov. 17, at 6:30 p.m. Gish has been a longterm volunteer on the CPT team in Iraq.

• Papago Buttes Church of the Brethren in Scottsdale, Ariz., has been certified as Monarch Waystation #5125 after the congregation planted a garden of native plants. The Pacific Southwest District newsletter noted that Monarch butterflies are nourished by native milkweed plants, and that master gardeners come and harvest seeds to propagate native milkweed in other waystation gardens. Papago Buttes hosted the fall meeting of the Central Arizona Butterfly Association.

• Several ministers have been recognized for significant years of service. Middle Pennsylvania District Conference recognized Luke Bowser and Floyd Mitchell for 70 years; Ronald Hershberger for 60; Marilyn Durr, David L. Miller, and Frank Teeter for 25; and Timothy Laird and Hannah Wilson for 10 years. Atlantic Northeast District Conference recognized Paul H. Boll and Luke B. Bucher for 50 years of ordained ministry.

• The second annual “Powerhouse” regional youth conference took place at Manchester College Nov. 12-13, with nearly 100 senior high youth and advisors from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Jeff Carter, pastor of Manassas (Va.) Church of the Brethren, spoke at three worship services on the theme “Follow: If You Dare,” looking at what it really means to follow Jesus. Worship themes were inspired by Shawn Kirchner’s 2010 National Youth Conference theme song, “More Than Meets the Eye,” which touched on various aspects of Jesus as he carried out his ministry. Carter looked at some of these aspects in his messages, emphasizing the importance of all facets in fully understanding who Jesus is and what that means for Christians. Students, staff, and others led a variety of workshops during the weekend, which also included opportunities for a campus tour, displays from Brethren programs, recreation, and a game of “Mission Impossible.” The next Powerhouse is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 10-11, 2012.

• A Renovaré Conference will be held April 21, 2012, at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College led by Kris Webb, the new president of Renovaré, and Renovaré founder Richard Foster. Atlantic Northeast and Southern Pennsylvania Districts are inviting pastors and church leaders to prepare for the event. Cost is $40, with registration limited to the first 850 people. A children’s program will be offered during the conference, with spiritual disciplines lessons by Jean Moyer. A resource is available for pastors to preach ahead of time on the 12 spiritual disciplines that will be emphasized at the conference. After the conference on May 5 the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center will offer a “Deepening Day” on the topic, “Growing in Christian Spiritual Vitality: Personally and Corporately” led by David Young of the Springs Initiative. For more information contact davidyoung@churchrenewalservant.org.

• Springs of Living Water has announced a new Advent/Christmas Spiritual Disciplines folder, posted at www.churchrenewalservant.org. Titled, “For There Is Born to You a Savior Who Is Christ the Lord,” the folder follows the lectionary readings and topics used for the Brethren Press bulletin series. An explanation of the theme and an insert helps church members learn how to use the folders and discern their next steps in spiritual growth. The Bible study questions are written by Vince Cable, pastor of Uniontown Church of the Brethren near Pittsburgh, Pa. For more information contact Joan and David Young at davidyoung@churchrenewalservant.org.

• This holiday season relive experiences in the Elder John Kline household in the fall of 1861 around a family-style meal at the John Kline house in Broadway, Va. Candlelight Dinners will be offered Nov. 18 and 19 and Dec. 2 and 3 at 6 p.m. Actors will convey the sentiments of family members after the Civil War came to Virginia soil. Tickets are $40. Call 540-896-5001.

• Three Bridgewater (Va.) College alumni were honored Nov. 4 at the President’s Dinner: Carol S. Fenn of Bridgewater, division superintendent of Rockingham County Public Schools, received the Distinguished Alumni Award; Linda Knight Wilson of Mathews, Va., a counselor-educator and civic volunteer, received the West-Whitelow Award for Humanitarian Service; and Cheryl M. Mascarenhas of Plainfield, Ill., associate professor of chemistry at Benedictine University, received the Young Alumnus Award. Also, Krishna Kodukula of Harrisonburg, Va., has been elected to the Bridgewater College board of trustees. He is a scientist, entrepreneur, and executive director of SRI International’s Center for Advanced Drug Research (CADRE).

• Global Entrepreneurship Week at McPherson (Kan.) College kicked off a new Global Enterprise Challenge for 35 students competing on teams to come up with the best venture to help out the country of Panama. A release from the college also announced “Jump Start Kansas,” a new program offering a $5,000 grant to the Kansas high school student who comes up with the best new commercial venture and another $5,000 to the best non-profit venture. In addition, scholarships are offered to the winners and 10 finalists. “We’re putting our money (about $100,000 commitment) where our heart is--in developing young entrepreneurs,” said the release. Find an application form for Jump Start Kansas at www.mcpherson.edu/entrepreneurship.

• Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has renewed its work on health issues related to the manufacture and use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons. In Jonesborough, Tenn., a CPT Depleted Uranium delegation has been collecting samples to be examined for contamination around an Aerojet Ordnance, Inc. processing plant. In the group that accompanied Dr. Michael Ketterer, professor at Northern Arizona State University, in collecting soil, water, and sediment samples was Church of the Brethren member Cliff Kindy, a longterm volunteer with CPT both in the US and Iraq. The delegation participated in a public forum at Eastern Tennessee State University on Oct. 25 and a public action at the plant on Oct. 29. For more go to www.cpt.org.

• As Super Committee lawmakers approach a Nov. 23 deadline to slash $1.2 trillion from the federal budget, Church World Service will be represented at a Nov. 20 “Super Vigil” for a budget that preserves vital domestic and international assistance funding, said a CWS release. CWS is encouraging churches across the country to hold Nov. 20 vigils in their own communities. “We are asking simply for a just and compassionate--a life-saving--budget,” said CWS director of advocacy Martin Shupack, who helps lead the Faithful Budget Campaign. For more Super Vigil information: www.churchworldservice.org/fbc.

Source:11/16/2011 Newsline

Credits

Newsline is produced by the news services of the Church of the Brethren. Contact the editor at cobnews@brethren.org. Contributors to this issue of Newsline include Lesley Crosson, Charles Culbertson, Jan Dragin, Mary Kay Heatwole, Julie Hostetter, Philip E. Jenks, Nancy Miner, Adam Pracht, Elizabeth Ullery, Walt Wiltschek, Roy Winter, and editor Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services for the Church of the Brethren.

Newsline for Nov. 2, 2011

NEWS

• Assisi event calls for peace as a human right. 
• Brethren faculty report on conference at N. Korean university. 
• BBT goes green' with e-mail publications, simplifies e-mail addresses. 
• Global Food Crisis Fund showcases projects for holiday giving. 
• Brethren Volunteer Service unit begins its work. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

• BBT co-sponsors financial and benefits seminar for congregations. 

RESOURCES

• New Bible studies, Yearbook available from Brethren Press. 

BRETHREN BITS

• Remembrance, personnel, college news, more.

Assisi event calls for peace as a human right.

Photo by Stan Noffsinger

Pope Benedict XVI on the stage at the World Day of Peace in Assisi, Italy, on Oct. 27, 2011. Church of the Brethren general secretary Stan Noffsinger was one of the world religious leaders who took part in the event. The day commemorated the 25th anniversary of a day for peace held in Assisi by Pope John Paul II in 1986.

Among religious leaders on the stage with Pope Benedict XVI at the World Day of Peace in Assisi last week was Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the Church of the Brethren. The main message of the Oct. 27 event was that peace is a human right, Noffsinger said in an interview on his return from Italy.

The event was held "to discern and make a statement that peace is a human right for all people, regardless of their religious affiliation or not," he said. "It is a right for every human being to live without the threat of violence, war, and violent death."
Hosted by the Vatican, the day commemorated the 25th anniversary of a historic peace event led by Pope John Paul II in Assisi in 1986. The city some 100 miles north of Rome is known as the home town of St. Francis and is a center for Catholic peacemaking.

