“The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
–Romans 8:21, the scripture text for this Sunday in the Brethren Press Lenten devotional by Anna Lisa Gross, The Wild Way of Jesus.
NEWS
1) Mission and Ministry Board shares documents interpreting new strategic plan, in three languages
2) Brethren Disaster Ministries rebuilding site in coastal North Carolina receives EDF funding
3) GFI grants support pig project in Rwanda, community garden in North Carolina
4) First BFIA grants of the year go to churches offering temporary housing and food assistance
5) Council of District Executives holds virtual meetings
PERSONNEL
6) New Brethren Volunteer Service workers complete winter orientation
UPCOMING EVENTS
7) ‘Peacemaking When We’re So Divided’ will feature William Willimon
8) FaithX announces opening of registration for Tiers 1, 2, and 3 on March 15
RESOURCES
9) Children’s Disaster Services recommends BBT resource on children and the pandemic
10) Brethren bits: A special thank you to Drew Hart, personnel, volunteer opening, Easter sale of children’s Bible story books, EYN minister’s conference, district events, ecumenical Lent emphases, and more
All are invited to worship!
“Venturing Forth Boldly as a Faith Family” is the theme of a denomination-wide, online worship gathering of the Church of the Brethren on Feb. 27. The worship will be livestreamed at 8 p.m. Eastern time, 7 p.m. Central time, 6 p.m. Mountain time, and 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Churches are invited to share this service with their congregations on the following Sunday morning, Feb. 28.
Video segments by Dave Sollenberger, music from around the denomination, brief reflections from two pastors, and expressions of worship leadership from an array of Brethren will make this opportunity a special time to worship together online.
The service is planned by the Program and Arrangements Committee to call attention to the opening of registration for Annual Conference on March 2 at www.brethren.org/ac.
A bulletin will be available to view or download to print.
A link for the worship service and more information is at www.brethren.org/ac/online-worship-2021
Landing page of Church of the Brethren COVID 19 related resources and information: www.brethren.org/covid19
Church of the Brethren congregations offering online worship in English and other languages: www.brethren.org/news/2020/church-of-the-brethren-congregations-worship-online.html
*Spanish/bilingual; **Haitian Kreyol/bilingual; ***Arabic/bilingual
*español/bilingüe, ** kreyol haitiano/bilingüe, ***عربي / ثنائي اللغة
Lifting up Brethren who are active in health care: www.brethren.org/news/2020/brethren-active-in-health-care.html
Send information about churches to be added to the listing of online worship offerings to cobnews@brethren.org.
Add a person to the list of Brethren active in health care by sending first name, county, and state to cobnews@brethren.org.
1) Mission and Ministry Board shares documents interpreting new strategic plan, in three languages
The Mission and Ministry Board of the Church of the Brethren has published interpretive documents for its new strategic plan. They include “A Vision Storyline” of the plan and a FAQ document, both in three languages–English, Spanish, and Haitian Kreyol. Find the documents at www.brethren.org/strategicplan.
“The strategic plan, originally adopted last July, provides an exciting and Spirit‐led focus for the Mission and Ministry Board and Church of the Brethren staff,” said Lauren Seganos Cohen, pastor of Pomona (Calif.) Fellowship Church of the Brethren, who is a member of the board and the Strategic Planning Committee. “Since then, board and staff have already been working on its implementation, including organizing communication about the strategic plan to the wider denomination.”
The documents have been published “to give more transparency to how we are living into this strategic plan,” Cohen said.
“We pray that congregations and districts will be energized by understanding how the Mission and Ministry Board and Church of the Brethren staff will be guided by this plan in the years to come.”
2) Brethren Disaster Ministries rebuilding site in coastal North Carolina receives EDF funding
An allocation of $37,850 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) supports the coastal North Carolina rebuilding site of Brethren Disaster Ministries. The project in Pamlico County, N.C., is rebuilding and repairing homes affected by Hurricane Florence, which hit the area in September 2018. Partner agency Pamlico County Disaster Relief Coalition reports that around 200 families have not completely recovered, almost two and a half years later.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has been working in North Carolina since April 2018, when it began doing Hurricane Matthew recovery in Lumberton, Robeson County. Later, the project added homes also affected by Hurricane Florence. That location closed early, in March 2020, because of the pandemic. Project supplies and equipment were moved to the site in Pamlico County, where Brethren Disaster Ministries began providing volunteers in September 2020.
