“Are you fanning into flame your gift? Have you started any fires yet?” asked Belita Mitchell, who spoke for the opening plenary of a conference on leadership sponsored by the Council of District Executives (CODE). The conference on May 14-16 was the first such CODE event, and was hosted by Frederick (Md.) Church of the Brethren.
Tag: Spiritual Life
Transforming ‘Thorns’ Into Joyful Action at Young Adult Conference
Collect. Plant. Grow. Tend. When we came together as a group for Young Adult Conference over Memorial Day weekend, our focus during worship, workshops, and small groups was on these four themes. Overall, we reflected on and discussed how we can take the negative and painful “thorns” of our world and transform them into “joyful action” meant to bring God’s kingdom into this world.
Spiritual Resources to Remember and Honor the Chibok Girls
The following resources for worship and individual meditation on the one-year anniversary of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls were prepared by Joshua Brockway, director of Spiritual Life and Discipleship for the Church of the Brethren:
Bucher Publishes New Commentary, Discusses ‘Lamentations, Song of Songs’ April 29 at Elizabethtown College
Christina A. Bucher, the Carl W. Zeigler Chair in Religious Studies at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College, recently published a Bible commentary on the book Song of Songs, as part of the Believers Church Bible Commentary series. Bucher’s commentary shares space in the volume, “Lamentations, Song of Songs,” with Wilma Ann Bailey, who explores Lamentations.
Retreat to Be Held for Church of the Brethren Spiritual Directors
A Spiritual Directors retreat is being planned for May 18-20 at Shepherd’s Spring, an outdoor ministry center and retreat center of Mid-Atlantic District, located near Sharpsburg, Md. The retreat is sponsored by the Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren.
Spring Issue of Guide for Biblical Studies Seeks the Holy Spirit
“A Guide for Biblical Studies,” the Brethren Press curriculum for adults, this spring will have a focus on the Holy Spirit. The theme for the quarter–March, April, and May 2015–is “The Spirit Comes.”
Webinar Will Focus on ‘Reading the Bible After Christendom’
Although regarded as a classic of Western civilization, the contents of the Bible are not well known. Christendom marginalized the teachings of Jesus, resulting in ways of reading scripture alien to the earliest church.
The Pastor’s Study: Leaning into the Light
Advent is upon us. The four Sundays before Christmas are set apart by the church as a season of waiting with anticipation for the Light of the World.
Congregational Life Blog Adds Dimension to Brethren Press Advent Devotional
Congregational Life Ministries staff are posting a daily blog on www.brethren.org to accompany the 2014 Advent devotional published by Brethren Press. The blogposts are provided each day from the first Sunday of Advent, Nov. 30, through Epiphany on Jan. 6, 2015.
Advent Worship Resources Are Online for the 2014 Advent Offering
This quote from an invocation prayer written by Tim Harvey for the 2014 Advent offering in the Church of the Brethren provides a sample of the free Advent worship materials that are now available online.