Noffsinger attended as a representative of the international Brethren movement. The invitation to a Brethren representative was issued by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and follows several years of heavy Brethren involvement in the Decade to Overcome Violence.

The Pope read a strong statement of commitment to peace at the close of ceremonies: "Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism never again! In the name of God, may every religion bring upon the earth justice and peace, forgiveness and life, love!"

Noffsinger's only disappointment in the event, he said, was lack of formal conversation about peace as a human right. "But that is offset by the countless number of private conversations we were able to have," he added. "That's probably more effective conversation."

There was no formal worship or prayer, in a deliberate choice made by the Vatican. The Pope has "taken heat," as Noffsinger put it, from critics both within and outside the Roman Catholic Church who have made accusations that the event moves toward religious syncretism. An invitation to nonbeliever guests also was a deliberate choice made by Pope Benedict XVI to distinguish this World Day of Peace from that held by the previous Pope, in order to create "a broader table than before," Noffsinger said.

Noffsinger was one of 59 international guests seated on the stage with the Pope. Some 250 observer participants from around the world were seated at the front of the crowds that gathered in Assisi. Among those on the stage were Christian leaders such as World Council of Churches general secretary Olav Fykse Tveit; Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch; Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, leader of the Anglican Communion; Larry Miller, executive secretary, and Danisa Ndlovu, president of the Mennonite World Conference; Mounib Younan of the World Lutheran Federation; John Upton of the World Baptist Alliance, among many other representatives of worldwide Christian movements.

Interfaith representatives included Rabbi David Rosen of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and Kyai Haji Hasyim Muzadi, secretary general of the International Conference of Islamic Schools, alongside Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Sikh, and other leaders from major world religions, a representative of African indigenous religions, and even leading agnostics and atheists.

The Pope and official guests traveled by special train from Rome on the morning of Oct. 27, where they were met by crowds waiting at the train station in Assisi, Noffsinger reported. Thousands of people lined the motorcade route from the train station to the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, where a formal event took place in the morning. More people waited along the route to the Plaza of San Francesco where an open-air event took place in the late afternoon. "Most noticeable were the young people who were present and engaged in all of the event," Noffsinger said. The pilgrimage ended with a visit to the tomb of St. Francis by the Pope and official guests.

During his trip to Italy, Noffsinger also had time to visit the Comunita di Sant'Egidio in Rome. Over its 40-plus years of existence, several members of the Church of the Brethren have spent time with this  all-volunteer Christian community focused on service to the poor. Although Catholic-based, the community welcomes participation by believers from various traditions, and is marked by its youthful membership. Noffsinger estimated an average age of 30 among those who packed a church for the community worship service he attended.

Noffsinger has come away from Assisi with a challenge to increase commitment to peacemaking, both personally and as a church. On a personal level, it "challenged me to ask of myself,  What is it that I will do for the pursuit of peace?'" he said. A first step he and the other US church leaders who attended will take is to share their reflections with President Obama, who issued an official letter to the Vatican commending the event.

The challenge for the Church of the Brethren is to ask, "What are we willing to surrender to be a community at peace?" Noffsinger said. He noted that the Assisi event adds impetus for the denomination to build on its work during the Decade to Overcome Violence, and to take seriously the call to "just peace" coming out of the recent International Ecumenical Peace Convocation. In 2013, the Brethren will have an opportunity to be part of worldwide Christian consideration of "just peace" at the next assembly of the World Council of Churches.

In the meantime, the challenge is "to re-evaluate what we are as a church, and if the manner of our living rightly reflects advocacy for God's peace and justice that all may simply live," Noffsinger said. "At the very heart of who we are as the Church of the Brethren is this core understanding of the two great commandments of Jesus. There are no qualifications of who the neighbor may or may not be. God calls us to love our neighbor."

The Assisi event was webcast live by the Vatican Television Center. View a recording at http://player.rv.va/vaticanplayer.asp?language=it&tic=VA_N2GDSIOH.

Source:11/2/2011 Newsline

Brethren faculty report on conference at N. Korean university.

Photo courtesy of Robert Shank

Robert Shank (center) was one of the speakers at the recent international conference at PUST, a university in Pyongyan, North Korea. Shank is dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. He and his wife, Linda, are teaching at PUST with sponsorship from the Church of the Brethren Global Mission and Service program.

Pyongyang University of Science and Technology in North Korea held its first International Conference on Science and Technology on Oct. 4-7 with 27 foreign and almost as many DPRK guests/speakers.

The conference opened with keynote speakers Nobel Laureate Peter Agree addressing "Aquaporins" and Lord David Alton essaying on "Education for Virtue." Parallel sessions were then held on 1) Computer/Information Technology, 2) Agriculture and Life Sciences, 3) International Finance/Management, and 4) Science Diplomacy and Environment, followed by a panel discussion of integrating educational training. I and my department DPRK partner co-chaired the Ag/Life Science session by alternating introduction of speaker/topics. My co-chair also presented on bacterial cellulose filters for research and industry. The conference closed with a day long tour of Pyongyang city attractions and the national apple research farm.

DPRK and foreign scientists and students had ample time to share and question together during coffee and meals since they were all housed and fed on campus. Among the presentations, there was much mutual admiration between students and speakers, especially when former astronaut David Helmers gave a side presentation of his four space missions to a packed room. From outer space he decided to devote the rest of his life to nourishing our planet's people, and presented his Baylor research on the etiology and physiology of malnutrition.

In other presentations, Paul McNamara, University of Illinois Agricultural Economics extensionist, reported on working models of technology transfer throughout the world and the importance of getting research results to the local producer. David Chang showed vivid photos of his MD Anderson team's ability to do reconstructive bone and tissue surgery on cancer patients. Chin Ok Lee from Rockefeller University showed how Digitalis (foxglove) affects the strength of the heartbeat in aging patients. A DPRK researcher presented his work on detection of avian influenza virus with Monoclonal antibodies. And my co-chair presented his work on bacterial cellulose nanofilters.

Our graduate students had many good questions for the speakers and my botany students were amazed that they had just studied Active Facilitated Transport among cells and completely understood the Nobel laureate's work on Aquaporins. Our DPRK administrative partners, our session co-chairman, students, and guest speakers all agreed that the conference was a huge success and should be repeated again next year.

Any professionals interested in getting on the rostrum for next year should contact me now. Our 16 graduate students and 34 undergraduate students have varied interests and we have open teaching positions in microbiology, tissue culture engineering, and Genomics. Teaching positions are available for 6 to 16 weeks starting with the March semester.

-- Robert Shank is dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology in North Korea. He and his wife, Linda, are teaching at PUST with sponsorship from the Church of the Brethren Global Mission and Service program. An additional reflection by Lord David Alton on the conference and history of PUST is at http://davidalton.net/2011/10/14/report-on-the-first-international-conference-to-be-held-at-
pyongyang-university-of-science-and-technology-and-how-the-university-came-into-being.

Source:11/2/2011 Newsline

BBT goes "green" with e-mail publications, simplifies e-mail addresses.

Here's a simple way for members of the denomination to help conserve natural and financial resources: Sign up to receive three publications from Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) via e-mail rather than postal mail. The agency's "Annual Report," its quarterly newsletter "Benefit News," and press releases/news briefs that are sent to BBT's members and clients can now be received electronically by completing a brief form at www.brethrenbenefittrust.org/green.

"BBT is trying to be a good steward of its members' money," said Patrice Nightingale, BBT's director of communications. "Our members seem pleased about this new option--more than 200 people elected to receive these publications electronically in the first five days after an e-mail announcement was sent out to approximately 1,300 members."

If you regularly receive publications from BBT and have not yet signed up to receive these publications via e-mail, expect to receive a postcard in the near future. BBT hopes to offer electronic mailing of all of its paper publications. Most BBT publications are available online at www.brethrenbenefittrust.org/publications.

