A Record of the Historical Hollywood Jesus

No film set exists without its share of gags and accidents, even the filming of Mel Gibson’s crucifixion epic. A transcript of scenes that may never make it onto the DVD edition has been archived. Consider it a record of the historical Hollywood Jesus.

You Want Fries With That Quilt?



"Brethren Fries" - Immersed in water, Anointed with oil.

The special pommes frites were available at the Mid-Atlantic Disaster Auction.

Visit Credit Union at Annual Conference

Visitors at the Church of the Brethren Credit Union exhibit at Annual Conference will have a chance to enter a drawing for valuable prizes. Conference goers who can show the largest collection of COBCU magnets will be eligible. Already, current credit union members who are also pension plan members have collected two of the many magnets to be distributed. The credit union is now open to all people.

Universal Restoration is At Hand

Whether or not you've been believer of universal restoration it is now available to everyone.

Another Reason for a Name Change

What’s Easter Without Peeps?

Peeps at the library, peep research, and many more peep links.

Thou Shalt Not

While you may think that the 11th commandment ought to be “thou shalt not get too passionate over the The Passion,” it is not among the new commandments which have recently been identified. Those new commandments include “Thou shalt not worship false pop idols,” “Thou shalt not kill in the name of any god,” and “Thou shalt not be negative.”

The Poll Poll

Which polls did people respond to?

Are you planning to see "The Passion of the Christ"?	654 responses(72.9%)
Are you going to Annual Conference in Charleston?	155 responses(17.3%)
Which Brethren college has the best basketball team?	88 responses(9.8%)
897 total responses

This Gospel Messenger online poll is not scientific and reflects only our opinions. Results may not reflect the opinions of the Church of the Brethren, and should not be considered representative of the public as a whole.

Passion at the Cineplex

Moviegoers showed their passion for a zombie remake over the weekend - "Dawn of the Dead" earned $26.7 million at the box office and dethroned Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" for the number one spot.

Interestingly, the two movies have many similarities. First of all, "The Passion" ends with a person rising from the dead and "Dawn of the Dead" starts with several characters rising from the dead. Email us with any other similarities you've noticed.

The Boondocks:

Same Old Song

Not waiting for reports at the past weekend's General Board meetings, Board members and staff had already begun on measures to counteract possible budget deficits. Responding to "voices from the pews," an ad hoc group with a nebulous scope and deadline has already leaped to action. Their first accomplishment was a fact finding junket to India to investigate outsourcing of congregational support and resourcing. The savings in staff salaries and benefits could save $220,000 annually which could then be used to subsidize non-General Board programming.

New Links

Over on the right column... In addition to Morons.org, we've added a link to Ship of Fools.

Change Detection Reminder

You can use the "Change Detection" option found off to the right to get notifications of updates to our site.

Performers to Sing at Two Gatherings

The Spongmonkeys have been booked to perform at two Brethren conferences this summer. First, they will be performing in Colorado at the first large scale National Young Adult Conference. Following that appearance, the wildly popular duo will present a late night concert at Annual Conference. As part of the booking arrangement, free toasted communion bread will be provided to Annual Conference. Conference goers will also find a coupon in their registration packets which will be good for a dollar off a foot long sandwich.

General Board Begins New Chapter

In spite of a decrease in 2003's congregational giving, with its recent financial upturn, the General Board has begun its journey to financial independence. "With this first step, the General Board will no longer be accountable to the special interests of individual congregations and districts who try to pose their influence through the threat of withheld giving," said a General Board representative.

DE's Gone Wild

Brethren Press' latest money making venture will be the sale of a risque video of the District Executives partying in Dayton Beach. Watch for "DE's Gone Wild 2 - Charleston" to be released later this summer.

OMA Moves Office to Elgin

Unless the tarps are there because the General Board is procrastinating on roof repairs, it looks like OMA has been putting up their tents in the Elgin General Offices.

General Board Approves Bold, New Slogan

At its October meeting, the General Board approved a bold, new identity line, aimed at defining its niche in the marketplace of US churches and helping it "leverage" itself in the 1990s and beyond.

The line: "Church of the Brethren: We're Kind of Like the Mennonites."

The new slogan grew out of an extensive $2.2 million study conducted by MennoCorp, a marketing and imaging firm loosely associated with the Mennonite Church.

MennoCorp head Levi Smucker was on hand at the Board Meeting to unveil and explain the new slogan. Said Smucker, "In the hundreds of focus groups we conducted, we asked thousands of Brethren to tell us who they are. Again and again we heard 'Oh, uh, we're kind of like the Mennonites.' It became very clear to us that this, indeed, is who you are, or at least who you ought to be. We're quite convinced that this identity line will immediately raise the profile of the Brethren. And even if it doesn't, it certainly will raise the profile of the Mennonites."

Reactions to the new Brethren slogan were largely positive. One sister at the Board meeting gushed, "I've always known deep in my heart that this is who we were but I never could find the right words. MennoCorp has articulated for me what I've always known to be true."

