Rachel Johnson and Anna Schweitzer will coordinate National Youth Conference (NYC) 2026. They will begin work with the 2025-2026 National Youth Cabinet in the new year to begin planning for NYC. The event will be held at the YMCA of the Rockies near Estes Park, Colo., from July 18-23, 2026.
Leah J. Hileman began Dec. 10 as district executive minister for the Church of the Brethren’s West Marva District, serving in a half-time position. She was ordained in 2011 in Atlantic Southeast District and is currently pastoring Robinson Church of the Brethren in Seward, Pa., in a quarter-time capacity. She lives in Seward and will travel as needed to West Marva District to carry out this role.
In this isssue: Remembering Doris Coppock, Mauri Flora, Leon Neher, and Ray Hileman; the Church of the Brethren Health Care Education Scholarship; upcoming Youth and Young Adult events; registration opens soon for FaithX trips in 2025; think of giving Messenger for Christmas; Brethren Volunteer Service orientation dates for 2025; property manager opening at Brethren Woods; Shine seeks writers; Southeastern District thank you; and more
The On Earth Peace board of directors held its fall 2024 meeting on Oct. 26, marking just over six months since the implementation of our new board meeting structure. Over the past year, we have welcomed several new members to the board, and as a result, we dedicated intentional time to getting to know each other better.
The Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI) has issued a recent round of grants supporting work for food security and related needs including $15,000 for purchase of farmland in Uganda, $6,470 for a well project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, $825 for a farming project of the emerging Tanzania Church of the Brethren, $5,000 in continued support for the Soybean Value Chain project of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria, and $15,000 for the Wings of Blessing and Hope Farm Poultry Project of ASIGLEH, the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela.
The ICM Café Cohort offers monthly opportunities to participate in intercultural skills that we all can learn and share with our churches to be competent culturally, together.
Recent grants made from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) have been directed by Brethren Disaster Ministries to extend aid to organizations working in response to humanitarian needs created by the war between Israel and Hamas, with the violence now extended beyond Gaza into the West Bank and Lebanon
In this issue: Remembering Michele Firebaugh, South Sudan Matching Gift Campaign ends Saturday, send a Christmas card to a BVSer, Messenger’s Thanksgiving playlist, the Global Women’s Project annual Advent calendar, and much more
Keynote speaker Dennis R. Edwards of North Park Theological Seminary, and preachers Etienne Nsanzimana of the Church of the Brethren in Rwanda and Jeff Carter of Bethany Theological Seminary, led the main sessions at the first-ever L.E.A.D. Conference of the Church of the Brethren on Nov. 15-17.
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) deployed a local team of volunteers to Ventura County, Calif., providing a calm presence to children affected by the recent Mountain Fire. Volunteers living within a two-hour drive served at a Local Assistance Center (LAC) in Camarillo, Calif.