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"For
we are God's fellow workers. . ." 1 Cor. 3:9a
NEWS
1) CAIR team responds to Charlotte plane crash.
2) Another big BVS unit is set to begin orientation in Florida.
3) CPT delegation member dies in Iraq accident; other updates.
4) Billboards bear Brethren opposition to war on Iraq.
5) NCC, others plan Martin Luther King Jr. Day prayer service.
6) BBT board approves new investment fund options, other changes.
7) World Council of Churches reduces its US staff presence.
8) Brethren bits: Heifer on TV, workcamps, awards, and more.
PERSONNEL
9) General Board cuts nine positions amid financial constraints.
10) Brethren Benefit Trust scales back staffing levels.
COMING
EVENTS
11) Disaster Child Care offers Level I training workshops.
12) McPherson event will kick off Regional Youth Conference season.
RESOURCES
13) Brethren Witness offers new stewardship of creation resources.
FEATURES
14) Two Brethren honored for carrying out spirit of Martin Luther
King Jr.
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1) A Child Care
in Aviation Incident Response (CAIR) team from the
General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries program
made
a quick response after a US Airways Express/Air Midwest plane
crashed in Charlotte, N.C., on Jan. 8. All 19 passengers and
two
crew members on board were killed when the small plane crashed
into
a hangar on takeoff.
Four CAIR team
members traveled to Charlotte the same day, at the
request of the American Red Cross, and set up a child-care center
the following day. The team reported that few child-care contacts
were needed, but they focused on helping surviving parents know
how
to talk with their children about the loss of a parent.
Cheryl Dekker
served as administrator for this response team, which
traveled home on Jan. 10. The accident came after more than a
year
with no commerical airline fatalities in the US, according to
CNN.
2) Numbers continue to surge for Brethren Volunteer Service as
Unit 252 prepares to hold orientation Jan. 19 to Feb. 3 at Camp
Ithiel, located near Orlando, Fla.
Nineteen volunteers
are scheduled to gather in Florida, nearly
double the number in last year's winter unit. This follows a
31-member fall unit that was the largest in more than a decade.
Unit 252 also has a higher average age than most units, with
seven
of the 19 volunteers between ages 26 and 50.
Four of the volunteers
are Brethren: Brittany Atwood, South
Waterloo (Iowa) Church of the Brethren; Jim Batterton, Woodland
Church or the Brethren, Astoria, Ill.; Drew Martin-Adkins,
Washington (D.C.) City Church of the Brethren; and Rachel Peterson,
New Carlisle (Ohio) Church of the Brethren.
The three-week
orientation will include a variety of speakers and
sessions, a weekend in Miami with the Eglise des Freres Haitian
congregation, and a day with National Farm Workers Ministries
near
Orlando.
3) A Christian
Peacemakers Teams reservist in Iraq was killed and
others injured in a motor vehicle accident on Jan. 6. George
Weber,
73, of Chesley, Ontario, was traveling with five other CPT
delegates en route from Basrah to Baghdad when the Chevrolet
Suburban he was traveling in blew a tire, fishtailed, and flipped
over as it hit the shoulder of the road.
Weber was thrown
from the vehicle and sustained massive head
injuries, according to a CPT report. Michele Naar-Obed of Duluth,
Minn., and Charlie Jackson of San Antonio, Texas, sustained
moderate injuries. Two others, including Church of the Brethren
member Pat Basler of Webster, Wis., were examined for minor
injuries and released.
"It was
pretty rough for us on top of the very emotional
experiences that are part of being with the people of Iraq,"
said
Brethren Cliff Kindy, who has been in Iraq with CPT for several
months. Kindy praised the Iraqi driver's efforts to avoid the
rollover after the blowout.
The 17-person
delegation had been in Iraq since Dec. 29, visiting
hospitals and other Iraqi civilian institutions to witness the
impact of more than a decade of sanctions and the possible threat
of another war against Iraq. Brethren Peggy Gish and Anne Albright
joined Basler and Kindy on the team. Albright and Basler were
scheduled to return to the US earlier this month. Another Brethren,
Nathan Musselman, has been in Iraq through Voices in the
Wilderness.
In related news,
a 13-member US National Council of Churches
delegation including general secretary Bob Edgar made a four-day
humanitarian mission to Iraq over the New Year holiday. The
delegation made a statement that "a war against Iraq will
make the
US less secure, not more secure." It noted that, "We
are called by
God to be peacemakers." Edgar shared about the group's findings
on
NBC's Today Show on Jan. 9.
A $15,000 grant
from the General Board's Global Food Crisis
Fund--part of a recent $50,000 grant to the Middle East Council
of
Churches--was carried to Iraq via this NCC delegation.
