Newsline for June 3, 2022

9) Brethren bits: Remembering Gladys Naylor, congregations hold events lamenting gun violence, On Earth Peace day of celebration via Zoom, and more news by, for, and about Brethren.

---

---

As many congregations return to in-person worship, we want to update worship opportunities at Churches of the Brethren across the country at www.brethren.org/news/2020/church-of-the-brethren-congregations-worship-online.html. We also lift up for prayer support Brethren who are active in health care at www.brethren.org/news/2020/brethren-active-in-health-care.html. Please send new worship information and add health care workers (first name, county, and state) by sending an email to cobnews@brethren.org.

---

1) CDS team continues work in Uvalde, has opportunity to meet President and Dr. Biden

---

2) Shipments from Material Resources send relief aid to Europe and the Caribbean

---

3) NCC leader scheduled to travel to Uvalde as NCC releases statement on tragic mass shooting

“Thank you for reaching out to us,” responded Michael K. Marsh, rector of St. Philip’s. “We greatly appreciate your prayers and support. We welcome your presence with us in worship and prayer.”

McKenzie’s visit to Uvalde comes just a week and a half following a trip to Buffalo, N.Y., where she met with families of those murdered at Tops Grocery Store, as well as churches, community groups, and agencies providing help and support for that community following the massacre of 11 innocent people by a gunman who targeted them because they were Black.

The NCC on June 2 released the following statement:

NCC Agonizes After the Elementary School Shooting in Texas

“They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.” Psalm 106:37-38 NRSVue

The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) grieves for the 21 lives lost at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. We pray for the loved ones of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed and for the 17 who were wounded.

There are no words sufficient for the horror of this act. Our United States are covered with blood – the blood of innocent children and their teachers. We mourn these new victims as we still grieve the lives lost and traumatized during past school massacres at Columbine High School, Red Lake Senior High School, Nickle Mines schoolhouse, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Rancho Tehama Elementary School, Stoneman Douglas High School, and Santa Fe High School. This year so far, there have been 27 school shootings and over 200 mass shootings in our country. The long-term effects of these shootings exacerbate the harm and trauma experienced by those most impacted as well as our nation as a whole.

We must act to stop this from ever happening again. It is sinful to offer thoughts and prayers without taking decisive action to reform gun legislation.

An overwhelming majority of Americans want tighter gun laws. A recent survey found that 90% of registered US voters want background checks required for all gun sales. Yet, those who have made idols out of guns they sell for profit continue to be in control of national gun laws through political contributions and lobbying efforts. A false theology of “God and guns” has also seeped into too many churches giving cover for elected officials who are intent on doing nothing to stop these mass shootings. Since this horrendous shooting of elementary school children, the main gun lobby organization, the National Rifle Association, continued to promote the sale of guns at their annual meeting in Houston, just a few hundred miles from Uvalde, with the participation of the former president and current Texas elected leaders. When will there be justice?

We admonish those who assert that even more guns should be placed in our communities. Arming more people is not the solution. We know that the best way to stop bad people with guns is to prevent them from having guns. We hold the simple truth that with more guns, there are more gun deaths.

Every country has people with mental health issues and racist beliefs but only US laws make it easy to pick up a gun and kill people, easier, in fact, than it is to obtain a driver’s license. The US has more gun violence than every other developed nation in the world. This is shameful and we should not accept that we must live like this.

“We are angry,” said Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, NCC Interim President and General Secretary. “The right to bear arms is not the right to kill innocent children, teachers, or grocery store shoppers. We can’t be tempted to blame everything on mental health instability, either. No one should be able to purchase assault-style weapons, especially not someone not even old enough to buy alcoholic beverages.”

There are legislative solutions that we know will be effective. In addition to expanding Medicaid in every state in order to make mental health services available to all who need them, stricter gun laws must also be passed. The NCC continues to call for thorough background checks and the ban of assault guns and other military-grade weapons, which have no practical use in our communities beyond mass shootings. The nation should also have “red flag” laws so that law enforcement and others can stop people from buying guns and confiscate guns if they already own them.

