![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/11\/a-laying-on-of-hands.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nAt its fourth annual conference,<\/strong> Iglesia de los Hermanos-Una Luz en las Naciones (the Church of the Brethren in Spain) officially received two new congregation, one in the Spanish city of Le\u00f3n, and one in London, in the United Kingdom. Approximately 70 people attended the conference in the city of Gijon, on the theme \u201cNow Is the Time for the Harvest\u201d (John 4:35). \u201cGive thanks for the continued growth of the Spanish church, and pray that God\u2019s wisdom may guide its leaders in the year ahead,\u201d said an announcement from Global Mission and Service.<\/p>\n Above: Representatives of the newly received congregations are anointed by members of the Spain advisory committee, Carol Yeazell and Joel Pe\u00f1a. Global Mission and Service executive director Jay Wittmeyer (left) attended the conference. Photo courtesy of Joel Pe\u00f1a.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n — Remembrance: Esther Eichelberger,<\/strong> 94, passed away on Aug. 29 at Golden Living Center in Hopkins, Minn. She served as coordinator of the Office of the General Secretary for the Church of the brethren, from 1978-86, supporting the work of general secretary Robert Neff. She left that position in June 1986 to become administrative assistant to Neff as he assumed responsibilities as president of Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. A memorial service is being planned for Oct. 15 at St. John\u2019s Retreat Center in Montgomery, Texas, a place Eichelberger loved and supported in many ways. Memorial gifts are received to St. John\u2019s Retreat Center.<\/p>\n — The end of this month is the deadline for pre-publication orders of two upcoming Brethren Press resources,<\/strong> \u201cWitnesses to Jesus: Devotions for Advent Through Epiphany\u201d by Christy Waltersdorff and \u201cSpeak Peace: A Daily Reader\u201d edited by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford. \u201cWitnesses to Jesus\u201d is a pocket-sized paperback suitable for individual use and for churches to provide to their members during the season of Advent. \u201cSpeak Peace\u201d is a collection of readings about peace and peacemaking, featuring writers past and present, from within and outside of the church. For detailed information about the \u201cearly bird\u201d discounts for each of these books, call Brethren Press at 800-441-3712 or go to www.brethrenpress.com<\/a> .<\/p>\n — The Carlisle (Pa.) Truck Stop Ministry,<\/strong> which is related to Southern Pennsylvania District of the Church of the Brethren, has announced the appointment of co-chaplains Dave Braithwaite and Craig Shambaugh. \u201cEven as we grieve the loss of chaplain Dan Lehigh, wehave been prayerfully seeking the Lord\u2019s will regarding his replacement,\u201d said the announcement from the ministry\u2019s board of directors, published in the district\u2019s newsletter. Braithwaite is retired from the U.S. Postal Service. Shambaugh has his own window and house washing business. The two new co-chaplains will be continuing the truck stop ministry on a seven day a week, eight hour a day coverage schedule, the announcement said.<\/p>\n — On Sunday, Sept. 25, Lafayette (Ind.) Church of the Brethren<\/strong> celebrates its 70th anniversary with a special worship service and carry-in meal.<\/p>\n Staunton (Va.) Church of the Brethren<\/strong> hosts \u201c12 Baskets and a Goat\u201d at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8. Ted Swartz and Jeff Raught will present their original play, \u201cThe Jesus Stories: Faith, Forks, and Fettuccini,” with a live auction of baskets of breads. Tickets are $5 per person.<\/p>\n \u201c12 Baskets and a Goat\u201d will be presented at Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren<\/strong> on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 3:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Bidding for baskets of bread will be open to all.<\/p>\n Northern Indiana District<\/strong> hosts \u201c12 Baskets and a Goat\u201d on Oct. 16, as a \u201cfun\u201ddraiser for Heifer International. \u201cA light-hearted auction of baskets filled with fresh bread and other goodies, and a major helping of laughter,\u201d will be part of the experience, said an announcement from district executive minister Torin Eikler. \u201cPlease join us at Union Center Church of the Brethren<\/strong> (near Nappanee, Indiana) at 7 o’clock for a delightful evening of fun and fundraising for a good cause. All proceeds of the event will go to support Heifer Project International in its ongoing mission to alleviate hunger and poverty around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n — \u201cWest Virginia flood offering stands at $45,755.32,\u201d<\/strong> reported Virlina District in its E-Headliner newsletter. As of Sept. 30, 61 congregations in Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia have contributed to the West Virginia Flood Offering, the newsletter said. Of the total donated, $30,000 has been distributed through the West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). \u201cIt is our desire to distribute the remainder by Oct. 10, the announcement said.