Brethren have
also had a presence in Europe, where Brethren
Volunteer Service worker Janelle Flory of McPherson, Kan., spoke
at
a demonstration at the Rhein-Main Airbase in Frankfurt, Germany.
She is serving with the German Fellowship of Reconciliation.
4) Brethren in
at least two areas are communicating their
opposition to Iraq in a big way -- by placing advertisements
on
billboards in the community.
Southern Ohio
District's Shalom Ministry Team is making an all-out
effort with its billboard project, which member Greg Bidgood
Enders
says is "well under way." The group is putting up 10
billboards
around the greater Dayton, Ohio, area. Five different designs
carry a photo by Brethren Witness director David Radcliff, each
portraying people who would be affected by war, and bear an
anti-war message.
Three of the
billboards were up as of Jan. 6. The billboards will
be displayed through January and February, and will be kept up
longer if more funds are received to continue the spots.
In Modesto, Calif.,
meanwhile, the Modesto congregation urged
several other churches in the area to join in sponsoring a
billboard in the city. It also bears one of Radcliff's photos
from
Iraq and says, "War destroys precious lives . . . on all
sides."
5) The National
Council of Churches (NCC) on Monday will help to
lead a prayer service for peace and justice in Washington, D.C.,
in
conjunction with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. A particular
emphasis will be given to efforts to avert a war with Iraq, and
to
the connection between war and poverty.
The event will
take place from 2:30-4 p.m. at the Washington
National Cathedral on the city's northwest side. A processional
to
the White House and a prayer vigil will follow the service.
The NCC said
it was seeking to rally "large numbers" of
congregations in the area to be part of the event. The Church
of
the Brethren Washington Office planned to have a presence, with
Washington Office coordinator Greg Davidson Laszakovits serving
as
the denomination's official representative.
Other sponsors
of the event include Sojourners, the Episcopal
Diocese of Washington, Children's Defense Fund, and Call to
Renewal. For more information, call 202-544-2350.
6) The Brethren
Benefit Trust board approved creation of a
Community Development Investment Fund as it met Nov. 23-24 at
the
Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The fund,
which will give Brethren Pension Plan members and Brethren
Foundation clients a guaranteed 3-percent rate of return each
year
beginning in 2003, will help to underwrite community development
projects in areas of need.
"The impact
of this fund will be at the grassroots level in
community projects that make a difference," BBT president
Wil Nolen
said. Investments will be placed with a development bank or credit
union and used to finance loans within that community. Loans
are
typically for construction or rehabilitation of low-income housing,
to assist low-income people in starting or expanding their own
businesses, or to support area non-profit organizations in their
work.
Investments in
the Community Development Fund will be through
Calvert Foundation's Community Investment Notes and Community
Investment Management Accounts. Some of BBT's international
investments will be directed for investment in countries where
the
Church of the Brethren is active, such as Nigeria, Sudan, and
the
Dominican Republic.
The BBT board
also approved a second new investment choice for
Brethren Foundation clients, a domestic small-cap stock fund,
which
will contain investments in companies that have a market
capitalization of less than $2 billion. The board also approved
adding a small-cap manager to the Retirement Benefits Fund and
the
Pension Plan's Common Stock Fund.
Two new measures
will help maintain proper funding of the Pension
Plan's Retirement Benefits Fund: a 10-percent adjustment to the
2000 actuarial tables for Plan members who annuitize after July
1,
2003, to more closely reflect true life-expectancy calculations;
and a directive for staff to bring to the April 2003 meeting
a
recommendation regarding the designation of a portion of BBT's
general reserves to the Retirement Benefits Fund, helping provide
a surplus until the economy rebounds.
An update was
given on the new Congregational Employee Plan medical
insurance program (which was launched on Jan. 1, 2003). And
beginning Jan. 1, 2004, participation in the Brethren Insurance
Plans will be "unbundled," meaning Plan members can
participate in
one or more of BBT's medical, life, and long-term care insurances
without participating in all three.
In other business,
the board:
*approved an increase in the maximum contribution to Brethren
FlexCare Medical Reimbursement Accounts from $2,500 to $3,500
effective Jan. 1, 2003.
*approved a housing
allowance exclusion of up to 100 percent of
gross income for ministers who receive a long-term disability
benefit; and a housing allowance exclusion of up to 100 percent
of
total retirement compensation for retired ministers.
*noted that 66
Brethren received assistance from BBT's Church
Workers Assitance Plan in 2003, and 46 people received Retired
Church Worker grants.
*approved a lump-sum
Supplemental Income for Equitable Annuitants
grant of $126,185 to be distributed among eligible retired lay
employees of the General Board.
