— Remembrance: Marlene Marie Moats Neher, 91, an ordained minister who served on the former General Board of the Church of the Brethren, passed away on June 12 in McPherson, Kan. She was born to Edgar and Marie Smith Moats of Eldora, Iowa, on Sept. 10, 1934. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from McPherson College, where she met her husband, Lyle Neher. They married on Dec. 26, 1956, and shared almost 70 years of marriage. The couple raised their three children on a farm outside of Grundy Center, Iowa, and served as foster parents for years. She taught special education and several grades of elementary school. Following her teaching years, she volunteered for Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) and also became a trainer for CDS. Later in life, she studied at Bethany Seminary and was ordained to the ministry at age 60. She served as a pastor at Ivester Church of the Brethren in Grundy Center, Iowa, for 10 years. Her service to the denomination included a term on the Church of the Brethren General Board, service as a board member and moderator for the church’s Northern Plains District, and service on the McPherson College Board of Trustees. She is survived by her husband, Lyle; children Paul (Ronda) Neher, Marie (Tom) Neher, and Joelle (Bruce) Appel; grandchildren and great grandchildren. A remembrance gathering will be held at the Cedars Event Center in McPherson on Saturday, July 18, from 3-5 p.m., with story sharing at 4 p.m. A memorial service will be held at Ivester Church of the Brethren on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 11 a.m. Memorial gifts are received to the New Community Project’s “Give a Girl a Chance” program and to Ivester Church of the Brethren.
— Information about the Celebration of Life Service for Dale Minnich, who passed away on June 3, has been shared by the Minnich family. The service will take place at McPherson (Kan.) Church of the Brethren on Sept. 5 at 2 p.m. (central time). For those who wish to take part but cannot attend in person, the service will be streamed on YouTube at www.youtube.com/live/G0JI9hPmlq8
Also new on the Church of the Brethren website are recordings of the online sessions that have been held so far by the Intercultural Ministries Café: Faith and Culture Conversations, or ICM Café for short. The recordings may be found at www.brethren.org/intercultural
— Church World Service (CWS) has shared an update on the Supreme Court case regarding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians: “On Tuesday, the litigation team defending Haitian TPS holders filed a motion asking the Supreme Court to dismiss the Trump administration’s attempt to end the program. The request comes in light of newly discovered evidence demonstrating that the administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti was a ‘preordained outcome motivated by discriminatory animus.’ One email revealed that DHS failed to receive a recommendation, as required, from the State Department before deciding to end the TPS designation. In fact, the lawyers assert that termination notice was ‘published only after a political appointee issued an unusual eleventh-hour verbal directive instructing career officials to abandon their recommendation that Haiti’s TPS designation be extended.’ If the dismissal is granted, the case would be sent to the lower courts to make the final decision about the administration’s ability to terminate TPS for Haiti. TPS currently protects 330,000 Haitians from deportation and allows them to legally work in the U.S.” Also this week, legislation has been introduced in Congress that, if adopted, would require DHS to designate TPS for Haiti through 2029.
Also from CWS, a new bill that would help families find loved ones in immigration detention and that holds immigration enforcement agencies accountable has been introduced in Congress. The Find Our Families Act has the support of 42 members of Congress and “would ensure that family members can find their loved ones and lawyers can find their clients when they are detained in ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody,” said a release from CWS. “It requires both agencies to maintain an online locator system that must be updated within 8 hours of an individual entering a facility, and the system must track transfers to other detention facilities or medical facilities. This information is essential to preventing wrongful deportations and helping families visit and advocate for their loved one. The bill prevents the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from renewing contracts with facilities or contractors that fail to provide the locator system timely or accurate data. It also creates public reporting requirements for arrests conducted by CBP.”
— South Central Indiana District has issued an update on fundraising efforts for a matching grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. “To fully realize this opportunity, we seek to raise $200,000—and I am pleased to share with you that in less than six months, with no formal campaign, we have already raised more than $80,000 toward that goal!” said an announcement from district board chair Paul Schrock. The match is part of the district’s Being the Body of Christ Initiative and the announcement said, “The initiative is already bearing fruit. We are thrilled to share that the Leadership Formation Training has launched with 15 participants in Cohort #1—a meaningful first step toward our goal of training 100 leaders over the next two years. Our next cohort will begin their journey in June.”
— Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) has issued a statement welcoming the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding “as a possible first step toward a broader and more durable peace in the Middle East.” The statement warned that “this agreement must mark the beginning of a comprehensive diplomatic process that will halt violence across the region and create the conditions necessary for a just and lasting peace. CMEP has consistently maintained that there is no military solution to the challenges facing the Middle East. Lasting security cannot be achieved through bombs, occupations, or cycles of retaliation. Rather, stability will only come when governments and political leaders choose diplomacy, dialogue, and negotiation over violence and war. We therefore urge all parties to engage in sustained diplomatic efforts that address not only immediate security concerns but also the deeper political and humanitarian issues that continue to fuel conflict throughout the region. We caution against viewing this agreement as a success before tangible changes occur on the ground.” The statement also specifically called for members of Congress to support the Lebanon and Iran War Powers Resolutions as “important tools for reinforcing the constitutional role of Congress in decisions related to military engagement and for signaling continued support for diplomacy over further escalation. At a time when negotiations have opened a pathway away from war, Congress should act to strengthen diplomatic efforts and help prevent the United States from becoming further entangled in regional conflict.” CMEP is a partner organization for the Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy. Find the full statement linked at https://cmep.org/press-news/public-statements-letters
— The World Council of Churches (WCC) has signed a statement on AI in warfare that calls on tech companies and states to halt the use of AI systems in military kill chains, including AI decision-support systems, target generation systems, remote biometric surveillance, and multimodal AI models such as large language models. Reported a release from the WCC: “The statement further urges that all other AI systems be designed, developed, and deployed in ways that do not cause, contribute to, or are otherwise linked to violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law…. Our concerns are not limited to the errors that may result from such systems malfunctioning but encompass how these systems fundamentally transform military operations,” the statement said, in part, continuing on to note that companies have a responsibility to respect human rights and “must immediately cease their contribution to harm,” reads the statement. Said Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches in International Affairs, “The emergence of autonomous weapons systems able to operate without meaningful human control is one of the most challenging of the many moral issues that surround the growing impact of AI in our world and societies…. That is why the WCC has already for some time been advocating for a pre-emptive ban on so-called ‘killer robots,’” he added, “and that is why we are joining this civil society appeal today.” The statement was released June 15 ahead of informal exchanges on “Artificial intelligence in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security,” organized by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in Geneva, Switzerland. Read the full statement at www.accessnow.org/press-release/joint-statement-on-ai-in-warfare
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