April 18, 2013
- Brethren bits today corrects a previous announcement on the Progressive Brethren Gathering, remembers church leaders, and offers information about job openings in Southern Pennsylvania District, the World Council of Churches, BHLA, National Farm Worker Ministry, and Christian Peacemaker Teams, among lots of news from and for Brethren.
- Delegates to Annual Conference on June 29-July 3 in Charlotte, N.C., will consider several key documents for the Church of the Brethren, among nine items of business coming to the meeting. As at last year’s Conference, delegates will again be seated together at round tables.
- The 2013 Young Adult Conference will be held May 25-27 for Brethren age 18-35 at Camp Pine Lake near Eldora, Iowa. The event will offer participants a long weekend of worship, fun, and fellowship.
- The Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) has given several grants recently, including an allocation of $60,000 to PAG in Honduras, and $40,000 to an agriculture project of the Rural Development Program of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN--the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). Also receiving grants of smaller amounts were a Brethren group in the Congo, and a Friends church in Rwanda.
- The author of a forthcoming book on the religious history of Gettysburg, Pa., will deliver this year’s John Kline Lecture at the John Kline Homestead in Broadway, Va., on April 28. The speaker, Steve Longenecker, will explain the impact of the famous battle on members of the Church of the Brethren (Dunkers) who lived on the battlefield.
- Children’s Disaster Services is offering a New England training workshop on May 3-4 in Litchfield, Conn., at Friendship Baptist Church. This is one of a series of CDS workshops in Connecticut. The workshops in Connecticut after this will give state residents priority, but for this workshop registration numbers are unlimited.
- The 2013 Witness to the Host City at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference will benefit Classroom Central, an organization that distributes free school supplies in the host city of Charlotte, N.C.
April 17, 2013
- In a recent update on its 3,000 Miles for Peace campaign, On Earth Peace reported that over 60 fundraisers are underway in support. As of last week, over $80,000 has been raised for the Paul Ziegler Young Peacemaker Fund. Twelve riding or walking events have already taken place, and those taking part have already traveled more than 1,000 miles toward the goal of 3,000 miles. The campaign is a fundraiser for On Earth Peace that honors young peacemaker Paul Ziegler.
- Members of the Church of the Brethren attended the inaugural national gathering of Missio Alliance on April 11-13. Missio Alliance ( www.missioalliance.org ) is an emerging network of evangelicals and Anabaptists looking for a new way to be the church in an increasingly post-Christendom culture.
- Staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries and Global Mission and Service have offered support to South Sudanese villagers affected by a recent fire, through a grant from the denomination’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF). Other recent disaster relief grants have gone to Church World Service work at a refugee camp in Thailand, and areas of southern states in the US affected by recent storms.