Fellowship of Brethren Homes Forum to Meet in Lancaster, Pa.

By Kim Ebersole

Photo by Kim Ebersole
Jonathan Shively of the Church of the Brethren Congregational Life Ministries, at the Fellowship of Brethren Homes Forum in April 2013.

The Brethren Village Retirement Community in Lancaster, Pa., will host this year’s Fellowship of Brethren Homes Forum on April 14-16. Representatives from member communities will be joined by several denominational staff members for three days of training, updates, networking, and sharing best practices in long-term care.

Scheduled presenters and their topics include Malcolm Nimick of Ascension Capital Enterprises and David Slack of Aging Research Institute discussing latest trends; Suzanne Owens of MHS Consulting on maximizing occupancy; former Fellowship of Brethren Homes executive director Shari McCabe presenting on succession planning and successful retiring; and Ursula Post, a resident of Brethren Village.

In addition, Jeff Shireman from the Lebanon Valley Brethren Home will review their community’s Green House experiment, and John Warner of Brethren Retirement Community will give an overview and update of the Gahagen Fund.

Jonathan Shively and Kim Ebersole of the denomination’s Congregational Life Ministries, and Nevin Dulabaum and Loyce Borgmann of Brethren Benefit Trust and the Brethren Foundation,  also will give presentations.

This will be the first forum under the leadership of Fellowship of Brethren Homes executive director Carol Davis, who assumed her position in September 2013 upon the retirement of Shari McCabe.

The Fellowship of Brethren Homes comprises 22 retirement communities related to the Church of the Brethren. The fellowship works together on common challenges such as long-term care needs, uncompensated care, and nurturing relationships with Brethren congregations and districts. A directory of member communities can be found at www.brethren.org/homes .

— Kim Ebersole is director of Family Life and Older Adult Ministry for the Church of the Brethren.

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