Monday, July 14
Feature

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Art Gish was one of the presenters at an insight session titled, "Kassel House, Katrina and Karbela: The WWII Brethren Service Explosion and Possibilities for Longterm Recovery after Katrina and the Iraq War." Photo by Glenn Riegel

Staff of SHARE Ministries and the Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola were guests of Brethren Disaster Ministries and presented an insight session on the assistance Brethren have provided in Angola following the country's nearly 30 years of civil war. Photo by Glenn Riegel

Baldemar Velasquez greets people following the Global Ministries Dinner. He spoke on the topic, "Immigration and Farm Labor: Toward Faithful Policy." Photo by Janis Pyle

"BRETHREN LIFE AND THOUGHT" LUNCHEON HEARS FROM DALE STOFFER
Admitting that he has only danced one time in his life, at his daughter’s wedding, scholar, professor, writer, and speaker Dale R. Stoffer admitted that describing the dance between the Brethren Church and the Church of the Brethren would be a little awkward.

Stoffer recalled that initially at the time of the main schisms of the Brethren movement in the late 1800s, the Progressives (who became the Brethren Church) were reluctant to officially organize because they hoped for reconciliation with the German Baptist Brethren (who eventually called themselves the Church of the Brethren). However, by 1883 the signs were clear. As a result, this is not only the 300th Anniversary of the first Brethren baptism, but also the 125th anniversary of the organization of the Brethren Church.

In the early years of the 20th century there were informal channels of engagement between the two bodies. A landmark meeting occurred between the two churches on Nov. 13, 1915. “Conversations revealed much common ground,” Stoffer said. It was decided to wait until the Spirit was right, but that the effort towards union should be continued.

Brethren efforts to unify were rebuffed by the conservative voices in the Church of the Brethren on several occasions in the years that followed. Instead, efforts were instituted to cooperate, rather than unite throughout the 1920s. The Church of the Brethren did not become the lead partner in the dance until the 1930s.

By that time, however, separation had created fears. Now it was the Brethren Church that had qualms, in part led by the fundamentalists. So when, in 1934 and 1936 the Church of the Brethren seemed ready for a serious conversation for unity, this time it was the General Conference of the Brethren Church that tabled the proposals.

Brethren Church became worried that there were “serious modernistic tendencies” in the Church of the Brethren. The same people who had called for unity in the 1920s were now part “of a widening rift between those who were traditionally Brethren and those who were influenced by fundamentalism.” These concerns would lead to the break by those who formed the Grace Brethren.

In the 70 years since then, there has been a great deal of inactivity in the movement for fraternal relations. Stoffer said the Brethren Church has strongly resisted any discussion of merger with the Church of the Brethren, but has been very open towards cooperation towards many activities, such as the shared Nigerian mission field, disaster relief, the Brethren Encyclopedia, and other areas of scholarship.

Since that time, the bodies have been dancing to two different tunes, Stoffer said--the Church of the Brethren to the music of mainline Christianity, and the Brethren Church to the music of evangelicalism. Stoffer styled the new relationship as “Cooperative Separatism.”

-- Frank Ramirez is pastor of Everett (Pa.) Church of the Brethren

The youth went to a historic Civil War site on Belle Isle, in the middle of the James River, for their service project today. The group worked on clean up of the island. Photo by Glenn Riegel	Two of the youth who took part in the service work this morning. Photo by Glenn Riegel
Youth receive instructions for the clean up project. Photo by Justin Hollenberg	Some went to great lengths to retrieve trash. Photo by Justin Hollenberg
Bags of trash are the result of the youth effort. Photo by Glenn Riegel	Other volunteers worked at the Central Virginia Food Bank for today's service blitz. Photo by Sarah Kovacs