Tag: Events

Church of the Brethren Online Concert

Published on by Tracey

An hour-long music celebration featuring Church of the Brethren musicians from across the church will be presented online July 2, 2020, at 8 PM.

Use this link to watch:    https://livestream.com/livingstreamcob/onlineevents2020

The concert will feature musical offerings from a wide variety of Brethren musicians, providing a variety of musical styles and instruments.

Contributors to the concert will include Brethren singer/songwriters Joseph Helfrich, Michael Stern, Shawn Kirchner, Seth Hendricks, Terry and Andy Murray, Jacob Crouse and Bittersweet Gospel Band. In addition, selections are scheduled from the Miami First Church of the Brethren, the women’s choir from EYN Mubi, and several memorable excerpts from recent Annual Conferences – including our own Lucas Finet.

In addition, a long time friend of the Church of the Brethren, Ken Medema, has agreed to write and record a song specifically for the event.

The concert will be hosted by Program and Arrangements Committee members Emily Shonk Edwards and Carol Elmore.

 

Online Camp Connection

Published on by Tracey

Many of you gathered together for our revived Church Camp Weekend this past fall at Brethren Woods. Like many other businesses and ministries, they have had to cancel in-person events for the summer, including summer camp. While there’s no replacement for canoeing or swimming or hiking or giggly late-night storytelling, they are trying to provide some of the activities that make camp so much fun!

From June 7 – July 24, Brethren Woods is offering a free (FREE!) program they’re calling “Watz in the Woods.” There will be a weekly scripture theme from the “This is our Prayer” curriculum with activities posted each day. If you’d like to connect to find out what a Zoom campfire looks like, there’s one each Sunday evening. For those wanting to connect with others their age, there’s a Camp Community Gathering each week, divided by age groups (yes, adults, too!) via Zoom. If you really dig it and want to make a donation of $75 or more to the camp, they’ll even send you a 2020 summer camp t-shirt!

Register online for the activities you’d like to try, and get in a little bit of the camp spirit! Even if you’ve never been to Brethren Woods, this is a neat opportunity to try it out (without as many bugbites). If you think your friend or neighbor or second cousin once removed would enjoy it, invite them to join you! To register, visit brethrenwoods.org/dsc. For more information visit the website, send them an email (camp@brethrenwoods.org), or give the camp office a call (540-269-2741).

 

Annual Conference Worship

Published on by Tracey

The Church of the Brethren meets each summer, usually in early July, to gather as one body to worship, learn, connect, and make decisions. This year, the conference was to be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but was cancelled due to the current public health crisis. You may recall seeing announcements earlier this year inviting folks to participate in a virtual choir for Annual Conference.

While there will be no physical gathering or business items, there will still be a worship service and children’s service shared as a compiled video as well as a second video concert of musicians with connections to the denomination.

The Worship Ministry Team has decided that we will be using the Annual Conference worship service for our worship gathering on July 5 while Pastor Angela takes a mini-sabbatical to rest, reflect, and delve into a conference being offered online (she’s super excited – ask her about it!).

The Annual Conference Office will actually release the worship service on July 1, so be mindful that you don’t jump the gun if you see/hear something about it but want to have worship that Sunday be a first viewing. The online concert will be shared on July 2 at 8:00pm at the website brethren.org/ac and will be available for watching later if that time doesn’t suit you.

We hope you will join us in worshipping, singing, and celebrating with our broader denomination through these opportunities!

 

Continuing the Conversation

Published on by Tracey

We had the privilege of hosting Dr. Drew Hart, author of Trouble I’ve Seen:  Changing the Way the Church Views Racism on Wednesday, June 17 via Zoom.

43 people people participated in the conversation, representing 9 different Churches of the Brethren, and two other denominations.  We recorded a portion of the conversation, and you can find it on our YouTube page:  https://youtu.be/GC5NpeCaZG0

We have 2 books left.  They are $12.75.  Please let the office know as soon as possible if you want one.  We will return whatever remains (if any) to the publisher on July 10.

We would like to continue the conversation.  Following our time with Dr. Hart, we fully realized we have so much left to learn, and so many opportunities to serve and embrace the larger body of Christ, in whose image we are all made.

 

We bought that bus!

Published on by Tracey

Northern Virginia Brethren played a key role in making the bus for Queensland Girls’ School roll!  The Ken & Ted event put the project of acquiring the bus put the New Community Project’s She has a Dream campaign over the top. Now disabled children needing transport, teachers living at distance, and sporting teams looking for a match – they’ve all got a way to get there!