Today, we again reaffirm, our 1967 statement calling for Firearms Control. The NCC holds that the God-given “right to life” is fundamental and sacred and that it is not possible to protect life and maintain public order when individuals have unregulated access to firearms. Then and now, the NCC calls for permit requirements that incorporate “proper identification of applicant (by the fingerprint method if possible), and a waiting period prior to issuance so that an adequate check can be made of the prospective purchaser to verify such matters as age, absence of mental illness, and lack of a felony record.” In addition, we repeat our 2010 call for local, state, and federal legislators “to enact reforms that limit access to assault weapons and handguns, including closing the so-called federal ‘gun show loophole,’ which allows for the purchase of firearms from private sellers without submitting to a background check, or providing documentation of the purchase.”

Furthermore, we challenge those who have embraced White Christian Nationalism and associate guns with their identity as Christians. We ask them to examine how unchecked use of guns reflect our Christian beliefs. Considering guns as sacred above every other right including voting, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion is immoral.

“We pray but we know that prayers are not enough,” stated Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, NCC Governing Board Chair and Presiding Bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. “The NCC calls on the members of our denominations to advocate, vote, and campaign for appropriate gun laws and elect people who will continue to put our lives, and the lives of our children, above the profit of gun companies. Over 50 years of advocacy has not brought results. We need our churches to have the tough conversations around gun laws and hope that ministers will feel compelled to bravely enter into discussions about gun safety laws in their congregations. We will not be silent and as people of faith, we must act.”

NCC’s policies adopted by the NCC Governing Board regarding gun control:

Ending Gun Violence: A Resolution and Call to Action by the National Council of Churches of Christ, U.S.A. 2010 https://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/common-witness/2010/gun-violence.php

Firearms Control Adopted by the General Board 1967 https://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/common-witness-ncc/firearms-control

---

4) Chernihiv (Chernigov) Brethren pastor returns to city, finds meetinghouse miraculously undamaged

“The Zazhytko home was not damaged and the same can be said for their congregation’s meetinghouse. This is stunning in light of 70 percent of Chernihiv having been leveled by missile attack and bombing.

“To this point, many of the members of the congregation have not returned to Chernihiv. The hope is that they can and will at some point. Many answers and much work remains. Of course, much of the process of restoration will necessarily be determined only upon the war’s end. May we continue to pray for the end of this conflict.”

— Keith Funk is pastor of Quinter (Kan.) Church of the Brethren.

---

UPCOMING EVENTS

5) Annual Conference leaders issue COVID Protocol Announcement

The “Community Transmission” metric upon which we built our plan is not the primary metric currently used by the CDC, but the “Community Transmission” map can still be accessed on the CDC website (https://covid.cdc.gov/COVID-data-tracker/#county-view) by choosing it from the bottom of the drop down menu just above the map. As of this writing, more than 85 percent of counties across the country are experiencing a high or substantial level of transmission–and because many people are no longer testing or no longer reporting test results, the transmission rate is likely much higher. We have, therefore, determined that we should follow the protocols outlined in the ORANGE level of our previously approved and announced plan.

This means the following:

• Annual Conference attendees will be expected to wear N95 or KN95 masks at all times in the convention center and meeting rooms at the Hilton except when eating or drinking. Masks are the most effective tool in preventing spread against the BA.2 pathogens that hang in the air like a mist. Leadership speaking from the podium or head table may remove their masks while speaking to be better understood, but will replace their masks when they are finished speaking.

• We can engage in congregational singing. All choirs will also wear their masks while singing.

• Meal events will take place, but limits will be placed on numbers to allow for a bit more social distancing, and planners will be asked to present the program first. Those who feel comfortable doing so may eat in the meeting room and enjoy the table fellowship, while those who do not feel comfortable doing so will be able to request a boxed meal to take with them after the program.

• Social distancing reminders will be posted in areas where people tend to congregate in lines.