In other news, the agency's e-mail addresses are being simplified. E-mails from Brethren Benefit Trust staff will be sent using a different e-mail address structure starting the first week of November. While e-mails from BBT president Nevin Dulabaum used to come from ndulabaum_bbt@brethren.org, for example, they will now be sent from ndulabaum@cobbt.org. All other staff e-mail addresses will follow this structure (first initial last name @cobbt.org).

The shift occurred as some changes took place for the e-mail routing process that BBT shared with the Church of the Brethren. Until recently, the two organizations shared brethren.org as their e-mail domain name. This change also eliminates the underscore from BBT's email addresses--a character that has been confusing to users and difficult to read in some formats--and reinforces the unique identity of the denomination's financial and benefits agency. E-mail to BBT staff should be sent to the new @cobbt.org addresses effective immediately. Questions may be directed to communications@cobbt.org or 800-746-1505.

-- Brian Solem is publications coordinator for Brethren Benefit Trust.

Source:11/2/2011 Newsline

Global Food Crisis Fund showcases projects for holiday giving.

Photo by Jean Bily Telfort

A Haitian schoolchild with a goat distributed with funding from the Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF). This project in partnership with Haitian Brethren and other organizations in the northwest of Haiti is one of several showcased for alternative gift-giving this holiday season.

The Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) has launched a web page showcasing projects for alternative gift giving this holiday season. Go to www.brethren.org/gfcfgive.

"Reach out your soul to the hungry," says an invitation. "Honor loved ones by giving a gift in their name to the Global Food Crisis Fund. By doing so you and the recipient will be teamed with smallholder farmers in developing countries...equip those who are underfed to feed themselves...promote sound nutrition...and invest in efforts to conserve water, regenerate the soil, and nurture sustainability."

The "Gift-giving that Sustains Lives" page offers options for donating at a variety of levels from $10 to $500. Gifts will meet needs in local communities in a number of different countries, such as village wells to provide drinking water and irrigation in Niger, or super-flour mix for mothers and infants in Nepal. A gift of $67 helps those affected by famine in the Horn of Africa, buying three months of maize, plus beans, oil, salt, and Unimix supplementary porridge for families with children under five.

In other news, a Global Food Crisis Fund grant of $5,000 is helping publish the 2012 Hunger Report of partner organization Bread for the World, titled "Rebalancing Act: Updating US Food and Farm Policies." The report launches Nov. 21, on the eve of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Super Committee) release of recommendations to cut $1.2 trillion in government spending in 10 years. After that date, copies can be requested from GFCF manager Howard Royer at 800-323-8039 ext. 264, while supplies last. For more about the Global Food Crisis Fund go to www.brethren.org/gfcf.

Source:11/2/2011 Newsline

Brethren Volunteer Service unit begins its work.

Photo by BVS

The 29-member unit of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) held orientation at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., from Sept. 25-Oct. 14.

Members of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) unit 295 have begun work at their project placements. The 29-member unit held orientation at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., from Sept. 25-Oct. 14. Following are names, home congregations or hometowns, and project placements of the new volunteers:

Sara Belt of Manassas, Va., to Interfaith Hospitality Network in Cincinnati, Ohio; Tobias Berscheminski of Schifferstadt, Germany, to Abode Services in Fremont, Calif.; Florian Brett of Wendlingen, Germany, and Lorenz Lowis of Bad Kreuznach, Germany, to Lancaster (Pa.) Area Habitat for Humanity; Benedikt Eicke of Hannover, Germany, to Human Solutions in Portland, Ore.; Jillian Foerster of Mill Creek Church of the Brethren in Port Republic, Va., to Reconcile International in Yei, Sudan; Sean Garvey of Dublin, Ireland, to CooperRiis in Mill Spring, N.C.; Andreas Gluecker of Hoechberg, Germany, to Sisters of the Road in Portland, Ore.; Catherine Gong of University Baptist and Brethren Church in State College, Pa., and Rachel Witkovsky of Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon, Pa., to the Church of the Brethren's workcamp ministry in Elgin, Ill.

Thilo Ilg of Tuebingen, Germany, Johannes Mohr of Selbitz, Germany, and Markus Schmidt of Steinheim, Germany, to Project PLASE in Baltimore, Md.; Amanda Kauffman of East Fairview Church of the Brethren in Manheim, Pa., to SERRV in New Windsor, Md.; Sarah Mayer of Open Circle Church of the Brethren in Burnsville, Minn., to Interfaith Hospitality Network in Cincinnati, Ohio; Dylan Menguy of Rochester, N.Y., to the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C.; Megan Miller of Goshen, Ind., to East Belfast Mission in Northern Ireland; Tiffany Monarch of Goshen, Ind., to Kilcranny House in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

Gloria Oseguera of North Pole, Alaska, to Holywell Trust in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland; Michael O'Sullivan of Potomac, Md., to Camp Mardela in Denton, Md.; Denise Prystawik of Kronberg, Germany, to the Church of the Brethren's Youth and Young Adult Ministries in Elgin, Ill.; Elizabeth Rekowski of Salem, Mo., to the Center on Conscience and War in Washington, D.C.

Rico Sattler of Fuldatal, Germany, to San Antonio (Texas) Catholic Worker House; Marie Schuster of Buffalo, N.Y., to L'Arche in Tecklenburg, Germany; Jonathan Stauffer of Polo (Ill.) Church of the Brethren to the Church of the Brethren and National Council of Churches Advocacy Office in Washington, D.C.; Hanna Stoffregen of Hamburg, Germany, to Family Abuse Center in Waco, Texas; Sharon Sucec of North Winona Church of the Brethren in Warsaw, Ind., to Brethren Disaster Ministries in New Windsor, Md.; Sebastian Wallenwein of Weilheim/Teck, Germany, to Camp Stevens in Julian, Calif.

Source:11/2/2011 Newsline

BBT co-sponsors financial and benefits seminar for congregations.

Registration is open for the Best Practices Resource Workshop on Feb. 4, 2012, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Kansas City (Mo.) International Airport Marriott. The seminar is co-sponsored by Brethren Benefit Trust, and is designed for pastors, church treasurers, financial secretaries, stewardship and finance committee members, and others involved with the finances of churches.

The workshop will empower leaders to better understand best practices in financial management for local congregations, health reform and the church, latest pastoral housing issues, and taxation, compensation, and retirement issues. It is led by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, a Christian financial educational organization. A group of member denominations affiliated with the Church Benefits Association, including BBT, is sponsoring the event. Registration information is at www.ecfa.org/events. Scroll down to the "Best Practices Resource Workshop" and click on "Register now." Registration fee is $50.

Source:11/2/2011 Newsline

New Bible studies, Yearbook available from Brethren Press.

Two new Bible studies are now available from Brethren Press: a Covenant Bible Study on "Miracles of Jesus," and the Winter quarter of "A Guide for Biblical Studies" on the theme "God Establishes a Faithful People." The 2011 Advent Devotional also is now available, along with a special Christmas card featuring a colorful graphic from the devotional cover. In addition, the Church of the Brethren Yearbook for 2012 may be purchased on CD.

"Miracles of Jesus" by James Benedict examines the role of miracles in the ministry of Jesus. The study designed for small groups includes 10 sessions, and promotes discussion of how the signs, wonders, and works of power that Jesus performed help us better understand him and what it means to be his disciples. $7.95 per copy.

"God Establishes a Faithful People" offers a weekly Bible study from Dec. 4 through Feb. 26, 2012. The author for the quarter is Tom L. Zuercher, with Frank Ramirez writing the "Out of Context" feature. Scripture texts are from Genesis, Exodus, Luke, and Galatians. $4.25 each or $7.35 for large print.

The Advent Devotional, "In the Beginning Was the Word," is by David W. Miller. This pocket- sized paperback offers a devotion, scripture, and prayer for each day of Advent. It is suitable for congregations to provide to their members as a spiritual resource for the season. $2.50 each or $5.95 for large print.

