STORY + SONG
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connect The Brethren Church @brethrenchurch 419.289.1708 www.brethrenchurch.org communications@brethrenchurch.org 524 College Ave. Ashland, OH 44805
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STORY + SONG
contents
contents Story & Song
05 Letter from the Editor
Story + Song
06 National News 08 The Art of Evangelism 05 Sarah Toby
Letter from the Editor Patrick Sprague 12
Vernal Falls 06 Miles Larson
National News
14 Chameleon 08 in the Kingdom Spencer Dolezal
The Art of Evangelism
Sarah Toby 16 The Woman By the Sea 12 Amanda Kriner
Vernal Falls
Miles Larson 18 Called Patrick 14 Sprague
Chameleon in the Kingdom
23 Spencer Dolezal These Hills I love So Much John McConnell
16 The Woman by24 the Sea
Amanda Kriner Moving Home Jennifer Ditlevson Haglund
24 27 Moving Home
Women Meant to Serve Jen Haglund Sherry Van Duyne
27 28 These Hills I Love So Much End Notes John McConnell Steven Cole
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STORY + SONG
Letter from the Editor One of the most captivating hooks of The Brethren faith is our history. We have a rich story, marked with a relentless commitment to actively seeking God’s will, revealed through scripture and the Spirit’s move in community. Even after all of these years, this practice of our faith is entirely countercultural, and incredibly engaging for those new to the Christian faith. A people committed not just to an individual expression of faith, but one rooted in the accountability and goodness of authentic relationships? Wild. Our values hold that each generation has the mandate to re-contextualize not just what scripture is telling us in our day and time, but to re-contextualize our historical story as well. Our story keeps us rooted in who we are, and speaks to who we will be. Many of you heard me speak to our General Conference in July about the fascinating “song-writing” abilities in nature. Overwhelmingly, those species that can create new songs do so to identify the flock or tribe they belong to. Each new song is a signifier of who we are and whose we are. We belong to the risen King, and we belong to each other. This was the impetus for our Story & Song initiative, to tell our story, and make known our song. This issue, I am thrilled to share with you some of the stunning creative work of your fellow Brethren. My hope is you are blessed by their work, challenged by their work, and inspired all the same.
Patrick Sprague
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National News A number of Brethren congregations celebrated baptisms of new believers. Baptism celebrations were held at Lanark First Brethren (Lanark, IL), Mt. Olive Brethren (McGaheysville, VA), The Gathering (Grottoes, VA) and First Brethren (North Georgetown, OH). Radial Church (Canton, OH) celebrated its first public services in their new building. The building serves not only as a facility for worship gatherings, but also as a community center for the neighborhood. Sudhir and Latha Kumar, Brethren Global Partners in India, recently visited the United States. Many Brethren congregations hosted The Kumars as they shared the incredible outreach and relief efforts The Brethren Church continues provide in their country. The Northeast District recently sent a team of volunteers to Houston to participate in the relief efforts from Hurricane Harvey. Another team from Ashland University and the North Central Region departs in December. To date, over $50,000 has been raised in response to the catastrophic hurricanes which ravaged the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico this fall. Lanark First Brethren Church (Lanark, IL) recently received the Governor’s Hometown award from the State of Illinois, and Governor Bruce Rauner. Their efforts for the “Workcation” project mobilized dozens of volunteers and significant hours of labor for the betterment of their community. Cory Smith has received a recent call to lead pastor of First Brethren Church (Goshen, IN). Cory formally served as coordinator of Brethren Connections at Ashland University, and led Brethren Academy, a week-long intensive for high school students. A contingency of Brethren recently visited Colombia to meet with Brethren Global partners from Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. The team experienced a powerful time of fellowship, and continued to forge deeper partnerships for the spread of the Gospel in South America.
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STORY + SONG
Left: Rev. Clair Lathrop, and Floyd Roberts of Lanark First Brethren pose with Illinois Governor Bruce Renner after receiving the Governor’s Hometown Award. Right: Joe Burgos prays a blessing over congregents at the Brethren Church in Medellin, Colombia.
