CCS2006

Christian Citizenship Seminar 2006

Plans have already begun for next spring’s Christian Citizenship Seminar which will use the theme “Peace is Patriotic.”

Starting in New York City, sessions will include workshops lead by On Earth Peace. Later events will include an aerial tour of the nation’s capital followed by “Homeland Security and the Brethren” led by Hayden “Jim” Sheaffer.

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No Experience Required

The estimated cost of a volunteer for a 12 month period is $5000 to $7000. This includes room, board, and a monthly allowance.

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Disaster Response

In an effort to keep relief programs in operation in any type of condition, Church of the Brethren Emergency Response/Disaster Services is partnering with another organization in the creation of a new pilot project.

If you're a Christian, you've got a big problem on your hands. After you're swept away to walk the streets of gold with Jesus, red hot lava is going to pour from volcanoes, hurricanes and tsunamis will flood most of the world’s coastlines, and earthquakes will cause inestimatable damage to the housing of the countless survivors. Will you feel guilt for an eternity?

The Church has made a commitment to helping the world’s refugees and that commitment needs to be kept. And in doing so, Christians will be able to enjoy eternity with a clear conscience. To that end, the Church of the Brethren, through Jesus Pets, is seeking secular humanists and other liberal non-believers. Anyone who is committed to keeping up the good fight when the faithful have all been swept up is encouraged to apply.

SpiralingMerchandise

Another Way of Spiraling


Smaller. Ebbing. Waning. Another Way of Spiraling.

Embrace and celebrate the "death spiral." Shirts and more is the GM Store.

Travel Services

Travel Planning

As the peak travel season approaches, Arthur Dent, the Director of Brethren Travel Services (BTS), is asking everyone to consider their carpooling options. "Whether you are traveling the road to Emmaus, going to Noah's Ark, Annual Conference, or just to your neighborhood Subway, there may be others trying to figure out how to get to the same destination. While some may opt to walk, others may be unable to drive and could use a lift. Please keep your neighbors' good in mind as you make your travel plans. You never know what new friends you'll meet along your way."

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Roadside Religion

As Brethren across the country are making their plans for travel to Peoria this summer, they may want to check out a book by Timothy K. Beal. Beal, a religion scholar who took his family on a summer RV tour of some of America's oddest religious sites, explores the varieties of religious. Whether he's tackling the popularity of biblical mini-golf courses or Precious Moments figurines, Beal uncovers serious questions about religion and its sometimes highly singular practitioners. It's clear that the sites he finds most compelling are those whose creator has stepped out of the mainstream to carry out a quixotic personal vision, like the former Church of the Brethren pastor who is building a gigantic replica of Noah's Ark to the size specified in the Book of Genesis.

Kettering: 'I was ... running away from myself'

Merlyn Kettering, the so-called runaway inkman who went missing once the Anglo Leasing scandal hit the fans, issued a public apology through his family's pastor and said that he is getting professional help.

"Please may I assure you that my running away had nothing to do with cold feet nor was it ever about leaving Kenya," wrote Kettering, in a statement read by the Jennifer Wilbanks of Duluth, Ga.

"Those who know me know how excited I've been and how excited I was about the spectacular work we planned." his statement read.

Kettering said that he looked forward to the day when he would be strong enough to "speak for myself."

Kettering wrote, "At this time, I cannot fully explain what happened to me last week. I had a host of compelling issues which seemed out of control -- issues for which I was unable to address or confine."

"In my mind, it was never about timing," he said. "I was simply running away from myself and from certain fears controlling my life. Each day, I'm learning more about who I am and the issues that have influenced me to respond inappropriately.

"I am sorry for the troubles I caused and I offer my deep and sincere apology. I ask for forgiveness."

While he apologized to his family, friends, community and "others I may have offended unintentionally," he did not specifically address the Hispanic man and white woman he made up as kidnappers in the story he first told authorities.

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Church of the Brethren Membership Falls Again in 2004

Overall Church of the Brethren membership continued to decline in 2004, according to year-end figures collected by the "Church of the Brethren Yearbook," published by Brethren Press. The denomination reported a net loss of 1,280 members last year, down just under one percent from the previous year. It is, however, a smaller decline than in 2003, when the Church of the Brethren had a net loss of 1,363 members.

The declining membership has been described as a death spiral. A query will be coming to Annual Conference requesting that 70% of the couples in the Brethren denomination should be required to have three or more children in order to reverse this trend.