Several General Board staff objected to the slogan, however, on the grounds that it was too sectarian for mainline Brethren. One staff person suggested that the statement be edited slightly from "Kind of Like the Mennonites" to "Kind of Like the Methodists," but the Board was hesitant to tamper with MennoCorp's masterful words.

Also rejected was a suggestion from the Brethren/Mennonite Caucus for Gay and Lesbian Concerns that the line "Kind of Like the Metropolitan Community Church" be substituted. A representative of the Womaen's Caucus spoke vehemently against the slogan on the grounds that it contains the words "Brethren" and "Men." As a long shot alternative, the Caucus suggested "Church of Reconciliation: As Inclusive as We Wanna Be."

MennoCorp has done similar studies for other Brethren agencies and institutions in recent years, all displaying a genius for finding just the right words. Among slogans developed by MennoCorp: "Bridgewater College: Sort of Like Eastern Mennonite;" "Manchester College: Vaguely Resembling Goshen;" "LaVerne University: Really Not Anything like Fresno Pacific;" "Bethany Theological Seminary: A Far Cry com AMBS;" "The Brethren Foundation: Somewhat Similar to the Mennonite Foundation, Only Not as Wealthy;" and "BVS: In the Vein of Mennonite Volunteer Service, But Without All the Christian Baggage."

This article was originally published in the April 1, 1995 edition of the Gospel Messenger

I'll Go If You Send Me (Where It's Warm)

While the vacancies aren't as high as last year, almost 15% of the summer workcamp spaces are still open. That's comprised of a whopping 20% of the young adult slots and nearly 20% of the senior high youth spaces. The junior high youth are doing better, filling over 85% of their allotment. The northeast appears to be the least popular destination as workcamps in MA, DC, and WV have a combined vacancy pushing the 80% mark. The BRF workcamp stacks up last against the rest, having a vacancy of 45%. Maybe they'd rather go to WV.

Wise Guys, Eh?

Question:
   What would have happened if it had been three wise women instead of three wise men?

Answer:
   They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts!

Church Publisher May Leave Elgin

Since 1901, millions of Bibles and Sunday school curriculums printed in 120 languages have been launched from Elgin around the world.

But despite the religious nature of the work, the business recently was told by the Illinois appeals court that it is required to pay property taxes for the nine acres it owns in Elgin.

The court agreed with Kane County assessors by saying the Christian publishing company does not qualify for a tax exemption based on religion.

And without a property tax-free status, the corporation eventually might leave Elgin.

Ctrl-Alt-Del

The search continues for a candidate for the position of Director of Computer Operations. The General Board's Human Resource office thought they were close but, at the last minute, a hopeful prospect opted to take a position with Duplo Data instead. It appears that the ratio of work to salary that the Brethren can offer is nowhere close to that of supporting LabOra software.

Brethren Ministries Live Report

Titled “Loving God with Your Gifts,” this year's energetic Live Report will feature a Polish group that helps poor and marginalized youth, along with others, demonstrating their God given talents. Hip-hop music, blaring from several boomboxes—appropriate for the group's interpretive movement—will weave its way throughout the presentation, providing an interlude between videos and other ministry highlights shared by the five Annual Conference agencies.

Fogle Relocating

A California pastor will replace "Eight Is Enough" television actor Lerry W. Fogle as the next "Bibleman," a comic book-style action hero who quotes Scripture to children in a touring ministry.

Fogle, who is relocating to Frederick Md. after fifteen months in the role, plans to "creatively use current technology" to perform his duties while maintaining his primary residence with his family.

Robert T. Schlipp will assume the role next spring. He'll be joined by his wife, Anayansi Schlipp, who will portray Biblegirl.

It can take Schlipp an hour to struggle into his 32-pound plastic and spandex costume, which includes a belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the spirit.

"Everything Bibleman wears has a meaning, " said Schlipp, 28, though he acknowledges "it's hard to take someone seriously when they're wearing spandex."

MAD Cow

Due to worries about US beef exports, the Mid-Atlantic District would like to reiterate that they are no longer in the practice of canning beef. They also point out that they will be canning chicken again this year. Ever since the British beef scare they have found that packages of beef labeled "MAD" have not been heartily welcomed regardless of the need for food. Last spring, the Southern Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic districts processed approximately 80,000 pounds of chicken.

Anniversary Plans Underway

The 300th Anniversary Committee is in the early stages of hatching schemes to celebrate three centuries of Brethrenism in 2008. One idea in particular has caught the Gospel Messenger eye. Some feel that it would be a wondrous and compelling thing if the 2008 Annual Conference could have the look and feel of the first Conference held in 1708. Meetings would be held in tents staked out in a farmer’s field and everyone would be brought in by horse and buggy. Even the Amish would look on, amazed. The first step, of course, is to get all of the conference goers decked out properly. And the foundation for any good decking has got to be beards for the men and prayer coverings for the women. The next phase of this plan will be to encourage participation without compelling it or resorting to queries or legislation.