On Aug. 15-17, a Church of the Brethren Peace Conference in Mwanza, Tanzania, brought together church leaders as potters of hope, molding visions of amani (peace) and tumaini (hope) into forms that can serve their communities.
Our church at Shepherd’s Heart Fellowship in Osceola, Ind., has many outreach programs that extend heartfelt help to our neighbors, such as our monthly Community Meals and the Paper and Hygiene Products Pantry. But we found as we prayed for these individuals, and as we got to know them and we built relationships, that there were greater and deeper needs in our neighborhood. We also found, as we attempted to assist, there were not any programs built into our ministries to specifically help people outside the church congregation. Our resources were focused on the body, but not those unconnected. So we began a new ministry, which we deemed “Hands of the King.”
Our 200th Anniversary Celebrations at Meadow Branch Church of the Brethren in Westminster, Md., are planned for Nov. 7-9. Paul Mundey and Bob Krouse, former Meadow Branch pastor, will be our guest speakers.
On the International Day of Peace, Sept. 21, Mountville (Pa.) Church of the Brethren hosted a candlelight peace vigil to lament the 100-plus lives lost to gun violence in Lancaster County, Pa.
The Living Legacy memorial event at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on Friday, Sept. 19, was an evening highlighting 80 years of achievements, advances, failures, and assessment of where we are today, while setting a goal for a future UN contained in the Pact for the Future and the Sustainable Development Goals among others.
The Deportation Defense Response Team provides the following update on the numbers, first initials, and locations of Church of the Brethren immigrant congregants affected by detention or deportation. This information was updated on Sept. 19. The team continues to urge congregations to take up special offerings and fundraise within their communities to support the Legal and Mutual Aid Fund.
The volunteers from Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) Unit 338 have begun work at their project sites, after completing orientation earlier this month. This was the fall 2025 unit of BVS.
On Sept. 22, the Church of the Brethren and other plaintiffs filed their opening brief in their appeal of the district court’s decision denying their motion for a preliminary injunction in Mennonite USA v. DHS.
Angella F. Haranzo began Sept. 21 as half-time associate district executive minister for the Church of the Brethren’s Virlina District. She has been interim director of District Conference, Nurture and Witness for the district.
At the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference this summer, On Earth Peace challenged the denomination to raise $100,000 to provide a Legal and Mutual Aid Fund to support Church of the Brethren members facing challenges as a result of the detention and deportation efforts of agencies that are part of the government’s Homeland Security administration.