“Ready to Listen” (1 Samuel 3:10) is the theme for the Church of the Brethren workcamps in 2012. A list of workcamp sites , dates, and costs for next summer is available at www.brethren.org/workcamps along with a downloadable flier that can be printed out for distribution to congregations and youth groups. Workcamps are offered for jr high and sr high youth, young adults, and intergenerational groups. “We Are Able” is offered for youth with intellectual disabilities.
GFCF Grants Go to Work in Honduras, Niger, Kenya, Rwanda
The Global Food Crisis Fund, a fund of the Church of the Brethren that fights hunger by promoting sustainable development, has announced several recent grants. The four grants total $26,500.
Newsline for Oct. 20, 2011
Articles include:
1. Board decides to cease operation of New Windsor Conference Center, gives provisional approval to Ministerial Leadership Paper, makes grant to Haiti earthquake response.
2. On Earth Peace releases statement of inclusion.
3. Religious leaders arrested in Rotunda in July have their day in court.
4. Peace Witness Ministries takes up food stamp challenge.
5. GFCF grants go to work in Honduras, Niger, Kenya, and Rwanda.
6. Tracy Stoddart Primozich to oversee admissions at seminary.
7. Workcamps are announced for 2012.
8. Brethren bits: Remembrance, personnel, jobs, anniversaries, more.
Board Makes Decision to Cease Operating New Windsor Conference Center
The Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board has determined that “operating the New Windsor Conference Center is not in alignment with the directional goals of our strategic plan and not financially sustainable.” The decision is not about the Brethren Service Center property as a whole nor the other ministries located at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
Children’s Disaster Services: Helping Turn Helplessness into Hope
June 2. 9 a.m. Lisa, five years old, walked through the maze of cots in the Joplin Red Cross Shelter with her mother to the Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) child care center. Lisa’s family lost everything in the Joplin tornado, and had been living in the shelter more than a week.
Newsline for Oct. 5, 2011
Annual Conference officers provide theme, prayer calendar for 2012. Nigerian Brethren make progress on interfaith peace work. J. Colleen Michael to lead Oregon Washington District. Family Life Ministry highlights October observances. Junior High Sunday to be celebrated November 6. ‘Witness of Hebrew Bible’ event is offered by SVMC. Children’s Disaster Services announces upcoming workshops. Feature: Helping turn helplessness into hope. Brethren bits: Corrections, remembrance, personnel, anniversaries, more.
Children’s Disaster Services Announces Upcoming Workshops
Children’s Disaster Services ( www.brethren.org/cds ), a Church of the Brethren program serving children and families affected by disasters, has announced three workshops this fall. Each offers basic training for volunteers who are interested in working with the program.
Annual Conference Officers Provide Theme, Prayer Calendar for 2012
The Annual Conference officers have announced the theme for next year’s Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren: “Continuing the Work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together” (Matthew 28:19-20). The officers invite Church of the Brethren members to join them in prayer on Wednesday mornings at 8 a.m. (each in their own time zone) until the start of next year’s Conference. The officers have provided an online prayer calendar guide for this time of prayer each week.
‘Witness of Hebrew Bible’ Event Is Offered by SVMC
The Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center (SVMC), in collaboration with Elizabethtown (Pa.) College Department of Religious Studies, will host a continuing education event titled “The Witness of the Hebrew Bible for a New Testament Church.” The event takes place Nov. 7 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., on the Elizabethtown College campus in the Susquehanna Room, with speakers who contributed to a recent Brethren Press book of the same name.
Nigerian Brethren Make Progress on Interfaith Peace Work
A September update from Nathan and Jennifer Hosler, Church of the Brethren peace and reconciliation workers with Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN–the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), highlights a group of Muslims and Christians who have been meeting together as an interfaith peace planning group under the name CAMPI, or Christians and Muslims for Peacebuilding Initiatives.