{"id":16811,"date":"2021-05-11T16:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T16:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=16811"},"modified":"2021-05-11T22:15:23","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T22:15:23","slug":"brethren-bits-may-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2021\/brethren-bits-may-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Brethren bits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

— Remembrance: Ernest (Ernie) Bolz,<\/strong> 77, of Wenatchee, Wash., a retired pastor who served on the former General Board of the Church of the Brethren, died on May 4 in a hiking accident in Oregon. He pastored three congregations, most recently Ellisforde Church of the Brethren in Tonasket, Wash. His term of service on the General Board ended in 1999. The accident happened when Bolz \u201cwas hiking the Rogue River Trail in southern Oregon with his good friend Dean Hiser,\u201d said an email from Debbie Roberts, a leader in the Church of the Brethren\u2019s Pacific Northwest District. \u201cThey were three days into a six-day hike when Ernie stepped on a weak area of the trail and it gave way\u2026. Ernie was a pastor, friend, and so much more to many of us, and we will be in grief and shock for some time. Our prayers go out to Sharon, and their two children, Justina, and Chris, as well as his extended family, church families, district contacts, and all who loved him.\u201d A memorial service will likely take place in late June in Tonasket. The Ellisforde congregation will remember him in worship this coming Sunday, May 16. Social distancing and the wearing of face masks will be required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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— Continued prayer for India and Venezuela:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venezuela<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer is requested for the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela, where the health system has been overrun by COVID-19. Many church members have had or currently have COVID, including Robert Anzoategui, president of the denomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Venezuelan Brethren are paying tribute to Obed Rinc\u00f3n, principal clarinetist, saxophonist, and flutist for the Brethren Band. Rinc\u00f3n passed away from COVID-19. Anzoategui sent the following tribute to Church of the Brethren Global Mission staff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuestro Dios ha llamado a nuestro Hermano Obed Rinc\u00f3n a las filas de la gran orquesta celestial d\u00f3nde su Saxo, flauta y clarinete sonar\u00e1n eternamente.  agradecemos el haber contado entre nosotros a este exelente m\u00fasico, gran amigo, compa\u00f1ero y cristiano ejemplar. Apocalipsis 14:13: \u201cY o\u00ed una voz del cielo que dec\u00eda: Escribe: \u2018Bienaventurados los muertos que de aqu\u00ed en adelante mueren en el Se\u00f1or.\u2019 S\u00ed–dice el Esp\u00edritu–para que descansen de sus trabajos, porque sus obras van con ellos.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Our God has called our brother Obed Rinc\u00f3n to the lines of the great celestial orchestra where his sax, flute, and clarinet will sound eternally. We are grateful for having counted among ourselves this excellent musician, great friend, companion, and exemplar Christian. Revelation 14:13: \u201cI heard a voice from heaven saying, \u2018Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.\u2019 Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

India<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A prayer request for church members in India and their relatives living here in the United States has been shared by the Illinois and Wisconsin District office. \u201cWe have certainly heard on the news of the increasingly difficult situation in India due to the fast spread of the virus there, so we know what a concern this is,\u201d said the prayer request. \u201cLet us pray for the whole situation.\u201d The specific prayer request from the district is for the family of Vivek Solanky, licensed minister at Naperville (Ill.) Church of the Brethren, whose sister and brother-in-law in Gujarat, India, have contracted COVID-19 and have been hospitalized in two different hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Bermudian Church of the Brethren\u2019s history<\/strong> is told in a blogpost titled \u201cA tour in pictures of remote and beautiful western York County.\u201d The post published by the York Daily Record<\/em> includes stories and photos from a tour of the area with 99-year-old Glenn Julius, focused on the relationship of York County\u2019s Seventh Day Baptists, a settlement emerging from the Ephrata Cloister, and a congregation known today as Bermudian Church of the Brethren. \u201cThe story of the farmworker shows how two groups coming to America in the 1700s to, in part, escape religious persecution could work things out, while living near each other in a remote part of York County. They formed a community, a membership, that exists to this day\u2026. The two groups eventually intermarried and the Seventh Day Baptist group became part of Bermudian Church of the Brethren by about 1820.