New Christmas cards from Brethren Press feature calligraphy of the phrase "In the Beginning Was the Word" by Gwen Stamm. The 5 inch by 7 inch cards are sold in packs of 10 with the inner message, "And the Word became flesh and lived among us. Behold the glory of Christ." $8.99 per pack.

"Church of the Brethren Yearbook: 2011 Directory, 2010 Statistics" may be ordered in CD format. It is an essential resource for Church of the Brethren information, offered on a disc format that is searchable, easy to navigate, and contains contact information for congregations, districts, pastors, ministers, moderators, and church agencies. $21.50, order one per user.

Shipping and handling charges will be added to prices listed above. Order resources by calling Brethren Press at 800-441-3712 or go to www.brethrenpress.com.

Source:11/2/2011 Newsline

Brethren bits: Remembrance, personnel, colleges, more.

• Remembrance: Violet H. Pfaltzgraff, 92, formerly of Brethren Village, Lancaster, Pa., died Sept. 23 at Cross Keys Village-The Brethren Home Community in New Oxford, Pa. She had been a mission worker for the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria alongside her late husband Dr. Roy E. Pfaltzgraff, who passed away in March 2010. Born in Millport, Pa., she was the daughter of Willis B. and Emma Geib Hackman. She attended Elizabethtown (Pa.) College from 1937-39 and graduated from Hahnemann Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia in 1942. She and her husband were missionaries in Nigeria for 38 years, where she worked as a nurse, supervisor, treasurer, and administrator at the Adamawa Provincial Leprosium in Virgwi. She is survived by her children Roy Jr., husband of Kathy Pfaltzgraff of Haxtun, Colo.; George, husband of Buffy Pfaltzgraff of Hampton, Iowa; David, husband of Ruth Pfaltzgraff of Keymar, Md.; Nevin Pfaltzgraff, husband of Judy Miller of Coulee Dam, Wash.; and Kathryn Pfaltzgraff of Abbotstown, Pa.; 16 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren. A memorial service was held at Middle Creek Church of the Brethren in Lititz, Pa., on Oct. 10. Memorials are received to the Good Samaritan Fund, c/o Brethren Home Foundation, New Oxford.

• Jonathan Stauffer, a Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) volunteer from Polo (Ill.) Church of the Brethren, began work with the Church of the Brethren Peace Witness Ministries in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 19. He will assist with advocacy work, particularly on issues dealing with creation care, poverty and hunger, and rural development.

• Beth E. Sollenberger, executive minister of South/Central Indiana District, has been named editor of the Ecumenical Stewardship Center magazine "Giving: Growing Faithful Stewards in Your Congregation," as of Jan. 1, 2012. She is a former member of the Ecumenical Stewardship Center Board of Directors and of the design team that launched "Giving" magazine in 1998.

• The Gather 'Round curriculum, produced by Brethren Press and MennoMedia, is accepting applications to write for Preschool, Primary, Middler, Multiage, Junior Youth, or Youth age groups for 2013-14. Writers produce well-written, age-appropriate, and engaging material for teacher's guides, student books, and resource packs. All writers will attend an orientation March 19-23, 2012, in Chicago, Ill. See Job Opportunities at www.gatherround.org. Application deadline is Jan. 9, 2012.

• Gather 'Round is one of the sponsors of "Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity," a conference on faith formation to be held in Washington, D.C., on May 7-10, 2012. Speakers include Almeda M. Wright, assistant professor of Religion and Youth Ministry at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, N.C., who also will join John Westerhoff, Brian McLaren, and Ivy Beckwith on a panel about educating youth and children in light of violence in the Bible and the world. Michael Novelli of Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, Ill., along with Amy Dolan, editor of "What Matters Now in Children's Ministry: Early Childhood Edition," will be leading "On the Ground," a panel of innovators in children's and youth ministry. Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Moyer Suderman will be leading music and Melvin Bray will be Master of Ceremonies. Registration costs $189. Go to www.children-youth.com for more information.

• The Peace Witness and Advocacy Office noted the end of the Iraq war with an Oct. 25 Action Alert calling on church members to "rejoice that the men and women who have risked their lives and livelihoods to serve in this war will return home for the holidays." The alert also urged action to "call for an end to the war in Afghanistan, and on the President and our Congressional officials to walk with us in building a world that seeks peace instead of relying on violence." It responded to President Obama's statement that the US troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year, ending official presence of US troops in Iraq after nearly nine years of war. The full alert is at http://cob.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=14021.0&dlv_id=15621.

• "A Sacred Space" is the theme for the 2011 Outdoor Ministries Association Retreat on Nov. 13-17 at Inspiration Hills in Burbank, Ohio. The retreat is for camp leaders in a variety of roles to gather for fun, fellowship, worship, recreation, discussion, and education. Mary Jo Flory-Steury, associate general secretary of the Church of the Brethren, is the keynote speaker. Cost is $150 for adults, $$75 for children age 5-8, children under 5 free. Register by Nov. 5. Contact Shannon Kahler, Inspiration Hills director, at shannon@inspirationhillscamp.org or 888-462-2267.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Boshart

In addition to a new church building in the community of Canaan in Haiti are some 14 new homes built there by Brethren Disaster Ministries working with Eglise des Freres Haitiens (the Church of the Brethren in Haiti). Shown here is one of the families living in a new house in Canaan. Most of the new residents were displaced from Port-au-Prince by the 2010 earthquake. Find a photo album of new building in Haiti at www.brethren.org/album/haiti-new-building-photo-album-fall-2011/new-building-in-haiti-fall-2011.html.

• The Haitian Church of the Brethren celebrated the opening of a new church last Sunday: the New Church in Jerusalem, Canaan. "There were about 150 people attending. Two people accepted Christ as their personal Savior for the very first time," reported Ilexene Alphonse, manager of the church's guesthouse/headquarters building near Port-au-Prince. "Canaan is a new community, people from all over Port-au-Prince moved there after the 2010 earthquake. Brethren Disaster Ministries built 14 house there for 14 families." Find a photo album of new building in Haiti at http://www.brethren.org/album/haiti-new-building-photo-album-fall-2011/new-building-in-haiti-fall-2011.html

• Dates of Jan. 29-Feb. 5, 2012, have been set for the next workcamp in Haiti sponsored by Brethren Disaster Ministries working with the Haitian Church of the Brethren (L'Èglise des Frères Haitiens). Participants will rebuild homes in Port-au-Prince and outlying villages that have received displaced survivors of the 2010 earthquake, will help complete the guesthouse at the new church offices, and will worship with Haitian brothers and sisters. Leaders are Ilexene  Alphonse and Klebert Exceus. Cost is $800, which includes all expenses while in Haiti such as meals, lodging, in-country transportation, travel insurance, and $50 toward building supplies. Participants purchase their own round-trip transportation from home to Port-au-Prince. The deadline for registration and a $300 deposit is Dec. 31. More information is at www.brethren.org/bdm/haiti.html.

• The Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center (SVMC) with Elizabethtown (Pa.) College Department of Religious Studies is hosting "The Witness of the Hebrew Bible for the NewTestament Church" in the Susquehanna Room from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Focus will be a 2010 Brethren Press publication of the same title, in which 13 Brethren scholars addressed the question "Of what relevance is the Old Testament for Christians today?" Robert Neff, Eugene Roop, and Jeff Bach will speak in the morning session. In the afternoon panel discussions focus on themes of holiness, peacemaking, education, and our concept of God. Panelists include John David Bowman, Christina Bucher, David Leiter, Mike Long, Frank Ramirez, Bill Wallen, and David Witkovsky. Cost is $50 plus $10 for continuing education credit. Contact SVMC at 717-361-1450 or svmc@etown.edu to register.

• Two congregations celebrate key anniversaries on Nov. 5-6: 100 years at Stevens Hill Community Church of the Brethren in Elizabethtown, Pa.; 50 years at Roanoke (Va.) Summerdean Church of the Brethren.

