PERSONNEL NOTES

Jen Houser has resigned as the director of the Brethren Historical Library and Archives. She will conclude her work with the Church of the Brethren effective September 20, 2023. Jen began her role as BHLA Director August 2, 2021. She has provided consistent leadership, accessioned and processed hundreds of feet of archival materials, and raised the BHLA’s social media presence during her tenure. Jen and her husband, Zech, were ordained in the district last month at Highland Avenue.

Richard Wehrle has been hired as program manager for Thriving in Ministry, a program of the Church of the Brethren Office of Ministry, starting Sept. 5. He is pastor of Midland (Va.) Church of the Brethren. In addition to serving as a pastor in Mid-Atlantic District and previously in Shenandoah District, he has worked as a truss design project manager for the past 13 years. He also has been homeless outreach coordinato rfor Serving our Neighbors of Manassas, Va. Wehrle holds a Master of Divinity degree with an emphasis in inter-contextual biblical interpretation and is working toward completing a Master of Arts in spiritual and social transformation with an emphasis in nonprofit leadership, both from Bethany Theological Seminary. He also has a degree from the Christian Growth Institute.

Christy Crouse has been named as the Church of the Brethren representative on the board/steering committee of Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT). She was designated to the position by the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy. Crouse is a Church of the Brethren member and a legal researcher for the International Area of the Center of Study on Law, Justice, and Society (Dejusticia), a human rights NGO in Bogotá, Colombia. She is a US attorney with a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School, where she focused on international human rights and immigration law. She has participated in several of the church’s peace-related programs, interned at the Office of Peace building and Policy in 2015, was a member of the Youth Peace Travel Team in2014 teaching nonviolent conflict resolution techniques at church camps, and served on the board of On Earth Peace Board from 2015 to 2018.