Left: (from left) Pastor Matt Potosky, Sudhir Kumar, Latha Kumar, and Pastor Drew Meziere pose for a picture at Garber Brethren Church Right: Volunteers at Tuscon First Brethren Church pray over the 717 Operation Christmas Child boxes their congregation prepared. Tuscon First, like many Brethren Churches, assembled and shipped thousands of boxes this Christmas season.
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The Art of Evangelism
words and paintings by Sarah Toby
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STORY + SONG
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reation is a funny thing. It is tough, and I would even argue impossible, to comprehend our God’s intentionality when it comes to the creation of his sons and daughters (Psalm 139:16). If we are made in his image, created by a God who himself is the ultimate creator, it is no surprise that his people also hold the same creative desires. As humans, we each carry our personal talents. Some are caretakers, some are organizers, some are creators, and there are many, many more categories that the children of God fall into when it comes to talents. For those of us that have the passion for creating in the arts, here is the actual reality: we received that gift from our Father. The creativity he had in shaping the earth resides in us and produces works of art in various forms. Maybe it’s painting, writing, acting, singing, or dancing. Whatever your nitch might be, your creativity comes directly from the Lord. For me to think that within my frail human body I hold that kind of power from the Lord is incomprehensible. You are a product of creation, and the Lord finds delight in your use of those creative processes when they expand the goodness of the Kingdom, and you give the glory of those gifts bestowed upon you to Him. The Bible says “they will know you are my disciples by the way you love” (John 13:35). I believe that they will also recognize us by the way we create. For those that do not have a high creativity and doubt that part of their existence, art making is foreign to them. They are in awe of what has been made because they have a belief that they could never accomplish that. Use your art to speak to people. Use your art as a form of evangelism. Let it create questions. When praised for the complexity and talent, respond with appreciation for that gift and where it originates. Interject with thanks for the gifts the Lord has given you. Use this platform to share the goodness of the Lord with others. Art making is a form of worship and giving thanks. So worship while you work. Be conscious while producing. Be intentional in understanding that the pleasure you find in your work is not of your creation. Find humility and accept that what is being created is not of you but that of your God, the creator of the universe. Continue to make art for yourself, for your community, and for the pleasure of the Lord. He delights in giving us good things. So accept these gifts with open hands and don’t let them sit on a shelf collecting dust. Don’t let the world tell you that art making isn’t practical. Don’t let the enemy convince you that you’re not good enough, that you hold no talent. Follow those callings and festering of those creative parts of yourself. Don’t suppress them. Join with community in support and collaboration. Let them flow out of your body and onto the paper. Trust in the Lord and create for Him. Sarah Toby is a housing coordinator at Ashland University, and is actively involved in campus ministry.
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Vernal Falls poem + photos by Miles Larson
White and gray. White and gray. Black & brown. Ethereal textures. Deafening monotone roars. It’s this which inspires the ooh’s and ahh’s of the countless visitors to my door. Water to water, and dust to dust. No agency. No vision. Just passively permitting the precipice to be shyly shielded by the showering sheets of yesterday’s snow. White and gray. Black and brown. Ethereal textures before the deafening monotone roar. The visitors, far more impressive both to me and their god, overlook the beauty of the one in their way. Caught up in the simple scope and magnitude of my neighbor. Always changing. Always the same. The drama, and prideful chest pounding drowned out as the water crashes on the also forgotten rocks below. Just the white and gray; the moving contrast of ethereal and stoically stone-faced textures capture the wonder and wandering eyes of our visitors who consider this the pay off for their arduous hike. Celebrating God’s creativity from epochs ago, always the same, always changing; yet overlooking the poem being curated in the heart of the too-slow-of-a-walker in front. Ignoring the tear-soaked song stirring in the soul of the girl behind. Only seeing white and gray, ethereal and stoic passivity in the rocks and water celebrated, captured in their mind’s eye, and photographs because it demands in it’s permissiveness to be seen. And here I sit, unnoticed; unseen though I’m active over generations. My family, blessed by our view and burdened by our position, to simply go unseen. Ignored. Green and brown. Yellow and blue. White, gray, black. Hardened trunk and waving limbs. Roots which penetrate the celebrity-stone-face seeking scant nutrients and growing, maturing, gaining power and though somehow never the same never changing. To change one must first be seen. But I’m not. I can’t call attention to myself, though I just want to be seen. But the drama of the white and gray, brown and black, ethereal textures, deafening roars of monotony, drown out all that I am by passive spectacle. Green and brown. Yellow and blue. White, gray, black...
