UPDATE

August 2, 2010

Camp is Underway:
Camp Hammond Mill is once again the site of the MO/ARK District Camp. Todays report from the camp us that there are 36 campers and 18 adult leaders. The theme for the week is “Building the Reign of God”. Five parables of Jesus will be the focus of the Bible studies each day. Camp Manager is Stephanie Sappington and Program Directors are Barb Davis and Seth Moore.

Please hold the campers and leaders in your prayers this week as they build community, learn of the reign of God, and survive the heat.

Youth Peace Team Comes to Hammond Mill:
This year’s campers are fortunate to have, as part of their leadership, the 2010 Youth Peace Travel Team. This team has been traveling to some of the CoB camps this summer offering leadership in the area of peacemaking and the general camp program. MO/ARK thanks this group to share their skills with us this week.

Members of the team are Marcus Harden, Timothy Sollenberger Heishman, Cambria Teter, and Hannah Wysong.

Marcus is a member of Miami, Florida, First Church of the Brethren and a student at Tallahassee Community College studying political science/government. When asked about peacemaking, Marcus reflects, “In the loud world we live in today, the ability to make peace defines us – then than anything else – as the children of God.”

Tim is part of Iglesia de los Hermanos in the Dominican Republic and student at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA, studying Biblical studies and history. He looks forward to experiencing the Gospel in new and exciting ways this summer.

Cambria is a member of the La Verne, CA, CoB and a student at Manchester College in Indiana studying English with a concentration in literature. She first met the Youth Peace Travel Team at National Youth Conference as a youth and was glad to be at NYC this year as a part of the team.

Hannah is a member of Beacon Heights CoB of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a student at Butler University studying sociology and history. She is interested in storytelling as a way of bringing persons together.

The time at Hammond Mill will be the last stop for the Peace Travel Team for the summer. After camp they will spend time at the Schrock’s Mojeji Ranch for two days of debriefing with their sponsors. They will also be guests at the Cabool CoB on Sunday, Aug 8, when they will present their stories and songs during the worship service.

This team is sponsored by the Church of the Brethren’s Youth and Young Adult Office, Global Mission Partnerships, Brethren Volunteer Service, Outdoor Ministry Association, and On Earth Peace.

District Conference Registrations Still Being Accepted:
Time is running out for registering for District Conference. However, if they can be sent immediately, they can still be accepted. If you are a delegate, you need to register. If you plan to be there for only one day, you still need to register.

The deadline for informing Windermere of the number for meals and rooms for sleeping is drawing near. Please alert the District Office if you intend to attend by sending the registration form ASAP or phoning (417-926-1112) and leaving a message of your plans to be present at our important gathering, and send your form after that.

If you need a registration form, one can be downloaded from the District Website or get a copy from your pastor or congregation’s contact person. If all else fails, call the district office and one can be sent out to you.

The Denomination to Sponsor Another Webinar:
Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren has begun sponsoring webinars for pastors and other church leaders. (A webinar is a seminar taken online.) You will be able to see and hear the speaker and even link in with your own questions or comments. Continuing education credit (CEU) is available if you participate in the live session.

“Leadership that Transforms!” is the tile of the next webinar. It will be presented by Rev. Dr. Paul E. Mundey, Senior Pastor of Frederick Church of the Brethren, Frederick, MD. Tuesday, August 24, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. CDT is the first session. The second session is Thursday, August 26, 7:30-8:30 CTD. Each session will award .1 CEU.

To join this webinar, go to www.bethanyseminary.edu/webcasts. For more information about this seminar contact San Dueck at 1-800-323-8038 or your District Office at 417-926-1112.

This webinar will explore very practical applications of transformational, pastoral leadership: the pastor/leader as visionary and change agent; the pastor/leader as facilitator of boards/committees/ministry teams; the pastor/leader as advocate of stewardship and enlarged giving. The heart of the webinar examines leadership that empowers a congregation to move forward.

The Frederick Church of the Brethren, the largest congregation in the denomination, is a community leader, sponsoring numerous outreach efforts, including an innovative medical ministry to the working poor.

Prior to his current pastoral role, Mundey served as pastor of the Friendship Church of the Brethren from 1976 to 1983. In 1983 Mundey began 13 years of service as program director for the Parish Ministries Commission of the Church of the Brethren General Board.

During his tenure with the CoB General Board, Mundey established the Andrew Center, a multi-denominational resource center for congregational development and renewal, currently know as New Life Ministries. While serving with the CoB, Mundey developed Passing on the Promise, an innovative church renewal process.

Grants Available for Sabbatical or Study:
An invitation has come to our District offering application for pastors’ Sabbatical Grants or other Study. These opportunities could be a great help in allowing a pastor to have the money to cover expenses of a time of rest and study. Here is the letter that is being shared with all who are interested in applying.

We at the Louisville Institute are pleased to announce our 17th annual competition for Sabbatical Grants for Pastoral Leaders. Last year we awarded 39 grants to applicants from a pool numbering nearly 400, and we anticipate a strong set of applicants again for this year’s competition, which closes on September 1. In addition to our sabbatical grants, we also offer Pastoral Study Project grants; applications for those grants are due August 15. Though we do not lack for applicants, we seek to broaden our applicant pool beyond the “usual suspects” that already know about the Institute.

Details of our grant application process and eligibility requirements are available on our website, www.louisville-institute.org. I invite you to peruse the website to familiarize yourself with our sabbatical and study programs, and to pass our website address along to your network of regional officials.

By way of summary, here are some core program facts:

• Applicants must be regularly employed in a recognized religious leadership position. Applicants may be ordained or lay, and may or may not have a formal theological degree. Eligible positions include pastors and other parish ministers, chaplains, faith-based community agency leaders, and church judicatory officials.
• Awardees will ordinarily have been in their current place of ministry at least five years, and will plan on staying in their current place for at least a year beyond their sabbatical. They will be at least five years away from retirement. Exceptions are possible, especially in church polities built on an itinerancy model.
• Awards are made for either eight- or twelve-week sabbaticals. Sabbaticals are taken in a continuous single period. Applicants choose whether to apply for an eight-week sabbatical, with a $10,000 award, or for a twelve-week sabbatical, which bears a $15,000 award. The size of award request has no bearing on the chances of receiving an award.
• Applications are due no later than September 1, 2010. Award announcements will be made by December 1, and sabbaticals must be taken between March 1, 2011 and August 31, 2012.
• For the Pastoral Study Project grants, rules are somewhat different; please see our website for that program’s eligibility and project guidelines.
• Full program information and application materials are available at our website, www.louisville-institute.org.

Thank you for helping us spread the word about these opportunities for rest, renewal, and study for pastors. We look forward to a day when giving pastors a sabbatical will be a widely practiced standard in the church. Until then, we’re working to make sabbaticals more widely available to pastors, many of whom would not otherwise have opportunity for one.

Every blessing,

Jim Lewis, Executive Director
The Louisville Institute

See you at Camp on Friday or at District Conference.

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