Church of the Brethren

The Church of the Brethren’s Mission and Ministry Board held its Fall 2024 meeting Oct. 17-20 at the denomination’s General Offices in Elgin, Ill. Colin Scott presided as chair, assisted by chair-elect Kathy Mack and general secretary David Steele.

By Marissa Witkovsky-Eldred FaithX is excited to announce service trip opportunities for all ages in 2025! A total of 12 service trips are planned. Opportunities include individual or combined trips for junior and senior high youth, a family service weekend with childcare provided, the older adult trip in March, and international or domestic trips for

The newly revised pastors’ Housing Equity Fund now offers a tax-friendly option for those ministers living in parsonages who wish to build equity toward a future home purchase. Significant revisions to the fund’s structure were approved by the 2024 Annual Conference and have resulted in the creation of this new investment fund option. Whereas the

Chicago (Ill.) First Church of the Brethren prayerfully took the pledge to join the Apartheid Free Communities network. Chicago First Church is the 400th organization to join under the sponsorship of American Friends Service Committee and the first Church of the Brethren congregation to join.

The Church of the Brethren Gun Violence Prevention Action Team would like to invite your congregation to remember gun violence victims who have passed away in 2024 by hosting a vigil or service in December as part of the Newtown Action Alliance’s 2024 Nationwide Vigils to #EndGunViolence initiative.

In this issue: Remembering Gerald Pence, dates and location for next National Youth Conference, prayer concern for the Community of Faith and Haitians in the Dominican Republic, leadership opening in West Marva District, closing date for L.E.A.D. Conference registration, and more news by, for, and about Brethren.

The Church of the Brethren’s aid and relief response following Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton continues on the denominational, district, and congregational levels. Here are some updates

This month the Standing with People of Color Committee will offer two opportunities for facilitator training for those interested in leading “7 Prompts” conversations in their communities and congregations.

On International Day of Peace, Sept. 21, Lititz (Pa.) Church of the Brethren erected a Memorial to the Lost. This memorial displayed more than 90 t-shirts, each marked with the name, date of death, and age at death of a person killed by gun homicide in Lancaster County, Pa.

Freeport (Ill.) Church of the Brethren held a peace gathering in September as part of its ongoing witness against gun violence. Families who have lost loved ones to violence attended the event, which received coverage from the local ABC television news.

The Church of the Brethren has ministries that seek to support youth and provide space for them to experience spiritual growth, become advocates for peace and justice, be in community with one another, and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus. Two of these ministries--FaithX and Youth and Young Adult Ministries--seek individuals who are interested in volunteering with youth and young adult programing for a year through Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS).

Are you ready to support the junior high youth in your congregation in planning and leading worship for National Junior High Sunday? Many congregations will observe National Junior High Sunday on Nov. 3, but encouraging junior high youth to step into worship leadership is more important than the particular Sunday. Work it into your congregation’s worship schedule sometime this fall.

On Sept. 10, Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, Nigeria, and its surrounding areas were hit by a devastating flood, leaving thousands of people in dire need of immediate assistance. The disaster, caused by the overflow and breach of the Alau Dam in the neighboring Konduga Local Government Area (LGA), has affected an estimated 1,020,340 individuals across four LGAs: Maiduguri, Jere, Mafa, and Konduga.

John Fillmore has been called by the Church of the Brethren’s Idaho/Western Montana District as district executive minister in a quarter-time capacity. He was affirmed and installed at the district conference on Oct. 12.

In this issue: A prayer request from Brazil, job openings with Eder Financial, ecumenical training and service opportunity for young adults, resources from Churches for Middle East Peace, "Last chance to save" on the Anabaptist Community Bible, an invitation to a research project on music's effects on convictions and Brethren identity, and much more.

Staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries continue to work with district leaders to help coordinate response efforts including the collection and distribution of relief materials and donations for emergency funding–especially for the hardest-hit areas in Southeastern District. Another conference call with district leaders is planned for Friday afternoon, Oct. 11. Brethren Disaster Ministries urges church members

Church World Service (CWS) is sharing updated kit distribution numbers and information about relief efforts following on the recent hurricanes. To date, CWS has coordinated the shipment of 4,372 Clean-Up Buckets, 8,720 Hygiene Kits, 5,890 blankets, 1,205 Menstrual Hygiene Kits, 590 School Kits, and 72 Welcome Backpacks to partners in Florida and North Carolina (a

CDS has two teams of volunteers serving in North Carolina. The four volunteers in “Team Fletcher” have been serving children and families at a shelter in Fletcher, N.C., since Thursday, Oct. 3. This response is in partnership with the Red Cross. When they arrived, the shelter housed 300 people, and there was a boil water

Several Church of the Brethren districts have issued calls or started service projects in response to Hurricane Helene and now Hurricane Milton. In addition, reports Brethren Disaster Ministries, “individuals and congregations have been calling and emailing all week asking how they can help in the effort.” Here are some of the ways districts and congregations

In this issue: Remembering Lauree Hersch Meyer, a matching gift campaign supports the Church of the Brethren mission in South Sudan, Nobel Peace Prize goes to the Japanese organization of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945--the Church of the Brethren has supported the atomic bomb survivors known as the hibakusha through Brethren Volunteer Service’s support to the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima.