oday, March 21, a broad coalition of religious and civil rights leaders will deliver a letter to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo requesting an official invitation to professor E. Tendayi Achiume, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, to the United States. The Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy has signed the letter and its staff were at the initial planning meeting, reports director Nathan Hosler.
Intercultural
Brethren Academy students explore ‘Race and the Congregation’
What does the affirmation “All War Is Sin”* mean when wars are waged on drugs, on crime, on poverty, when the designated enemy is not a soldier on foreign soil, but citizens of one’s own country?
Germantown Church of the Brethren is celebrating 300 years
Germantown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren is starting a five-year celebration of its 300th anniversary this year. The congregation located in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia is considered to be the “mother church” of the denomination as the first congregation that the Brethren established in the Americas.
Annual Conference registration opens March 4, business schedule will focus on compelling vision
Annual Conference 2019 will be a very different event this year, according to Conference director Chris Douglas. Instead of a usual business schedule, the delegate body will spend much of its time in compelling vision conversations. Nondelegates may reserve seats at tables during the business sessions in order to fully participate in those conversations. And the Conference will hold a love feast for the first time in decades.
Conference examines Native American boarding school history
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition on Oct. 2-3 held their first-ever boarding school healing conference, called “The Spirit Survives: A National Movement Toward Healing.”
Brethren Academy offers “Race and the Congregation” course
The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership will offer a course on “Race and the Congregation” Feb. 21-24 at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill.
November opportunities help to honor Native American Heritage Month
A variety of resources and a weekly call through November will provide ways for “Continuing Together the Conversation” and honoring Native American Heritage Month.
A road to freedom
In downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, there is a museum dedicated to the Underground Railroad and slavery in the United States. As soon as I began viewing the first part of the exhibit, I was overcome with emotion, seeing the portrayals of men bound in chains staring down the barrel of a gun. My eyes filled with tears.
Conference adopts new vision for a global Church of the Brethren
Annual Conference on July 7 adopted the paper, “Vision for a Global Church of the Brethren.” This document was brought by the Mission and Ministry Board at the initiative of staff of Global Mission and Service, and has been in process for some time. Those involved in its development include the Mission Advisory Committee and church leaders from several countries.
Elephants, faith, and focus: Notes from the Almuerzo
The Almuerzo, a Spanish-language lunch event sponsored by Discipleship Ministries (formerly Congregational Life Ministries), took place July 5 during Annual Conference in Cincinnati, gathering 51 people including more than 20 pastors and church planters.