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Chameleon in the Kingdom written by Spencer Dolezal
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here is a chameleon in the kingdom. His name is me.
For a long time, the apostle Paul’s explanation of sharing the gospel to the church in Corinth has fascinated. He writes to his people telling them that “to the Jews, [he] became like a Jew, to win the Jews” and “to those under the law [he] became like one under the law,” even though he wasn’t under the law. Paul, with a rooted identity, is a chameleon with a clear understanding of the power of changing your skin. In high school, I was a chameleon. I tried to fit in everywhere. I thought I was friend to everyone. Reflecting on the numerous, enduring, and eternal cliques from the ethereal high school mind, I remember thinking that I bridged seamlessly through and across all of them. Reflecting on my time in high school, I realize how truly lonely I was because of this process. In college, I was a chameleon. Only, I was a much more focused and far more cowardly chameleon. Ask me my opinion on something you care about. I’ll answer with your opinion. What is my thought on this or that? It is your thought on this or that. Where is your identity rooted? Guess what? Mine, there too, is rooted. When, in these times of chameleonic living, I heard the apostle Paul’s strategy for sharing the gospels, I immediately identified with it. I could look in the mirror, and I could see my skin changing color, and I could own Paul’s strategy. I could live Paul’s strategy. I could never see how wrong I was.
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A chameleon changes its color to protect itself, to communicate with other creatures what it is feeling, to express itself. It alters its physical state to help itself survive. I was a chameleon. Looking back at those times in my life, I was a constantly changing human being. My focus was outward. My focus was safety. My focus was to hide as much of me as possible, but not from the world. I was interested in hiding as much of me from myself. If I could deflect enough of my identity into the form and shape and color of the people in my life, I wouldn’t ever have to deal with what might be lurking under the surface of my changing skin. Insecurity, fear, anger, pain, hopelessness, lost identity. Lost identity. Lost identity. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I could see the changing colors, I could see the bits of identity from the other cliques in high school, the bits of identity from the vivacious youth pastor, the bits of perceived identity that the girls I like might be looking for in a man, the bits of identity from the college kids “on fire for god” around me. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I didn’t see any identity, but I saw plenty of things that concealed identity. I saw a chameleon’s skin changing to hide flaws and weakness from the world and from itself. But instead of seeing through the colors, I only saw the colors. Falsity only lasts so long. Changing colors gets tiring after a while, especially when there is no color of origin to which you can return. The hopeless cycle of changing from red to green to blue to black to orange and purple without ever knowing what your color really is will only lead to one destination. Searching for that destination is a search for identity, but as a chameleon with no understanding of what its true skin looks like, it is a pointless and frivolous endeavor. Paul understood this. Paul warned about this. I saw the chameleon in his words, knew I was owning that version of humanity, and neglected what Paul really meant. Paul was rooted in one place and motivated from one place. I was rooted in and motivated from an entirely separate place. Paul came from Christ. I came from self, or rather fear of self. Paul came from the strength of the good news. I came from the weakness of the world. Paul came from the overwhelming confidence that comes from relationship with the Holy Spirit. I came from the overwhelming insecurity that causes crippling behavior in life.