The North Carolina site is scheduled to continue through April, when Brethren Disaster Ministries will reopen a tornado rebuilding site in Dayton, Ohio. Staff are monitoring guidance from the CDC and local officials, with COVID-19 protocols in place to limit volunteers’ exposure. Pamlico County has experienced very low numbers of cases and project leaders and volunteers have very little contact with the public while onsite.
The EDF allocation will be used for expenses related to tools, equipment, volunteer housing, volunteer meals, and leadership.
To contribute financially to this project, give online at www.brethren.org/edf. Find out more about Brethren Disaster Ministries at www.brethren.org/bdm.
3) GFI grants support pig project in Rwanda, community garden in North Carolina
The Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI) has announced its first two grants for 2021, supporting a pig project of the Church of the Brethren in Rwanda and a community garden of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Southport, N.C.
Rwanda
A grant of $3,500 will purchase feed for a pig project of the Church of the Brethren in Rwanda, where pandemic-related border closings with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have doubled the cost of feed. Previous grants to this project, made in 2019 and 2020, total $30,000. This year the “passing the gift” phase of the project begins, in which animals from a central farm established in the project’s first year will be given to Twa families. The Twa people are a major outreach focus of the Brethren in Rwanda. The plan is to distribute 180 pigs to 90 families over the next three years.
North Carolina
The St. Peter Lutheran Church Community Garden has received $1,000 from the GFI, which is one of four funding partners including the congregation. Total budget for the establishment of this “Giving Garden” is $8,500. The garden is designed to be a connection for the senior citizens and youth of the community while promoting fresh vegetables. “Youth and seniors will together experience the wholesomeness of gardening along with the fellowship and satisfaction of physical work,” said the grant announcement. “Volunteers from the church and community will support the effort, and the church has reached out to high school service groups and county juvenile services to find youth to participate.”
Find out more about the GFI and how to give financial support at www.brethren.org/gfi.
4) First BFIA grants of the year go to churches offering temporary housing and food assistance
The Brethren Faith in Action Fund (BFIA) has distributed its first grants for 2021. The fund gives grants to Church of the Brethren congregations and camps using money generated by the sale of the upper campus of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
Living Faith Church of the Brethren in Concord, N.C., has received $5,000 for its food pantry, which supports people living in Cabarrus County. Need has increased because of COVID-19 and unemployment. This grant helps the church increase its supply of food and open the pantry every other week throughout the pandemic.
Spring Creek Church of the Brethren in Hershey, Pa., received $5,000 toward a new roof and gutters for its parsonage, used for a Parsonage Ministry in partnership with Love INC of Greater Hershey. The ministry provides a “home away from home” for people whose loved ones are being treated for life-threatening illnesses at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Use of the parsonage is offered at no cost to qualifying families. The ministry received a BFIA grant of $5,000 in 2019.
Ambler (Pa.) Church of the Brethren received $5,000 to help repair flood damage in its basement and fellowship hall, a space used in a partnership with the Interfaith Housing Alliance. The effort provides families experiencing homelessness and poverty a chance to regain self-sufficiency and stability by providing temporary shelter, food, and programs to promote independence. The church is one of several that provide shelter and meals at least a month a year. The flooding was caused by two successive major storms last July. The damage is not expected to be covered by insurance.
For more about the BFIA see www.brethren.org/faith-in-action.
5) Council of District Executives holds virtual meetings
By Torin Eikler
The Council of District Executives (CODE) started off the new year with the first of their two annual meetings. As with so many events in the past 10 months, these meetings were moved to a virtual format. While many expressed a strong desire to sit together in person, the executive leadership of 23 of the 24 districts in the Church of the Brethren persevered through the meetings with willing spirits.
Across the four days from Jan. 25-28, CODE members worshiped and prayed together, heard reports from denominational agencies and the Mission and Ministry Board, and engaged the denomination’s Leadership Team in conversation.
In addition, CODE spent several hours thinking together about the future of district ministry and how districts can adapt and transform in order to continue providing support, encouragement, and connection to congregations.
