Three online denominational events last week have brought a new level of virtual experience to the Church of the Brethren: a children’s worship and a denominational worship service on the evening of Wednesday, July 1, and a Church of the Brethren concert on the evening of Thursday, July 2, with both worship experiences available in Spanish as well as English. These virtual events were timed to happen on what would have been the first two evenings of the now-canceled 2020 Annual Conference. Recordings of all three events including the worship experiences in Spanish are available at www.brethren.org/ac/virtual .
Chambersburg Church of the Brethren gets record attendance at virtual VBS
“It went really well” was an understatement from Jamie Rhodes, director of Christian Education and Youth at Chambersburg (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. In fact, the congregation’s virtual vacation Bible school (VBS) was a smash hit, connecting with close to double the children and families than in a usual year. “We were tickled pink,” she said.
Elizabethtown Church ‘walks to Nigeria’ in virtual challenge
Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren is holding a “Walk to Nigeria Team Challenge” in which church members and friends of the congregation are invited to log walking miles in their own neighborhoods toward enough miles to walk to Nigeria. “That’s 5,710 miles!” said an announcement.
Press conference by EYN president brings attention to recent Boko Haram attacks, calls on government and international community for action
“While we remain committed as Nigerian citizens in supporting the government of the day in achieving its mandate, EYN was shocked at the Democracy Day Speech of President Buhari on June 12, where he said, “All the local governments that were taken over by the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa have long been recovered and are now occupied by the indigenes of these areas who were hitherto forced to seek a living in areas far from their ancestral homes.” That was unfortunate, misleading, and demoralizing….”
Ministerial ethics training shifts to online format
Church of the Brethren ministers needing to complete the advanced level ethics training requirement for credentialing renewal have found increased options in today’s virtual world. In mid-March the Office of Ministry began transitioning to offering such sessions online.
Ministry Summer Service interns for 2020 serve home congregations or serve remotely
Seven interns are serving as a part of Ministry Summer Service (MSS) despite alterations to the program due to COVID-19. Instead of meeting in-person for a week-long orientation and then spending nine weeks serving alongside a ministry mentor in a local setting, interns are meeting weekly for education, formation, and fellowship sessions via video conference. Interns offer leadership to their home congregations, as possible given local COVID-19 guidelines where they live, or to another congregation through technology.
Brethren bits for June 26, 2020
In this issue: Denominational staff to continue to work from home through August, Brethren Press offers new face masks, personnel and job openings, a “loaves and fishes” story from Venezuela, need for prayer for Nigeria, and more news by, for, and about Brethren.
Digital hymn sing keeps West Green Tree singing all week long
Our first Digital Hymn Sing went live on April 20 and had an estimated 200-plus participants. Each Monday night since, we have been consistent at about 200 live viewers, with hundreds of additional views after the video posts to YouTube, where people can view it days or weeks later.
Brethren Press digital curriculum for the Fall offers Christian formation options during pandemic
The Shine curriculum from Brethren Press is helping congregations provide Christian formation while maintaining social distancing. With the Sunday school landscape changing, most churches will either rely on parents to teach their own children or have teachers host online classes. These new downloadable options from Shine work in conjunction with the fall curriculum and will assist leaders by supplying useful resources to accommodate multiple formats and class settings.
EYN officials dedicate church for IDP camp funded in the name of a ‘spirited sister
Officials of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) have dedicated a 500-person capacity church auditorium for more than 300 worshipers at an IDP (internally displaced person) camp in Wuro Jabbe, Yola South Local Area, Adamawa State. The project, which cost about 4 million Naira, was sponsored in the name of the late Chrissy Kulp, granddaughter of Stover Kulp–one of the founders of the Church of the Brethren Mission in Nigeria in the 1920s. She enjoyed traveling and had recently re-visited her childhood home in Nigeria. Born Dec. 26, 1954, Kulp passed away on July 8, 2019, at the age of 64, in Waynesboro, Pa. She was the daughter of Mary Ann (Moyer) Kulp Payne of Waynesboro and the late Philip M. Kulp.