STORY + SONG Christ’s version of chameleon, the one Paul describes to the church in Corinth, knows the true color of its skin. Christ’s version of the chameleon is painted with his sacrifice and radiates good news in the context of the people Christ wants to reach. How does the worldly chameleon end his cycle of hiding? How do I look in the mirror and see myself and not the changing colors of my skin? How do I see what Christ would have me see? It’s a mixture of community and grace and self-awareness and vulnerability. For a solid decade of my teenage years and young adult life, I experienced success by changing the color of my skin. I hid well enough from the world and myself in order to keep from addressing my identity. All that time, my insides deteriorated. What changed to allow me to change? The chameleon who doesn’t know his true skin color won’t discover his true skin color until he is too exhausted to change his colors anymore. The grace displayed through relationship with Christ sometimes comes out in true, down-to-your-soul exhaustion. I know by experience. There comes a breaking point when your skin won’t change colors anymore. There comes a breaking point when all of the ugly, painful things hiding behind your changing skin come flooding out because you can’t hide them from the world or yourself anymore. Grace is abundant when this happens in a community that sees this happen and helps you pick up the pieces of your life and discover the true version of yourself, the Christ version of the chameleon. It takes a few people telling you what you need to hear. That you are loved. That there is someone who is proud of you. That you belong in the kingdom. That you are worth having around. It takes a few people explaining the good news to you as Paul would have the chameleon explain to the people it is trying to look like. There is a chameleon in the kingdom. His name is me. If I’m not careful, his changing skin color will distract me from my identity. If I pay attention, the changing colors can become the most beautiful display of connection and evangelism and discipleship that exist. So says Paul. So did Christ.
Spencer Dolezal is the worship pastor at 5Stones Community Church in Ashland, Ohio. He is currently pursuing ordination in The Brethren Church.
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the woman by the sea 16
written by Amanda Kriner
STORY + SONG
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recently read a short story about a poor woman who lived by the ocean. She worked like a slave just to make enough money to live, and her only possessions were the clothes she wore and a sherman’s shack that held only a bed, one blanket, and a wooden box with the word ‘washed’ carved into the lid. Each night she would write down one prayer to place in the box, and the next morning she would wake up before the sun and walk to the seashore with the box in hand.
I could never wake up at dawn to stand still on a beach to pray; I can barely wake up at 7:00 to feed myself and my dogs before I roll into work five minutes late! I squeeze in prayer while I’m driving in the car because it’s the only time I’m alone, and I have too many things in my home that I will probably never need.
For so many years I wouldn’t pray because I thought that it could only be done like the woman in my story. I didn’t connect with God when I was younger, and I thought it was She would stand silently on the beach, meditating on her because I wasn’t lighting candles and meditating hard to prayer, communing with the Holy Spirit, and then she would hear from him. I didn’t pray the right way, or give enough remove the paper from the box and let the wind sweep it to charity; I had to be doing something wrong. away from her hand to land in the vast water before her. She would allow that prayer to be washed away physically and I know now that there’s no wrong way to be with God. I mentally, to make way for a focused day and another prayer don’t feel guilty praying in between appointments going 60 m.p.h. on the highway. I have no desire to wake up before that night. dawn so that I can have alone time to pray. I question him; This story is beautiful to me because it is an example of my I get angry with him, I find ways to avoid the things I know ideal way of living. Focused, minimal, and God-centered he’s asking of me; and yet he still comes for me. even in the most challenging situation. It’s also a bit too He follows us where we need him and answers prayers given metaphorical and painfully melodramatic for me. to him while dogs bark or kids scream. He speaks to me in I love the symbolism in that story. It felt so beautiful when the car and sits with me like an old friend. His relationship I was writing it, but when I went back and read it, I felt that we have feels more real than ideal ever could. cringe feeling I get when I find old notes I wrote people in high school. Both things just feel so sweet and innocent and I’ve lived enough to know that the picture of ideal is almost never the truth. We are messy, but being real with the mess “eye-rolling-ly” idealistic. gets us access to a whole lot of perfection in God. God I love the routine and ritual of the woman praying by the washes us in so much ideal that it sometimes gives me that water every morning before dawn. I love that she lives that eye roll feeling. His love is outrageous, but it’s for us. God-centered life, but it all just feels so unreal. Life doesn’t look that way for me, or for anyone I know. Prayer can be that ritual, deep, spirit-talk kind of conversation with God, Amanda Kriner is a graduate of Ashland University, and but it almost never is. It made me cringe because it’s just works as a volunteer coordinator for her county park district. She also serves as a Sunday morning preschool too sweet, and it made me angry to pretend anyone is that teacher at her church. perfect. 17