Members also spent time remembering Terry Grove, former Atlantic Southeast District executive minister, who passed away suddenly in December. Sonja Griffith, executive minister of Western Plains District, led the closing worship as her final gift to CODE before retiring in March.
— Torin Eikler is executive minister of Northern Indiana District.
PERSONNEL
6) New Brethren Volunteer Service workers complete winter orientation
Brethren Volunteer Service has welcomed four new volunteers who completed the 2021 Winter orientation as part of BVS Unit 328. The orientation was held as a virtual, online event because of pandemic restrictions on in-person gatherings.
Here are the volunteers in Unit 328, their hometowns and/or congregations, and their project placements:
Matthew Bateman of Seattle, Wash., will be serving at the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, Japan.
Claire Horrell of Jackson, Mo., will be serving at El Centro Arte Para la Paz in Suchitoto, El Salvador.
Ronah Kavumba of Kampala, Uganda, is waiting for her pending project placement.
Sam Zientek of Wernersville, Pa., who is from Wyomissing Church of the Brethren, will be serving at L’Arche Chicago, Ill.
— Pauline Liu, BVS Volunteer Coordinator, provided this information to Newsline. Find out more about BVS and how to apply at www.brethren.org/bvs.
UPCOMING EVENTS
7) ‘Peacemaking When We’re So Divided’ will feature William Willimon
“Peacebuilding When We’re So Divided” is the topic of next month’s Moderator’s Town Hall hosted by Paul Mundey, moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. The online event on March 18 at 7 p.m. (Eastern time) will feature William H. Willimon.
“As both church and culture continue to fracture, many are discouraged, groping for ways to address the divide,” said an announcement. “We will explore practical peacebuilding skills, drawing on current best practices, along with insights from scripture, theology, and church history. The emphasis will be on hope, while acknowledging the necessity of realism and lament.”
Willimon is professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School, where he has held various roles since 1976. He served for eight years as bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. For 20 years, he was dean of the Chapel and professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University, Durham, N.C. He has held lectureships in distinguished institutions including Princeton, Vanderbilt, Pepperdine, and Oxford.
He is the author of some 100 books, which have sold more than a million copies. His book Worship as Pastoral Care was selected as one of the 10 most useful books for pastors in 1979 by the Academy of Parish Clergy. In 1996, an international survey conducted by Baylor University named him one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. A 2005 study by the Pulpit and Pew Research Center found him to be the second most widely read author by mainline Protestant pastors, and his Pulpit Resource is used each week by thousands of pastors.
Register at tinyurl.com/ModTownHallMar2021. Sign up early, as the event is limited to the first 500 registrants. For questions, contact cobmoderatorstownhall@gmail.com.
8) FaithX announces opening of registration for Tiers 1, 2, and 3 on March 15
FaithX (formerly the Workcamp Ministry) has announced a March 15 opening date for registration for short-term summer service events in Tiers 1, 2, and 3. However, the Church of the Brethren program announced a decision that Tier 4 events will not be possible this summer and will not be offered at registration.
“With registration less than a month away, it’s an important time to figure out your FaithX plans!” said an announcement. “We are always available to help work through options and answer questions! Email us at faithx@brethren.org.”
The theme is “Step Out: Seeking New Paths,” inspired by Isaiah 43:19 (CEB): “Look! I’m doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it? I’m making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness.”
In light of the pandemic, the FaithX team developed alternative options for summer 2021 with the health and safety of participants and host communities as a top priority, while also having the goal of providing a meaningful experience.
Tier 1, 2, and 3 events will start on a Sunday evening and run through the following Friday evening.
In Tier 1, participants serve in their local communities during the day, either individually or with other members of their congregation, and gather virtually for devotions and activities each evening. FaithX will work with individuals and congregations to coordinate service and will provide leadership for virtual evening meetings.
Tier 2 offers participants the opportunity to serve in their local area with other members of their congregation during the day, followed by evening in-person gatherings using social distancing. FaithX will work with the congregation to plan service and will provide leadership and participate in-person during the week.
In Tier 3, participants serve locally with other congregations in their region during the day, followed by evening in-person gatherings using social distancing. FaithX will work to plan local service with each congregation interested in participating, and will provide leadership and participate in-person during the week.