\u201d Read the story and see the photos at https:\/\/yorkblog.com\/yorktownsquare\/a-tour-in-pictures-of-remote-and-beautiful-western-york-county<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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— Southern Ohio and Kentucky District\u2019s Camping and Retreat Ministries <\/strong>have opened registration for the summer camp season, which will be virtual and online. \u201cEveryone can come to camp from the safety of their homes,\u201d said an announcement. \u201cNo masks are required on the Zoom connections. It will be great to see friends and have an exciting time together learning about God\u2019s creation and ways we can build up our communities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A special camp being offered this summer is the College and Careers Camp<\/strong> for those who are out of high school and in college or newly in the workforce. This virtual camp will meet at 7 p.m. (Eastern time) on Tuesday evenings to \u201cgive campers a place to discuss God\u2019s leading in their lives. Together we will explore how choices we are making impact creation. By gathering together, campers can reflect on daily ups and downs or changes being faced. Self-expression will be encouraged with water colors, clay, crafts, and creative writing. This new and very special camp will have fun finding the fascinating ways creation is speaking to us.\u201d Find more information on the district website at www.sobcob.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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— On Earth Peace is holding a 90-minute webinar offering an introduction to Kingian Nonviolence<\/strong> on Saturday, May 15, at 12 noon (Eastern time). Participants are invited to \u201cmeet others interested in Kingian Nonviolence, build Beloved Community, and connect with On Earth Peace\u2019s Kingian Nonviolence Learning Action Community,\u201d said an announcement. The webinar will cover the four pillars of Kingian Nonviolence, initial introduction to the six principles and six steps–the \u201cWill\u201d and the \u201cSkill\u201d of Kingian Nonviolence–and the social dynamics of Kingian Nonviolence. Register at www.onearthpeace.org\/90min_knv_5_15<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— On Earth Peace also is jointly sponsoring a webinar with the Good Shepherd Collective and the Hebron Defense Committee <\/strong>on Saturday, May 15, at 3 p.m. (Eastern time) or 11 p.m. \u201cPalestinian time.\u201d The webinar titled \u201cHebron: In Between Restriction and Resistance\u201d will hear from Hisham Sharbati of the Hebron Defense Committee, reporting on \u201cthe situation in Hebron, the restrictions in area H2, and the activists\u2019 work on the ground,\u201d said an announcement. \u201cTogether we will discuss how the situation in Hebron is linked politically and economically to the US and how people across the world can get engaged in solidarity work.\u201d Go to www.facebook.com\/events\/815835012643833<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Greg Davidson Laszakovitz, <\/strong>an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren, has had a sermon selected for inclusion in a collection on immigration. The collection, called \u201cEl Camino,\u201d or \u201cthe way\u201d in English, has been published by Sojourners. The collection is described as \u201csermons on the way to a robust engagement with immigrant justice.\u201d Laszakovitz\u2019s sermon titled \u201cPhiloxenia vs. Xenophobia,\u201d was preached at Elizabethtown (Pa.) Church of the Brethren last year. \u201cThere are dozens and dozens of scriptures in our Bible that talk about the love of the stranger and how we are to treat people, even people who are different from\u202fus. It\u2019s at the beginning of the Bible, it\u2019s at the end of the Bible, and it runs throughout the Bible\u2026. We know that these compassionate scriptures are rooted in the experience of God\u2019s people because God\u2019s people were often the foreigners and the outsiders themselves,\u201d said an excerpt. Go to https:\/\/sojo.net\/sermon\/series\/immigration-sermons<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this issue: Remembering Ernie Bolz, continued prayer for India and Venezuela, Bermudian Church of the Brethren’s history told in blogpost, Southern Ohio and Kentucky District offers virtual camping this summer, On Earth Peace webinars, Laszakovitz sermon chosen for El Camino collection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16812,"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":[1703],"tags":[1505,3,129],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-16811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-of-the-brethren-newsline","tag-brethren-bits","tag-church-of-the-brethren","tag-newsline"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16811","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16811"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16822,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16811\/revisions\/16822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16811"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=16811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}