The deadline for nominations for the Annual Conference ballot has been extended to Jan. 4, 2023. The Church of the Brethren and its agencies depend on leaders elected at Conference from nominees proposed by the wider church.
Last week the Heifer Project International board gathered in Little Rock, Ark. Though I have been representing the Church of the Brethren on this board for two years, this was the first time I met fellow board members and most of the staff. In addition to physically meeting board members and staff, who I’ve been with for many hours of Zoom, I met the new CEO, Surita Sandosham. Having joined the board only 20 days earlier, Sandosham was still in intense listening mode.
H. Lamar Gibble, 91, a former longterm staff member of the Church of the Brethren noted for his ecumenical work as Peace and International Affairs Consultant/Europe and Asia Representative, died on Oct. 29 in Elgin, Ill.
In this issue: Prayer is requested for Haiti and the Haitian Brethren, Mutual Aid Agency offers resources for pastors through Full Strength, Children’s Disaster Services completes its work in Florida, Dauda Gava to speak at the Young Center at Elizabethtown College, and more news by, for, and about Brethren.
The Church of the Brethren’s Virlina District has called Daniel L. Rudy as district executive minister beginning on Feb. 6, 2023. The district has called Emma Jean Franklin Woodard to serve a five-week interim role between the retirement of David Shumate on Dec. 31 and the beginning of Rudy’s service. Rudy has pastored Ninth Street
In this issue: Remembering Kent Shisler, announcements from Annual Conference, job openings, save the date for New and Renew in 2023, media attention to the situation in Haiti, and more news by, for, and about Brethren.
Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren voted unanimously to run a full-page advertisement in the Sunday edition of the Lancaster, Pa., newspaper. The statement, titled “The Perils of Christian Nationalism,” was written “in response to the Christian Nationalism that we encounter daily in our communities and nationwide,” said pastor Pamela Reist.
Church of the Brethren ministries are assisting survivors of Hurricanes Ian and Fiona through shipments by Material Resources, Children’s Disaster Services teams in Florida, and acts of love and compassion in Puerto Rico.
Approval of a budget for the denominational ministries of the Church of the Brethren and the naming of the next chair-elect topped actions taken by the Mission and Ministry Board at fall meetings. The board met at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill., on Oct. 13-16 led by chair Carl Fike, assisted by chair-elect Colin Scott and general secretary David Steele.
Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) Unit 332 held orientation at Camp Brethren Heights in Rodney, Mich., from Oct. 11-20 for nine volunteers.