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STORY + SONG
Called by Patrick Sprague
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aniel Barnhart tells this story of when he was three, maybe four years old. His mother had taken him to a roller skating rink and placed roller skates on his feet. She held him up as he “skated” around the polished floor, all the while supporting him and giving him as much freedom as possible to skate on his own. Daniel looks and sees the other children, struggling, falling, failing at their first roller skating attempts, and innocently says to his mother, “Look Mom! I can skate better than all the other kids!” Daniel, in many ways, has lived much of his life as if he were not disabled. He lives with Cerebral Palsy (“CP”). CP is a neurological disorder, usually caused by injury or malformation during development. Daniel’s CP is likely a complication of his incredibly pre-mature birth, weighing only two pounds when he entered the world. Make no mistake though, while he may be affected by the muscle function and body movement issues that are common to the disorder, mentally, not only is he wildly sharp, he’s brilliant. I sat with Daniel, and his parents, Chip and Lillian in their Grottoes, Virginia home recently, and we explored what’s next for Daniel, his calling, and what God has been teaching all of them lately. Even the idea that Daniel is exploring God’s call on his life is significant. If we’re honest, how often do we relinquish those in our midst with disabilities or disorders to simple survival, rather than a full life, chasing after the call God has placed on their lives? Two years ago, Daniel began walking forward in obedience, beginning an internship with Mt. Olive Brethren Church (McGaheysville, VA). Daniel served on staff, primarily doing visitation and prayer with church members in their homes, long-term care facilities, and hospitals. As the internship came to a close, he didn’t stop. In fact, as recently as a few days before I sat with him, he was out visiting folks from his church, as well as spending time at Gemeinschaft, a halfway house for felons transitioning out of the prison system back into society. “I see my brothers. We’re both going through obstacles, and I identify with them. Most of the world doesn’t give a “youknow-what” about them, and I just saw the camaraderie. I can be with them. I can hang out with them; I can have fun with them. I can hold them accountable. I’ve found a real “oneness” for what they’re going through.” Daniel had spent two days that week at Gemeinschaft, and the day prior, spent three hours with Dotty, a recent widow. And yet, he struggles with significance. Daniel wrestles not so much with his disability, but with making “enough” impact. This is a 23-year-old young man that is questioning how he contributes to society, earn a living, find a vocation that fulfills his calling, and how he has significance. Most days, I feel good if I didn’t spend the whole evening watching Netflix after my kids go to bed. Daniel humbled me in many ways. 19
“I used to get angry at God and say, “Why are you doing this to me, God?” But I would say I get angry about myself more than I get angry at God. Somehow, I feel like I should be able to conquer the disabled problem. Like, when my mom has to take off work because my assistant is sick, I feel powerless. Or when my dad is going through struggles, and I can’t help him, I feel powerless. I feel like I should have the power – I should be able to overcome this. I feel like a failure a lot of the time. I feel like I sit there and watch everyone else doing the work, and it doesn’t feel good.” Lillian jumps in here, “He’s angry a lot, and a lot of the time it’s at himself. I feel like he doesn’t see all the good, and the amazing things he’s accomplished. He’s twenty-three, and he has a college degree. He does things that most people don’t want to do. Most people don’t want to go spend time with criminals.” “Because of his disability, he feels like he’s always in a position to prove himself,” Chip adds. “I look at all of my friends; they’re doing amazing things. They’re becoming nurses; they’re becoming lawyers. Even the Gemeinschaft guys, they’re the real heroes to me. I’m just an average guy, stuck with a disability. From an early age, I’ve struggled with “Is God proud of me?”, Will he be pleased Sit with that for a moment. There’s a tension that was with my decisions? It’s a daily struggle.” palpable, sitting as an able-bodied (and, self-admittedly “Honestly,” Lillian glances at Daniel, as if to check, “Even if pretty lazy) person, in a room with a guy living with Daniel had a full-time job, it wouldn’t be good enough, am I Cerebral Palsy, who visits widows and spends days with right? He wants more.” felons, believing the best in them, and listening to the guy in the wheelchair feel like he wasn’t doing enough. The challenge I always felt in my conversation with Daniel was two-fold. How quickly I ignore the promptings of the Spirit to be the presence of Christ to others, regardless of time, awkwardness or ability. And second, how elite I’ve held the idea of calling, reserved only for certain people, and diminished the idea of calling for others. Daniel’s life brings us a fundamental question, which we all must answer: Do we believe that God has a life-calling for everyone? The easy, quick answer, is yes. The harder question is, do our actions and interactions reflect that?