If you are interested in a Tier 2 or 3 FaithX event this summer, it is important to get in contact with the FaithX office as soon as possible at faithx@brethren.org or 847-429-4386. Visit www.brethren.org/faithx for more information including tier costs.
RESOURCES
9) Children’s Disaster Services recommends BBT resource on children and the pandemic
By Lisa Crouch
Children and families continue to face isolation, and challenges abound with the pandemic continuing. Mental health for all ages has been impacted on some level. As we approach the one‐year anniversary of “flattening the curve” to slow the virus down, some may be feeling like this will never end. So, how can we face this year with hope and a plan to keep our families moving in the right direction?
A good place to start is with the February issue of Brethren Benefit Trust’s WellNow newsletter, featuring children and the pandemic. If you haven’t seen it, you can find it here: www.cobbt.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/WellNow%21%20Feb%202021%20-.pdf.
BBT provides some great information for parents and some questions to ask your children about how they are feeling. It is so important to keep your children talking. Start a new game at dinner that sparks conversation, like “What did you find challenging today?” or “What was good for you today?” Then be prepared to talk through their answers. This can be monumental in developing healthy mindsets.
As families seek out a new sense of normal, keep looking for ways to create new traditions as a family that fit within social distancing guidelines. I saw a challenge to reach 1,000 hours outdoors in 2021. I love this idea–and even if we fail to get 1,000 hours, just think of the fun we will have trying!
What kind of challenge can you do as a family? The longterm effects of the pandemic on children will be stretching far beyond what we can see now, but we can create a path through this “wilderness” that may just bring some of your best memories yet as a family.
— Lisa Crouch is associate director of Children’s Disaster Services, a program within Brethren Disaster Ministries.
10) Brethren bits
— Victoria Crouter has begun work for Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) in the position of accounting associate, based at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Christian Ministries from Trinity International University and started her career in the finance department of another Church Benefits Association organization. She brings skills in financial and administrative disciplines, organization, customer service, and supporting team projects, as well as work experience in accounting, bookkeeping, and data management. She and her family live in Lakemoor, Ill.
— The Church of the Brethren seeks applicants for the position of assistant coordinator of the FaithX ministry in the Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) office at the denomination’s General Offices in Elgin, Ill. FaithX (formerly the Workcamp Ministry) offers summertime short-term service events for junior and senior high youth and young adults. The assistant coordinator serves as a BVS volunteer with both administrative and practical ministry responsibilities. The first three-quarters of the year is spent preparing for FaithX events including choosing an annual theme, preparing promotional materials, writing and designing a devotional book and leaders’ resources, setting up financial spreadsheets, setting up and maintaining a registration database, sending letters to participants and leaders, making site visits, collecting forms and paperwork, and other administrative work. During the summer, the assistant coordinator travels from location to location, serving as onsite coordinator of FaithX events with responsibility for overall administration including housing, transportation, food, work assignments, and recreation, and also often responsibility for planning and leading devotional, educational, and group activities. As a BVSer, the assistant coordinator lives at the Elgin BVS Community House. Required skills, gifts, and experience include experience in youth ministry, passion for Christian service, an understanding of mutual ministry–both giving and receiving, spiritual and emotional maturity, organizational and office skills, physical stamina and the ability to travel well. Preferred skills and experience include previous FaithX or workcamp experience as a leader or participant, and computer skills including experience with Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, Access, and Publisher. For more information or to request an application, contact BVS director Emily Tyler at etyler@brethren.org or 847-429-4396.
— Brethren Press and the Shine curriculum are offering a special Easter promotion on Bible story books for children. The books are “a great way to nurture faith” and “encourage God’s light to shine in your children,” said an announcement. The hardcover Shine On: A Story Bible is on sale for $15 (list price: $24.99) at www.brethrenpress.com/ProductDetails
.asp?ProductCode=1983. The paperback All of Us: God’s Story for You and Me is on sale for $5 (list price: $10.99) at www.brethrenpress.com/ProductDetails
.asp?ProductCode=80694. Sale ends March 31.
— Children’s resources to accompany The Wild Way of Jesus, this year’s Lenten devotional from Brethren Press, are being offered by author Anna Lisa Gross. She has developed a companion piece to the devotional designed for use on a tablet, cell phone, or computer, full of coloring pages as well as discussion and activity prompts to use with children. She is offering to email the resources on request, contact annalisa144@gmail.com.
