#LoveOurNeighbors #NewTestamentGiving
For nearly 100 years, Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Church of the Brethren has served the spiritual and material needs of the surrounding community. On May 3, the church at 301 Gale Street will mark its centennial with a morning worship service centered on its anniversary theme “Yesterday’s Vision: Today’s Strength, Tomorrow’s Hope.”
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) is holding another series of training events for new volunteers this spring. Trainings are offered on Feb. 20-21 in Beaufort, S.C., and in Bradford, Ohio, and on March 14-15 in La Verne, Calif.
On Sunday afternoon, Feb. 1, Northview Church of the Brethren in Indianapolis, Ind., hosted a session on how to peacefully protest the actions of ICE. Mennonite and Friends churches also participated.
Members of the Church of the Brethren Deportation Defense Response Team were in Miami, Fla., this past weekend, meeting with Church of the Brethren denominational and district leadership. We worshiped with Haitian sisters and brothers in Church of the Brethren congregations in southern Florida, and were part of fervent prayers for God’s intervention and protection as the federal government moves to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians living in the US, as of 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) served on Jan. 29 at the first anniversary American Airlines memorial for the 67 people killed in the mid-air collision of American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, 2025.
Since President Trump initiated his federal immigration crackdown, sending thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Minnesota, the communities that Open Circle Church of the Brethren supports have been in crisis.
Marissa Witkovsky-Eldred and Virginia Rendler have accepted the positions of interim co-directors of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS), starting Jan. 26.
At the heart of the Church of the Brethren is a deep trust in God’s promise to work powerfully through faithful people. Scripture reminds us that God can “do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power at work within us”—bringing glory to God through the church, now and for generations to come (Ephesians 3:20–21, NIV).
The Church of the Brethren’s Service Sunday is scheduled for Sunday, Feb 1. Service Sunday is recognized annually on the first Sunday in February. The 2026 theme “Living with Purpose: Equipping God’s People for Works of Service” is inspired by the scripture text from Ephesians 4:11-13
The Deportation Defense Response Team, an initiative of several Church of the Brethren districts with the Intercultural Ministries and On Earth Peace, has provided a toolkit of resources online at https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/168SYb-D3cMBO8ORb4sDXMqMbA2yvSGCN.