Newsline, April 5, 2013

Newsline The Church of the Brethren e-mail news service

April 5, 2013 Quote of the week “On April 4, 1968, the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death in Memphis, Tenn.” -- Yesterday's “On This Day” note in the New York Times e-mail digest, 45 years to the day after King’s assassination. "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)  NEWS 1) Youth voice is heard in New York and Washington during Christian Citizenship Seminar. 2) Christian leaders celebrate adoption of the world’s first Arms Trade Treaty. 3) New 'Shine' curriculum is underway for fall 2014. 4) Fellowship of Brethren Homes members awarded 2013 Continuing Education Grants. 5) Same love, new look: Three new special offerings for the Church of the Brethren. UPCOMING EVENTS 6) Big-name speakers to headline Annual Conference in Charlotte. 7) Children's Aid Society celebrates 100 years with author of 'The Shack.' PERSONNEL 8) Brethren Journal Association announces new editor. FEATURE 9) Global data upend usual picture of Christianity trends. 10) Brethren bits: Ending of a joint staff agreement between the Church of the Brethren and the NCC, an April 9 advocacy day on gun violence, Older Adult Month in May, the new Pope Francis washes feet, and lots of news from Brethren congregations, districts, and colleges. Read the full text of this Newsline in one document at www.brethren.org/news/2013/newsline-for-april-5-2013.html ******************************************** 1) Youth voice is heard in New York and Washington during Christian Citizenship Seminar. During the last week of March, 55 Church of the Brethren youth and advisors joined forces to learn more about the issue of childhood poverty at this year's Christian Citizenship Seminar. CCS is a week-long event sponsored by the denomination's Youth and Young Adult Ministries and Office of Public Witness (formerly Peace Witness Ministries) based in Washington, D.C. CCS gives senior high youth the chance to explore the relationship between faith and a particular political issue. This year the focus was on how a child’s lack of adequate housing, nutrition, and education may perpetuate the cycle of poverty and limit a child’s potential. Read the full story at www.brethren.org/news/2013/youth-voice-is-heard-in-ccs.html 2) Christian leaders celebrate adoption of the world’s first Arms Trade Treaty. “We give thanks to God for the adoption of the world's first Arms Trade Treaty and for the efforts by a large majority of countries and many civil society groups to bring it into existence,” said an April 3 public statement by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Olav Fykse Tveit. The Arms Trade Treaty was adopted on April 2 by the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. Church of the Brethren general secretary Stan Noffsinger and Nathan Hosler, coordinator of the denomination’s Office of Public Witness, were among the American church leaders encouraging the US be among nations voting for the treaty. Read the full story at www.brethren.org/news/2013/christian-leaders-celebrate-arms-trade-treaty.html 3) New 'Shine' curriculum is underway for fall 2014. Development of a new Sunday school curriculum called Shine is underway by Brethren Press and MennoMedia. This month writers are beginning to prepare the first quarter of Shine: Living in God’s Light, which will be available for use in fall 2014. “We are pleased to offer our congregations a user-friendly, enriching curriculum that grows out of our distinct beliefs as Brethren and Mennonites,” said Wendy McFadden, publisher of Brethren Press. Read the full story at www.brethren.org/news/2013/new-shine-curriculum.html 4) Fellowship of Brethren Homes members awarded 2013 Continuing Education Grants. Eight members of the Fellowship of Brethren Homes have been awarded Continuing Education Grants for 2013. The $1,000 grants are funded by the denomination’s Health Education and Research Fund, which supports nursing in the Church of the Brethren, and are administered by Congregational Life Ministries. Read the full story at www.brethren.org/news/2013/brethren-homes-receive-grants.html 5) Same love, new look: Three new special offerings for the Church of the Brethren. The Church of the Brethren is now giving congregations the opportunity to participate in a series of three new special offerings in addition to the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. They are the Pentecost Offering, the Mission Offering, and the Advent Offering. Although each one has a different theme and individual look, they all share one unified goal: to support the life-changing ministries of the Church of the Brethren. Read more at www.brethren.org/offerings . Read the full story at www.brethren.org/news/2013/same-love-new-look-new-offerings.html UPCOMING EVENTS 6) Big-name speakers to headline Annual Conference in Charlotte. A riddle from Jon Kobel in the Conference Office: Stanley Hauerwas, Philip Yancey, Mark Yaconelli, John McCullough, Sharon Watkins, Ruthann Knechel Johansen, Devorah Lieberman, James Troha, Michael Schneider, Darla K. Deardorff. What do these nationally recognized theologians, authors, educators, and religious leaders all have in common? Answer: All are speaking at the 2013 Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren, June 29-July 3 in Charlotte, N.C. Read the full story at www.brethren.org/news/2013/speakers-headline-annual-conference.html 7) Children's Aid Society celebrates 100 years with author of 'The Shack.' The Children's Aid Society of Southern Pennsylvania District is marking April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and also its 100th birthday. The society was started on April 9, 1913. To mark the occasion, the Children's Aid Society is holding a benefit event titled "An Evening with Author Wm. Paul Young" on April 12. Read the full story at www.brethren.org/news/2013/childrens-aid-society-benefit.html PERSONNEL 8) Brethren Journal Association announces new editor. The Advisory Board of the Brethren Journal Association, in partnership with Bethany Theological Seminary, announces that Denise Kettering-Lane has been named the new editor for "Brethren Life and Thought." Kettering-Lane has been assistant professor of Brethren Studies at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind., since 2010. Read the full story at www.brethren.org/news/2013/new-editor-for-brethren-life-and-thought.html FEATURE 9) Global data upend usual picture of Christianity trends. Despite a century-long decline, religious affiliation has shown a marked resurgence globally since 1970. Both Christianity and Islam make up growing segments of the world’s population. Africa and China have witnessed the most marked religious change. These are among the findings discussed by religious demographer Dr Todd M. Johnson in an overview of religious identity and trends in world Christianity since 1910, presented at the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, on March 13. Read the full World Council of Churches release at www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/global-data-upend-usual-p.html 10) Brethren bits. In this issue: The ending of a joint staff position in peacemaking between the Church of the Brethren and the NCC, an April 9 advocacy day on gun violence, Older Adult Month resources for congregations to use in May, the new Pope Francis washes feet, and lots of news from Brethren congregations, districts, and colleges. Read the full Brethren bits at www.brethren.org/news/2013/brethren-bits-for-april-5.html Contributors to this issue of Newsline include Chris Douglas, Theresa Eshbach, Mary Kay Heatwole, Jon Kobel, Jeri S. Kornegay, John Wall, and editor Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services for the Church of the Brethren. Look for the next regularly scheduled issue on April 17.

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