The Church of the Brethren’s Office of Ministry gathered nine ethics trainers this past week at the denomination’s General Offices in Elgin, Ill., in preparation for leading district events during the coming year and a half. Required ethics training for all ministers will take place across the denomination as ministers renew their credentialed status within their districts.
With deep sadness, the Church of the Brethren Leadership Team acknowledges news received of the withdrawal of all six congregations in the Puerto Rico District from the Church of the Brethren, as of Oct. 26, 2023.
Our next series of seasonal devotionals from Brethren Press are offered for Advent 2023 and Lent 2024. These paperback, pocket-sized books are suitable for individual use and for churches to give to their members: “All Things New” by Kevin Kessler (Advent 2023), “Through Thick and Thin” by Beth Sollenberger (Lent 2024)
The Brethren Faith in Action Fund (BFIA) has aided eight Church of the Brethren congregations with its latest round of grants, including a grant of $5,000 for a Gun Buy Back Program of Spirit of Peace Church in partnership with a local municipal program administered by the state police. The fund provides grants using money generated by the sale of the upper campus of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership is offering a timely and important course titled “Defining Set-Apart Ministry within the Multivocational Reality.”
The issue of gun violence in our country is disrupting the peace that passes all understanding, which our Prince of Peace brings to us! Like many others, Freeport (Ill.) Church of the Brethren is devastated to see innocent people, even little children, becoming victims of gun violence and losing their lives even before they know what life is all about.
The Brethren Faith in Action Fund (BFIA) has aided six congregations with its latest round of grants. The fund provides grants using money generated by the sale of the upper campus of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
Grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI) are supporting food distribution to the Hispanic community in Lancaster, Pa., agriculture micro-projects by the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela, a community garden project of the Church of the Brethren in Spain, and sustainable agriculture education in Burundi.
Church of the Brethren membership in the United States and Puerto Rico is just over 87,000, according to the statistical report in the 2022 Church of the Brethren Yearbook, published by Brethren Press. The 2022 edition–published late last year–includes the 2021 statistical report and the 2022 directory for the denomination.
The March offering from the Ventures in Christian Discipleship program at McPherson (Kan.) College will be “Strategies for Leading Positive Change in Congregations.” The course will be held online in two evening sessions, with Part I on Monday, March 6, and Part II on Tuesday, March 7, at 6-7:30 p.m. (central time), presented by Greg Davidson Laszakovits.
