After more than 40 years of creating videos for the Church of the Brethren, David Sollenberger realized that nearly all of the recordings were in formats that are no longer used. With Sollenberger, Brethren Historical Library and Archives interim manager Allison Snyder and Church of the Brethren web producer Jan Fischer Bachman have created a new YouTube channel for historical Church of the Brethren videos.
The FaithX office has shared commissioning resources for the 2024 FaithX season. These resources are available to be used by congregations for the sending out of their FaithX participants.
In this issue: Churches for Middle East Peace issues statements, Meyersdale Church of the Brethren anniversary, Shenandoah disaster auction underway, On Earth Peace announces new resources, informational sessions from the Death Row Support Project, Brethren Heritage Center event, and more.
Eric Miller on May 15 concluded his work with the Church of the Brethren as executive director of Global Mission. Roy Winter, executive director for Service Ministries, will provide interim leadership for Global Mission.
Jacqueline Claire Flowers of Blacksburg, Va., has been hired by the Church of the Brethren as director of the Brethren Historical Library and Archives (BHLA). She holds a master of divinity degree from Bethany Theological Seminary and a bachelor of arts in Psychology from Argosy University. She will begin working from the General Offices in Elgin, Ill., on July 15.
Making connections is one of my life’s joys, and the Christian Citizenship Seminar (CCS) held on April 11-16 in Washington, D.C., was a place to make them.
An appropriation of $143,000 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) is being directed by Brethren Disaster Ministries for a humanitarian response to multiple crises in Haiti. The money will provide emergency food distributions at all the congregations and preaching points of l’Eglise des Freres d’Haiti (the Church of the Brethren in Haiti).
The staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries have directed a large grant of $225,000 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to extend the Nigeria Crisis Response for another year. The grant is given in conjunction with a plan to phase out the program over the next three years, created in collaboration with the Disaster Relief Management Team of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).
In addition to the large grant of $225,000 that extends the Nigeria Crisis Response program through 2024, the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) has provided grants to various countries including a grant that will help start a new South Sudan Crisis Recovery Initiative with staff from Global Mission.
The United Nations Civil Society (NGO) conference will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 9-10. At that time, a “Summit of the Future” will be held on the continent from where millions of people were transported as commodities between the 16th and 19th centuries. This report covers a portion of the UN events that I’ve attended in 2023 through March 2024, along with information that can be found at the United Nations websites.
