The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership is offering “Listening for the Sound of the Genuine” on July 2-3, led by Audrey Hollenberg-Duffey as facilitator, as a directed independent study unit (DISU).
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.
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.
Victoria (Vicki) Ehret has resigned as director of administration for the District Executive Minister Team of the Church of the Brethren’s Atlantic Southeast District. She began in the position as interim district executive minister on Jan. 25, 2021, for a period of six months, after which she transitioned to her present role. She will conclude her role by June 30, or sooner, upon the hiring by the district board of an interim to fill the position.
The Council of District Executives (CODE) held its annual winter meetings Jan. 20-24 near Melbourne, Fla., with some members also attending the Church of the Brethren Inter-Agency Forum (IAF) meeting that followed. Twenty-two of the denomination’s 24 districts were represented, along with Office of Ministry director Nancy Sollenberger Heishman.
As part of Bethany Theological Seminary’s initiative to “Build Bridges Across Ideological Divides,” the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership is offering a series of TRIM-level courses to help clergy recognize and meaningfully address division in their congregations and communities. First up is “Polarization as an Opportunity for Ministry,” a course with Russell Haitch, professor of Theology and Human Science at Bethany.
The Part-Time Pastor; Full-Time Church program of the Church of the Brethren’s Office of Ministry is planning events for the next few months. Multi-vocational pastors are invited to a study of the book Flourishing in Ministry by Matt Bloom. Multi-vocational clergywomen are particularly invited to join Erin Matteson for “Soul Sisters…Connecting and Deepening Together.”
Northern Plains District of the Church of the Brethren is requesting prayer in the wake of the shooting at Perry High School in Iowa on Thursday morning, Jan. 4. At least two members of the district worked at the school or on the campus that the high school shares with Perry Middle School, and they have survived the shooting unharmed physically. Other district members teach at the elementary level in the Perry school district or have worked in the district in various capacities. Other families in the district have children in the Perry schools or are related to students.
The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership will offer this online course, “Cultivating an Everyday Faith,” from April 17 to June 11, 2024. Joan Daggett, ordained minister and executive director of the Brethren and Mennonite Heritage Center, will be the instructor. The deadline to register is March 13, 2024.
New Strength for the Journey cohorts are forming for 2024, with different themes but the same format: monthly, virtual gatherings supported by funds for resources and a skilled convener to help hold sacred space for each group of ministers.