*approved a 2003
expense budget of $2,545,000--a reduction from
$2,979,715 in 2002.
The board next
meets April 26-27 in Elgin, Ill.
7) The World
Council of Churches has announced a reduction of its
presence in the United States. A "special" meeting
of the board of
directors of the US Conference for the WCC will meet Feb. 26-28
in
Cleveland to discuss implications of the changes and reductions.
The meeting,
which will also celebrate the 65-year history of the
US office, will discuss the future role of the US Conference
in
view of "the restructured WCC and new ecumenical realities."
The
WCC announced program and staff cuts of more than $4.5 million
in
November to offset a projected budget shortfall.
Two US Office
staff positions--communications officer Philip E.
Jenks and special projects officer Sonia P. Omulepu--were included
in cuts of 16 full-time-equivalent positions. US Office director
Jean Stromberg concludes her contract with the WCC at the end
of
March.
Effective June
1, the WCC staff presence in the US will consist of
a "relationships officer" for US churches, a fund development
officer, and a United Nations liaison staff person, all assisted
by
a shared administrative person, according to a WCC release.
8) Brethren bits:
Other brief news notes from around the
denomination and elsewhere.
*Heifer International, which originally began in the Church of
the
Brethren as Heifer Project, was featured on NBC's Jan. 8 broadcast
of "The West Wing." The now-independent agency was
woven into the
storyline as the president wrestled with foreign aid issues.
The
episode concluded with the president and his staff posing around
a
Heifer goat for a photo.
*Two young adults
from Virlina District will serve as the 2004
workcamp coordinators in the General Board's Youth/Young Adult
Ministries office. Beth Rhodes of Central Church of the Brethren,
Roanoke, Va., and Cindy Laprade of Antioch Church of the Brethren,
Rocky Mount, Va., will begin in August 2003 through Brethren
Volunteer Service and plan the junior high, senior high, and
young
adult workcamps to be offered the following summer. Registration
for this year's workcamps, coordinated by Jaime Eller and Heidi
Gross, is now open at www.brethren.org/genbd/yya/workcamps/.
*The Cedars retirement
community of McPherson, Kan., was one of
seven nursing home facilities in Kansas recognized as a 2002
PEAK
(Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas) Pioneer. Kansas
Secretary of Aging Connie Hubbell presented the award to The
Cedars
on Nov. 12. It recognizes non-traditional models of care. All
award-winners will also be recognized at the Governor's Conference
on Aging in May.
*The Valley Point
Church of the Brethren, near Orbisonia, Pa., in
Middle Pennsylvania District, recently sustained severe structural
damage to its building due to strong winds from a storm system.
*This coming
week, Jan. 18-25, is designated ecumenically as the
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This year's theme, taken
from
2 Corinthians 4:5-18, is "We hold this treasure--this gift--in
earthen vessels . . . therefore we do not lose heart . . ."
*Ten Church of
the Brethren members are participating in the
annual Nigeria workcamp sponsored by the General Board's Global
Mission Partnerships office. Four workcampers from Swiss mission
partner Mission 21 are joining them for the trip, which runs
from
Jan. 18 to Feb. 16.
*A lectionary
scripture reading calendar link and questions for
study and discerment have been added to the General Board's
Congregational Life Ministries website. Visit
www.brethren.org/genbd/clm.
*About two dozen
Brethren from coast to coast are part of a New
Church Development training seminar for coaching new church
planters, being held this week in Phoenix. A full report will
be
included in the Jan. 31 Newsline.
*According to
statistics from Bethany Theological Seminary, 82
students took classes in Bethany's graduate school in the fall
semester. Ten of these were at the Susquehanna Valley Satellite,
and the remainder at the main Richmond, Ind., campus. Forty-eight
were M.Div. students, and 32 were Brethren college alumni. Another
102 people, representing 22 of the 23 districts, were enrolled
in
Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership programs.
*Naomi West of
the Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren was
recognized Nov. 21 by the Virginia Council of Churches for her
many
years of work with refugees, both within the Church of the Brethren
and ecumenically. West continues as an active member of the
Shenandoah District Refugee Resettlement Task Team.
*Skyridge Church
of the Brethren in Kalamazoo, Mich., which made
waves this past summer with the ordination of an openly gay man,
recently performed another first--the ordination of the
denomination's first military chaplain. Edward "Ike"
Porter
transferred his membership from the Mennonite Church to Skyridge,
where he and his family had been attending regularly for years,
on
Jan. 12. Skyridge pastor Debbie Eisenbise says Porter is a "very
strong pacifist" who sees his work at the VA mental hospital
in
nearby Battle Creek as a way to help people "heal from the
scars of
war."