• Pastors for Peace in Shenandoah District is hosting "Three Faiths...One God?" on Nov. 19 from 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren. "The relationship of Christianity to Judaism and Islam is crucially important at this time for churches," said an announcement. Bridgewater College professor William Abshire will present material on Judaism and Islam, and there will be interaction with leaders and families from the Muslim community. Lunch will be served. Cost is $25, $15 for students, or $35 for continuing education credit. Registration is required. Contact David R. Miller at drmiller.cob@gmail.com.

• Four church districts hold conferences in the next two weeks: Shenandoah District meets Nov. 4-5 at Mill Creek Church of the Brethren in Port Republic, Va.; Illinois and Wisconsin District meets in Carlinville, Ill., Nov. 4-6; Virlina District meets Nov. 11-12 in Roanoke, Va.; and Pacific Southwest District meets at Brethren Hillcrest Homes in La Verne, Calif., Nov. 11-13.

• McPherson (Kan.) College has announced 2011 Young Alumni Awards: Church of the Brethren member Kathy Mack ('86), Randy Semadeni ('91), and Monica Embers ('95). Mack has worked for IBM for 22 years, with one of her first projects to improve the performance of the AS/400 software often known as the "green screen." She also is president of the board of Northern Plains District. Semadeni is vice president of finance and business development for Ventria Bioscience in Fort Collins, Colo. Embers is a researcher on Lyme disease and assistant professor at the Tulane National Primate Research Center.

• Elizabethtown (Pa.) College has named recipients of its "Educate for Service" award: Carl Bowman ('79) and Roger Hoerl ('79). Bowman was recognized for contributions to education and global understanding of the Church of the Brethren. He is a sociologist and author of "Brethren Society: The Cultural Transformation of a Peculiar People" among other books. Hoerl was named for contributing to the global understanding of how to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. He leads the Applied Statistics Laboratory at General Electric Global Research.

• John Dernbach, the 2011 Elizabethtown College Peace Fellow, will lecture Nov. 9-10. The Alumni Peace Fellowship hosts his lecture on "Sustainability and Peace" at 11 a.m. Nov. 9 in Gibble Auditorium. On Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. he presents "Green Peace" ideas on environmental issues at the Bucher Meetinghouse. He is distinguished professor of law at Widener University Law School and has worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and coauthored expert testimony to the Supreme Court on behalf of 18 prominent scientists in the climate change case Massachusetts vs. Environmental Protection Agency. Events are free and open to the public. Contact Chris Bucher at 717-361-1182 or bucherca@etown.edu.

• The Fasnacht Lecture in Religion and Society at the University of La Verne (Calif.) presents Bart Ehrman on "Is the New Testament Forged? The Surprising Claims of Biblical Scholars." The event is Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Morgan Auditorium. Ehrman teaches religious studies at the University of North Carolina. Admission is free, seating is limited. For more information contact 909-593-3511 ext. 4188 or dshiokari@laverne.edu. Also at ULV, an "Imagine Peace" art show by Yoko Ono is at the Harris Art Gallery from Nov. 7-Dec. 15. Contact djohnson@laverne.edu or 909-593-3511 ext. 4273.

• Pastors of the Supportive Communities Network--Mennonite and Church of the Brethren communities who are publicly affirming of gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual members--met for a retreat Oct. 17-20 in Michigan on the theme "A Circle Ever Wider, A People Ever Free." According to a release, the pastors worshiped and dialogued together, worked at strengthening relationships, considered unique opportunities and challenges welcoming congregations face, and explored strategies and plans for addressing specific denominational needs. The retreat included 10 pastors from each denomination, as well as leaders from BMC. Resource leaders were Keith Graber Miller, professor of Bible, Religion, and Philosophy at Goshen (Ind.) College, and John Linscheid of Germantown Mennonite Church.

• The New Community Project has provided grants to partners in South Sudan, Ecuador, and Burma. Grants of $1,500 (Burma) and $6,000 (South Sudan) were made for  educational scholarships and hygienic materials for young women; $2,000 was sent for women's development projects in Nimule, South Sudan; $3,500 went to the Ecuadorian Amazon to continue planting trees on 10 deforested acres adjacent to the Cuyabeno Ecological Reserve. This brings NCP's total 2011 grants to its overseas partners to just under $60,000. Contact David Radcliff at ncp@newcommunityproject.org for more information.

• On Sept. 12 the Brethren World Assembly Planning Committee met at the Brethren Heritage Center in Brookville, Ohio, to continue planning for the next assembly scheduled for July 18-21, 2013. With the theme "Brethren Spirituality," the assembly will be held at the Brethren Heritage Center. In attendance were Gary Kocheiser of the Conservative Grace Brethren, Milton Cook of the Dunkard Brethren, Jeff Bach and Robert Alley of the Church of the Brethren, Tom Julien of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren, Mike Miller of the Old German Baptist Brethren-New Conference, and Brenda Colijn of the Brethren Church. The Brethren World Assembly, held every five years, is a function of the Brethren Encyclopedia Committee.

Source:11/2/2011 Newsline

Credits

Newsline is produced by the news services of the Church of the Brethren. Contact the editor at cobnews@brethren.org.Contributors to this issue of Newsline include Jeff Boshart, Larry Heisey, Joel Kline, Don Brian Solem, Anna Speicher, Julia Wheeler, and editor Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services for the Church of the Brethren.

Newsline: October 20, 2011

NEWS

• Board decides to cease operation of New Windsor Conference Center, gives provisional approval to Ministerial Leadership Paper, makes grant to Haiti earthquake response.
• On Earth Peace releases statement of inclusion.
• Religious leaders arrested in Rotunda in July have their day in court.
• Peace Witness Ministries takes up food stamp challenge.
• GFCF grants go to work in Honduras, Niger, Kenya, and Rwanda.

PERSONNEL

• Tracy Stoddart Primozich to oversee admissions at seminary.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Workcamps are announced for 2012.

BRETHREN BITS

• Remembrance, personnel, jobs, anniversaries, more.

Board decides to cease operation of New Windsor Conference Center, gives provisional approval to Ministerial Leadership Paper, makes grant to Haiti earthquake response.

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

On Earth Peace releases statement of inclusion.

During its fall meeting, the On Earth Peace board of directors issued a statement of inclusion, stating: "We are troubled by attitudes and actions in the church which exclude persons on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or any other aspect of human identity. We believe God calls the church to welcome all persons into full participation in the life of the faith community."

The biannual gathering of the board of directors took place on Sept. 16-17 at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. The statement of inclusion was specifically discussed and approved in light of events at the 2011 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. The organization is committed to eliminating violence in all forms.

Other major items of business included approving the organization's budget for the 2012 fiscal year and exploring new ways to enhance program services. The board also reorganized for 2012, calling Madalyn Metzger of Bristol, Ind., to continue as board chair; Robbie Miller of Bridgewater, Va., to continue as board vice chair; and Ben Leiter of Washington, D.C., to continue as secretary. On Earth Peace conducts discussion and decision-making by consensus.

During the meeting, the board thanked outgoing member Phil Miller of Warrensburg, Mo., for his service to the organization. In addition, the board welcomed new members Ken Wenger of Lorton, Va., Lauree Hersch Meyer of Durham, N.C., and Patricia Ann Ronk of Roanoke, Va.

-- Madalyn Metzger is chair of the On Earth Peace board of directors.

Source:10/20/2011 Newsline

Religious leaders arrested in Rotunda in July have day in court.

The 11 religious leaders arrested on July 28 while praying in the Capitol Rotunda on behalf of the nation's most vulnerable were in court on Oct. 11 to discuss the misdemeanor charge against them. In the group was Jordan Blevins, advocacy officer and peace coordinator for the Church of the Brethren and the National Council of Churches (NCC). Those arrested also included Michael Livingston, past president of the NCC and director of its Poverty Initiative, and Martin Shupack, director of advocacy for Church World Service, along with United Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ leaders, among others.