In addition, although not included in our initial protocols, we will distribute small red heart stickers that can be applied to name badges by those who, for any reason, prefer to maintain at least three feet of distance from others. This will allow everyone to know how to approach and greet one another.

COVID vaccines remain effective in reducing the risk of serious illness, hospitalization, and death. We strongly encourage all Conference attendees to get fully vaccinated prior to Annual Conference.

We also encourage all Conference attendees to test for COVID before coming to Annual Conference. If you test positive–or if someone in your household tests positive within five days prior to Annual Conference (whether or not they were planning to come to Annual Conference)–please, please, please stay home. We will refund your registration fee. Finally, if you begin to feel ill at Annual Conference, we ask that you get tested and then isolate until you have a test result. If you test positive, you should not return to in-person activities.

We know that a variety of feelings may be evoked by our decision to adhere to recent CDC guidance recommending a return to mask wearing when traveling and attending large gatherings. For some of you, this plan may cause frustration, anxiety, or even anger that we are taking these precautions at a time when many Americans have decided to live like the pandemic is over. We call on all Conference attendees to remember that scripture and tradition challenge us to love one another and not to conform to the world. As members of a community of faith, we must be willing to adhere to precautions that protect the lives and health of our brothers and sisters within the community of faith and the people of Omaha who will be welcoming us into their community. We expect that all Conference attendees will honor this decision and adhere to the protocols outlined above.

— The Program and Arrangements Committee: Annual Conference moderator David Sollenberger, moderator-elect Tim McElwee, secretary Jim Beckwith; elected members Carol Hipps Elmore, Beth Jarrett, and Nathan Hollenberg; director Rhonda Pittman Gingrich; in consultation with Dr. Kate Jacobsen and Dr. Emily Shonk Edwards

---

6) Book study to address complex emotional landscape of family systems in churches

---

JESUS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: STORIES FROM CONGREGATIONS

7) Mechanicsburg is part of a three-church team welcoming an Afghan refugee family

Once the new site director was hired in December, the team began meeting regularly with Alex Swan. As he worked to hire his office staff, team members took on the challenge of helping Swan prepare for the anticipated early 2022 arrival of the Harrisburg office’s first family.

In early February, the team learned they would be welcoming a young couple with two small children. Team members joined Swan to meet the family at Harrisburg International Airport and drive them to their new home in Carlisle. The family had arrived in the US on Sept. 8, 2021, and had been confined to the base at Fort Dix. The team delighted in seeing the family’s first real glimpse of America as they commented on the cornfields lining the road on their way to Carlisle.

While the family settled into temporary quarters in a Carlisle Airbnb, the team visited them regularly, took them grocery shopping, chased down job leads, and assisted Swan in scouting out rental opportunities. Through a team member’s personal connections, they secured a three-bedroom townhome in Carlisle. On move-in day in late March, the team rented a U Haul truck and transported the collection of furniture and home furnishings they’d stored at one of the churches to the family’s first American home.

With the family now settled, the team turned to other tasks–helping them set up bank accounts and a family budget, providing transportation, arranging ESL classes and tutoring for the parents, enrolling the eldest child in Head Start, seeking legal representation for an asylum claim, and so forth.

While a few team members had worked with refugees before, most, including team leader Kimmel, were rookies. According to Kimmel, though many of the team members were strangers when the team first met, they united around the common cause of helping a very appreciative and delightful young family settle into a new and safe life in Carlisle. Truly, Jesus was working in their neighborhood.

— This article was provided to Newsline by Sherri Kimmel.

---

8) Trotwood Church is getting a Little Free Library®, grand opening includes benefit for Ukrainian refugees

From the Church of the Brethren’s Southern Ohio and Kentucky District

Little Free Libraries are a global phenomenon. The small, front-yard book exchanges number more than 140,000 around the world in over 100 countries–from Iceland to Tasmania to Pakistan. Now, a new Little Free Library in Trotwood, Ohio, will join the movement to share books, bring people together, and create communities of readers.

