NEWSLINE
• Brethren Disaster Ministries continues to monitor the situation in eastern Kentucky, where devastating flooding has resulted in tremendous need. The buildings of two nearby Church of the Brethren congregations, Flat Creek and Mud Lick, were not affected. The area is still receiving rain, and the danger of flooding and mudslides is very real. Staff are in contact with partners on the ground and participate in calls with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Kentucky Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) to stay abreast of needs and discern how to best provide assistance. Staff are also coordinating with the disaster leadership of the Southern Ohio/Kentucky District, who are in touch with Church of the Brethren congregations in the immediate area with first-hand knowledge of the situation. The denomination’s Material Resources office has sent two shipments to Kentucky from New Windsor, Md., on behalf of Church World Service. One shipment arrived in Prestonsburg, Ky., with 360 cleanup buckets, 5 cartons of hygiene kits, 5 cartons of toothpaste, 2 cartons of school kits, 12 bales of woolen blankets, and 10 cartons of fleece blankets. A second shipment of 288 cleanup buckets went out on Aug. 2 to Hazard, Ky. Children’s Disaster Services sent four volunteers to Kentucky on Aug. 6 at the request of the national Red Cross organization. Donations to the Emergency Disaster Fund are welcome to assist in both the short-term and long-term needs in Kentucky. It will take years to recover from such destruction. Online gifts can be made at www.brethren.org/give-kentucky-flooding. Checks may be sent to Emergency Disaster Fund, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120.
• Nigerian troops have found two of the former schoolgirls abducted from Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists eight years ago, Mary Dauda and Hauwa Joseph. In a related development, church leadership celebrated the return of Mary Iliya, who was abducted in 2020 by jihadists from Bolakile. Also recently freed is Rebecca Irmiya. All of these women are members of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), from congregations located in the church districts of DCC Chibok Balgi, DCC Chibok, and DCC Gulak. Many other women who have been abducted still cannot be accounted for.
• Composer Tim Reed is collaborating with Cliff Kindy, a Church of the Brethren member and long-term volunteer with Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), to create pieces of music and spoken word in connection with Kindy’s book Resurrection Peacemaking: Plowsharing the Tools of War. The series of pieces on the book’s themes is called “Spirit Unbound.” Kindy has worked with CPT for some 30 years in various conflict zones around the world including Palestine, Gaza, Iraq, Nigeria, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first piece in the series features an interview with Kindy in February 2022 at his home near North Manchester, Ind., reflecting on his experience meeting with a young Palestinian man in Rafah Camp in Gaza. It is posted on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtS7jOF1iY&t=56s. Kindy’s book is available from Brethren Press at www.brethrenpress.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=resurrection+peacemaking&Submit=GO
• A series of prayer requests from Mid-Atlantic District leadership asked for prayers for families of Grossnickle Church of the Brethren (Myerstown, Md.) who were directly affected by the shooting in Smithsburg, Md., on Thursday, June 9. Three people were killed in a shooting at Columbia Machine that afternoon, and at least one first responder, a Maryland state trooper, was among those wounded. Two families in the Grossnickle church lost family members in the shooting, including a son and a cousin of church members. In addition, a young man who was wounded in the shooting is a neighbor to many in the church community. Nearby Welty Church of the Brethren is two miles from the local business where the shooting took place, and members there also have been affected. One of the congregation’s families is related to the state trooper who was wounded, and the congregation includes an EMS chaplain.
• Part-Time Pastor; Full-Time Church is making the May webinars on clergy burnout and “the great resignation” available to view, share, and download. In the first webinar, Melissa Florer-Bixler shares about an article she wrote for Sojourners called “Why Pastors Are Joining the Great Resignation,” speaking with truth, grace, and hope. The second webinar is a conversation with Peter Chin about his article written for Christianity Today titled “Why I’ve Reached my Breaking Point as a Pastor.” Chin speaks openly and honestly about current clergy burnout statistics, making clear he thought it was just him yet now realizing he is not alone. The webinars are at vimeo.com.
• Jerry Pillay was elected as the eighth general secretary in the World Council of Churches’ history since the fellowship of churches was founded in 1948. The Church of the Brethren is one of the WCC’s founding member denominations. Pillay, who hails from South Africa, is currently dean of the faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria and a member of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Pillay will replace outgoing acting general secretary Ioan Sauca, who began serving in that position in April 2020, when the previous general secretary, Olav Fykse Tveit, was appointed as presiding bishop of the Church of Norway. Pillay will take up his position on Jan. 1, 2023.
