The volunteers in Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) Unit 301 completed their orientation on July 16-Aug. 3 at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. The members of the unit, home congregations or home towns, and project placements follow.
Brethren Service Center
Brethren Volunteers Assemble 1,700 Emergency Clean-Up Buckets in Two Hours
Why would anyone want to work on a hot summer day? On a Saturday? As a volunteer? For free? Well, 150 people from the Church of the Brethren districts of Atlantic Northeast and Southern Pennsylvania did on June 29 at Florin Church of the Brethren in Mount Joy, Pa.
Material Resources Ships 27,000 Pounds of Clean-Up Supplies to Illinois, CWS Appeals for Help to Restock
In response to storms and the flooding that has plagued the state of Illinois this spring, the Church of the Brethren’s Material Resources program has begun shipping clean-up supplies on behalf of Church World Service (CWS), an ecumenical partner.
Sandy Shipments from New Windsor Center Now Exceed $900,000 in Value
Shipments of relief materials have been heading out from warehouses at the Brethren Service Center ever since superstorm Sandy was churning through the Caribbean on its way to the northeast US. The Church of the Brethren Material Resources staff has done the processing, warehousing, and shipping of relief materials on behalf of Church World Service. Material Resources staff were filmed by WBAL TV Baltimore as they continued to fill orders for relief goods. Rob Roblin of Channel 11 news in Baltimore, Md., taped the report on the shipments sent to the Hurricane Sandy response, to air Wednesday, Nov. 14, during the 6 p.m. newscast (www.wbaltv.com ).
New Windsor Center Ships $600,000 of Relief Goods to Storm Survivors on Behalf of CWS
Shipments of relief materials have been heading out from warehouses at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., to Hurricane Sandy survivors. The shipments–amounting to $605,152 worth of relief–are made on behalf of humanitarian organization Church World Service (CWS), a coalition of Christian denominations and nonprofit agencies.
Children’s Disaster Services Works in New Jersey, New York; Brethren Service Center Ships Materials for CWS
Brethren Disaster Ministries and ecumenical partner Church World Service (CWS) have issued updates on their responses to the unfolding disaster and continuing human needs in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Church members who are considering donating to the response are encouraged to give through the Emergency Disaster Fund (www.brethren.org/edf ) in support of the Brethren response including the work of Children’s Disaster Services (www.brethren.org/cds ).
Brethren Disaster Ministries Monitors Storm and Calls for Prayer, Children’s Disaster Services Volunteers on Alert
“CDS is busy,” reports Judy Bezon. As the storm called “Sandy” assaults the East Coast, Children’s Disaster Services has put volunteers on alert and Brethren Disaster Ministries staff are calling for prayer as they monitor the situation. Prayer is requested for all affected by the storm, as it threatens the US after causing damage in a number of Caribbean nations including Haiti–where four Brethren families lost homes–as well as the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
June 4 Is the Last Day of Operation of New Windsor Conference Center
The New Windsor Conference Center on the campus of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., ceases operation as of June 4. After this week’s chapel service at the denomination’s General Offices, staff called for prayer for those leaving employment with the Conference Center and expressed thanks for their work for the church.
Leaders in Disaster Ministry to Gather at Brethren Service Center
Faith communities often play a crucial role in responding to disasters throughout the US, such as by building houses, providing emotional care to survivors, and meeting other unmet needs. How and why faith communities respond to disasters will be explored at the 2012 Church World Service (CWS) Forum on Domestic Disaster Ministry, March 19-21 at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
Board Gives Provisional Approval to Ministerial Leadership Paper, Makes Haiti Earthquake Grant
In addition to its decision to cease operation of the New Windsor (Md.) Conference Center (reported in Newsline on Sunday, Oct. 16), the Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board in its Fall meeting appointed LeAnn Wine as treasurer, and Ed Woolf as assistant treasurer; gave provisional approval to a revision of the denomination’s Ministerial Leadership Paper; and approved a $300,000 grant from the Emergency Disaster Fund to continue disaster relief and rebuilding in Haiti following the earthquake of 2010.