*Southern Ohio
District will hold its first Church of the Brethren
Emergency Response/Service Ministries auction on April 5 at the
Oakland Church of the Brethren, Gettysburg, Ohio. Proceeds will
go
to ER/SM to support disaster relief efforts.
*To clarify an
item in the Jan. 3 Newsline, proceeds from the sale
of Indiana youth Emily Laudeman's new CD will benefit the "If
a
Tree Falls..." campaign of Brethren Witness.
*Due to a new
structure of its program division and the growth of
programs, Brethren Colleges Abroad has hired two new program
officers who begin this month. Natasha Latysheva-Derova will
be the
program officer for programs in the United Kingdom, Ireland,
Australia, and New Zealand; Jason Sanderson will be program officer
for programs in continental Europe, India, and Japan. Emily
Caldwell shifts from program associate to a new role of coordinator
for college and university relations.
9) Facing escalating
costs, a downturn in investments, and reduced
giving, the General Board last week made the "difficult
decision"
to eliminate several staff positions effective Jan. 10.
Those whose positions
were cut included Congregational Life Team
Area 4 (Plains) coordinator David Smalley, Congregational Life
Team
support staff Vickie Hoerchler, District Ministry office secretary
Georgianna Schmidtke, and Accounts Receivable specialist Dianne
Buttrum. Each will receive a three-month severance package of
regular
salary and benefits.
Smalley was based
in Kansas City, Kan., and the others at the
General Offices in Elgin, Ill. In addition, four vacant
positions--three in the Congregational Life Team program and
the
Editor of Study Resources for Brethren Press--were eliminated.
Area
4 will be covered by other Congregational Life Team members as
the
program moves to a less-regionalized approach.
Packer Virginia
Long and medical receiver Sam Moledina were also
each reduced to half-time at the Brethren Service Center in New
Windsor, Md., accounting for a reduction of one Service Ministries
position.
The cuts were
determined by the general secretary with consensus
from the staff Leadership Team and the General Board's Executive
Committee, following the process set up by the General Board.
Additional adjustments to the agency's budget and structure are
expected in the coming months.
10) Brethren
Benefit Trust continued to scale back its staffing in
the final quarter of 2002, reducing the hours of one position
and
leaving another unfilled following a resignation.
Senior accountant
Luc Lee resigned in December, although he
continues to assist BBT's finance department on a call-in basis.
BBT president Wil Nolen said there are no plans to fill the
position.
Also this fall,
marketing coordinator Loyce Borgmann's position was
reduced from full-time to half-time. A senior writer position
and
manager of human resources position left open during the year
by a
resignation and termination, respectively, are also expected
to go
unfilled.
Combined, the
moves represent a total reduction of three and a half
full-time positions at BBT since the start of 2002. An additional
reduction of one and a half positions occurred in 2001.
11) The Disaster
Child Care program of the General Board's
Emergency Response/Service Ministries office will again offer
a
series of Level I training workshops in 2003. Under the theme
"Courage to Care," at least six of the training sessions--which
provide the basic instruction for those seeking to be a Disaster
Child Care volunteer--will be offered this spring.
Locations and
dates for workshops have been set as follows:
Jacksonville, Fla., March 7-8; Fort Myers, Fla., March 14-15;
Wichita, Kan., March 14-15; West Point, Neb., April 4-5; and
Salkum, Wash., April 11-12. Another workshop is planned for
Decatur, Ala., in late April or May, and one in New Hampshire
or
Massachusetts is being considered.
Participants
should register at least three weeks before the
workshop dates to get a $45 early registration fee; the final
deadline is two weeks before, with a registration fee of $55.
Fee
for certified volunteers seeking re-training is $25.
Additional details
on the program are at
www.brethren.org/genbd/ersm/DCCTraining.htm. For more information
contact Helen Stonesifer at 800-451-4407, ext. 5 or
hstonesifer_gb@brethren.org, or Roy Winter at 800-451-4407,
ext. 7
or rwinter_gb@brethren.org.
12) A Church
of the Brethren Regional Youth Conference at
McPherson (Kan.) College Feb. 28-March 2 will kick off a series
of
similar meetings for senior high youth around the country.
The theme for
the McPherson event will follow the national youth
theme, "Let Us Love Not In Word Or Speech, But In Truth
And
Action." General Board Brethren Witness director David Radcliff
will be the main speaker, with music provided by Shawn Kirchner
of
La Verne, Calif.
Other features
of the weekend will be breakout sessions on topics
such as Trees for Life, Brethren Volunteer Service, and specialty
areas of the McPherson faculty and staff, as well as a service
project in the community.
