The Church of the Brethren Office of Public Witness has signed on to a letter to the US administration from the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. The letter responds to signals from the administration that a decision may be made not to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 50,000 Haitians living in the United States.
Sandy Schild has announced her retirement from Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) as of June 1. She has been BBT’s Finance Project manager and Operations Support. She began as director of Financial Operations on Dec. 14, 2009.
The 2017 edition of “Giving” magazine titled “Live Generously,” and related materials, are now available from the Ecumenical Stewardship Center. The Church of the Brethren partners with the center in stewardship resources and other initiatives.
I’ve found that social media does an amazing job of keeping track of timelines I could never have kept straight for myself. While scrolling through my Facebook feed during a time of leisure at this year’s Christian Citizenship Seminar, I stumbled upon pictures of me and other 2015 CCS participants enjoying the city life in Washington, D.C. and New York. The energy of my companions and the dynamic cities we explored together left me even more excited to learn about the issues surrounding immigration, which was the theme of CCS the year that I attended as a high school junior.
President Joel S. Billi of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) has confirmed news reports of the release of 82 of the Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram in April 2014. Media are reporting that the girls were released to the Nigerian government by Boko Haram on Saturday, in exchange for five Boko Haram suspects.
NEWS
1) Worship service closes upper campus of the Brethren Service Center
2) Employees end service with the church upon closing of the Brethren Service Center upper campus
3) Wieand Trust gives grants to church plants in Chicago area
4) Messenger magazine receives awards
UPCOMING EVENTS
5) Manchester University commencement marks 100th anniversary of Dan West’s graduation
REFLECTION
6) May Bible study on the Annual Conference theme: The people of God made new
7) Brethren bits
Congregational Life Ministries staff are supporting and overseeing grants from the David J. And Mary Elizabeth Wieand Trust to two church plants in the Chicago area. The Wieand Trust explicitly names Christian work in Chicago as one of three purposes for its grants.
In this issue: Personnel notes, Brethren Disaster Ministries responds to Missouri flooding, new tractors for the Nigeria Crisis Response, BVS office hosts its annual Think Tank meeting, upcoming auctions support disaster relief, and more news by, for, and about Brethren.
With the closing of the upper campus of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., 10 employees of the Church of the Brethren end their work with the denomination. A few more will do so in coming weeks.
Messenger, the Church of the Brethren magazine, has received two awards from the Associated Church Press. The first is an award of excellence for publisher Wendy McFadden’s online essay “A Playlist of Mercy and Hope.” The second award is an honorable mention for redesign of the Messenger website.