— “Pray for the EYN Annual Ministers Conference,” said an email from Zakariya Musa, head of media for Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). The event on Feb. 16‐19 was expected to bring a smaller than usual number of ordained ministers from across the denomination to the EYN headquarters in Kwarhi for their annual meeting. A usual year sees around 1,000 pastors in attendance, Musa wrote, but this year he reported that “the conference was successfully started with 220 in attendance, under strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols. The Disaster Relief Ministry has provided face masks, sanitizer, and hand washing items. The EYN president Rev. Joel S. Billi welcomed the gathering. The choir of the Women’s Fellowship sang at the opening event. The EYN Vice President Rev. Anthony A. Ndamsai is the guest preacher and teacher.” Musa explained that the number of attendees was cut down to three from each District Church Council in order to observe COVID-19 protocols put in place by the government to reduce the risks. “Beside the COVID-19 pandemic,” he wrote, “the escalating insecurity is another major concern for the most devastated church in Nigeria.”
— Atlantic Southeast District is offering a women’s retreat as an online event on the theme “Made with Creativity” (Exodus 35:35) on March 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Eastern time). The keynote speaker is pastor Founa Badet. Registration is $10 per person, and once received by the district office (7360 Ulmerton Rd., 13C, Largo, FL 33771) a link will be sent to join the retreat. For more information contact atlanticsoutheastcob@gmail.com.
— Camp Bethel, a Church of the Brethren outdoor ministry center near Fincastle, Va., has announced plans for a summer camp season this year. “Registration is OPEN for SAFE and FUN 2021 summer camps using our ‘Small Group Unit’ model. Health and safety adaptations will abound, and boy-o-boy are we excited! Kids need Summer Camp in 2021 more than ever!” Schedule, prices, safety information, and more is online at www.campbethelvirginia.org/camps.html.
— Upcoming events from the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College:
The Kreider and Snowden Lectures, “Responding with Compassion to the Crisis in Northeastern Nigeria,” led by Samuel Dali and Rebecca Dali, takes place March 4 at 7 p.m. (Eastern time).
The Durnbaugh Lecture, “Weapons Transfers as Foreign Policy: Theological Ethics, Economics, and Strategy,” led by Nathan Hosler of the Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy, takes place March 25 at 7 p.m. (Eastern time).
“Traveling Through the National Dark: Poet and Pacifist William Stafford,” presented by Fred Merchant, takes place April 13 at 7 p.m. (Eastern time).
For more information and links to attend these Zoom events, go to www.etown.edu/centers/young-center/events.aspx.
— “Old Time Gospel Songs and Bill Jolliff” are featured in the February episode of Brethren Voices, a community television program of Portland (Ore.) Peace Church of the Brethren produced by Ed Groff. Jolliff is one of the musicians who participate regularly in the Song and Story Fest annual family camp co-sponsored by On Earth Peace. “Bill admits that he really likes some of the old Gospel songs,” said Groff in an announcement of the program, which is the second that Brethren Voices has produced with Jolliff. “When you listen and watch Bill sing ‘Tell It to Jesus’ and ‘Near to the Heart of God’ you will understand why he likes them. Should you happen to be a regular viewer of Brethren Voices, the theme song, ‘The Jesus Way,’ is one of Bill’s creations.” Joliff has been a professor of literature at George Fox University for nearly three decades and is an active writer and researcher. His musical interests “have carried him for 50 years of his life,” said the announcement. Find Brethren Voices on YouTube at www.Youtube.com/Brethrenvoices.
— Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is offering a webinar on “20 years of Accompaniment in Colombia,” celebrating the 20th anniversary of the organization’s work with those suffering from violence in Colombia. CPT was started by the historic peace churches including the Church of the Brethren. The online event takes place Thursday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m. (Central time). Said an announcement. “We will be joined by Salvador Alcantara, a long-time CPT partner and human rights defender, Alix Lozano, CPT Reservist and Mennonite theologian and pastor, as well as Christine Forand and Duane Ediger, who were both part of the four-person exploratory team who established CPT accompaniment in Colombia in 2001. Our guests and partners will share their reflections about the past, present, and future of accompaniment and solidarity activism, strengthening grassroots initiatives for social justice.” Sign up for the online event at https://cptaction.org/memories-of-social-justice-20-years-of-accompaniment-in-colombia.
