The Brethren Church

Brethren Church National Office Updates

March 20, 2008

Pastors and Leaders,

A major role of the National Office is to maintain communication with our denomination. To keep all of our ministries up to date on what is going on in the Brethren Church, this “National Office Update” is a bi-weekly letter to inform pastors and leaders of the current events in our denomination.

It is our hope that by offering these updates, we will strengthen our communication as well as join together, so we may move forward in the mission of the Brethren Church. Please feel free to pass along this information to all of those in your church who are interested in staying up to date with the ministry of the Brethren Church.

April, May, June Spotlights

Are coming SOON! We hope to get the new videos out to you by next week!

We are going to focusing on:

April is the NEW DAY Vision

May is the ministry in Argentina

June is the ministry in Spain

Brethren Pastors Conference NEXT WEEK!

Please pray for all the Pastors and Leaders who will be attending this Conference. Pray for: safe travels, and those who will be leading this Conference.

If you are still interested in attending Please contact Pastor Lynn Mercer as soon as possible at:

firstbrethren@peoplepc.com

• “Color Your World” is set for March 25-27, 2008 in Belleville, OH, just down the road from Ashland. A Natural Church Development/NEW DAY agenda is planned. The cost is very reasonable; the topic is essential and transformational. Spouses are encouraged to attend if possible. Pastors, be sure to get this on your calendar now and seek congregational support for your attendance. We expect that all Brethren pastors will be there. For more information visit www.brethrenchurch.org

• Worship will be lead by James Pinto Christian Recording Artist who is married to former Mexico City missionary Jennifer (Thomas) Pinto. James is originally from Venezuela and was a missionary in South Florida for ten years. Now a US Citizen, James is attending Ashland Theological Seminary studying for his MA in Clinical Counseling. James has recently released his second CD “H2O-Holy, Humble and Obedient”. James states, “I believe all I am doing is to deliver the prophetic message God imparted to me five years ago: It’s time to be Holy, Humble and Obedient. His (God’s) desire is to see His people united, praying together and interceding for the common problems that exist in the world. It is impossible to be self- sufficient and at the same time to be humble. Jesus is the only source of power, grace and sufficiency. It is time for reconciliation, restoration and revival.”

• All Pastors’ Conference attendees are asked to purchase and fill out the accompanying “Color Your World…” book: Please contact us at the Brethren Church National Office as we have books available at the BCNO for $12.00 plus $5.00 shipping. Books are normally $18- $20 plus shipping through Amazon.com or ChurchSmart.com

Information about General Conference in Richmond, VA

General Conference registration began March 7^th. Registration and hotel reservations can be done on-line. Please go to: www.brethrenchurch.org and follow the General Conference registration & Housing links. For mail or fax registrations and hotels reservations, please have your pastor go to our website by clicking on the Brethren Church web address listed above. Click on the word “housing” on the main page conference information. This will take you to information about each hotel available. At the bottom of that page you may click on “(Hotel Reservation Form (For Mail or Fax)” and print a paper form to use in this way.

Hotel rooms are going fast so if you have not made your reservations we encourage you to do so quickly. You can find more information in the March/ April Issue of the Evangelist. For more Richmond, Virginia tourist information visit www.visit.richmond.com and www.richmondcenter.com. Also you can find attached to this email, copies of the Housing instructions and Form if you need them.

2008 BYIC Convention:

Visit our website www.brethrenchurch.org for updated information and registration.
Traveling 300^th Anniversary Display: Dr. James Hollinger has been traveling across the country with the 300^th Anniversary Traveling Display that will eventually be present in all districts.

 

In addition we want you to pray for Jim Hollinger, who has not been feeling well. He has been negotiating this journey with the truck and long trailer carrying all of the displays. This is an ambitious schedule, and it would be of tremendous help if we could locate an extra driver or two for the remainder of the schedule. Anyone who could help with this venture should contact us directly at brethren@brethrenchurch.org and we’ll get back to you with the particulars. Drivers are needed for the remainder of the journey.
Dates & Location

Apr. 5 Eagles Nest, IN

Apr. 12 Brethren Heritage Center, OH

Apr. 18-19 Berlin Borough Bldg., PA
**Driver needed from Berlin, PA to Harrisonburg, VA**

Apr. 26 Cross Keys, VA

**Driver needed from VA to Sarasota, FL**

 

May 3-4 Sarasota First, FL

**Driver needed from Sarasota, FL to Richmond, VA area**

July 12
** Driver needed for Richmond, VA **

** Help Set – up in Richmond, VA**

July 16
** Driver needed from Richmond, VA to Ashland, OH**

**Help tear down in Richmond, VA & unpack in Ashland, OH**

Directory Updates: There have been several updates made to the directory. We now have it available on line http://brethrenchurch.org/about/2008-brethren-church-directory

It is password protected. User Name: directory

Password: brethrenchurch1708

Email mailing lists:

To help pastors and districts communicate more effectively we have made available to you a district contacts mailing list. This will allow you to communicate to all pastors and church moderators in a district. PLEASE NOTE…If you are sending information out on this service, anything that is sent after 5pm (Ohio Time) will not be sent by the moderator of this service (Jenn Pinto) until the next business day. Our Service is set up this way to cut down on any Spam that may be sent.