“From an early age, I’ve struggled with “Is God proud of me?”, Will he be pleased with my decisions? It’s a daily struggle.”
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Daniel has a beautiful witness and has a quiet confidence in his faith when amongst his friends. His friends are an eclectic group of young people, some Christian, most not. Some new-age, some Buddhist, some not believing much at all. He speaks of their views of the church, being burnt out, judged, being a place where rules are the primary function. And yet, he stands firm, continuing to be the presence of Christ with the people he loves, regardless of where they find themselves on their faith journey.
STORY + SONG
Above: Flowers, cards and more lay in the middle of the street where Heather Heyer was struck in Charlottesville
“I see the Church as a place that has God moving and loving people. The Church is a beautiful place – I’m talking about the universal church, not just Mt. Olive. When I go with my Catholic brothers, and they pray the rosary, I feel beautiful. It’s everywhere. I’m in touch with the Holy Spirit, and I feel it all around. The Holy Spirit is still at work. It may be messed up sometimes, but the Holy Spirit is still at work in the church.”
Daniel rolled up to the memorial and found himself next to Heather’s father, crouched in front of the gifts, the wellwishes, the flowers and more.
In late August, Daniel took a trip to Charlottesville. It was days after the chaos that engulfed that city, surrounding white supremacists and the protests that followed. He tells of traveling down the street where Heather Heyer, the young woman who was killed when a car ran over her in the midst of the commotion. As they made their way down to the makeshift memorial for Heather, a gospel choir was gathered on the street, singing. There were protesters of all kinds, demonstrating on behalf of every cause you can imagine. True to his spirit, Daniel expressed an overwhelming feeling of compassion for those on all sides of the incident, simply stating that “everyone needs Jesus, regardless of what they stand for or believe.”
It is without question that Daniel is “giving them God.” In my short time with him, he gave me God, and I’m confident that God will continue to move through Daniel’s obedience. Daniel’s life is one that points us back to the image of Christ, and the image of Christ’s church. We are to walk in humble obedience with the God who values us regardless of our station in life. Our God is not one to make exceptions for certain folks, but rather calls all into his fullness. Daniel embodies this in every way, and I was thrilled to hear that he’s exploring a call in to full time ministry in The Brethren Church. May we all be the kind of Kingdom witness Daniel is.
“I just said, “I don’t know what to do for you, can I say a prayer for you?” I said a prayer for his loss, and I said a prayer for peace. I feel like it’s my calling when I visit with people, that’s when I can truly give them God.”
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Carrying the Gospel into the Future
Join us in providing for new churches now and tomorrow. The Brethren Church has established an endowment for starting new churches. Your financial gift can ensure that resources are available for new churches as they carry the Good News into the world. Please, consider the Church Planting Endowment through The Brethren Church in your financial planning. Give generously, and ensure the continued growth of the Gospel through the work of Brethren Church Planting. Learn more at www.brethrenchurch.org/missio-endowment in partnership with
www.brethrenchurch.org 22
STORY + SONG
I was born here in these hills, maybe just a few years back, my parents had a little farm, and we lived in a shack. As I grew up I learned to hunt, and as I grew up I learned to fish; to stay here ‘til the day I die, has always been my wish. There’s a thunderstorm a brewin’, o’er these hills I love so much, the ground is dry and thirsty, and craving nature’s touch. The touch of nature these hills crave, is not this day to be. A lightning bolt from up above, has hit an old pine tree. The fire burns from tree to tree, to stop this fire, we kneel and pray. A soaking rain from up above, appears to be the only way. As I look up from down below, and see disaster everywhere, my heart is broken right in two, and my tears with the hills I share. But wait, what’s that? a cloud of gray. And the rains come down from up above. In just another year or two, green will return to these hills I love. God’s loving care comes from above, today it shone on these hills I love. – John L. McConnell
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Homecoming
STORY + SONG
by Jen Haglund On the front porch, she sat pouting.
