Brethren are invited to provide continuous prayer<\/strong> during Annual Conference and pre-Conference meetings that take place in Greensboro, N.C., beginning Sunday, June 26. This effort is organized by Annual Conference chaplain Karen B. Cassell. An online site helps choose specific times during which to commit to hold the work of Annual Conference in prayer (please note that all information is confidential and only available to Cassell as administrator of the site). Go to Plan to follow events at Annual Conference online at www.brethren.org\/news\/2016\/ac<\/span><\/span><\/a> .<\/strong> This news index page will feature links to news stories posted from Greensboro, photo albums of the Conference, links to webcasts of business and worship, bulletins and sermon texts, a two-page Wrap Up of Annual Conference in pdf format after the Conference ends, and more. Onsite coverage begins June 27.<\/p>\n Delegates also are invited to purchase the Conference wrap up videos\u00a0from Brethren Press:<\/strong> the Annual Conference Wrap Up DVD with highlights from Greensboro, created by videographer David Sollenberger ($29.95, save $10 off the price by ordering before July 2) and the Annual Conference Sermons DVD ($24.95). Call Brethren Press at 800-441-3712 or use the order form in the delegate packet.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \u201cO Lord; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer\u201d (Psalm 17:1).<\/em><\/p>\n NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n 1) Reflecting the face of God that we see in Jesus: Annual Conference moderator issues letter to the church PERSONNEL<\/strong><\/p>\n 3) Scott Kinnick to serve as executive minister for Southeastern District<\/p>\n 4) Brethren bits: Brethren remember Orlando victims, personnel, jobs, David Steele welcomed to General Offices, Youth Peace Travel Team, Bethany hosts Nigerian scholar, EYN group visits Mill Creek Church, N. Plains presents \u201cBreaking Bread with Elizabeth Ripley,\u201d and more<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Quotes of the week:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe can each examine our own thoughts, words and actions to look for any evidence that might lead others to think that hatred can be consistent with our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n — Andy Murray, moderator of the Church of the Brethren\u2019s 2016 Annual Conference, in a letter to the church following on the mass shooting in Orlando. Find the letter below or go directly to www.brethren.org\/news\/2016\/reflecting-the-face-of-god.html<\/a> where it is posted in full.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cGiver of Life and Love, you created all people as one family and called us to live together in harmony and peace. Surround us with your love as we face the challenges and tragedies of gun violence. — From a \u201cLitany for Gun Violence Prevention\u201d offered as a resource by the Episcopal Church, written by Stephen T. Lane, bishop of Maine. The litany was shared in the e-newsletter of the National Council of Churches, among other ecumenical responses to the gun massacre. Find the litany at http:\/\/episcopaldigitalnetwork.com\/ens\/2016\/06\/14\/litany-for-gun-violence-prevention-offered-for-use-in-sunday-services<\/a> . Find the newsletter at http:\/\/newsletters.getresponse.com\/archive\/ncc_newsletter\/NCC-Weekly-News-Orlando-Shooting-Sentencing-Reform-316281305.html<\/a> .<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 14 June 2016<\/p>\n Dear Brothers and Sisters,<\/p>\n My last note to you came with a lighter heart.\u00a0 Today, as I mourn with our country over the Orlando tragedy I want to share once more, now with a sadness and urgency prompted by our national remorse.<\/p>\n It is probably not necessary for me to add to the speculation over what we need to do as a country.\u00a0 I want to speak to what we can do as a Church, especially as we anticipate gathering in Greensboro.<\/p>\n We can each examine our own thoughts, words and actions to look for any evidence that might lead others to think that hatred can be consistent with our faith.\u00a0 We can be clear and public in our insistence that no matter where we stand on gender identity or whether or not we approve of particular \u201clifestyles,\u201d we reject any discourse that justifies, or any silence that ignores, either the pain of this moment or the daily afflictions visited on L.G.B.T. people in the name of religion.<\/p>\n We can testify in our congregations and in our communities that any religious expression that encourages, condones, or excuses the kind of festering hate that infects a soul to such unthinkable ends is not consistent with our understanding of the New Testament.\u00a0 We can speak as a people that have suffered for our beliefs, especially in our witness for peace, that any religious expression that dehumanizes or objectifies another person does not reflect the face of God that we see in the face of Jesus.<\/p>\n We can make sure that our words; our actions and our very demeanor at our coming gathering reassure all brothers and sisters who assemble, that the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference is a safe and protected place.\u00a0 We can affirm that beyond what may be deep differences in our understandings of the relationship of faith to gender, we firmly, resolutely and unwaveringly reject any behavior that would create a sense of physical insecurity among those gathered to worship and do the business of the Church.<\/p>\n We can recommit ourselves to a piety that expresses itself in kindness and rebuffs self-righteousness.\u00a0 We can recommit ourselves to nonviolence and the concept of no force in religion–a fundamental cornerstone that our ancestors laid for what is now the Church of the Brethren.<\/p>\n This, I believe, is how we can best minister to the grieving folk of Orlando.<\/p>\n Andy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n — For more about the 2016 Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren go to www.brethren.org\/ac<\/a> .<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n By Kathleen Fry-Miller<\/em><\/p>\n Our Children\u2019s Disaster Services (CDS) Orlando team has reported that they feel they are at the right place to offer support. The team is serving\u00a0 in the Family Assistance Center (FAC) that was set up starting Wednesday for families of those who were killed early Sunday morning and for survivors and their families.