The Michigan District Leadership Team has received a letter of resignation from Nate Polzin, district executive, effective July 7.
Michigan District executive Nate Polzin resigns
Brethren bits for March 18, 2017
Job openings, personnel, new dates for Nigeria workcamp, next webinars on “Mental Health” and “What Have the Children Done for Us?” new Brethren Disaster Ministries video, remembrance and celebration weekend at Brethren Service Center, annual assembly of the Brazilian Brethren, Office of Public Witness blogpost on indigenous opposition to pipeline, and more news by, for, and about Brethren.
Newsline for March 18, 2017
NEWS
1) Mission and Ministry Board approves new areas of global mission
2) CCT issues call to prayer for Congress in upcoming decisions affecting those in poverty
3) Christian Churches Together holds forum on ‘the persecuted church’
4) Haiti Medical Project has a new focus on pure water for Haiti
UPCOMING EVENTS
5) Jubilee afternoon will be a breath of rejuvenation for Annual Conference
6) National Youth Conference 2018 theme is announced
FEATURE
7) Please help them: Reflection of a Latino Brethren
8) Brethren bits
Mission and Ministry Board approves new areas of global mission
Fledgling Church of the Brethren mission projects in two areas of the world–Venezuela and the Great Lakes region of Africa–have been formally approved by the denomination’s Mission and Ministry Board, at its March 3-8 meeting.
Please help them: Reflection of a Latino Brethren
The result of the presidential election and the politics in regards to immigration issues has impacted America in so many ways. Being a Latino pastor in a country where the Latino population reaches close to 60 million people gives me the opportunity to not only share the gospel in Spanish, but also to be concerned with the issues that affect my community.
Christian Churches Together holds forum on ‘the persecuted church’
More than 40 leaders from Christian Churches Together (CCT) joined a forum in Newark, N.J., on March 2-3 to discuss the ongoing persecution of Christians around the globe. I was invited to speak on behalf of the Church of the Brethren regarding the impact of Boko Haram on the Christian community in Nigeria.
CCT issues call to prayer for Congress in upcoming decisions affecting those in poverty
Citing scripture reminding of God’s concern for the poor, Christian Churches Together (CCT) has issued a call to prayer for the US Congress, noting that “during the last three weeks of March, the US Congress will make critical decisions that will affect the lives of millions of our brothers and sisters living in poverty. The right decisions could alleviate and pull people out of poverty; the wrong decisions will increase poverty and put the lives of hundreds of thousands at risk.” CCT is an ecumenical organization made up of five “families” of Christian denominations across the country. The Church of the Brethren is a member denomination.
National Youth Conference 2018 theme is announced
Participants in National Youth Conference (NYC) 2018 will focus on the theme “Bound Together: Clothed in Christ.” The scriptural theme is from Colossians 3:12-15: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.”
Haiti Medical Project has a new focus on pure water for Haiti
For the past 18 months, the Church of the Brethren has been addressing the need for pure drinking water in our related communities in Haiti through the work of the Haiti Medical Project in cooperation with l’Eglise des Freres Haitiens (Church of the Brethren in Haiti). The mobile medical clinics offered since late 2011 treat many children and adults suffering from dysentery and other serious infectious diseases that often result from untreated water.
Jubilee afternoon will be a breath of rejuvenation for Annual Conference
For a second year in a row the 2017 Annual Conference schedule will include a Jubilee break from business on Friday afternoon. To understand how Jubilee came to be a part of Annual Conference, it is helpful to look at its origins in scripture.