Brethren bits

— The 2025 year-end statements from the Church of the Brethren denomination will be delayed, reports Mission Advancement staff. The data breach suffered by the denominational offices in late 2024 is still causing some delays in financial reporting for 2025. “We will work quickly to get statements out to our donors as soon as possible,” said the announcement. Direct questions to MA@brethren.org or call 800-323-8039 and follow instructions to connect with Mission Advancement.

— During the COVID pandemic, the Church of the Brethren communications staff collected information on congregations offering remote worship opportunities. Since this information is now out of date, updates are requested to help congregations connect with people who are looking to participate in worship online or virtually. Information will be received via district offices and will be posted as it arrives. If your congregation offers remote worship, please contact your district executive minister to ask to be added to this online page titled “Church of the Brethren congregations offer remote worship opportunities” at www.brethren.org/news/2026/church-of-the-brethren-congregations-worship-online

— The Global Church of the Brethren Communion is preparing for a gathering in Spain in April. “Your prayers are requested for the delegates and alternate delegates of the Global Church of the Brethren Communion as they prepare for their April in-person gathering in Gijón, Spain,” said a prayer request from the Church of the Brethren Global Mission staff. “Gijón is the largest city in the Asturias community on the northern coast of the Cantabrian Sea, and the headquarters city for Iglesia de los Hermanos, Una Luz en las Naciones, the Church of the Brethren in Spain. The denomination in Spain is is hosting the gathering. It is hoped that all those invited from member churches in Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, India, Nigeria, Rwanda, Spain, Uganda, the United States, and Venezuela will attend, as well as representatives of the emerging church in Burundi. Pray that all who need them will be able to get visas and that everyone will continue planning with prayerful hope for the gathering.”

— Nate Polzin, executive director of Discleship and Leadership Formation for the Church of the Brethren, recently visited Pacific Southwest District. It was “a whirlwind, but it was really good,” he reported to Newsline. “I met with pastors from more than half of their churches. [District executive] Russ Matteson set up meal events across California where pastors came to share about their ministries and hear about what DLF could help them with. Most of the gathering involved Spanish-speaking leaders.” The trip included a specific visit with pastor Jeremy Ashworth of Circle of Peace Church of the Brethren in Arizona, who is a presenter for a webinar on Adaptability in Leadership for the L.E.A.D. Conference series. Polzin also worshiped with Circle of Peace.

— On March 14, the Brethren Heritage Center is holding “Exploring the Depth of The Brethren Chart,” which examines the history of divisions as well as the events precipitating those divisions among churches tracing their origins to Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708. This event will take place at Happy Corner Church of the Brethren in Clayton, Ohio, beginning at 9 a.m. (Eastern time).

— On Earth Peace is offering a two-hour webinar overview of Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation on Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. (Eastern time). “Kingian nonviolence is an approach to conflict and community leadership that offers values and methods useful for anyone who wants to use conflict constructively in your personal life, in group settings, or in community issues and building a reconciled world,” said an announcement. Register at www.onearthpeace.org

— The Anabaptist Disabilities Network has welcomed Jonathan Shively as board president. He is a member of Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, Ill. He joined the ADN board as a member in spring 2025. He is executive director of Fox Valley Hands of Hope, a nonprofit providing grief support in north central Illinois, and has a coaching and consulting business, ArtistryLeads. “His most rewarding ministry venture was a four-year partnership with Jeanne Davies in Parables, a church community for persons with disabilities and their families,” said the release. “Jonathan is a husband to Kim and a dad to three adult children, including Benjamin who has Williams Syndrome.” The release also thanked Mitchell Stutzman for his leadership as ADN board president in 2025.

In an update to the “Newsline Special: Intercessory prayer and action needed as TPS is ended for Haitians living in the US” sent out on Feb. 2: A US district judge on Feb. 2 ordered a stay of the Department of Homeland Security move to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians living in the US on Feb. 3. It is unknown how long the stay will be in effect. TPS is a government designation allowing immigrants to legally live in the US when their home countries are unsafe because of armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions that prevent a safe return. TPS has been applied to Haitians almost continuously since 2011. Its termination was announced despite the lack of safe return to Haiti, where there is ongoing violence and a severe humanitarian crisis. The Church of the Brethren Deportation Defense Response Team has called for intercessory prayer for the approximately 200 members of the Church of the Brethren, among some 350,000 Haitians living in the US, who will be affected if TPS is ended. Effects may include loss of employment and deportation.

Several Church of the Brethren ministers and members were at “Here We Stand: Faith Leaders for Immigration Justice & Family Unity,” an immigration summit in Springfield, Ohio, on Feb. 2. At the gathering were ministers Irv Heishman, Tara Hornbacker, Caleb Kragt, Mark Lancaster, and Zack Spidel, among others. Heishman reported to Newsline that “the Haitian community and faith leaders…in Springfield were praying for God to intervene on behalf of the Haitian community.” The event gained attention from media outlets including Religion News Service. Find the RNS article, with a photo of the Springfield gathering in which Heishman is visible in the audience, at https://religionnews.com/2026/02/02/judge-prevents-noem-from-ending-haitians-protected-status-but-fear-of-ice-remains. Find a Springfield News-Sun article about an expected surge of immigration enforcement in the area at www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-braces-for-30-day-targeted-ice-surge-next-week-as-haitian-tps-ends/L6425QVWEFFGLAKHHRYHYJ3WEM

— “Ten Commandments of Climate-Responsible Banking” is a new resource from the World Council of Churches (WCC) encouraging faith communities to divest from fossil fuels. It calls on individuals, churches, and faith-based organizations to align their financial choices with climate justice and the wellbeing of future generations, stressing that “money entrusted to banks is often invested in industries driving the climate crisis and urges believers to use their economic influence to support a transition away from fossil fuels and toward sustainable alternatives,” said a release.

Said Kenneth Mtata, WCC program director for Life, Justice, and Peace: “At the heart of the resource is the conviction that responsible financial decision-making is a powerful tool for protecting life and ensuring intergenerational justice. Continued investment in fossil fuel expansion threatens children and future generations, as fossil fuels account for around 90% of carbon emissions driving the climate emergency.”

The resource sets out 10 concrete actions to reduce financial contributions to environmental harm including researching how much one’s bank invests in fossil fuels and urging financial institutions to end such investments. The guide also recommends spreading awareness, exploring legal avenues to challenge banks that support fossil fuel expansion, moving money to greener banks or values-based investment funds, checking whether pension and insurance providers invest in fossil fuels, and shifting to climate-responsible alternatives.

Find the resource at www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/ten-commandments-of-climate-responsible-banking