The next course offering from the “Ventures in Christian Discipleship” program at McPherson (Kan.) College will be “Congregation in Mission.” Congregational life provides settings for persons in community to flourish in their faith. What are the dynamics to allow this to happen? What are the impediments that get in the way of this flourishing? These and other questions can be a spring board for drawing us into a lively discussion.
Young adults are invited to attend Young Adult Conference 2018. YAC will be held at Camp Brethren Woods (near Keezletown, Va.) on May 25-27, and is planned specifically to enrich the faith journeys of those aged 18-35. This year’s theme is “Teach with Your Life,” based on 1 Timothy 4:11-16.
This year’s Advent devotional booklet published by Brethren Press is titled “The Magnificent Story” and written by James H. Lehman. The Brethren Press devotional series is published twice a year, in anticipation of the Advent and Lenten seasons. The pocket sized paperback booklet is suitable for individual devotions as well as for congregations to give to their members, and costs $3.50 for regular print, or $6.95 for large print.
The Program and Arrangements Committee for the 2018 Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren has announced preachers for the denomination’s next annual meeting. The Conference takes place in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Duke Energy Convention Center, on July 4-8. The Sunday morning sermon will be brought by Leonard Sweet, a popular preacher and Christian author who is the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University.
The simple understanding of a parable is literally from Jesus’ parables, which were stories that were cast alongside a truth in order to illustrate that truth, or the telling of a familiar story to illustrate big truths. Jesus’ parables were teaching aids and can be thought of as extended analogies or inspired comparisons. A common description of a parable is that it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
Samuel K. Sarpiya, moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, has shared this reflection in response to the weekend’s events in Charlottesville, Va. This is the first in a series of reflections on the 2018 Conference theme, “Living Parables”:
Church of the Brethren Newsline August 5, 2017 The Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center on the campus of Elizabethtown (Pa.) College announces three upcoming continuing education events: “Go and Do Likewise: The Practices of Christology,” “Enriching the Lives of Older Adults,” and “Science, Theology, and the Church Today–Ministry with Youth and Young Adults.” Registration forms are available at www.etown.edu/programs/svmc/continuing-education or
The 47th Annual Dunker Church Service will be held in the restored Dunker Church at the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md., on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 3 p.m. This service will take place on the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, and commemorates the peace witness of the Brethren during the Civil War.
“In the age of the new atheists we have to figure out how to talk about why religion matters without sounding like jerks. Between burning in hell, and anything goes, there is a lot we can talk about,” said Lillian Daniel, presenter for the Minister’s Association pre-Conference continuing education event.
Each May, spiritual directors from throughout the Church of the Brethren meet for an annual retreat and continuing education. Shepherd’s Spring Outdoor Ministry and Retreat Center in Sharpsburg, Md., provides a beautiful and quiet setting for this event, which includes opportunities for worship, prayer, silence, creative expression, peer supervision, and keynote presentations.
