The Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board held its fall 2025 meeting on Oct. 17-19 at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill., led by chair Kathy Mack with chair-elect Josiah Ludwick and general secretary David Steele.
The board spent several hours in closed sessions not open to the public. Out of those sessions, the chair announced that the term of David Steele as general secretary of the Church of the Brethren is extended two additional years. As of August 2026, he will have served two five-year terms for a total of 10 years as general secretary. With the extension, he will serve through August 2028.
Heading the agenda of the open sessions, among other business, were approval of a 2026 budget parameter for the denomination’s Core Ministries, a statement renewing the call to prevent gun violence, referral of a query from Atlantic Southeast District titled “Query: Our Response to Current Immigration Laws that Do Not Uphold Holy Scriptures,” and recognition of the work of the Material Resources program that is being phased out as of year’s end.
As always, the meeting included worship, prayer, and the singing of hymns, as well as time for fellowship. Board member Joanna Willoughby brought the message for the Sunday morning worship service in the chapel at the General Offices.
Material Resources
The decision to end the longstanding Material Resources program of the Church of the Brethren was made by the board in October 2023 (see the Newsline report at www.brethren.org/news/2023/board-decides-to-close-material-resources).
At this meeting, the seven remaining employees were present on screen as they attended virtually. Recognized for their years of service to the Church of the Brethren were Material Resources director Loretta Wolf (49 years), baler Rick Best (11 years), medical packer Sam Carter (2-plus years), packer Brenda Giles (52 years), warehouse coordinator and forklift operator Scott Senseney (17 years), and front office staff Glenna Thompson (44 years).
Photos by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Also recognized was Melissa Fritz, whose service as a packer was concluded in July after almost 8 years of work for the denomination.
Roy Winter, executive director of Service Ministries, reviewed the history of Material Resources and its decades of work to warehouse, pack, and ship disaster relief materials and other material aid out of warehouses at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
Budget parameter
The board approved a 2026 budget parameter of $5,453,000 of income and $5,555,000 of expense for the denomination’s Core Ministries. This represents a $102,000 deficit budget in Core Ministries for next year.
Treasurer Ed Woolf also presented pre-audit financial results for 2024, reporting that the auditors gave a “clean” audit despite the data breach experienced last December. The board shared appreciation with the finance and IT staff for their hard work to restore the financial and other data, and held prayer with laying on of hands for those staff who were present in person.
The decision on a budget parameter for Core Ministries had been postponed from July because of lack of financial information for 2024 following the data breach. A final decision on the 2026 budget for all ministries overseen by the board is expected to be made in a Zoom meeting in November.
Statement on gun violence
The board adopted a brief statement renewing the church’s call to prevent gun violence and reaffirming the 2018 board statement “Lukewarm No More: A Call for Repentance and Action on Gun Violence.” This followed discussion in March, when there were calls for the concern about gun violence also to be addressed as the board adopted a “Resolution on Weapons Transfer.”
After one board member urged that much stronger action be taken, citing the frequent incidents of shootings in local neighborhoods across the country, others voiced support. Concern was expressed for those affected by gun violence in rural as well as urban settings.
“We need to be much more forceful in our statement,” said board member Robert Jackson. “I would like to see us doing something in our neighborhoods…. Peace doesn’t just mean the absence of war but the absence of violence.”
The chair responded by affirming the need to continue to work on this concern.
The full text of the statement that was adopted by the board:
“As part of the biblical call to act as peacemakers, the Church of the Brethren has repeatedly voiced concern about gun violence in America. In 2018, the Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board adopted the statement, “Lukewarm no more: A call for repentance and action on gun violence.” Seven years later, this kind of violence continues to be a problem in the United States. As of September 18, there have been 10,660 gun violence-related deaths or injuries in the United States in 2025 (see https://www.gunviolencearchive.org). There have also been 12 mass shootings in public locations this year (see https://rockinst.org/gun-violence/mass-shooting-factsheet). We continue to witness mass shootings carried out at schools, including at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis and Evergreen High School in Colorado in the last two months. This year, there have been several instances of politically motivated gun violence, including the murders of Melissa Hortman, Mark Hortman, Charlie Kirk, and the attempted murders of John and Yvette Hoffman, who were seriously injured. The continued proliferation and accessibility of firearms in the United States, violent and divisive rhetoric, and frequent instances of deadly gun violence compel the Church of the Brethren to reaffirm the 2018 statement and recommit its members to work to change this devastating pattern.”
Find a link to download the 2018 statement in pdf format at www.brethren.org/mmb/statements
Atlantic Southeast District query
The board accepted the referral of a query from the Atlantic Southeast District Board titled “Query: Our Response to Current Immigration Laws that Do Not Uphold Holy Scriptures” and appointed a committee to draft a statement for consideration by the board in March 2026, to be passed on to the 2026 Annual Conference next summer.
