By Joshua Brockway, director of Spiritual Life and Discipleship Last summer I had the privilege of participating in the Sankofa Journey hosted by the Evangelical Covenant Church. Sankofa is an intentional effort to address racial injustice both within the church and in society. We traveled in mixed-race pairs on a bus to historically significant sites
Congregational Life Ministries
A passion to serve
By Paige Butzlaff Since high school I knew I would join Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS). Little did I know that it would shape me for the rest of my life. But what I’ve come to discover throughout this whole experience, from switching projects, from being hospitalized due to depression, from continuously doubting my capabilities to
Seeking the welfare of the city
By Josh Brockway, director of Spiritual Life and Discipleship I attended worship on New Year’s Eve with close friends at their congregation. The sermon that night emerged from the pastor’s study of Jeremiah 29. For that time of the year, his sermon was appropriately focused on verse 11: “For surely I know the plans I
Mutuality in mission
By Debbie Eisenbise, director of Intergenerational Ministries Someone recently asked me what I believe it means to be Brethren. Thinking back, I realized that it was a simple phrase that convinced me to join the church. I didn’t grow up in the Church of the Brethren. I grew up going to church, studied religion in
Amazing
By Mark Flory Steury, Donor Relations representative “It’s amazing how much the Church of the Brethren is able to do.” This is a comment I hear often as I talk with congregational leaders and pastors about the denominational work of the Church of the Brethren. It has been my joy to visit many congregations over
Faithfulness through anxious times
A reflection by Josh Brockway, director of Spiritual Life and Discipleship Truth be told, I wasn’t ready for my pastoral care class in seminary. One spring afternoon we participated in a role play exercise in which the scene was a funeral. Most of the class was the congregation, and one classmate lay on a table
Sharing great love
By Debbie Eisenbise, director of Intergenerational Ministries “Don’t look for big things; just do small things with great love.”—Mother Theresa Sometimes all it takes is a simple request. The theme of National Older Adult Conference (NOAC) last September —“Then Jesus Told Them a Story”— inspired such a request. The goal: collect enough new picture books to give one to
Sharing the story
By Josh Brockway, director of Spiritual Life and Discipleship At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus shares the “Great Commission”— “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded
Stories of NOAC 2015
By Kim Ebersole, former director of National Older Adult Conference (NOAC) The creative energy was flowing as the 2015 NOAC planning team gathered for its initial meeting in May 2014. The primary concern of every NOAC planning committee is to create an experience that inspires, nurtures, challenges, and renews those who attend. Again and again,
Being an Offering
A sermon by Lauren Seganos for the National Jr. High Conference 2015 “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life—and place it before God as an offering” (Romans 12:1-2, The Message). What comes to mind when you hear the word “offering”? I think of the offering plates we pass during worship.