All Church of the Brethren members are encouraged to register and participate in the online Annual Conference. Dates are June 30-July 4. Registration and detailed information about the Conference schedule and events are at www.brethren.org/ac2021.
Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have directed a grant of $15,000 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to the Rwanda Church of the Brethren. The grant will be used to help families who have been displaced by the eruption of the Mount Nyiragongo volcano. In related news, an EDF grant of $20,000–representing a donation from The Meat Canning Committee of the Church of the Brethren districts of Southern Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic–has been given to Proyecto Aldea Global (PAG) in Honduras for a chicken-raising project to aid survivors of Hurricanes Iota and Eta.
NEWS
1) Brethren Disaster Ministries closes Coastal Carolinas project, Children’s Disaster Services continues work at border
2) Office of Peacebuilding and Policy welcomes redesignation of TPS for Haitian refugees
3) Forging peace: Turning guns into garden tools
PERSONNEL
4) Randall Yoder to serve as interim district executive for Western Plains
UPCOMING EVENTS
5) What is planned for district conferences this year?
6) Gorman to present on the church in 1 Corinthians for Ministers’ Association virtual event
RESOURCES
7) Anabaptist Disabilities Network creates Disability Language Guide
8) Brethren bits: Remembering Martha Bowman, #TodayWeWearOrange, jobs, volunteer openings, camping news, GFI shout out, virtual experiences of the Holy Land from CMEP, video from CPT Palestine, peace and justice webinars from LMPC, “Anti-Racist in Christ”
In this issue: Remembering Martha Anne Bowman, #TodayWeWearOrange, job openings, volunteer opportunities, camping news, GFI shout out, virtual experiences of the Holy Land from CMEP, new video from CPT Palestine, peace and justice webinars from LMPC, “Anti-Racist in Christ” online conference.
Randall Yoder of Huntingdon, Pa., began June 1 as interim district executive minister for the Church of the Brethren’s Western Plains District. He will serve primarily in a virtual capacity, with travel to the district as needed.
The Anabaptist Disabilities Network announces the creation of a Disability Language Guide. This guide is meant to help us all carefully consider the language that we choose when writing and speaking about disability and people with disabilities.
In updates from Brethren Disaster Ministries and Children’s Disaster Services (CDS), the rebuilding project site in North Carolina has been closed, with the prospect of reopening the site this fall. CDS has sent a second volunteer team to Texas to work with migrant children and families at the border
This listing of what the 24 Church of the Brethren districts are planning for their conferences this year was collected by Nancy Miner, manager of the Office of the General Secretary, and Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services. Information was received from district offices and gleaned from district websites and district newsletters:
On May 22, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will grant temporary protected status (TPS) to tens of thousands of Haitian migrants living in the United States without legal status.
The Church of the Brethren Ministers’ Association is hosting a virtual pre-Annual Conference event on June 29, 6-9 p.m., and June 30, 10:30 a.m.-12 noon and 1-4 p.m. (Eastern time). The event will consist of presentations by New Testament scholar Michael J. Gorman followed by interactive question-and-answer sessions with attendees.