Below are the Emails:

mailto:centraldistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

mailto:floridadistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

mailto:indianadistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

mailto:midwestdistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

mailto:northcaliforniadistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

mailto:northeastdistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

mailto:ohiodistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

mailto:southeastdistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

mailto:southwestdistrictcontacts@brethrenchurch.org

We are missing a couple of E-mail addresses in the BCNO database. If you have information on the churches listed below please contact Jenn Pinto at jenn@brethrenchurch.org

We are still missing email addresses for:

Northeast – Mainstreet & Mt. Pleasant

Ohio – Newark

Indiana – Mexico

Winding Waters Brethren Church Update:

Pastor Ron Walters was recently called to Active Service in Iraq. Pastor Ron is now busy getting the Winding Waters Church ready for yet another change. Pastor Ron asks for prayer for the health of the church. He also asks for prayer and for his wife and 2 daughters. The Walters are in the process of trying to sell their house before he goes off to training (hopefully in Ft. Lewis, WA around April 19^th) then he will be deployed to Iraq in May 2008 for at least a year. Please pray that their home in Elkhart, IN sells quickly and his wife and kids can relocate to California to be close to family as soon as possible. Also pray for their 2 young girls who are 8 and 9 years old. We pray protection over the Walter family and pray that peace will come quickly to bring many solders home to their families.

Northeast District Conference Update:

Reservations are already coming in for the meal which coincides with the tri-centennial display on Friday evening, April 18th. Reservations ($8.50/person) must be into me by April 9. The display will also be available for perusal on Sat, April 19, from 10:00-3:00.

The Berlin Brethren ladies will serve a light lunch ($5.00) on Friday. If you can and would, please email me or call me with an approximate # of those from your church attending the Friday noon meal.

Gene Oburn- Moderator, NE District, eoburn@wpia.net

Opportunity to help Riverside Christian School, KY

Don’t forget to save your canceled stamps and send them to Lost Creek!! This is a GREAT opportunity to get your church, youth, & children’s ministries involved in helping others from home. Thank you for your help!

Park Street Brethren Church has hired Nicole Patterson as the Director of Children’s Ministry. Nicole will begin her new position on April 1, 2008 and is an Ashland Theological Seminary who will graduate in June from the Masters of Divinity program. Congratulations to Nicole on your new position!

Churches Looking for Pastors

Please be in prayer for these churches as they seek new pastors:
Lanark First Brethren, IL
Wabash First Brethren, IN Elkhart First Brethren Church, IN
Roann First Brethren Church, IN Winding Waters Brethren Church, IN
Eagle’s Nest Christian Fellowship, IN Peru First Brethren Church, IN
North Georgetown First Breth., OH Roanoke First Brethren Church, IN
County Line Breth. Ch., Lakeville, IN Sarver Brethren Church, PA

Ministry Opportunities:

• Hammond Avenue Brethren Church, Waterloo, IA

Hammond Avenue Brethren Church is searching for a second pastor for its pastoral team. This pastor will give primary leadership to young adult and senior high youth ministries, including outreach and assimilation/discipleship ministries among persons from high school age through 40-something.

This is a full-time position, not part-time. For more information, contact Ron W. Waters, write to Search@HammondAvenueBrethren.com, or visit the church website at http://www.HammondAvenueBrethren.com/search .

• New Song Community Church, Union, MI, is seeking a part-time worship director. For further details and a full job description, contact Pastor Steve Ganger at steve.ganger@mma-online.org.

Keep praying for NEW DAY activities in local congregations, in districts,

among pastoral and leadership and around the denomination!

The National Office Update is a publication sent out to the pastor’s mail group and

also published on our website: www.brethrenchurch.org under “About.”

YOUR INTERNATIONAL LEADERS ARE COMING TO THE U.S.A.

Their feet have humbly tread
where yours may never travel;
their hands carefully carry the
Gospel message. Their voices
contain the stories of amazing
witness and transforming power
of God, and now they come with
a prophetic voice for you.
They will be traveling
from their
individual mission fields,
to the
300th Anniversary
2008
General Conference
in Richmond, VA.

AND THEY NEED YOUR HELP.

Your gift will help our International Leaders experience the positive, celebratory, spirit of the 300th Anniversary of the Brethren Church. Your contribution will also allow each of them to share with you, their personal testimonies that will ignite a fresh passion within your heart.

Each International Family has various expenses for the 2008 General Conference in Richmond, VA.

Some of those expenses include:

 

• Hotel in Richmond – 6 nights @ $140.00 per night = $840.00
• Food Costs – PER PERSON 6 days @ $30.00 per day = 180.00
• Misc. Expenses – approx. = $100.00
• Flight to the U.S.A. – PER PERSON Depending on distance of travel = $500.00 to 2,800.00
• TOTAL – for family of two = $2,300.00 to $6,900.00
Plus each individual will need extra: Lodging, Food, and Travel Expenses while visiting our churches here in the U.S.A.

How can you help?
You can make a contribution using your debit or credit card.
Please go to our CONTRIBUTIONS TAB, where you will be directed to a secure PayPal site.
Once there, click on the section entitled: International Leaders 2008 General Conference Support.

If you have any questions or need assistance, or if you’d like to donate by check, please contact:
Stan Gentle, or Jenn Pinto at the National Office.
Brethren Church National Office
524 College Ave.
Ashland, OH 44805
419-289-1708

Todd & Tracy Ruggles sent us their latest Newsletter from Mexico City.
To view their March Newsletter, please click the Newsletter Cover below.