President Jeff Carter, academic dean Steve Schweitzer, and coordinator of Seminary Computing Services Paul Shaver returned in mid-January from a visit to Jos, Nigeria. They met with Bethany employees Sharon Flaten and Joshua Sati, as well as students, and local religious and educational leaders.
Through Thick and Thin: Devotions for Ash Wednesday Through Easter, written by Beth Sollenberger, is the 2024 Lenten devotional from Brethren Press. This year, the season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 14. The daily devotions continue through Easter Sunday, March 31.
The February online offering from the Ventures in Christian Discipleship program at McPherson (Kan.) College will be “Divine Creativity and Holy Imagination: Cultivating a Creative Church” to be presented by Liz Ullery Swenson. The course will be held online in two Tuesday evening sessions, Feb. 13 and 20, both at 7:30 to 9 p.m. (central time).
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 Church of the Brethren’s Discipleship and Leadership Formation department is sponsoring a webinar to be held Feb. 8 with Stuart Murray Williams and colleagues Alexandra Ellish, Judith Kilpin, and Karen Sethuraman centered around the forthcoming book The New Anabaptists: Practices for Emerging Communities. The book is to be released in late January.
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.”
The Standing with People of Color Committee put in place by the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in 2022 is laying groundwork for the denomination to engage issues of race for a decade into the future.
The Church of the Brethren Nursing Scholarship is available for 2024, providing up to $2,000 for RN and graduate nurse candidates and up to $1,000 for LPN candidates. Scholarships are awarded to a limited number of applicants each year.
Coming up in February, FaithX is hosting an older adult service trip at Camp Ithiel in Gotha, Fla., and you are invited to join us! Registration is open now for this trip and will close on Feb. 1, 2024. To register and for more information, go to www.brethren.org/faithx.
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.
