Belita D. Mitchell, the first Black woman to be ordained in the Church of the Brethren and the first Black woman to serve as moderator of the Annual Conference, passed away Feb. 10 at her home in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Don Murray (94), an actor, director, and producer, and a former Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) worker, died Feb. 2 at his home near Santa Barbara, Calif. He served in BVS from 1953 to 1955, during which time he joined the Church of the Brethren. Just a few years before he was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor in his film debut, 1956’s Bus Stop with Marilyn Monroe, Murray served in post-war Europe with BVS.
As I stopped at the church building in Lynchburg, Va., to drop off some supplies from the church picnic, I saw two cars in the parking lot. The church doesn’t allow unauthorized parking, so I started to call the police. But before I got to the phone, police stepped out of the cars. They told me they wanted to know about any homeless men who had been staying in the woods behind the church building.
Dale Weaver Brown, 95, professor emeritus at Bethany Theological Seminary and a leading theologian in the Church of the Brethren as well as a former moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, passed away peacefully on Aug. 30, in the presence of family.
It is with deep sadness that we mourn the death of Terry L. Grove, district executive minister of Atlantic Southeast District. He suffered an aneurysm and passed away in a hospital in Orlando, Fla., this morning.