The United States Attorney agreed to dismiss the charges of intention to disrupt Congress if each religious official stays out of the Capitol Building for the next six months.

The civil disobedience was the highlight of a "Faithful Budget Campaign" encouraging the administration and Congress to maintain commitment to domestic and international poverty programs by lifting up faithful voices on behalf of the nation's most vulnerable. In July, the campaign organized high-level meetings with policymakers, a Washington fly-in of religious leaders, daily prayer vigils near the Capitol, culminating with the arrest of the 11 faith leaders after praying for 90 minutes and refusing to leave the Rotunda after repeated requests from police. The arrests came just days before Congress passed the debt ceiling compromise.

Since then the Faithful Budget Campaign has expanded into the hometowns of the Deficit "Super Committee" members. As a result, numerous churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship in the states and districts of members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, as well as congressional leaders, are hosting prayer vigils and other demonstrations to encourage Super Committee members to recommend a fair deficit reduction plan that exempts programs from budget cuts that assist the most at-risk families and children in the US and abroad.

The faith community has worked alongside the US government for decades to protect those struggling to overcome poverty. Without a sustained federal commitment, houses of worship will not be able to solely support the country's most vulnerable. More about the campaign is at www.domestichumanneeds.org/faithfulbudget. 

-- Philip E. Jenks is communications staff for the National Council of Churches.

Source:10/20/2011 Newsline

Peace Witness Ministries takes up food stamp challenge.

"Up to the challenge?" asks an Action Alert from the Church of the Brethren Peace Witness Ministries. "From Oct. 27-Nov. 3, this office will be taking the Food Stamp Challenge. Will you join us?" The Food Stamp Challenge is raising awareness of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP (formerly food stamp program) to make sure the 45 million people who depend on it aren't left hungry. It is a focus of the ecumenical "Fighting Poverty with Faith" campaign.

SNAP "is one of the programs on tap to be cut in the current round of budget negotiations, along with many other programs that serve the most vulnerable in our society at home and around the world," the Action Alert reported. "All of this happens while our military budget only continues to grow."

Those who join the Food Stamp Challenge will attempt to eat for a day or series of days from Oct. 27-Nov. 3 on the amount of money that a SNAP participant receives--roughly $4.50 per day--donating the difference from what they typically spend on food to the Global Food Crisis Fund. Participants also are encouraged to call on their members of Congress to join in the challenge. (Find out more about the Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) at www.brethren.org/gfcf.)

Source:10/20/2011 Newsline

GFCF grants go to work in Honduras, Niger, Kenya, Rwanda.

The Global Food Crisis Fund, a fund of the Church of the Brethren that fights hunger by promoting sustainable development, has announced several recent grants. The four grants total $26,500.

In Honduras, $15,000 is supporting a new hunger program in cooperation with Proyecto Alden Global (PAG). This grant will support the micro-financing of impoverished Lenca families for the purchase and the raising of small livestock. A portion of the grant, $2,500, is a gift designated for PAG from the home district (Western Pennsylvania) of Chet Thomas, director of PAG. This is the district's second gift of that amount; the first was remitted earlier this year. To complete the GFCF's commitment to PAG, an additional grant of $12,500 will be proposed either late this year or early in 2012, as funds permit.

In Niger, an allocation of $5,000 has gone to to Water for Life. This is the third GFCF grant issued to Water for Life. The first for $10,000 was issued in 2010. A second $10,000 grant was issued early in 2011. This partial third grant is being accelerated to enable response to urgent needs. Funds are being used to dig community wells, plant trees, and diversify garden produce in villages across northeastern Niger.

A grant of $4,000 has been given tor Care for Creation Kenya (CCK). A previous grant of $4,000 in 2010 helped to establish an agricultural demonstration farm, expand an indigenous tree nursery, and conduct training events. Funds from this grant will support training for low-income farmers in agriculture and forestry. One key group of 40 farmers from the Ndeiya and Mai Mahai community in the Rift Valley will engage in continuing in-depth training.

In Rwanda, $2,500 is supporting a project promoting self-sustainability through agriculture among the Pygmie population. Funds from the grant will be used to cover cost of potato and maize seed, hand tools, sprayers and chemicals, and rental of land.

Source:10/20/2011 Newsline

Tracy Stoddart Primozich to oversee admissions at seminary.

Tracy Stoddart Primozich begins Oct. 28 as director of admissions at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind. Her responsibilities will include designing and implementing a recruitment plan, and working with Church of the Brethren congregations and districts to identify and call prospective students.

She is a 2010 graduate of Bethany Seminary and a licensed minister, holding a master of divinity degree with emphases in youth and young adult studies and peace studies. In past work for the church she has been assistant to the coordinator of orientation and assistant for recruitment for Brethren Volunteer Service, and service opportunities coordinator at McPherson (Kan.) College, where she also was a resident director and advisor to the Student Government Association and Student Activities Board. Her volunteer positions in the denomination have included directing workcamps, serving on the planning committee for Powerhouse Regional Youth Conference and at Camp Colorado, and coordinating worship at National Youth Conference.

Source:10/20/2011 Newsline

Workcamps are announced for 2012.

"Ready to Listen" (1 Samuel 3:10) is the theme for the Church of the Brethren workcamps in 2012. A list of workcamp sites , dates, and costs for next summer is available at www.brethren.org/workcamps along with a downloadable flier that can be printed out for distribution to congregations and youth groups. www.brethren.org/workcamps.

Workcamps are offered for junior high and senior high youth, young adults, and intergenerational groups. A "We Are Able" workcamp is offered for youth with intellectual disabilities.

Junior high workcamps are offered from late June through early August in seven US locations. Senior high workcamps are offered from mid June through mid August in 14 locations in the US and the Caribbean. One young adult workcamp will be held in Haiti on May 27-June 4. Two intergenerational workcamps will be held, in Haiti on June 17-25 in cooperation with the Brethren Revival Fellowship, and in Idaho on June 24-July 1. We Are Able is planned for July 17-20 in New Windsor, Md.

Young adults interested in serving as a workcamp coordinator through Brethren Volunteer Service are invited to apply. The fulltime volunteer position is based at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The job description is at www.brethren.org/workcamps . Applications are due Nov. 18.

Online registration for the 2012 workcamps will open Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. central time (8 p.m. eastern). For more information go to www.brethren.org/workcamps or contact cobworkcamps@brethren.org.

Source:10/20/2011 Newsline

Brethren bits: Remembrance, personnel, jobs, anniversaries, more.

• Remembrance: Brethren Disaster Ministries has learned that Glenn Kinsel passed away on Oct. 19 after suffering a stroke while caning a chair, one of his favorite hobbies. He was to turn 89 on Oct. 31. A retired Church of the Brethren pastor, Kinsel was an administrative volunteer in the BDM office for many years together with his wife, Helen. While a pastor in Virlina District he served as district disaster response coordinator. The Kinsels also were onsite disaster project leaders. He was an outspoken advocate not only for Brethren Disaster Ministries, but for the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., helping to greet guests and volunteers and making them feel welcome. "His friendship, his example, his wisdom, and his spiritual counsel will be missed immensely," said a prayer request from Brethren Disaster Ministries. The Kinsels have been living at the Brethren Home Community in New Oxford, Pa.

• Ron Anders retires Nov. 4 from the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., where he has been maintenance mechanic since Sept. 1989. The challenges of maintaining aging buildings and their related infrastructure have offered many opportunities to utilize his wide variety of skills. He has served as a heating and cooling technician, plumber, electrician, painter, remodeler, wallpaper hanger, vehicle mechanic, and more. He has been a loyal and invaluable member of the Buildings and Grounds staff and has earned respect with his hard work and a dry sense of humor. He is active in Monocacy Church of the Brethren in Rocky Ridge, Md.

