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| Photo by Regina Holmes |
| Jill Dineen, executive director of Classroom Central, thanks the Church of the Brethren for donations of school supplies, and receives a check from moderator Bob Krouse (at left) representing cash donations from Conferencegoers who traveled by plane to the host city Charlotte and could not bring school supplies with them. |
— A two-page Wrap Up of Annual Conference 2013 has been posted at www.brethren.org/ac2013 along with more news reports from the Conference that took place in Charlotte, N.C., on June 29-July 3. The Wrap Up in pdf format is designed to be downloaded and shared by churches in Sunday bulletins or newsletters, or as a hand out for delegate reports from the Conference.
— “We are wowed,” said Classroom Central of Charlotte, N.C., in a web post about the school supplies donated during Annual Conference: 26,682 pencils, 9,216 pens, 1,500 packs of crayons, 1,396 erasers, 1,026 packs of markers, 384 one-subject notebooks, 654 backpacks, 198 rulers, 165 gluesticks, 127 pairs of scissors, 118 highlighters, 61 composition books, 38 calculators, totaling 43,183 items. “With over half the region’s children living at or below poverty level, many parents are not always able to supply their kids with the basic items needed at school,” Classroom Central noted. “The donation from Church of the Brethren will make such an incredible impact in the six districts we serve, providing students in need with essential tools needed to learn! Thanks to our contact person, Chris, and all the members of the church who made this happen.” See the full post at http://classroomcentral.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/we-are-wowed .
— The Womaen’s Caucus honored Pamela Brubaker with a “Mother of Caucus” award during the 2013 Conference. Brubaker is professor of religion at California Lutheran University and author of “She Hath Done What She Could: A History of Women’s Participation in the Church of the Brethren” (1985, Brethren Press) as well as more recent volumes on globalization and other issues related to women and economics including “Globalization at What Price? Economic Change and Daily Life” and “Women Don’t Count: The Challenge of Women’s Poverty to Christian Ethics.” She participated in encounters between the World Council of Churches, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank in 2003 where she presented papers on Christian faith and economic justice, and was a presenter at the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Jamaica. She co-chairs the Los Angeles based organization Sweatshop Action Committee of Progressive Christians Uniting, was co-chair of the Ethics Section of the American Academy of Religion for a three-year term, and is currently on the board of the Society of Christian Ethics. For more about Womaen’s Caucus go to http://womaenscaucus.wordpress.com/tag/womaens-caucus .