The Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board, meeting March 10-12 in Elgin, Ill., approved a statement lamenting the Doctrine of Discovery and recommended its adoption by Annual Conference. The Church of the Brethren statement grew out of years of background work by the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy and Discipleship Ministries.
Office of Peacebuilding and Policy letters signature, Christian Citizenship Seminar, job listings, stories from congregations, and more
Upcoming events include a virtual session March 27, “Music as a Gateway to the Sacred,” an online book study beginning April 18, the Ministers’ Association pre-conference event July 3-4 in Cincinnati, and the Clergywomen’s Breakfast July 5.
At a March 3 online meeting, Standing Committee decided on a path forward responding to a recommendation from the 2022 Annual Conference. They voted to read the recommendation of the 2022 Standing Committee and provide for a time of silent personal reflection and confession. Four other subcommittees presented progress reports on their tasks.
Children’s Disaster Services has three upcoming training events. Participants completing the 25-hour workshops will have the opportunity to become certified Children’s Disaster Services volunteers. CDS would love to see an increase in the number of Church of the Brethren-related volunteers.
Contests, resources, updates, and requests for action from the Center on Conscience and War, Creation Justice Ministries, Ecumenical Advocacy Days, and the World Council of Churches
The Ventures in Christian Discipleship program at McPherson College has announced programs for April, May, and June: “Deep Compassionate Listening,” “Beyond Burned Out to Boundaries and Balance,” and “Black Panther Films as Metaphor: Lessons about Race, Colonialism, Violence, and Identity in Wakanda”
A new Church of the Brethren Gun Violence Prevention Action Team launched in January 2023, with the purpose of encouraging the Church of the Brethren to be faithful as an effective force for reducing gun violence in our neighborhoods and wherever it occurs. On Earth Peace is convening this action team as part of a broader campaign to activate advocates for gun violence prevention.
Due to numerous humanitarian crises around the world, thousands of people are seeking asylum in the United States, some of whom make perilous journeys to the southern border. In April 2022, the state of Texas began sending many of these asylum seekers in buses to Washington, D.C., without plans for their care or in coordination with the city government or others in the area.
Church of the Brethren general secretary David Steele is one of the American faith leaders who have signed a letter to President Biden urging that the president “issue an executive order to establish a Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.”