• Ilexene Alphonse will serve in Haiti through Brethren Disaster Ministries as a Church of the Brethren program volunteer. He will manage the new guesthouse and church headquarters building in the Croix des Bouquets area near Port-au-Prince. One of the goals of his work will be to establish the finances, rates, and procedures for the guesthouse while training others to take over this leadership. He also will provide support to the Haitian Church of the Brethren and to the wider Global Mission and Service program in Haiti. Alphonse will begin his work in Haiti later this month. He is a member of the Haitian Brethren community in Miami, Fla., and has served the denomination previously on the Committee on Interchurch Relations. He and his wife, Michaela Camps-Alphonse, who is program director for Camp Ithiel in Gotha, Fla., also are founders of the church-related New Covenant School of St. Louis du Nord, Haiti.

• Denise Prystawik, a Brethren Volunteer Service worker from Kronberg, Germany, has joined the Congregational Life Ministries team at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill. She will assist the Youth/Young Adult Ministry and Congregational Life Ministries with administrative tasks.

• The following position openings have been announced by the Church of the Brethren. All are located at the General Offices in Elgin Ill.:
  
  
  • Data analyst and registration specialist, a fulltime hourly position with responsibility to ensure accurate and timely data flow between organizational databases; create online registration and donation forms; build, test, and support those forms; run routine processes related to databases including data synchronization; work with various organizational databases and reconcile discrepancies between them; assist in or manage other website-related projects as assigned. Skills should include database management, problem-solving, multi-tasking, attention to detail, teamwork, customer service orientation, and ability to maintain confidentiality. Computer experience required, with MPAct or other CRM solution experience helpful, and Convio or other web-building solution experience helpful. Associates or bachelor degree preferred.
  • Office support specialist, a fulltime hourly position to coordinate and provide the services of the Buildings and Grounds Department. No experience required. Responsibilities are to serve as event planner, including scheduling, coordination, catering services, tours, employee functions, and special events; receive and deliver incoming mail and provide support for outsourced mail processing; break room operations including ordering, stocking, and overall appearance; office supplies including purchasing following established guidelines; overseeing photocopier needs; receiving, loading, and coordinating trailer replacement; set up of conference rooms; support for office moves of employees within the building; operation of a vehicle; storage and organization of warehouse and dock; serve as back up for selected tasks when director is absent; visitor and delivery door monitoring. Occasional weekend or after hours work required. Other requirements include good oral and written communication, ability to maintain detailed records and to lift and move up to 75 pounds, valid driver's license, high school diploma or equivalent preferred.
  • Program assistant, fulltime, to support the executive director and staff of Congregational Life Ministries. Requirements include excellent computer skills, strong interpersonal communication, and ability to prioritize and follow through on a diversity of simple clerical and more complex organizational responsibilities. The preferred candidate will be proficient in both verbal and written English; demonstrate accuracy with basic financial transactions; efficiently collect, organize, and manage data; work easily with e-mail and web-based applications; have experience coordinating meetings and events; and effectively manage multiple tasks. Sensitivity to other cultures is essential; fluency in Spanish is welcome.
  Applications will be reviewed until Nov. 5. Request an application packet from Karin Krog, director of Human Resources, at kkrog@brethren.org.

• The Annual Conference 2011 Minutes books have been mailed out to congregations that sent a delegate to the Conference. Others may order a copy through Brethren Press at www.brethrenpress.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AC2011. Cost is $5.95 plus shipping and handling.

• The Church of the Brethren General Offices hosted the fall meeting of the Church World Service Board of Directors, on Oct. 19-20. Board chair Johncy Itty, a bishop in the Episcopal Church, led the General Offices community in chapel. During its meeting, the CWS board adopted an important new strategic direction called "CWS 2020." A lively celebration of "CWS 2020" was held in the General Offices cafeteria complete with cake, noisemakers, funny hats, and oversized glasses emblazoned with the 2020 logo. A parting gift to the Church of the Brethren was one of the CWS "Shells into Bells" from Cambodia, made out of recycled shell casings and landmines left from the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. The bell is a symbol of the transformation underway in Cambodia, and how CWS walks with the Cambodian people.

• The Material Resources program at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., has been working on several shipments of relief goods: IMA World Health hospital supplies and equipment shipped to New York for a container to Nigeria; a shipment of 525 cartons of School Kits to Iraq in a cooperative venture between Lutheran World Relief and International Relief and Development; a 40-foot container of solar equipment, computer equipment, and other items destined for Sudan on behalf of IMA; a container of solar equipment, sterilizers, exam tables, and other hospital supplies for the Congo; and 525 cartons of School Kits sent to Iraq on behalf of Lutheran World Relief. In addition, staff have picked up a trailer load of donations for CWS from the Missouri Festival of Sharing, including 5,220 School Kits, 5,150 Hygiene Kits, 1,095 Baby Care Kits, 605 Emergency Cleanup Buckets, 12 IMA World Health Medicine Boxes, and Lutheran World Relief kits.

• The Global Mission and Service program has announced dates for Mission Alive 2012: Nov. 16-18, 2012, at Lititz (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. The mission conference will focus on 2 Corinthians 5:19-20. The planning group includes C. Earl Eby, Carol Mason, Bob Kettering, Anna Emrick, Carol Waggy, and Jay Wittmeyer, executive director of Global Mission and Service, who is not a member of the team but instrumental in the planning process.

• Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann will speak for the 2012 Ministers' Association event in advance of Annual Conference in St. Louis, Mo. The event is July 6-7 on the theme, "Truth Speaks to Power." Discussion will focus on the question, How can the witness of the gospel be uttered and enacted in the midst of a public domain that now features immense concentrations of money, power, and control? Sessions will explore biblical models for witness today including the stories of Moses, Solomon, and Elisha. Registration and more information will be made available. For questions contact Chris Zepp at 540-828-3711 or czepp@bwcob.org.

• Registration remains open for the 2011 Powerhouse regional youth conference on Nov. 12-13 at Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind., for youth grades 9-12 and advisors. Cost for the weekend, including three meals, is $50 for youth, $40 for advisors. There is no late fee for any registration postmarked by Nov. 7. Keynote speaker Jeff Carter, pastor of Manassas (Va.) Church of the Brethren, will share on the theme "Follow: If You Dare." Details and registration forms are at www.manchester.edu/powerhouse.

• Doris Abdullah, Church of the Brethren representative to the United Nations, is sharing ways women may join in the "Road to Rio+20." The UN Conference on Sustainable Development or "Rio+20" will take place June 4-6, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20 years after the historic Earth Summit. "Women's participation in the process and input on the themes and objective are crucial to a successful outcome," said an announcement. Ways for women to connect include joining an online community at women-rio20.ning.com, completing a survey/questionnaire at http://kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=NLJKJL_e4090fbb&UID=2774286468, and following updates on Twitter and Facebook. Discussions and activity generated with these tools will inform the official input of the Women's Major Group/Rio+20 Steering Committee.

• Happy Corner Church of the Brethren, Clayton, Ohio, celebrated its 200th anniversary on Oct. 16.

• Northern Plains District has recognized a number of ordained ministers: Cliff Ruff for 60 years of ministry, Charles Grove for 25 years, Tim Peter for 20 years, Lucy Basler for 15 years.

• Western Plains District has produced a "Plains People's Cookbook," available for purchase at the Gathering on Oct. 28-30. The hardcover book sells for $20, with proceeds going to the district's Projects Unlimited program. Contact 620-241-4240 or wpdcb@spcglobal.net.

• The October "Brethren Voices" community television show from Portland (Ore.) Peace Church of the Brethren features David Sollenberger. For over 25 years, he has been the man behind the camera in videos produced for the Church of the Brethren. The show includes an interview and a look at some of his creations including "NOAC News" and the music video "I Want to See a New Day." Copies are available from Portland Peace Church of the Brethren. A donation of $8 is requested for the program on DVD. Contact producer Ed Groff at Groffprod1@msn.com.