<\/p>\n — Camp Emmanuel has received a \u201cshout out\u201d<\/strong> from Theresa Churchill, a senior writer for the \u201cHerald and Review\u201d newspaper of Decatur, Ill., who wrote a review of the family camp held over Labor Day weekend. Camp Emmanuel is an outdoor ministry center of the Church of the Brethren\u2019s Illinois and Wisconsin District, located near Astoria, Ill. \u201cCamp Emmanuel…has provided our family a wonderful respite from that busyness for more than a quarter-century now,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI\u2019m talking specifically about Family Camp, a semi-structured 2 1\/2 days that happen there every Labor Day weekend. Even if I\u2019m stressed and tense when I arrive Friday evening, the beautiful setting and warm fellowship work their magic before Saturday is done. It\u2019s a special time of reflection and relaxation.\u201d Find the full article at http:\/\/herald-review.com\/lifestyles\/faith-and-values\/church-camp-for-labor-day-weekend-gives-welcome-pause\/article_3394158d-50a3-506b-922c-6357e819fd6b.html<\/a> .<\/p>\n — A Quilters and Crafters Retreat will be held at Camp Eder<\/strong> near Fairfield, Pa., on Nov. 4-6, supported by Southern Pennsylvania District. As well as quilting, participants will have opportunities to engage in a number of activities including drop spinning, cross stitching, crocheting, creating felted soaps, and more. The retreat takes place in Schwarzenau Lodge. Cost is $125. For more information go to www.campeder.org<\/a> .<\/p>\n — \u201cOn Sept. 17, 1977, the Church of the Brethren raised $11,715<\/strong> for disaster relief at an auction at the Lebanon County Fairgrounds. Forty years–and more than $14 million later–the Brethren Disaster Relief Auction continues to thrive, annually attracting more than 10,000 people for what is now a two-day event on the fourth weekend in September,\u201d reports Earle Cornelius, writing for Lancaster Online. The annual auction sponsored by the Atlantic Northeast and Southern Pennsylvania Districts of the Church of the Brethren, is held today and tomorrow, Sept. 23-24, at the Lebanon (Pa.) Expo and Fairgrounds. In recent years, the event has raised nearly $500,000 each year for disaster relief efforts including Brethren Disaster Ministries, the report said. \u201cLast year, $500,000 from the auction went to the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria–Ekklesiyar Yan\u2019uwa a Nigeria–for relief from the attacks by the militant Islamist group\u00a0 Boko Haram.\u201d Find the news article at http:\/\/lancasteronline.com\/features\/faith_values\/for-years-the-brethren-disaster-relief-auction-has-provided-a\/article_e9d9f8e0-7c17-11e6-923f-3fa7f872465c.html<\/a> .<\/p>\n — Pacific Northwest District today convenes its annual district conference<\/strong> at Camp Koinonia near Cle Elum, Wash. The district conference continues through Sept. 25. Carol Wise of the Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests (BMC), will provide leadership.<\/p>\n — Western Plains District holds the Gathering,<\/strong> an annual district event, on Oct. 28-30 at the Webster Conference Center in Salina, Kan. \u201cInvite your family and friends to attend this event of fellowship, worship, music, education, and fun!\u201d said an announcement. \u201cThis year\u2019s gathering will focus on the theme \u2018You Are Loved.\u2019\u201d The line up of preachers includes Carol Scheppard, Debbie Eisenbise, and Walt Wiltschek. General sessions will focus on \u201cDisaster Ministries in Colorado\u201d and engaging conversation around how we are \u201cLiving and Loving Together: A Simple Peace.\u201d Workshops will include topics on the joy of family music, Restorative Discipline with children, including persons of all abilities, managing differences in the congregation, and working with kids at camp. Youth retreats also are offered, as well as children\u2019s activities. For more information go to www.westernplainschurchofthebrethren.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Gathering-Brochure-6-16-Web.pdf<\/a> .<\/p>\n — Bridgewater (Va.) Retirement Community is inviting area pastors<\/strong> to a \u201cMeet Our New Chaplain, Russ Barb\u201d event at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, at the newly-renovated Lantz Chapel, followed by dinner at 7 p.m. at the Houff Community Center introducing the new Pastoral Enrichment Program. More information and RSVP to Marla McCutcheon, 540-828-2162, or mmccutcheon@brc-online.org<\/a> .<\/p>\n — New Community Project has announced 2017 Learning Tours<\/strong>. \u201cNCP invites people of all ages to take part in Learning Tours to fascinating, welcoming, and challenging parts of the world,\u201d said the announcement. \u201cNeither mission nor service trips, these experiences offer a chance to build relationships with God\u2019s people and God\u2019s creation, learn about the gifts and challenges of each, and discover ways we can work together for a better world.\u201d Here is the list of tour dates and destinations: Jan. 6-17 Myanmar; June 3-10 Ecuadorian Amazon; June 15-25 Democratic Republic of Congo, hosted by the Congo Brethren; July 9-16 Lybrook, N.M., hosted by Lybrook Community Ministries; July 25-Aug. 3 Denali\/Kenai Fjords, Alaska. For more information, contact ncp@newcommunityproject.org<\/a> or 844-804-2985, or visit the Learning Tour page on the NCP website.