<\/p>\n The team created a safe and welcoming place for children to play. A few children came that first day and more the second day. As of this morning, more than 90 families have been served\u00a0 at the FAC, including 16 individual children in the CDS center. Because of the nature of this response and the privacy needed for families, no photos of children or families will be posted.<\/p>\n The whole team is: John Kinsel, project manager, from Southern Ohio District; Carol and Norma Waggy, from Northern Indiana District; Mary Kay Ogden, from Pacific Southwest District; Tina Christian, Gulf Coast coordinator for CDS, from Jacksonville, Fla.; Katie Nees, CDS professional development consultant, Child Life Disaster Relief; Erin Silber, CDS Tampa coordinator, Child Life Specialist. The team will probably be working Orlando through Wednesday or Thursday.<\/p>\n The Latino community has a strong extended family network, so many children are being cared for by family members. CDS is grateful to have Tina Christian, Gulf Coast coordinator and native Spanish speaker, serving on this response. The CDS team is also reaching out into the community and offering child care services wherever they are needed. A city government team is gathering information on funerals and memorial services and how they can support those families. As services are reported to them, the government team is asking if they would like some of the CDS caregivers to be present at services to care for children.<\/p>\n John Kinsel, administrator for this response, reported that the CDS team members were doing a lot of listening, hearing stories of grief and pain from everyone they talked with. One child was trying to explain to another why they were there. The child told of the family friend who died and the alligator that killed the little boy. Mixing stories together like this is so typical for a young child, especially when the stories are of such significance in the midst of trauma and grief.<\/p>\n One woman used the outlet in the children’s center to charge her phone when no children were there. She ended up staying and talking with CDS volunteers for an hour and a half. Before she left she said, \u201cYou know, there\u2019s just a really good vibe about this place. This is the first time I\u2019ve been relaxed since Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n John Kinsel said that \u201cthe LGBTQ community is so visible here. There is such a strong solidarity within the community of those here to serve, you just feel that connection. Everyone is wearing a rainbow pin.\u201d He went on to say that, \u201cWe\u2019re in that cloud of processing, breathing, finding out what\u2019s going to change. It\u2019s never going to be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Another man said, \u201cIt\u2019s a terrible thing that has happened, but look at all the support. One person showed the worst of what we can be. So many people are showing the best of what we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n At the CDS team debriefing, John asked how team members felt about the small number of children served on that first day. One caregiver said, \u201cWe need to be here. It\u2019s an honor to be here, if it\u2019s 1 child or 100 children.\u201d<\/p>\n Our loving thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families, the Orlando community, and the response community.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n — Kathleen Fry-Miller is associate director of Children\u2019s Disaster Services, a ministry of the Church of the Brethren and a part of Brethren Disaster Ministries. Find out more at www.childrensdisasterservices.org<\/a> . A blog by Orlando team member Katie Nees is at http:\/\/cldisasterrelief.org\/blog<\/a> .<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PERSONNEL<\/strong><\/p>\n Southeastern District has announced that Scott Kinnick will serve as district executive minister, beginning Sept. 1. He is a life-long member of the Church of the Brethren and an ordained minister.<\/p>\n He currently pastors Trinity Church of the Brethren in Blountville, Tenn. His ministry career has included two previous pastorates at Church of the Brethren congregations.<\/p>\n He has been active in leadership in Southeastern District, currently serving as the district\u2019s delegate to Standing Committee. He also has served as vice chair of the district board, chair of the Witness Commission, and chair of the Ministry Commission.<\/p>\n He holds a bachelor of science degree from East Tennessee State University with a major in philosophy and an emphasis in religion. He is a graduate of the Training in Ministry (TRIM) program of the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership.<\/p>\n Contact Kinnick at Southeastern District Church of the Brethren, P.O. Box 252, Johnson City, TN 37605-0252; 423-282-1682.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nwww.signupgenius.com\/go\/10c084aacab2aa3f58-intercessory<\/span><\/span><\/a> . Those without Internet access are invited to set aside a time to pray for Annual Conference any time from June 26-July 3.<\/p>\n
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\n2) CDS team cares for children, offers a supportive presence in Orlando<\/p>\n
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\nFor our dear ones, for our neighbors, for strangers and aliens, and those known to you alone,
\nLoving God,
\nMake us instruments of your peace….\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n1) Reflecting the face of God that we see in Jesus: Annual Conference moderator issues letter to the church<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Annual Conference moderator Andy Murray has issued the following letter to the Church of the Brethren, following the shootings in Orlando, Fla., and in advance of the denomination\u2019s annual meeting on June 29-July 3 in Greensboro, N.C. It was first shared in an e-mail to delegates and others who are registered to attend the Conference:<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/strong>2) CDS team cares for children, offers a supportive presence in Orlando<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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3) Scott Kinnick to serve as executive minister for Southeastern District<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\n4) Brethren bits<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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