— The family of the late Dale Brown has announced the date and time for his memorial service on Sunday, Nov. 7, at 3 p.m. (Eastern time). There will be a streaming option and an in-person event with masks required, hosted at Manchester Church of the Brethren in North Manchester, Ind. Music and a slideshow will precede the service beginning at 2:40 p.m. The YouTube link for the livestream event online will become active at 2:40 p.m. on Nov. 7 and subsequently will provide a link to view the recording of the service. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEixMZVX_Ko
— National Youth Conference coordinator Erika Clary and director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries Becky Ullom Naugle are offering an online Q&A session next Monday, Nov. 1, at 8 p.m. (Eastern time) to answer questions about the upcoming NYC 2022. Register for the call at http://ow.ly/prvK50GvF3G.
— Brethren Press has announced a Nov. 1 deadline for advance savings on the new children’s book Maria’s Kit of Comfort, a story based on the Children’s Disaster Services “kit of comfort.” Pre-order by calling 800-441-3712 or go to www.brethrenpress.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=9780871783073.
Also in time for the holiday season, Brethren Press is offering Christmas cards in packs of 10, displaying calligraphy by Gwen Stamm of the Bible text “In the beginning was the Word” on the outside, and on the inside “And the Word became flesh and lived among us. Behold the glory of Christ.” Go to www.brethrenpress.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=1836.
— New contact and address information has been announced for South Central Indiana District. The district office phone number is 260-274-0396. The district office mailing address is P.O. Box 32, North Manchester, IN 46962-0032. The district office street address is 645 Bond St., Wabash, IN 46992-2002. Email addresses remain unchanged.
— Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind., is celebrating 132 years with a parade on Nov. 5. The school, which is connected with the Church of the Brethren, got its start on Nov. 5, 1889, when Roanoke Classical Seminary moved to North Manchester. “One hundred thirty-two years later, Manchester University is celebrating Founders Day with a parade and birthday celebration,” said a release. “The parade led by the Spartan Pride Marching Band begins at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at the corner of College Avenue and Wayne Street. It will go east on College Avenue and then north to Cordier Auditorium on the Manchester Mall, then south and over to the Jo Young Switzer Center for refreshments in Haist Commons. The public is welcome to watch the parade. Masks are not required outside on campus, but they must be worn inside all buildings. Megan Julian (’07) Sarber, assistant director of donor relations, is organizing the Founders Day celebration.” Find the full release with more details of the school’s history and its Church of the Brethren connections at www.manchester.edu/about-manchester/news/news-articles/2021-news-articles/mu-to-celebrate-132-years-with-nov.-5-founders-day-parade.
— A recent Dunker Punks newsletter listed the first of its fall line-up of podcasts:
118, “We Are Part of One Another,” featured Anna Lisa Gross interviewing another panel of from the Womaen’s Caucus about their stories as women in church leadership.
119, “More Than a Song,” shares insights on how music is “more than” from Matt Rittle and Mandy North.
120, “Arts on the Hill,” hears from Jessie Houff, Agnes Chen, and Jacob Crouse from Washington (D.C.) City Church of the Brethren about their church’s community arts ministry.
121, “Forgive Them,” gives a glimpse of the complexities of the Christian act of forgiving, with Gabriel Padilla.
Also listed in the newsletter were this summer’s “bonus” podcasts on theopoetics:
Theopoetics 1, “Good God,” asks how people of faith struggle with the question of how a good God created a world with so much strife in it, with Matt Rittle and Bethany Seminary faculty Scott Holland.
Theopoetics 2 “Is God Dead?” asks how can poetry help us progress in our beliefs and explore our questions of faith, led by Rittle and Holland.
Theopoetics 3, “The Blessed Assurance of ‘Perhaps,’” asks what it would mean for our questions about faith–or even our doubts–bring us joy, with Rittle, Julia Baker Swann, and Carol Davis.
Theopoetics 4, “The God Beyond the God We Name,” wraps up the summer’s bonus series on theopoetics, with Rittle and Holland.
Find the Dunker Punks webpage and links to podcasts at http://arlingtoncob.org/dpp.
— In the latest episode of the Brethren Voices television show for community access stations, host Brent Carlson interviews Carol Mason. She compiled stories of the Nigerian Brethren and Muslims of Nigeria who survived the violent attacks of the Boko Haram for a recent book published by Brethren Press. The stories were supplemented by the photographs of Donna Parcell, and became the book We Bear It in Tears. The stories represent various affected areas of Nigeria, widely ranging types of experiences, and diverse populations. Together they are a significant effort at establishing a sustainable peace in Nigeria, giving voice to the women, men, and children who have suffered. “By hearing their stories, we share their burden of tears,” said an announcement of the new episode. “By seeing their faces, we witness an enduring faith and a commitment to nonviolence. These are not merely symbols of violence, but individuals with real stories, real families, and real pain.” Mason was a mission worker in Nigeria for 12 years, at a time when programs that were begun by the Church of the Brethren were being turned over to Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria and local government bodies. Find this and other episodes of Brethren Voices on YouTube.
— Church World Service (CWS) has been featured in an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review titled “A Movement for Refugee Leadership” by Basma Alawee and Taryn Higashi. The article reviews how “philanthropy can invigorate our communities and our democracy by investing in refugee leadership and civic participation.” CWS was lauded as “exemplary model” for refugee resettlement working in collaboration with refugee-led networks, such as Refugee Congress. “Church World Service has trained over 1,500 refugee leaders to organize their communities; tell their stories in impactful ways; develop campaign ideas; to defend the refugee program; and engage in voter education, registration, and mobilization for eligible former refugees who are now US citizens,” the article said, in part. “As a result of Church World Service’s programs, and others like it, refugees are writing their own op-eds and pitching their own stories to the media, with the goal of helping to shape the public narrative about refugees.” Find the full article at https://ssir.org/articles/entry/a_movement_for_refugee_leadership.
— Mary Garvey of Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon, Pa., was featured as a contestant on Jeopardy on Oct. 13. Find a review of the Oct. 13 episode of the popular television game show from “The Jeopardy Fan” at https://thejeopardyfan.com/2021/10/final-jeopardy-10-13-2021.html.
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