Plans are being finalized for the Sixth Brethren World Assembly, to be held Aug. 9-12, 2018, in Winona Lake, Ind. This gathering happens every five years for Brethren groups descended from Alexander Mack in 1708, and is sponsored by the Brethren Encyclopedia Project, Inc.
The months from July until late October are called the “lean period” in Nigeria because food from last year’s harvest is almost gone, and the new crop is not yet ready. The Boko Haram insurgency has compounded this problem with a decreased ability to even plant crops. Statistics from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Nigeria) states that 8.5 million people in the area are still in need of humanitarian assistance.
A Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) delegation that included two Church of the Brethren staff members–Nathan Hosler, director of the Office of Public Witness, and Roy Winter, associate executive director of Global Mission and Service and Brethren Disaster Ministries–has met with Palestinian President Abbas on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
Newsline Special: A statement from the Executive Committee of the Mission and Ministry Board
The Mission and Ministry Board adopted a “Vision for a Global Church of the Brethren,” and recommended this new mission philosophy to Annual Conference, at its meeting on Oct. 20-23 at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The board also adopted a budget for 2018, approved two large allocations from the Emergency Disaster Fund, and acted on Review and Evaluation Committee recommendations that were directed to the board by Annual Conference, among other business.
There is still time to register for a special continuing education travel course: “A Place of Refuge: Ministry in an Urban Context” on Jan. 2-12, 2018, in Atlanta, Ga. An immersive urban experience with a focus on the ministries of care, this travel seminar is an educational partnership between Bethany Theological Seminary, the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership, Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren, and City of Refuge ministries in Atlanta.
NEWS
1) Being the church after a catastrophe: Response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
2) Insurance check will fund denomination’s envisioning work
3) Grant to EYN supports church rebuilding effort in Nigeria
4) Global Food Initiative grants support agriculture in several nations
5) Renacer Hispanic Ministry announces new strategy plan
PERSONNEL
6) Traci Rabenstein to lead Church of the Brethren donor relations team
7) Amy Beery to direct youth programs at Bethany Seminary
UPCOMING EVENTS
8) Openings are available for continuing education opportunity in urban ministry
9) Workcamp Ministry sets 2018 schedule of events
RESOURCES
10) Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a call to peacemaking
11) Brethren bits
In this issue: Remembering Wally Landes, Ella Mae Weaver, and Merle Brown, plus how to join the moderator’s second online “town hall,” invitation to Brethren Disaster Ministries’ first repair/rebuilding project after Hurricane Harvey, districts receive offerings for hurricane relief, Mission Alive 2018 registration, prayer services for food justice, along with lots of news from congregations and districts, and more.
At last month’s National Older Adult Conference (NOAC), Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners, spoke to us of faithfulness and of living our Christian witness. This month, Sojourners reminds us that this is a call to peacemaking in the context of our daily lives. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time for us to consider that while “one in three women experience intimate partner violence in their lives…95 percent of church-going women report they have never heard a sermon on abuse preached from the pulpit of their church.”
After the devastating damage of hurricanes like Maria, civil society often breaks down. Desperate or opportunistic people start looting or stealing and stresses keep increasing. Another part of society pulls together and helps each other, bringing out the very best in human nature…and our faith often brings out the very best of being the church. The Puerto Rican churches are an inspiring example of being the church in a crisis. While burdened with many hardships, the Puerto Rican Brethren are coming together supporting each other and reaching out to their communities.
