Ministry ethics trainers to begin their work

By Nancy Sollenberger Heishman

The Church of the Brethren’s Office of Ministry gathered nine ethics trainers this past week at the denomination’s General Offices in Elgin, Ill., in preparation for leading district events during the coming year and a half. Required ethics training for all ministers will take place across the denomination as ministers renew their credentialed status within their districts.

Nancy Sollenberger Heishman, director of the Office of Ministry, led the orientation in which trainers reviewed the current curriculum used in the 2020 cycle, materials written by Church of the Brethren minister Jim Benedict. In addition to drawing on these materials again, a newly commissioned set of addendum materials will be introduced. This addendum’s content, written by various Church of the Brethren authors, will focus on three topics, namely clergy ethics and artificial intelligence, guidelines for the use of social media, and a multidimensional approach to intercultural ethics.

In addition to Heishman, the trainers include Ilexene Alphonse, pastor of Miami (Fla.) Haitian Church of the Brethren; Joe Detrick, interim district executive minister for Mid-Atlantic District; Nathan Hollenberg, pastor of Linville Creek Church of the Brethren in Broadway, Va.; Cathy Huffman, director of Ministry Formation for Virlina District; Del Keeney, retired pastor from Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Church of the Brethren; Dave Kerkove, pastor of South Waterloo (Iowa) Church of the Brethren; Janet Ober Lambert, director of the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership; Ramón Torres, retired pastor of Puerta del Cielo Church of the Brethren in Reading, Pa.; and Gail Erisman Valeta, pastor of Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren in Denver, Colo.