• Drew G. I. Hart of Harrisburg (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren, an assistant professor of theology at Messiah University who is well known across the denomination as a speaker on healing racism and for his books Trouble I’ve Seen and Who Will Be a Witness?, has begun a video blog on YouTube called “AnaBlacktivism with Drew Hart.” Current episodes are titled “Why Can’t We End Gun Violence?” and “3 Reasons People Are Walking Away from the Church.” Find the “AnaBlacktivism with Drew Hart” channel at www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGPTFVMle1oxi-Yirzjyiw/featured.
• Brethren Benefit Trust has changed its name to Eder Financial in order to serve a broader audience. “The familiar services of BBT are not changing. Nor is the staff or the Board. The only thing that is changing is the name,” according to a release. “With changing demographics and affinity within the Church of the Brethren, a move to serve Anabaptist organizations and others of like mind will allow Eder Financial to fulfill its commitments to its members for decades to come,” president Nevin Dulabaum said.
• Nigerian troops have found two of the former schoolgirls abducted from Chibok by Boko Haram jihadists eight years ago, Mary Dauda and Hauwa Joseph. In a related development, church leadership celebrated the return of Mary Iliya, who was abducted in 2020 by jihadists from Bolakile. Also recently freed is Rebecca Irmiya. All of these women are members of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), from congregations located in the church districts of DCC Chibok Balgi, DCC Chibok, and DCC Gulak. Many other women who have been abducted still cannot be accounted for.
• Composer Tim Reed is collaborating with Cliff Kindy, a Church of the Brethren member and long-term volunteer with Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), to create pieces of music and spoken word in connection with Kindy’s book Resurrection Peacemaking: Plowsharing the Tools of War. The series of pieces on the book’s themes is called “Spirit Unbound.” Kindy has worked with CPT for some 30 years in various conflict zones around the world including Palestine, Gaza, Iraq, Nigeria, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first piece in the series features an interview with Kindy in February 2022 at his home near North Manchester, Ind., reflecting on his experience meeting with a young Palestinian man in Rafah Camp in Gaza. It is posted on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtS7jOF1iY&t=56s. Kindy’s book is available from Brethren Press at www.brethrenpress.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=resurrection+peacemaking&Submit=GO
• A series of prayer requests from Mid-Atlantic District leadership asked for prayers for families of Grossnickle Church of the Brethren (Myerstown, Md.) who were directly affected by the shooting in Smithsburg, Md., on Thursday, June 9. Three people were killed in a shooting at Columbia Machine that afternoon, and at least one first responder, a Maryland state trooper, was among those wounded. Two families in the Grossnickle church lost family members in the shooting, including a son and a cousin of church members. In addition, a young man who was wounded in the shooting is a neighbor to many in the church community. Nearby Welty Church of the Brethren is two miles from the local business where the shooting took place, and members there also have been affected. One of the congregation’s families is related to the state trooper who was wounded, and the congregation includes an EMS chaplain.
• Part-Time Pastor; Full-Time Church is making the May webinars on clergy burnout and “the great resignation” available to view, share, and download. In the first webinar, Melissa Florer-Bixler shares about an article she wrote for Sojourners called “Why Pastors Are Joining the Great Resignation,” speaking with truth, grace, and hope. The second webinar is a conversation with Peter Chin about his article written for Christianity Today titled “Why I’ve Reached my Breaking Point as a Pastor.” Chin speaks openly and honestly about current clergy burnout statistics, making clear he thought it was just him yet now realizing he is not alone. The webinars are at vimeo.com.
• Jerry Pillay was elected as the eighth general secretary in the World Council of Churches’ history since the fellowship of churches was founded in 1948. The Church of the Brethren is one of the WCC’s founding member denominations. Pillay, who hails from South Africa, is currently dean of the faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria and a member of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Pillay will replace outgoing acting general secretary Ioan Sauca, who began serving in that position in April 2020, when the previous general secretary, Olav Fykse Tveit, was appointed as presiding bishop of the Church of Norway. Pillay will take up his position on Jan. 1, 2023.
• Drew G. I. Hart of Harrisburg (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren, an assistant professor of theology at Messiah University who is well known across the denomination as a speaker on healing racism and for his books Trouble I’ve Seen and Who Will Be a Witness?, has begun a video blog on YouTube called “AnaBlacktivism with Drew Hart.” Current episodes are titled “Why Can’t We End Gun Violence?” and “3 Reasons People Are Walking Away from the Church.” Find the “AnaBlacktivism with Drew Hart” channel at www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGPTFVMle1oxi-Yirzjyiw/featured.
• Brethren Benefit Trust has changed its name to Eder Financial in order to serve a broader audience. “The familiar services of BBT are not changing. Nor is the staff or the Board. The only thing that is changing is the name,” according to a release. “With changing demographics and affinity within the Church of the Brethren, a move to serve Anabaptist organizations and others of like mind will allow Eder Financial to fulfill its commitments to its members for decades to come,” president Nevin Dulabaum said.
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