Annual Conference moderator Samuel K. Sarpiya is issuing an invitation to Brethren across the denomination to join in online “townhall meetings” that he plans to hold once a month beginning Sept. 28. The online “townhalls” will explore the theme for the 2018 Annual Conference, “Living Parables.”
Twelve volunteers with Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) traveled to San Antonio on Sunday, Aug. 27, to serve children and families in Red Cross shelters. The families are among those who were evacuated or voluntarily left the area of southeast Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey and the torrential rain that has caused severe flooding.
Many Brethren across the country have been involved in prayer gatherings, prayer walks, vigils, and other gatherings responding to the events in Charlottesville, Va., while others have helped issue a variety of statements. Here is a sampling.
Brethren bits for Aug. 17, 2017
This is the 25th anniversary year (and 14th gathering) of the National Older Adult Conference (NOAC), and we are especially grateful for the sponsorship and leadership of denominational agencies, Fellowship of Brethren Homes communities, and other nonprofits who have an opportunity to share their mission with the conference participants.
The Church of the Brethren has called Nancy Sollenberger Heishman as director of the Office of Ministry. She will begin in this role on Nov. 6, working out of the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill., and from her home in Tipp City, Ohio.
“Inspiration 2017″ will be the first National Older Adult Conference to be live-streamed on the Internet. All keynote addresses, worship services, afternoon programs, and daily Bible studies will be available to view live online through a partnership with Enten and Mary Eller and Living Stream Church of the Brethren. This is especially important for conference “alumni/ae” who are no longer able to travel to the conference location in Lake Junaluska, N.C., and who long to be part of the NOAC community.
NEWS
1) Shenandoah District shares prayerful reflection following Charlottesville
2) Many Brethren across the country gather, pray, speak about Charlottesville
PERSONNEL
3) Nancy S. Heishman named director of the Office of Ministry
UPCOMING EVENTS
4) Support and sponsorship grows for ‘Inspiration 2017′
5) Events at ‘Inspiration 2017′ (NOAC) to be live streamed
6) Brethren bits
“It was extremely grim and sobering to be face-to-face with such hatred and racism–and more so because of what seemed almost an inevitability about the clash between white supremacists and others,” said Kim McDowell, pastor of University Park Brethren and Baptist Church in Hyattsville, Md. She was one of the clergy who provided a presence in Charlottesville, Va., during the white supremacist rally on Saturday. She was not aware of other Church of the Brethren clergy who may have been present.
Samuel K. Sarpiya, moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, has shared this reflection in response to the weekend’s events in Charlottesville, Va. This is the first in a series of reflections on the 2018 Conference theme, “Living Parables”:
