Over the past few years, the Office of Mission Advancement and the Finance Office of the Church of the Brethren have been reviewing the process of acknowledging and receipting gifts made in support of all of our Core Ministries and independently-funded ministries. (Learn more about our ministries at www.brethren.org/greatthings.)
Church of the Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) made two changes beginning Jan. 1, 2022, to proactively live into its strategic goals, which are designed to enable the organization to adapt as denominational demographics and societal pressures continue to evolve. For now, these BBT changes include where staff work and organizational structure, with additional changes expected to be announced later this year.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has received a report of another violent attack affecting Nigerian Brethren in northeastern Nigeria, reported by Zakariya Musa, head of Media for Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).
The next offering from the Ventures in Christian Discipleship program based at McPherson (Kan.) College will be “Peace, Violence, and Nonviolence.” The course will be held online over two evening sessions on Thursday, Feb. 24, and Thursday, March 3, both at 7 p.m. (Eastern time). The course will be presented by Katy Gray Brown and Virginia Rendler.
On March 10-11, Bridgewater (Va.) College and the Forum for Brethren Studies will present a symposium on “Brethren and the Polarizing Pandemic: What Next?” The event is open to the public.
In this issue: Remembering Ellis Shenk, Juniata physics students win award, Brethren Voices celebrates 200th episode, Brethren Heritage Center advertises handbells, World Council of Churches has three job openings for leadership staff.
NEWS
1) Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy signs joint letter from faith groups urging leaders to de-escalate tension, pursue peace in Ukraine
2) Church of the Brethren Benefit Trust announces two changes as it implements five strategic goals
3) Mission Advancement office makes change in gift acknowledgment and receipt process
4) Pemi church burned in violent attack in northeastern Nigeria
5) ‘Life Support Project’ provides pen pals to people serving life or long-term sentences
UPCOMING EVENTS
6) Two-part Ventures course to focus on ‘Peace, Violence, and Nonviolence’
7) Bridgewater College hosts Forum for Brethren Studies event on ‘Brethren and the Polarizing Pandemic’
8) Brethren bits: Remembering Ellis Shenk, Juniata physics students win award, Brethren Voices celebrates 200th episode, Brethren Heritage Center advertises handbells, World Council of Churches has three job openings for leadership staff
More than 350 people from across 17 Church of the Brethren districts have registered for National Youth Conference (NYC) 2022 since registration began on Dec. 1. In more news, ongoing announcements of presenters for NYC 2022 continue. The NYC 2022 office is happy to announce that all the worship preachers for the event have been confirmed.
As we look ahead to Annual Conference on July 10-14, 2022, in Omaha, Neb., one of our top priorities is caring for the health and wellbeing of all Conferencegoers. In the highly politicized context of the ongoing pandemic, this has proven to be a challenging task. The Program and Arrangements Committee developed the following plan in consultation with epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Jacobsen and physician and former Program and Arrangements Committee member Dr. Emily Shonk Edwards.
South/Central Indiana District of the Church of the Brethren has called Kay Gaier and Anna Lisa Gross to serve as co-interim district executive ministers in a half-time position beginning Jan. 17.