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.
The Office of Ministry has begun work on a new Thriving in Ministry program, a grant-funded initiative offering support for multivocational Church of the Brethren pastors. Dana Cassell, pastor of Peace Covenant Church of the Brethren in Durham, N.C., has been hired as manager. She started in this half-time position on Jan. 7 while continuing in her pastoral role.
The Office of Ministry is seeking a part-time program manager for the Lilly Endowment, Inc.-funded program “Part-Time Pastor; Full-Time Church.” The program manager will work with an advisory committee to implement this new program initiative that addresses the practical needs of multivocational ministers in the Church of the Brethren.
The Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center (SVMC) celebrated its 25th anniversary Nov. 3 at Chambersburg (Pa.) Church of the Brethren
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.
NEWS
1) Denominational board holds Fall meeting, adopts 2019 budget, hears from SCN delegation
2) Thriving in Ministry Initiative
JOB OPENING
3) Church of the Brethren seeks director for Brethren Volunteer Service
The Church of the Brethren has received a grant of $994,683 to help establish its Part-Time Pastor; Full-Time Church program. It is part of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Thriving in Ministry
When fall semester classes at Bethany Theological Seminary (Richmond, Ind.) began on Aug. 30, nine new students joined the seminary community. Four are entering the Master of Divinity program, two are entering the Master of Arts program, and three are pursuing a Certificate in Theopoetics and Theological Imagination.
Items on same-sex marriage are receiving attention at several district conferences this fall, with agenda items seeking to formalize district policies following the actions of the 2017 Annual Conference that affirmed the role of districts in handling manners of ministerial conduct.
On behalf of the Church of the Brethren Office of Ministry, Amy Ritchie—a spiritual director and former Bethany Theological Seminary staff—has extended an invitation to women in ministry, ages 25-40, for a monthly virtual gathering.