<\/p>\n — The World Council of Churches (WCC) is celebrating the 70th anniversary<\/strong> of its Ecumenical Institute at the Ch\u00e2teau de Bossey. On Oct. 1 the institute will host a series of events, including a public lecture by H.E. Prof. Dr. Ahmed al-Tayyeb, Grand Imam and Shaykh of al-Azhar al-Sharif, a mosque and university in Cairo, Egypt. He is an advocate for religious dialogue and peace and a critic of religious extremism, and will speak on \u201cThe Responsibility of Religious Leaders for Achieving World Peace.\u201d The lecture will also be live streamed on the web.<\/p>\n — Two humanitarian groups, the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative and the Stefanus Foundation<\/strong> based in Nigeria, have reported figures on the scale of the crisis still affecting northeast Nigeria. \u201cOver 14 million Nigerians are directly affected by humanitarian crises in the north-east region of the country,\u201d the groups reported at a press conference held in the capital city of Abuja, and co-organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria, according to AllAfrica.com. \u201cOfficially, there are 2.2 million Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs. Unofficially, there are five to seven million IDPs. Those in need of special assistance, are 2.5 million, comprising children under the age of five, pregnant women and nursing mothers,\u201d said the executive director of the Stefanus Foundation, which has been a recipient of aid from the Nigeria Crisis Response of the Church of the Brethren and Ekklesiyar Yan\u2019uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). Other statistics cited at the press conference as results of the insurgent violence in northeast Nigeria included: 611 teachers who died as a result, 19,000 teachers displaced, 1,500 schools closed down, 950,000 children denied the opportunity of accessing education, 13,000 churches abandoned or closed down or destroyed, 2,000 children abducted, 10,000 boys forced to join Boko Haram.<\/p>\n — Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence is one of the national organizations<\/strong> supporting \u201cThe Concert Across America to End Gun Violence\u201d on Sunday, Sept. 25. A series of live concerts on the theme \u201cRemember\u201d will be brought together by social media. Performers at the Beacon Theater in New York City include Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash, Vy Higginsen\u2019s Gospel Choir of Harlem, and more. A list of other locations across the country and more information about the concert event is at http:\/\/concertacrossamerica.org<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this issue: Remembering Esther Eichelberger, Brethren in Spain celebrate their fourth annual conference, deadline for Brethren Press \u201cearly bird\u201d offers, Carlisle Truck Stop Ministry announces new co-chaplains, Renacer holds Hispanic leadership conference, \u201c12 Baskets and a Goat\u201d to be performed three times in October, Virlina District announces more than $45,000 for West Virginia Flood Offering, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-11934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11934"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11938,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11934\/revisions\/11938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11934"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=11934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/10\/home-page-image-for-12.jpg\")
— \u201cGrazing money to goat-oward hunger relief,\u201d<\/strong> said an announcement of one of the upcoming performances of Ted and Company\u2019s \u201c12 Baskets and a Goat.\u201d These performances are hosted by Church of the Brethren congregations and proceeds benefit Heifer International:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/11\/para-su-gloria-a-hispanic.jpg\")
— Carlisle (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren is hosting a Hispanic leadership conference<\/strong> titled \u201cPara Su Gloria\u201d (Colossians 3:23) on Oct. 22, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Admission is free and a lunch will be provided, according to an announcement in the Southern Pennsylvania District newsletter which noted that these \u201cFor His Glory\u201d conferences are sponsored by the Renacer Hispanic Ministry of the Church of the Brethren. Spanish\/English translation will be available. Conference topics will include the Hispanic reality affecting America, the Renacer vision, the power of unity, and reaching the Hispanic community.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/11\/sarpiya-receives-jane-addams-peace-award.jpg\")
Annual Conference moderator-elect Samuel Kefas Sarpiya has received the Jane Addams Peace Award from the Rockford (Ill.) Housing Authority. Sarpiya pastors Rockford Community Church of the Brethren and is co-founder of the Center for Nonviolence and Conflict Transformation in Rockford.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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