General Board considers mission, love, and unity.

The Church of the Brethren General Board met March 9-12 at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. Chair Jeff Neuman-Lee led the meeting on the theme, “Continuing the Mission,” from Matthew 5.

The agenda focused on mission with reports from Church of the Brethren missions in Brazil and Haiti, and also included an interim report from the committee studying ministry options at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., among other business items and reports.

Special events included a report of a new sociological study of Brethren, a report from Annual Conference moderator Belita Mitchell about her just-completed trip to Nigeria, and a presentation by the author of “Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism” (see stories below).

Mission in Brazil:

Marcos and Suely Inhauser, mission coordinators in Brazil and leaders of Igreja da Irmandade (Church of the Brethren in Brazil), reported the new church’s experience over its first six years. They thanked the board for the opportunity to share both progress and disappointments. “It is a hard task for me to be here today,” Marcos Inhauser said as he spoke of his deep discouragement over setbacks in the last year or more.

The board authorized the start of the mission in March 2001. Weeks later, the church had already held its inaugural worship service, and in a few more weeks some 150 people were worshiping. Over the next couple of years the Inhausers helped the church call pastoral leadership, place a dozen people in theological training, and plant five congregations.

“Excitement does not equal commitment,” Inhauser said as he listed some “tough lessons learned.” The Brethren church leaders are faced with cultural pressures and opposition because they are “doing a different style of church than Brazilians are used to,” he said, which has led to internal tensions among leaders. Other setbacks are the closing of two congregations and declines in attendance in others, and financial difficulties. In a disturbing incident that is becoming common in Brazil, the church treasurer was kidnaped and forced to withdraw church funds from the bank.

The Inhausers also celebrate active ministries such as the teaching of handcrafts to low-income people to help them support their families, a clinical therapy ministry that Suely Inhauser offers, and the church’s website that is regularly used as a resource by pastors in other denominations. The Brazilian Brethren have been encouraged by the arrival of two new community outreach workers, placed through Brethren Volunteer Service.

“Even when we have problems, God supports us,” Marcos Inhauser told the board, adding that he can see signs of hope. Board members and others responded by gathering around the Inhausers, surrounding them with laying on of hands and prayer.

Mission in Haiti:

Ludovic St. Fleur, coordinator of the mission in Haiti and pastor of Eglise des Freres Haitiens in Miami and the Orlando (Fla.) Haitian Fellowship, reported as well. “In Haiti there is both bad and good news,” he said.

In 2003 St. Fleur was called to return to Haiti to begin the Church of the Brethren mission. Over four years, a congregation and two preaching points have been started. The church has baptized more than 35 people.

However, kidnapings are also terrorizing Haiti, where church attendance has declined and a children’s ministry has been affected because people fear leaving their homes. The children’s ministry has fallen to an attendance of some 75, from a high of around 125, St. Fleur said.

But the church is continuing in faith and continuing to meet. St. Fleur gave examples of the committed people who are a part of the church, including Sister Mary, who had been a part of the church in Miami and after returning to Haiti hosted the first gathering of Brethren in her house. She has since passed away.

Challenges in Haiti include the need to move the church building because it is in an area designated for development by the government.

“We need your prayers for how God can open doors for the Church of the Brethren in Haiti,” St. Fleur said. He added a request for prayer for his congregation in Miami, which has been a chief financial supporter of the mission. Following the original planning of the Mission and Ministries Planning Council (MMPC) and the General Board, so far the mission has received minimal financial support from the board. St. Fleur’s report also concluded with laying on of hands and prayer.

Problems of locating and recruiting funding for mission work was the subject of discussion during financial reports and following the reports from Brazil and Haiti. In part to address this, the board passed a resolution requesting the Annual Conference officers to “give annual opportunity at Annual Conference for the marketing of General Board ministries especially for the current emphasis.”

Brethren Service Center:

“We believe the Brethren Service Center should be continued, strengthened, and undergirded with new vision,” said the Brethren Service Center Ministry Options Exploration Committee, in an interim report presented by chair Dale Minnich.

The committee has identified two main missions of the center: synergy of agencies meeting human needs, and influence on individuals who pass through. “The Brethren Service Center revolves around efforts to meet human need, which continues to be urgently relevant,” Minnich said. He characterized it as a “reservoir of passion” for those who have worked or volunteered there. Two General Board ministries located at the center--the New Windsor Conference Center and Service Ministries--face some management challenges, he said, but added that “we believe all ministries at the Brethren Service Center can be financially viable for the foreseeable future.”

The committee will bring a working draft of a final report to the General Board on June 30 at its pre-Annual Conference meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. Following that, the committee plans a “season of welcomed comments and questions” including hearings in New Windsor and elsewhere. The report will come to the board for action in October.

In other business:

The board heard about work in progress to update the “Ethics in Ministry Relations” document of 1996 and received reports from the Executive Committee’s trip to the Gulf Coast (go to www.cobwebcast.bethanyseminary.edu for a webcast from the trip, go to www.brethren.org/genbd/ersm/ExCommTourGulfStates2007.ppt for a powerpoint presentation), the Global Food Crisis Fund, a Faith Expedition to Vietnam, and financial reports, among others.

The Executive Committee confirmed Stephen L. Longenecker to a four-year term on the Brethren Historical Committee. Longenecker is chair of History and Political Science at Bridgewater (Va.) College.

The board also approved the annual report, spent time in a small-group discussion of the challenges of new information and communication technologies, and heard commendations for retiring employees. An offering received more than $1,500 for the Ministry Assistance Fund, which assists ministers in crisis.

St. Fleur and the Inhausers led opening and closing worship services respectively. Jesus taught two things very clearly, St. Fleur said: unity and love. “Today I urge...the General Board to make every effort to keep unity.” Suely Inhauser preached a sermon calling church leaders to seek their own personal transformation through Jesus Christ. “It’s not enough to be a leader. It’s necessary to have a transformation,” she said. “I want this for my church, I want this for you, I want this for the world.”

Neuman-Lee led Sunday morning worship, speaking on Jesus’ Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem. “When you go with trust in God, and love for others, there will be a resurrection,” he said.

On the final morning the board called on its members and employees to join in a prayer covenant. The covenant urges daily prayer for the programs and ministries of Annual Conference and the Church of the Brethren agencies--the General Board, Association of Brethren Caregivers, Bethany Seminary, Brethren Benefit Trust, and On Earth Peace. Participants also covenant to pray weekly with a prayer partner.

“We...have felt the challenge of our Master’s call to love and unity,” the covenant said, “for God’s love and unity to embody all our work and relationships.”

Source: 3/14/2007 Newsline