All the pine cones frightened her so much initially that she screamed and ran away from them. Then, when I showed “This is a bad house,” she repeated, first quietly, then her they weren’t the overgrown cockroaches we used to find shouting it until she cried. “I want to stay in New York.” occasionally by our radiators in our last place, she started a collection. It was like the beginning of a horror film. If I hadn’t felt bad for her and overwhelmed myself, I would have been “Look! Look at all the free pine cones, Daddy!” she yells, scared to sleep in our new home. Since we started packing ignoring the sap sticking her little fingers together. our two-bedroom third-floor walkup in late September, I questioned how much I projected my own uncertainty and Running from tree to tree, she tells us they’re fun and good discomfort onto her, and how much was her own. I don’t for hide-and-seek, and that the Lutheran church on Center know what is developmental, a reaction to change, for the St. is a castle. So is the education building not far from our results of poor parenting up to this point because she’s been house. ruder than usual and cries more readily. She’s told us we live in “a big house now,” and she’s not She didn’t like her toys packed or her bed in a new room. entirely wrong. It’s bigger than any apartment or home she’s Even now with them arranged and put away, she asks to see inhabited. her usual friends and visit the neighborhood park where she played with them every week in Queens. When her dad Adjusting from living in the biggest city in the country leaves for work, she tells me he’s walking to the E train. She to returning to my small town in Ohio has brought us believes this but hasn’t found it in town yet, because the only unexpected joys and challenges. Some nights, my daughter trains running here stay on the outside of town, transporting kicks the walls and talks to herself for almost two hours, freight loads of pulpboard, scrap metal, grain, and lumber. and she did much of the same during nap time in the first No commuters riding into their busy Manhattan jobs step couple of weeks. She still cries when she sees pictures of our old neighborhood, but I expect that time to be ending aboard. soon. I don’t want her to forget it, but it will happen. She’s The Q47, our bus, doesn’t run where I grew up, where we’re only two and a half, so she’ll remember getting anywhere living now. Although bus was her favorite way to travel, she’s around town in 10 minutes and smelling bonfires and the already found another interesting form of transportation cookies on the line at the baked goods factory instead of she never saw in New York. Those colorful, lavish carriages catching buses and trains and smelling hot, damp trash on in Central Park never drove alongside our car like the the streets that she said reeked “like eggs.” On a gray and black, boxy Amish buggies trotting on the shoulder here. drizzling morning, as it was in much of my childhood, she Every time she spots horses with their buggies tied to posts asked me if she could “wear a jean coat,” and I assumed that outside the grocery and thrift stores, she asks if we can ride to be a sign that she’s already acclimating herself. with them, unaware of how warm and comfortable we are in a heated vehicle in the late fall. Jennifer Ditlevson Haglund is a freelance writer for a variety of publications. She has recently returned to her hometown in the Ohio, with her husband Tim and daughter Leona. They’re expecting their second child any day.