— A webinar on “The Future of Refugee Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: Strengthening Sustainable and Strategic Humanitarian Solutions for Refugees” is offered by Church World Service (CWS) and the Migration Policy Institute. The online event Monday, Feb. 22, at 10 a.m. (Eastern time) will be a panel discussion with experts including Andre Baas, head of the Resettlement Sector of the European Asylum Support Office; Katherine Rehberg, deputy vice president of the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program; and Susan Fratzke, senior policy analyst for the International Program of the Migration Policy Institute. Said the announcement: “In 2020, amid a global pandemic, resettlement numbers reached a record low: only 22,770 (1.6 percent) of the 1.4 million refugees in need of resettlement were resettled…. CWS has argued that resettlement can and should be a humanitarian program to find protection for individuals and strategically contribute to the resolution of situations of forced displacement. However, achieving these goals will require political, structural, and operational changes.” CWS is one of nine refugee resettlement agencies in the United States. Register at www.migrationpolicy.org/events/future-refugee-resettlement-complementary-pathways-strengthening.
— Susu Lassa is editor of this year’s Earth Day resources from Creation Justice Ministries. Lassa is a student at Bethany Theological Seminary and a former Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) worker at the Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy. Earth Day is observed on April 22. This year’s theme is “A New Heaven and a New Earth” and resources focus on health, environmental racism, and eco-justice. Included are Christian education materials, sermon starters, case studies, actions to take, and more. Sign up to receive the download link at https://creationjustice.salsalabs.org/SignuptorecievetheEarthDay2021Resource/index.html.
— “Seven Weeks for Water 2021” from Feb. 17 through March 29, is the World Council of Churches (WCC) event for Lent, in collaboration with the Ecumenical Water Network. Christians around the world are invited to use the season of Lent to reflect on God’s gift of water. Since 2008, the WCC–through its “Seven Weeks for Water” campaign–has been providing weekly theological reflections and other resources on water for the seven weeks of Lent and for World Water Day, which falls during Lent every year and in 2021 is on March 22.
In addition, the WCC’s Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace has a regional focus on North America this year, and accordingly the Seven Weeks for Water “takes us on a pilgrimage of water justice in North America…,” said an announcement. “Flint, Mich., representative of the many American cities with drinking water contaminated by lead; Standing Rock, where the Dakota Sioux have successfully fought the destruction of sacred waters by the Keystone Pipeline, and the Navajo Nation, where lack of water for handwashing has heightened the toll of the COVID pandemic in the Southwest. We will also explore other less storied places where we search for water justice from the verdant valleys of California to the salmon streams of the Pacific Northwest. Our guides are theologians and water justice activists from diverse faith traditions.” For more information go to www.oikoumene.org/events/seven-weeks-for-water-2021.
Newsline is the email news service of the Church of the Brethren. Inclusion in Newsline does not necessarily convey endorsement by the Church of the Brethren. All submissions are subject to editing. Newsline stories may be reprinted if Newsline is cited as the source. Contributors to this issue include Lauren Seganos Cohen, Lisa Crouch, Jenn Dorsch-Messler, Chris Douglas, Nevin Dulabaum, Torin Eikler, Ed Groff, Anna Lisa Gross, Alton Hipps, Rachel Kelley, Michelle L. Kilbourne, Jeff Lennard, Pauline Liu, Wendy McFadden, Nancy Miner, Zakariya Musa, LaDonna Nkosi, Debbie Noffsinger, Chad Whitzel, Roy Winter, and editor Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services for the Church of the Brethren. Please send news tips and submissions to cobnews@brethren.org . Find the Newsline archive at www.brethren.org/news . Sign up for Newsline and other Church of the Brethren email newsletters, make subscription changes, or unsubscribe at www.brethren.org/intouch .
Find more Church of the Brethren news:
- Annual Conference 2024 invites Church of the Brethren to gather in Grand Rapids
- Annual Conference officers return query regarding congregational latitude on matters of human sexuality
- Silent Auction to benefit translation expenses and the general Annual Conference budget
- Mission and Ministry Board completes Kingian Nonviolence training, works at envisioning
- Leadership Team issues clarification on On Earth Peace membership with Supportive Communities Network