Imagine sitting inside a 19th-century church, singing a cappella with the sounds of rifles and cannons echoing outside. Around you are Civil War reenactors and encampments, while inside, worshipers gather for a traditional Dunker Service.
“As we approach the 250th anniversary of the event that kicked off the revolution, we might ask, what do we Brethren think about the Declaration of Independence? … And what would our forebears say about what we’ve become?” asked Denise Kettering-Lane at her standing-room-only equipping session titled “Dunkers and the Declaration of Independence: Then and Now.”
The Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center (SVMC) equips leaders for ministry in a Christ-centered, culturally relevant context that bears witness to the beliefs, heritage, and practices of the Church of the Brethren. SVMC partners with districts and the denomination to train and educate those called to ministry.
The Church of the Brethren’s Inter-Agency Forum (IAF) met in Florida on Jan. 27 and has issued the following statement. The IAF includes officers of the denomination’s Annual Conference; the general secretary of the Church of the Brethren and the chair of the Mission and Ministry Board; representatives of the Council of District Executives; and executives and chairs of the boards of the three Annual Conference agencies: Bethany Theological Seminary, Eder Financial, and On Earth Peace.
Tamisha Tyler has resigned from her position as visiting assistant professor and director of the Master of Arts program at Bethany Seminary in Richmond, Ind., effective at the end of the spring semester 2026. She will become the co-director of Level Ground, a nonprofit artist collective, project incubator, and documentary production company in Los Angeles, Calif.
The Ventures in Christian Discipleship program at McPherson (Kan.) College begins its 2025-2026 season with a course on “Preaching and Storytelling.”
One of the most astonishing stories told at the “Early Anabaptism in Global Perspective” conference, held recently at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College in recognition of the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement, was told by Japanese scholar Tomoji Odori.
Updated covenant agreements for three Annual Conference agencies came before the delegates this year. In 2022, Annual Conference approved the Update Regarding Polity for Annual Conference Agencies. Part of this new polity required establishment of covenant agreements between Standing Committee and any organizations wishing to be Annual Conference agencies.
The Bethany Theological Seminary Luncheon during Annual Conference was held on Friday, July 4. Following a delicious meal in a comfortably filled large room we learned:
Agape love in the Bible and the love found in Church of the Brethren communities of faith has more to do with how we act towards and with each other than it has to do with any “second-hand emotion,” as confirmed by Dan Ulrich and Denise Kettering-Lane, faculty members at Bethany Theological Seminary. The two spoke at an equipping session on Friday evening at the Annual Conference.