Cost is $50.
Registration deadline is Feb. 17; forms were mailed
this week to churches in the Plains region. For more details,
contact campus pastor Kenny Manhamo at 620-241-0731.
Other regional
youth events scheduled this spring are as follows:
*Eastern Regional Youth Conference, at Juniata College, Huntingdon,
Pa., March 7-9. The theme will follow up on the National Youth
Conference theme, ". . . for such a time as this."
Keynote
presenters will be Mennonite comedy team Ted Swartz & Lee
Eshleman
(Ted & Lee). Joseph Helfrich will be music coordinator for
the
weekend, which will also include an opening night "film
fest."
*Roundtable, at Bridgewater (Va.) College March 28-30 for youth
in
the southeastern region from Mid-Atlantic to Atlantic Southeast.
The theme is "Let Your Life Speak" with keynote speaker
Millard
Fuller of Habitat for Humanity. A Christian comedy team will
provide opening night entertainment.
*Regional Youth
Conference at Manchester College, North Manchester,
Ind., for Midwestern youth Apr. 25-27. The theme will be "Called
by
a New Name," following up on the vocational emphasis at
the 2002
National Youth Conference. Kelly Burk, Rachel Gross, David
Radcliff, and Manchester students will share personal stories
of
calls to their respective vocations. Joseph Helfrich will provide
Saturday evening entertainment.
The Western Regional
Youth Conference is held only once every four
years; the next one is scheduled for summer 2004.
13) Two new initiatives
from the General Board's Brethren Witness
office aim to help Brethren practice better stewardship of God's
creation.
"To Till
and Keep: Living as Stewards of God's Creation in a
Consumer Society," is a new four-session study guide prepared
by
Carol Lena Miller of Roanoke, Va. The study materials, written
for
adults and older youth, offer reflection on biblical texts, give
information about current abuses of God's earth, and invite
Brethren to think about how to live in a more sustainable way
and
in a way that uses only one's fair share of the earth's bounty.
Miller is a volunteer
program assistant for stewardship of creation
with the Brethren Witness office. The materials can be obtained
free of charge by contacting Brethren Witness at 800-323-8039,
ext.
228 or witness_gb@brethren.org.
The SOS (Stewards
of Sacred Space) project offers a hands-on and
money-saving approach to exercising better stewardship in church
buildings and church members' homes.
Tom Benevento
of Madison, Wis., is available to visit congregations
for weekend workshops. A typical visit might include a meeting
with
church leaders at church facilities to assess energy stewardship
and appropriate lawn care--with an eye toward both reducing
congregations' impact on God's earth and on cost savings--then
meeting in a member's home to discuss cost-saving and
earth-preserving options in one's personal dwelling.
Along with this
collaboration with the Brethren Witness office,
Benevento also works as part-time staff with the Global Mission
Partnerships office, as Latin America consultant. Contact him
directly at 608-249-4131 or through Brethren Witness (800-323-8039,
witness_gb@brethren.org). Learn more about the
SOS project at the
Brethren Witness website, at www.brethren.org/genbd/witness.
14) Two Brethren
are receiving awards named for Martin Luther King
Jr. as the US prepares to observe a day named for the civil rights
leader.
Ambler (Pa.)
Church of the Brethren member Ron Lutz is receiving
the Martin Luther King Jr. Award from the Wissahickon Faith
Community, representing the ministerium of the region northwest
of
Philadelphia. The award is jointly sponsored by Bethlehem Baptist
Church, an African-American congregation that will host the worship
service at which the award will be presented on Monday.
"It's a
real honor to be awarded this," Lutz said. This new honor
and the Edgar Baker Award he received for his community work
while
pastor at the Germantown Church of the Brethren in Philadelphia
are
"probably the outstanding ones I've received," he said.
Lutz has worked
at reconciliation with gangs in Germantown, has
assisted with numerous community organizations such as food
cupboards and homeless programs, and has championed the Prison
Visitation and Support ministry that began with visits to
conscientious objectors in jail after World War II. Today, visits
are made to those in federal prisons who aren't visited by anyone
else, Lutz said. About 300 visitors now participate nationwide.
Lutz pastored
at both Germantown and Ambler before retiring in
1999. He says he hasn't dropped off at all in his volunteer work,
however.
Former Highland
Avenue Church of the Brethren pastor Don Shank,
meanwhile, received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 2003
Humanitarian Award in Elgin, Ill., at a breakfast event on Jan.
11.
Shank was honored for his work in religion/civil rights,
recognizing his "efforts on behalf of peace, reconciliation,
and
justice in the Elgin community."
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