UPDATE

April 23, 2010

Disaster Team to Build Next Week:
The MO/ARK Disaster team will be in Cedar Rapids next week. Remember them in prayer as they travel there and back and as they work. We hope there will be no more “disasters” as they do the rebuilding. Following is an article from Brethren Newsline describing the work.

Brethren part of effort for flood-affected Cedar Rapids.
The sounds of hammers and saws echoed along the Cedar River in Iowa on April 12 as volunteers from across the US and Canada started work to help families return to their homes in a new rebuild project directed by humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) and carried out in partnership with a number of denominational disaster relief programs.

National partners include Brethren Disaster Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA, Catholic Charities USA, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Lutheran Disaster Response, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and Week of Compassion.

"It’s been almost two years since the Cedar River flood forced out these families. No one knows more than they do that that’s just too long to be away from home," said Bonnie Vollmering, CWS associate director for domestic emergency response. "We’re working as hard as possible to help in such a trying time."

Dubbed "Neighborhood: Cedar Rapids," the Iowa project builds on the award-winning CWS rebuilding project, "Neighborhood: New Orleans." That effort completely repaired more than a dozen families’ homes following Hurricane Katrina in a historic Lake Pontchartrain community.

Together with Iowa-based partners Block by Block, the Linn Area Long-Term Recovery Coalition, the Presbytery of East Iowa, and Lutheran Services in Iowa, 10 national faith-based disaster response agencies including Brethren Disaster Ministries will bring more than 700 volunteers to Cedar Rapids over six weeks.

"There are many Cedar Rapids families who could return home but for a few major repairs," Vollmering said. "We intentionally haven’t set a specific number of homes to be completed because we want to see exactly how many we can repair well in six weeks' time."

Block by Block and LALTRC identified the homes to be repaired. CWS and its national disaster response partners are providing volunteers, some donated materials, and other support.

"We had such a success in New Orleans that we had to try it in Cedar Rapids," CWS executive director John L. McCullough said. "Our hope is that the people of Cedar Rapids will feel like they haven’t been forgotten, and we can help at least some of those affected find a new sense of normalcy after such a devastating disaster."
* This release was provided by Lesley Crosson and Jan Dragin of Church World Service.

Kits for Haiti are on Their Way:
Greetings! A HUGE thanks to all who have helped assemble and transport our newest project - the Household Kits destined for Haiti. The exciting news is that the container will be loaded next week! If any of you have any more kits or tarps that can go, we can still get them on the container if they reach New Windsor by Tuesday, April 27. Please give us a call with any questions. For more information see our website www.brethrendisasterministries.org

Brethren Disaster Ministries
PO Box 188
New Windsor, MD 21776-0188

Pastoral Professional Growth Opportunities Available:
The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership, jointly funded by the Church of the Brethren and Bethany Theological Seminary, is offering a new series of Lilly Endowment Inc. funded educational experiences for Church of the Brethren pastors. New cohort groups will be started in August 2010 (Advanced Foundations for Church Leaders) and September 2010 (Vital Pastor). While open to all ordained pastors who have not previously participated in the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program, special invitations will be extended to pastors who have served congregations 2-10 years. Interested pastors can contact Linda and Glenn Timmons, Coordinators for Sustaining Pastoral Excellence, at Bethany Seminary (800)287-8822 or by e-mail at: timmoli@bethanyseminary.edu or timmogl@bethanyseminary.edu or gtimmons1@woh.rr.com.

Pastors, Mark Your Calendar!!!
The Church of the Brethren is offering a new venue for ministers to have an opportunity for educational events and earning some CEUs. I have taken 2 of these webinars and have found them to be user-friendly and easy to attend if you are on high speed internet. And the topics are useful for local congregations. I highly recommend you try one for yourself. There is no fee for the event and CEU certificates are issued to those who ask for them. (Carolyn Schrock)

Alan Roxburgh will present three webinars in 2010. The first two webinars are for pastors and church leaders. Each webinar for pastors and church leaders will be offered one time and not repeated. The webinars are scheduled on the following dates:

Tuesday, May 25 @ 3:30-5:00 pm Eastern (2:30-4:00 Central)

Tuesday, June 7 @ 3:30-5:00 pm Eastern (2:30-4:00 Central)

The focus of the webinars is on developing leadership in order to transform congregations into missional communities. Alan Roxburgh is very familiar with the communities of faith in the Believer’s Church tradition. More information about the events will follow.

Brethren Bible Institute Scheduled for July:
For the past thirty-six years, the Brethren Revival Fellowship has sponsored the Brethren Bible Institute. Over the years, hundreds of individuals have attended the Institute, representing many of the districts of the Church of the Brethren. This summer, July 19-23, the BRF will hold the 37th Annual BBI.

The Institute will be held on the campus of Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA. Cost to dormitory students is $200, $70 for communing students. Registration is due by June 22, 2010. Application forms, and detailed course descriptions are available from

Brethren Bible Institute
155 Denver Road
Denver, PA 17517

Carolyn Schrock, District Administrator, produces UPDATE in the District Office.