UPDATE

January 10, 2012

Happy New Year

A New Year Brings New Life:
The season of various holidays has passed. We have feasted, worshipped, exchanged gifts, and written/read news of families and friends. Now we turn to a new year -2012. We don’t know what the year will bring, but somehow with the flipping of the calendar things seem a little brighter and we feel new hope that the difficulties of the old year are over and gone. The New Year brings promise.

What is it that brings this hope? Christ has come. Many of us have lit the Christ candle that symbolizes his presence with us. We can take hope that he will walk with us and lead us into His will for the coming months. We praise God for sending his son. Travel the journey of 2012 with Him and live in His light. It has got to be good!!!!

A TRIM Accomplishment:
As many of you know, Carolyn Schrock has been studying in the TRIM program since March 2005. TRIM stands for TRaining In Ministry and is a program of the Brethren Academy housed at the Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, IN. Over the years she has taken 14 classes, some by internet, some held in Indiana, some held in McPherson, KS, and 3 at Jefferson City at the Missouri School of Religion.

Most recently Carolyn has done a Supervised Ministry Experience (Internship) at the Cabool Church of the Brethren under the supervision of Eldon Coffman. This Internship has included preaching 7 sermons, teaching many Sunday School classes, planning Advent experiences, and improving the communication among the congregation’s members. Just last week this internship was completed. Thank you to Eldon for his role in this endeavor.

The paperwork for the internship is in the mail. Now she will have one more task, that of taking a final exam. She anticipates an application and interview process leading toward ordination in the coming year.

This has been a LONG process, but Carolyn is joyful it is almost over.

Annual Conference Registration Has Begun:
Early registration for congregational delegates opened on January 2, 2012. The early registration fee is $285 per delegate. The rate increases to $310 on February 23.

Congregations will be able to register their delegate online at the Annual Conference website – www.brethren.org/ac and will be able to pay either by credit card or by sending a check.

BBT to Sponsor Workshop in Kansas City:
Registration is now open for the Best Practices Resource Workshop, to be held Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. The seminar is co-sponsored by Church of the Brethren Benefit Trust, and is designed for pastors, church treasurers, financial secretaries, stewardship and finance committee members, and others involved with the finances of their church. This workshop for congregations will empower your church to better understand -

• Best Practices in Financial Management for the Local Congregation
• Health Reform and the Church
• Latest Pastoral Housing Issues
• Taxation, Compensation, and Retirement Issues

The Best Practices Resource Workshop will be held Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kansas City International Airport Marriott, Kansas City, Mo. Registration information is available at www.ecfa.org/events. Scroll down to the “Best Practices Resource Workshop” and click on “Register now.” The workshop registration fee is $50.

Visit the website and consider whether this workshop could be useful for some in your congregation.

A Message from On Earth Peace
Dear Friends,
At On Earth Peace, we work to eliminate violence - in all forms. It’s easy to think of violence as a physical act, such as assault or warfare. But violence goes beyond that. Our words - or rhetoric and the way we choose to voice our opinions - can also harm and hurt.

That’s why we are troubled by recent events at the 2011 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. And that’s why, after our board of directors meeting last month, we issued the following statement of inclusion:

"We are troubled by attitudes and actions in the church which exclude persons on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or any other aspect of human identity. We believe God calls the church to welcome all persons into full participation in the life of the faith community."

Thank you for helping to create a world free from violence. Together, we are building a world of dignity, respect, and love for all of our brothers and sisters.
In peace,
Madalyn Metzger
Chair, On Earth Peace Board of Directors

January Means New Officers Are in Place:
Congregations have built budgets and elected new officers. All things are set for the new year. BUT ARE THEY? Here is a reminder from Steve Mason of BBT to be sure all is in order.

Congregations select individuals to represent them in the various aspects of their operational activities. One of those important activities is the management of the congregation’s financial matters. Elected leadership of the congregation typically completes required paperwork with banks and other financial organizations authorizing specific individuals to conduct financial business on behalf of the congregation. Although it is customary for the congregation to select these individuals as a matter of routine business each year, a congregation also needs to routinely revisit the paperwork on file with the various financial institutions with which it conducts business to ensure that the list of authorized individuals is kept current. Doing so minimizes difficulty that may occur due to out-of-date paperwork. Consider this scenario, which is offered to make the point:
A congregation elects a new treasurer because the one who has served the church for the past many years moved to a distant city. Because of an emergency, the new treasurer goes to the bank to withdraw money from the church’s checking account and learns that she is not authorized to conduct business with the bank on behalf of the congregation. The paperwork was not updated at the bank in a timely manner, and now there will be a delay while the necessary corrections are completed. This may be a short delay or a longer delay depending on the requirements of the bank and the availability of church representatives who are acceptable to the bank for making the corrections. In the meantime, the emergency cannot be addressed.

A congregation should review all authorizations issued on its behalf on a regular basis, at least once a year, and each time new leadership is called into service. Each review should include contacting every financial organization with which the congregation has a relationship to ensure that the list of authorized individuals is current and accurate.

Send Your Newsletters and Directories to the District Office:
We can be encouraged in this New Year if we share our news with the broader church. I have received a newsletter from the Messiah church called the “Messiah Mentor”. From those newsletters I can gather events and happenings to share in this UPDATE.

I’ve also received a directory from a couple of congregations. These help me know the phone numbers and addresses of your members so I can easily make contact with the appropriate persons.
Thanks, Carolyn Schrock
District Administrator

News from Messiah:
Frances Sproat passed away on December 12. Funeral services were held December 19 at Carson-Speaks Chapel in Independence.

Frances was 95 years old. She retired from Sears and worked with the American Red Cross for 20 years traveling and assisting with natural disasters. Esther was a lifetime member of the Church of the Brethren where she taught Sunday School, served as treasurer, choir member and worked in the food pantry.

She was preceded in death by her husband Charles Sproat in 1978. She is survived by a brother, a sister, a son William, a son and several grand/great grandchildren.

CROP Walk: Pastor Barbra Davis and Dorothy Scofield received $220 from Messiah and friends in the 2011 Walk. They figure the total for the CROP Walk to be around $95,000. Eastside Outreach will receive $300 from the walk.

Important Information about Church Baby Cribs:
Churches and daycare centers that use drop-side cribs are being encouraged to replace them by December 2012, when new federal safety standards take effect. Detaching rails have been associated with at least 32 suffocation and strangulation deaths since 2000. Faulty or defective hardware have led to other deaths and injuries, prompting the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to pass stricter mandatory standards for cribs. After June 28, 2011, all baby cribs manufactured, sold, or resold in the U.S. must have fixed sides, sturdier slats, and stronger hardware and supports. For more information and facts about this, please go to the USCPSC website: http://www.cpsc.gov/info/cribs/cribrules.html.