Messenger, the Church of the Brethren magazine, has received two awards from the Associated Church Press. The first is an award of excellence for publisher Wendy McFadden’s online essay “A Playlist of Mercy and Hope.” The second award is an honorable mention for redesign of the Messenger website.
The following is an excerpt of the late Mary Blocher Smeltzer’s story about how she and her husband, Ralph Smeltzer, aided Japanese-American families who were interned by the US government during World War II. The Smeltzers began teaching at the Manzanar internment camp and then worked to relocate Japanese-American families to Chicago and New York with help from the Church of the Brethren and Bethany Seminary. This story was included in the chapter titled “Japanese-American Resettlement Work” in the book “To Serve the Present Age: The Brethren Service Story,” edited by Donald F. Durnbaugh and published by Brethren Press in 1975.
“Medicine of Mercy” is the title of the Lenten devotional from Brethren Press. The Lenten devotional is one of two annual devotional booklets published by Brethren Press, along with the Advent devotional. This year’s Lenten devotional is written by Theresa Eshbach.
Several new study resources for the Advent season and the Winter curriculum quarter are now available from Brethren Press. The new resources include “Unwrapping the Gift of Advent” in the Vital Ministry Journey study series; the Winter quarter of the Shine curriculum exploring the life and ministry of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Matthew; a new Believers Church Bible Commentary on Philippians.
The Shine curriculum, which is a joint project of Brethren Press and MennoMedia, has shared a teacher blessing for the start of the Sunday school year. The blessing first appeared in the Shine e-newsletter, which is available by e-mail. For more about Shine go to https://shinecurriculum.com . Order curriculum items from Brethren Press by calling 800-441-3712. The Shine theme for Fall 2016 is “God Restores the People.”
Among new resources from Brethren Press are the 2016-17 Living Word Bulletin Series, the Sept.-Nov. 2016 book in the curriculum for adult Bible studies, “A Guide for Biblical Studies,” and this year’s Advent devotional titled “Witnesses to Jesus.” Brethren Press also is taking pre-publication orders for “Speak Peace: A Daily Reader,” which offer a discount for orders placed before Oct. 1.
There are two new books in the Covenant Bible Studies series from Brethren Press: “Ten Reasons to Love Leviticus” and “More Miracles of Jesus.” Also newly available from the Church of the Brethren publishing house is the 2016 camping curriculum on DVD, titled “Branching Out.”
New resources from Brethren Press include a summer quarter of A Guide for Biblical Studies–the Bible study curriculum for adult Christian education–on the theme “Toward a New Creation,” and a new curriculum guide for the illustrated children’s book “The Seagoing Cowboy.”
Joan Daggett of Bridgewater, Va., has accepted the position of project director for Shine: Living in God’s Light, the children’s Sunday school curriculum produced by Brethren Press and MennoMedia.
Beginning in 1945, while Europe struggled with the desolation left by years of war, more than 7,000 men and boys traveled by ship on missions of mercy. They were seagoing cowboys–farmhands and folks from all walks of life: teachers, students, bankers, preachers, carpenters–who were recruited to care for the thousands of horses and heifers sent for reparations.