The committee includes board member Edward Cesar-Fincher and three staff: Nathan Hosler, director of the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy; Founa A. Badet, director of Intercultural Ministries; and Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services.
The question came to the board at the suggestion of the Annual Conference officers, who felt a referral to the board–rather than the Annual Conference query process–would enable a timelier response to an urgent question.
The full text of the query follows:
Query: Our Response to Current Immigration Laws that Do Not Uphold Holy Scriptures
Whereas Leviticus 19:33-34 states, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, as you were once a foreigner in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21, Deuteronomy 10:18-19)
Whereas Deuteronomy 27:19 states, “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.” (Deuteronomy 24:17-19, Jeremiah 22:3-5)
Whereas Matthew 2:13 states, “When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up”, he said. “Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
Whereas the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was directed by executive order of the President on January 20, 2025, revoked the temporary permission to live and work in the United States for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Our Church of the Brethren denomination has Global Mission Projects in three of the four countries listed.
Whereas our current government has enacted laws/policies that are contrary to the Holy Scriptures about how we are to treat our brothers and sisters who are foreigners in our land; Our government:
- Has unjustly detained immigrants in inhumane and dangerous conditions;
- Has denied them basic human rights and legal counsel, often not allowing legal assistance, family, or religious clergy access to them or to know their whereabouts;
- Has split up family members; minor children are being left behind when parents are deported; and U.S. citizen minors are being deported with their non-citizen parents without their parents’ consent;
- Has deported immigrants to countries that are not their home countries putting them in serious danger of losing their lives; or deporting them to their home countries from which they fled for their safety and well-being;
- Has cut funding for children’s food and health needs so that state-run detention centers may profit from arrests and detainment of immigrants.
Whereas Matthew 22:37-40 states, “Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Whereas in Matthew 25 Jesus says through a parable, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me… whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”
Therefore how should our Christian Church of the Brethren respond as individuals, fellowships, projects, congregations, districts, and denominational staff, when the United States Government imposes laws/policies that are unjust and contrary to Holy Scripture, the Ten Commandments, the ministry and teaching of Jesus Christ, and our historic peace witness? What statements should we make? What actions should we take?
Reference information: The Jan. 23, 2025, Mission and Ministry Board statement “Church of the Brethren Leadership Shares Concern for Immigrant, Migrant, Refugee Church Members” is linked at www.brethren.org/mmb/statements
In other business
The board authorized appointment of a committee to formulate a response for board action, having received an assignment from the 2025 Annual Conference as recommended by the “Breaking Down Barriers” study committee. The board is to consider two options for Annual Conference: a biennial conference with a different staffing arrangement in order to decrease cost for attendees; or holding Conference in-person and online in alternating years, with the fully online year for business only, and the year of in-person events for fellowship and worship and the additional events without business sessions, in order to make each year a shorter event (see www.brethren.org/news/2025/breaking-down-barriers-study).
Brethren Disaster Ministries held a time for feedback from the board as it prepares for a major review and assessment of its work, under the title “Imagining the Future.”
The board was led in a session titled “A Place for Everybody” by Jeanne Davies of the Anabaptist Disabilities Network.
Numerous reports were received, among others financial reports for 2024 and 2025 to date, updates from Intercultural Ministries and the Deportation Defense Response work, and the newest board committee called the “Revelation 7:9 Committee” that is addressing racial justice concerns.
The “Revelation 7:9 Committee” is made up of Michaela Alphonse, Edward Cesar-Fincher, Colby Patton, Eric Ramirez, and Joanna Willoughby, with staff consultant Founa A. Badet as director of Intercultural Ministries.
A report on Lybrook Ministries in New Mexico shared that the group formerly overseeing that ministry for Western Plains District has disbanded. The property is now overseen by the denomination.
Future board meetings were scheduled including the March 2026 meeting to be held in California at Modesto Church of the Brethren. This continues a longstanding practice of holding the spring meeting at a location other than the General Offices every five years. Board leadership intends to seek opportunities for worship and fellowship with various congregations in north central California in collaboration with Pacific Southwest District.
— Find a photo album from the meeting at https://churchofthebrethren.smugmug.com/Mission-and-Ministry-Board-Fall-2025. Find the agenda and background documents at www.brethren.org/mmb/meeting-info
#MissionAndMinistryBoard #StrategicPlan #RacialJustice #LoveOurNeighbors #Discipleship #NewTestamentGiving
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Find more Church of the Brethren news:
- Feature for Black History Month: Martha (Mattie) Cunningham Dolby, 1878-1956
- Annual Conference registration opens March 4, special events will welcome attendees to Fort Wayne and encourage local participation
- Brethren Press and MennoMedia announce adult curriculum partnership ‘Salt & Light: A Guide for Biblical Studies’
- District executives, denominational leadership join in Atlantic Southeast District’s first Multicultural Festival
- Children’s Disaster Services offers next series of training events for new volunteers