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STORY + SONG
Women Meant to Serve Sherry Van Duyne
Numbers 6:24-26 is used by many of our WMS (Women Meant to Serve) groups each month as our closing benediction. We are blessing one another with these significant words – at least I hope that they are meaningful words and not just rote! My challenge today to every person (including myself) is to let these powerful words come ALIVE again in our hearts. Go to Numbers 6 and read verses 22-27 to get the full context, to glimpse the power and the glory of this “special blessing” (Numbers 6:23 NLT). Let Olivia Plank’s artwork spark some creative ideas for your group. For example, make copies for every woman on a bookmark or color a poster for your meeting times, or create a collage, or… One way that this passage has brought me new joy and has “come alive” in me is through reading the New Living Translation (NLT). Check it out and other translations also. Make copies of these different interpretations for your group, and highlight a different one each month. Then at the end of your meeting time, spend 5 minutes reading through it together, briefly discuss the new wording and then use it to bless one another meaningfully! “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT)
Sherry Van Duyne is the Legacy Pastor at Park Street Brethren Church (Ashland, OH), and has served in leadership of WMS for a number of years.
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End Notes
I hope you have found this issue of the Evangelist to be exciting and inspiring. We are overwhelmed by the number of submissions we have received and how this project is helping us identify the giftedness found the Brethren Church. As we have traveled around this fall, we have had great conversations with different creative Brethren about submitting pieces of their art to this project. It was remarkable to hear about the different ways people are using the creative gifts God has blessed them with. We even happened across a few hymns written a few years ago by a Brethren elder! Why is all this creativity important? We believe scripture’s promise that we were created in God’s image. And the ability to create speaks to continuing presence of the Creator in us. I believe Jesus has given us a story, not only as Christians, but as Brethren that the world around us so desperately needs, and is yearning for. We need more and more creative people to help us tell this story. The Brethren Church should always be a place where God’s people can creatively express the love of Jesus to our world. Furthermore, we need to ensure our story is told now, and into the future. With your continued support, we can make this happen. On the back cover of this issue, you will find an opportunity to give to our Annual Fund. Our Annual Fund is what allows us to the lion’s share of Gospel-centered work we are called to. Gifts to the Annual Fund are what will enable us to train up leaders, plant churches, strengthen congregations and take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. I ask that you would prayerfully consider a gift to help us accomplish the work Christ has called us to. Finally, I hope you will join us in Ashland this coming July at our 2018 General Conference. We will be exhibiting artwork from the artists represented in this Evangelist, as well as so many others. I know it will be an amazing expression of God’s giftedness among our brothers and sisters. God bless you and your family during this Christmas season, and may God bless your New Year in 2018. Blessings,
Steven Cole is the Executive Director of e Brethren Church. As Executive Director, Steven works to communicate the vision and diverse story of our denomination. God has blessed Steven with his wonderful wife, Beth, and their two children, Maggie and Patrick.
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Steven Cole
STORY + SONG
Story & Song is a call for creative people in The Brethren Church to submit work from their God-given talents and passions for the betterment of the entire body. The Brethren Church is calling for songs, lyrics, stories, essays, paintings, photographs, sculptures, poetry and more. We believe that the Church needs a creative outpouring. We believe the Church has a new song. We believe that God has placed more talent and giftings in our movement than we are aware of. Story & Song will seek to gather our creatives together, collaboratively creating corporate worship albums, and exhibiting artistic work. We'll foster the development of abilities, collaborative times and more as the movement grows. For our initial call in 2017/2018, we're calling for submissions through December 31, 2017. We will gather submissions and create a corporate worship album, and an exhibit of all other art at General Conference 2018.Â
DETAILS & SUBMISSIONS @ STORY.BRETHRENCHURCH.ORG
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STORY + SONG
Being Brethren
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Watch the all-new film, featuring Brethren Church Executive Director Steven Cole, and Jason Barnhart. Set in historic Philadelphia, Steven and Jason chat through what it means to live our Brethren faith, in light of the current culture we find oursleves in, and with a historically informed perspective.
Stream now at brethrenchurch.org/america
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The Brethren Evangelist (SSN 0747-4288) is published quarterly by The Brethren Church, Inc., 524 College Ave., Ashland, OH 44805-3792 telephone: 419-289-1708; communications@brethrenchurch.org Authors’ views are not necessarily those of The Brethren Church. Subscription rates: Sent free to Brethren Church members; $15.00 per year to others. Member, Evangelical Press Association. Postage: Paid at Ashland, Ohio or additonal mailing office at Mansfield, Ohio.
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