Trotwood Church of the Brethren will host a grand opening celebration for their Little Free Library on Sunday, June 12, from 4-6 p.m. (Eastern time). The celebration is open to the public and will include a ribbon cutting at 4 p.m. followed by a hot dog roast and family-friendly activities, including story times for children. In the event of rain, it will be held in the church fellowship hall.

“Our Little Free Library doesn’t just belong to us, it belongs to the whole community,” says library steward Peggy Reiff Miller. “With its ‘Take a book-Share a book’ theme, our hope is that this Little Free Library will bring a little more joy, a little more connection, and a lot of love of reading to our community.” The library is a small box on a stand and located in the front lawn of the church.

The grand opening celebration will also feature a fundraiser to provide Ukrainian books for Ukrainian refugee children and orphans through a project of the Ukrainian Book Institute. “Far away from home, with little to call their own,” says Miller, “books in their own language will provide these children a moment of peace and connection to their homeland.”

The Trotwood Church’s library is the 141,024th to register worldwide with the Little Free Library organization. This nonprofit organization has been honored by the Library of Congress, the National Book Foundation, and the American Library Association. Reader’s Digest named it one of the “50 Surprising Things We Love about America.” To learn more about the organization go to www.littlefreelibrary.org.

---

9) Brethren bits

— An interfaith statement at Stockholm+50 is urging commitment “to become protectors of this earth,” reported the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a release. The statement titled “Faith Values and Reach – Contribution to Environmental Policy,” was signed by representatives of various faith-based organizations and indigenous cultures across the world, including the WCC, and directed to the governments, UN entities, civil society, and all stakeholders of the “Stockholm+50” processes. “The world is facing a triple ‘pandemic’ of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution,” reads an introduction to the message. “Those hardest hit are those who have caused the least damage.” Said the release: “The message notes that root causes of the triple planetary crises are deeply fueled by structural greed and apathy that underpin our current economic systems. ‘Amassing of obscene wealth by corporations and select individuals is directly related to global environmental problems and solutions, which is morally and ethically unacceptable,’ the message reads. ‘Without addressing these underlying causes, we are on a collision course to disaster.’ The message further notes that poor and marginalized people, especially women, children, older persons, Indigenous people and those with disabilities are most impacted by climate change.” Download the full message from https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/40048.

— Anabaptist World, a magazine that reports on Mennonite and other Anabaptist bodies, is offering a page of reporting out of the just-completed conference of the Mennonite Church USA at https://anabaptistworld.org. The conference made some key decisions affecting the life of the denomination.

— Enten Eller, pastor of Ambler Church of the Brethren in Pennsylvania and a member of the pastoral team for Living Stream Church of the Brethren, a fully online congregation, has had an opinion piece published in the Reporter Online titled “Saying ‘No’ to the Gun God.” His article cited Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone,” and Habakkuk 1:2-4 (NRSVue), “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law becomes slack, and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous; therefore judgment comes forth perverted.” He wrote, in part: “God asks us to worship only him. Our safety, our security, comes not from guns, but from God. Prayers and moments of silence are insufficient right now, because without action, this assault on our children will end as before, with no meaningful change…. It is past time to act…with love, with compassion, working together for the good of this country. And act we must. No more sacrifices. Our children’s lives depend upon it. Our God calls us to nothing less than to choose life.” Read the full opinion piece at www.thereporteronline.com/2022/06/02/faith-matters-saying-no-to-the-gun-god.

---

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 Lisa Crouch, Debbie Eisenbise, Enten Eller, Keith Funk, Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Cynthia Griffiths, Jen Jensen, Sherri Kimmel, Wendy McFadden, Peggy Reiff Miller, Cherylin Peniston, Roy Winter, Loretta Wolf, 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 and make subscription changes at www.brethren.org/intouch . Unsubscribe by using the link at the top of any Newsline email.

---

Find more Church of the Brethren news:

• Global Food Initiative gives four grants to start off the year
• Brethren Faith in Action Fund issues seven grants in first months of 2024
• Brethren bits
• A story of modern-day Psalmists
• ‘One Earth, One Chance’ features David Radcliff of the New Community Project