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Stanley J. Noffsinger, who has guided the work of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., since June 1999, has been called as the next general secretary of the Church of the Brethren General Board. The general secretary serves as the head of the denomination's primary ministry and administrative arm and represents the Church of the Brethren ecumenically.

Noffsinger, who also oversees the General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries program, received unanimous approval from the General Board as it met in closed session Monday morning in New Windsor. He was the only candidate brought by the board's search committee, chaired by Stafford Frederick of Roanoke, Va.

In remarks to a full house of board members, staff, and visitors, Noffsinger said it has been "just an incredible discernment process."

"I'd love to take my jacket off and my tie off and roll up my sleeves, because we have a lot of difficult work to do," Noffsinger said. He called Brethren to roll up their sleeves as well and join in that work as "we embark on a venture of faith and . . . discern who the Church of the Brethren is going to be in this new millennium."

Noffsinger, 48, will succeed Judy Mills Reimer, who is retiring in July after leading the agency for the past five years. Reimer made Noffsinger a member of the General Board's Leadership Team in March 2000 in an administrative reorganization. He will be the first non-ordained person to serve as general secretary.

A graduate of Manchester College (North Manchester, Ind.), Noffsinger also holds a certificate in Total Quality Management from Wichita (Kan.) State University. Noffsinger moved to the New Windsor position from Wichita, where he had served as manager of three medical clinics and as a physician placement coordinator. He earlier operated his own leasing company and served as associate in youth ministries at the Wichita First Church of the Brethren. He was moderator of Western Plains District from 1997-1999.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Noffsinger also served at the Brethren Service Center in the mid-1970s, as director of the Church World Service CROP office then located there. He and his wife, Debbie, and two sons now live in Union Bridge, Md., and attend the Westminster (Md.) Church of the Brethren.

Noffsinger will maintain his residency in Maryland, with dual offices of the general secretary in both New Windsor and at the agency's General Offices in Elgin, Ill., which will continue to serve as denominational headquarters.

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