• The University of La Verne (Calif.) is inaugurating its new president, Devorah A. Lieberman, on Oct. 21. Events include an academic symposia at 9 a.m. following by a luncheon, with the inauguration ceremony at 4 p.m. Homecoming weekend continues on Oct. 22-23. A Recognition Day Service will be held on Sunday at La Verne Church of the Brethren.

• Bridgewater (Va.) College will hold a CROP Meal from 4:45-7 p.m. on Oct. 27 in the main dining hall. Faculty, staff, and community members may purchase meals surrendered by students ($6 for adults, $4 for children) and enjoy "dinner out" paid for on the student meal plan. Proceeds go to CROP's hunger relief. The college community also is participating in the Bridgewater area CROP Hunger Walk on Oct. 30. CROP and its annual Hunger Walk are sponsored by Church World Service, and is the only US charity walk that raises funds to help feed people both in local communities and around the world. The 2011 walks are occurring in a heightened climate of need, according to CWS, following a 2010 US Census report that pegs poverty at a 52-year high. Last year, across the nation more than 172,400 people participated in some 1,500 CROP Walks, raising $14,189,341. For more go to www.cropwalk.org.

• Elizabethtown (Pa.) College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies on Oct. 18 welcomed the 2011 Dale Brown Book Award winners: David L. McConnell, professor of anthropology at the College of Wooster (Ohio) and Charles E. Hurst, emeritus professor of sociology at the College of Wooster. The two are authors of "An Amish Paradox," a study of Amish attempts to adapt and yet stay true to their heritage. Other upcoming events at the Young Center include a lecture by Steve Longenecker, professor of history at Bridgewater College, on "Civil War-Era Anabaptists and the Modern Nation-State," at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 27.

• McPherson (Kan.) College is hosting Martin E. Marty on Oct. 30. He will give the Religious Heritage Lecture at 7 p.m. at McPherson Church of the Brethren on the topic "What If We Weren't Polarized? Other Ways for Americans to Proceed." Marty is the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, a columnist for "The Christian Century," and author of "Righteous Empire," which won the National Book Award.

• Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., has received $552,200 from the National Science Foundation's Scholars in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics funding initiative to give students at junior colleges financial aid toward the completion of a bachelor's at Juniata, with the ultimate aim of attaining a graduate degree. The five-year grant will provide $10,000 scholarships, renewable for a second year at Juniata for students who have associate degrees to pursue two additional years of undergraduate education.

• New Community Project has released a list of Learning Tours for 2012: Nepal on Jan. 5-17; Harrisonburg, Va., on April 19-23, where participants will learn about organic gardening, greenhouse construction, and more; the Ecuadorian Amazon on June 13-22; Guatemala or the Dominican Republic on July 12-21; Denali/Kenai Fjords, Alaska, on Aug. 2-9; the Arctic Village and Arctic National Wildlife Range, Alaska, on Aug. 9-17. David Radcliff or Tom Benevento, along with on-site partners, provide leadership. Costs run from $250 to $1,150. For more go to www.newcommunityproject.org.

• A new movement is building interest among Brethren, according to a release from one of the organizers. "Called Feast of Love, this movement emerged following the 2011 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. Brethren came together via social media to grieve the brokenness within the denominational family of faith, and to find new ways to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ," said the release. A group of 16 people held a meeting on Oct. 7 to determine next steps. "The 16 who gathered in northern Indiana met to discuss priorities for Brethren communities of faith: women in leadership, LGBTQ inclusion, calling and credentialing justice, building cultures of peace, creation care, and collaboration in all things," the release said. The group will make a presentation at the Progressive Brethren Gathering on Nov. 11-13 at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, Ill. For more about the Progressive Brethren Gathering go to www.progressivebrethren.org.

• Former Annual Conference executive director Lerry W. Fogle has written his second book, "Blueprint for the Kingdom: The Purpose of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness." The book addresses how the tabernacle in the Old Testament was a blueprint or pattern for kingdom realities of the New Testament. Purchase at www.brethrenpress.com or www.blueprintforthekingdom.com or e-mail info@blueprintforthekingdom.com. Cost is $12.95 plus $4 shipping and handling.

• Peggy Gish of Christian Peacemaker Teams is one of the religious peacemakers featured in "'Waging Peace," an ABC-TV documentary airing between Oct. 23 and Dec. 18. The film highlights Christian and Muslim efforts to reach out to one another for understanding and reconciliation. It was distributed to ABC stations by the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission in cooperation with the National Council of Churches, and produced by Third Way Media, a department of MennoMedia. A preview is at www.WagingPeaceAlternatives.com.

• Eleanor and Gerald Roller of Roanoke (Va.) First Church of the Brethren have received the 2011 Peacemaker of the Year award from the Plowshare Peace Center in Roanoke.

• Viola Nicholson of Nettle Creek Church of the Brethren in Hagerstown, Ind., is celebrating her 101st birthday this Sunday, according to the "Palladium-Item." She was born Oct. 25, 1910.

Source:10/20/2011 Newsline

Credits

Newsline is produced by the news services of the Church of the Brethren. Contact the editor at cobnews@brethren.org.Contributors to this issue of Newsline include Jordan Blevins, Carol Blouch, Lesley Crosson, Chris Douglas, Anna Emrick, Kendra Flory, Anna Lisa Gross, Elizabeth Harvey, Mary Kay Heatwole, Genna Welsh Kasun, Karin Krog, Nancy Miner, Howard Royer, John Wall, Jenny Williams, Walt Wiltschek, Roy Winter, Jane Yount, and editor Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services for the Church of the Brethren.

Board makes decision to cease operating New Windsor Conference Center

The Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board has determined that "operating the New Windsor Conference Center is not in alignment with the directional goals of our strategic plan and not financially sustainable." The decision was made this afternoon through a consensus process during the board’s regular Fall meeting at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill.

The board’s decision is not about the Brethren Service Center property as a whole nor the other ministries located at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.

The board has directed the General Secretary to develop and implement plans to cease Conference Center operations as soon as is practical. Conference Center operations will not cease immediately. Staff has indicated that a minimum transition time of six months is expected.

The General Secretary and executive staff will be in close conversation with partner organizations at the Brethren Service Center about the decision to cease operations of the Conference Center. Those conversations will include continuing needs for hospitality for the many volunteers that serve at the Material Resources program, IMA World Health, and SERRV.

Financial background of the decision includes previous board consideration of the viability of the Conference Center dating back to 2007 and previous years. The Conference Center is a self-funded ministry and has been hit hard by the national economic downturn, beginning in 2008 and continuing through 2011. The past four years have seen annual financial losses at the Conference Center, this year already close to $145,000. The Conference Center’s net asset balance has been in negative territory for some years. As of Aug. 31 it exceeds $660,000. These financial losses reflect a continuing annual fall in number of nights of occupancy at the Conference Center and number of meals eaten in the Conference Center’s dining facility.

Associate executive director Roy Winter has been in communication with Conference Center staff concerning the board’s decision and is returning to New Windsor to be present personally as staff begin carrying out the board’s directive.

During the discussion of the New Windsor Conference Center, board members expressed concern for the effects of their decision on staff and on the wider Church of the Brethren, as well as ecumenical partners. The board recognized the tremendous place the Conference Center has held in the denomination, and members expressed concern for those in the church and beyond who have a passion for the Brethren Service Center. Board members spoke with deep appreciation for efforts of staff to mitigate expenses of the Conference Center, which were characterized as "heroic," and how staff has cared for needs of Brethren Service Center partners.

The board discussion also called for clear recognition that the Conference Center ceasing operations does not mean that other ministries at the Brethren Service Center will cease operations. Ministries continue at the Brethren Service Center including Brethren Disaster Ministries, Children’s Disaster Services, Material Resources, On Earth Peace, SERRV, IMA World Health, and the Mid-Atlantic District Office.

Source:10/16/2011 Newsline