Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Bethany Indiana

Bethany News

COBCOA is continuing with will its plans to shut down operations. Unfortunately, contrary to previous reports, the existence of Brethren Colleges is indeed in jeopardy as they are beginning to divest themselves of any Brethren denominational affiliation. Also, in a related move, Melrose Park School has announced its plans to move to Bethany, Ind., which will make it the only Church of the Brethren school in the US.

In related news, Bethany Theological Seminary will be renaming itself to "The Richmond School of Religion" in order to clear up any confusion as to its location.

Saturday, September 25, 2004

Illinois Pennsylvania Whatever

Ethnic Demographics

The Multi-Ethnic/Cross-Cultural Study Committee has begun implementation of its first plan to make the denomination more geographically and ethnically diverse. Committee member Neemita Pandya announced that the Naperville Church of the Brethren, which is primarily ethnically Indian, will be moving around periodically so that different districts' ethnic demographics will all get a boost. Initially located in Illinois, Naperville’s next location will be Pennsylvania. The specific district to be credited with Naperville’s membership has yet to be determined. The four districts comprising the Keystone State are the Western, Middle, and Southern Pennsylvania District along with the Atlantic Northeast District.

Monday, September 20, 2004

Manchester Plague

Another College Ranking

Although Manchester College is reported by U.S. News & World Report in its annual rankings on the magazine’s “Best Colleges” list, at number 33 among Midwest schools, everything is not peaches and cream at the northern Indiana college. In spite of the college making the list for 10 consecutive years, about one-third of the residential student body and even some of the faculty are sick of school after less than a month being back to classes.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Elgin Witness

Elgin's Historic Peace Church Tour

This past weekend, while neighbors were selling lemonade and hawking various and sundry other refreshments, volunteers from the Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren were distributing free Brethren Water to the thousands of passer-bys. And while the Church of the Brethren was making that witness, the Brethren Volunteer (BVS) House witnessed the Church’s peace position with a display modeled on that displayed by the Skyridge COB.

The now nationally famous Gifford Park Association Annual House Tour is a tour of the historically and/or architecturally significant homes in Elgin, Illinois and is typically held on the first or second weekend of September. Each year about 9-10 homes are selected and shown on the tour. A different section of Elgin is featured each year. This year's House Tour was held September 11 and 12. The House Tour was centered around the neighborhood of the Church of the Brethren, located at the intersection of Highland Avenue and McClure St. in the near west side area of Elgin, where the houses range from cottages to grand mansions.

Attendees viewed the interior and exterior of the homes at their own pace and in whatever order they chose. For the interior, docents guided the guests through the house, pointing out features of architectural and historical significance, and answering what questions they could.

Spearheaded by the Gifford Park Association, formed in 1978, the annual Historic Elgin House Tour in early September attracts over 2,000 people.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

BRF Jeopardy

1000 Points of Darkness

This just in from or correspondents Ken Jennings and Bernie Neis... While “What is 1000?” is the Jeopardy answer to “The number of U.S. deaths in Iraq recently topped this figure”, the answer to the question “What do 1000 and September 11 have in common?” has nothing to do with the war in terrorism. While the tragedy of 9/11 spurred the war in Afghanistan, any links to Iraq are, at best, tenuous.

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

YAC YAC

YAC 2005: 'Twice the Fun'

Young adults may need to make more free time on their schedules next spring. With the success of this year's National Young Adult Conference, the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office couldn't simply return to the smaller YAC format. So, instead, it looks like there are plans underway for two regional events to take place concurrently on Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29 2005. One event will take place in Ohio at Camp Woodland Altars. The location for the second has yet to be named.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Jones Scam

Another General Board Staff Implicated

Merlyn Kettering is no longer alone among the Brethren caught up in the turmoil of African based controversy. It has come to the attention of the Gospel Messenger that Phil Jones' name has been linked to the Nigerian 4-1-9 scam, often seen in internet spam messages. In this case, the scam takes the form of a fraudulent lottery promotion. While Phil Jones may be a common name, the Church of the Brethren does have a long history in Nigeria.