Shenandoah Journal. Together, We Reach Out With Jesus th Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren July 2-6, 2011

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1 SHENANDOAH DISTRICT CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN April/May 2011 Together, We Reach Out With Jesus... Inside this issue: Together we reach out with Jesus... Dean Neher: Living Peacemaker Disaster Ministries Auction Info News & Events 6 Brethren Woods News 7 225th Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren July 2-6, 2011 Grand Rapids, MI See more info on Page 4 March and April have seen a flurry of events around the district from the Disaster Ministries Auction Kick Off Dinner to the five Wrestling Together meetings, the Cultivating a Great Harvest evangelism event and the Living Peace Recognition Banquet. It has been a joy to witness the fellowship and sharing that has taken place at these events. As a District Leadership Team, little did we know how relevant these varied events would be to our envisioning process for 2012 and beyond. At our January retreat, the Leadership Team spent time discerning a new vision and identity for the Shenandoah District that we hope will be inspiring to us all congregations and individuals alike. Together, we reach out with Jesus refocuses our identity from individual congregations within a geographical location to the Body of Christ reaching people where we live. And as the Body of Christ, we together reach out with Jesus in a variety of ways: through service, acts of generosity, sharing our faith, learning how to connect with people in our communities, living out our peace witness, and building relationships with one another. Even though we are diverse in our interests and, at times, our theology, we can all affirm our oneness in Christ. Inside this newsletter are stories and news about some of the ways what we do in the Shenandoah District reflects this new vision of who we are. We invite you to reflect on the full vision statement (printed on the back page of this newsletter) and celebrate the many ways that you and your congregation reach out with Jesus and your brothers and sisters in Christ to the world around us. Blessings, as together, we reach out with Jesus! Joan Daggett Associate District Executive 19th Annual Shenandoah District Disaster Ministries Auction May 20-21, 2011 Rockingham County Fairgrounds Details on Page 5

2 Dean Neher: A Living Peacemaker In the Gospels Jesus taught his disciples that peacemakers are blessed for they shall be called children of God; Jesus told his followers to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecute them; that they are to search out their brothers and sisters who have offended them and be reconciled; and that in caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned, they cared for him. In the spirit of this New Testament teaching the Shenandoah Pastors for Peace wishes to recognize Church of the Brethren persons who have by their faith in Christ, their life, and their work contributed to the reality of peace in their own time and who have inspired others to embrace this calling in a similar manner. The first person to receive the Living Peace Award is Dean Neher of Bridgewater, Virginia. Born and raised on the Kansan plains, Dean grew up on a farm near Oswego and was nurtured in his faith by the Osage Church of the Brethren. Dean came early on to connect the Gospel s promise of on earth peace declared by angels at Christ s birth with public acts of peacemaking and with the potential costs of those acts at a personal level. Under the cover of darkness neighbors painted his grandfather s barn yellow after it became public that Dean s father had chosen to be a conscientious objector during World War I. Beyond family, Dan West and summer church camps provided Dean with strong foundations for peace and service. Dean attended the 1948 Annual Conference in Colorado Springs and watched as the church gave birth to Brethren Volunteer Service. BVS provided a new generation of Brethren young adults with the moral equivalent to soldiering. Dean soon interrupted his studies at McPherson College to enter BVS s third unit in June In Europe Dean served projects in Germany, Austria, and Greece. After volunteer service Dean completed his undergraduate studies at McPherson College in 1954, but before that, in 1953, he married Betty Young. Betty and Dean have parented four children: Christa, Dan, Brad, and Peggy, and are the grandparents for four more. Dean did graduate work in physics at the University of Chicago and the University of Kansas before joining the faculty at Bridgewater College in He completed his doctoral degree in Though he started in physics at Bridgewater, Dean later taught computer science at the College. While Dean described himself as peace minded during his early years at Bridgewater, his focus was on physics and it wasn t until 1968 when one of his students faced the possibility of being drafted that Dean realized he needed to reach out to the young adults around him as more than a physics teacher. By the fall of 1968 Dean was helping to establish a peace awareness group on campus with an emphasis on draft counseling. This incident reveals a quality of Dean s character: a commitment to professional excellence, but one that does not lose sight of the real and persistent needs of individuals and of the societies in which they live. Even before the peace awareness group, Dean was mentoring young Christians as the advisor for the Inter-district Youth Cabinet (IYC). Dean himself doesn t know exactly how long he served in that role but it was over 30 years. He worked closely with over 100 college students during that time to reach beyond the college into church youth groups and to coordinate dozens of Roundtables. In 1982 Dean worked with the peace awareness group to mail letters to every teenager in the Shenandoah District for whom they had an address and a birth date. The letters were mailed to 16, 17, and 18 year-olds to encourage them to embrace the heritage of peacemaking as part of their commitment to Jesus Christ. After the academic year concluded that year, Dean carried on the project himself over the summer and every year and summer since to this very day. Hundreds and hundreds of letters have been mailed out. In the last years of his professional life at Bridgewater, Dean served on the Board of On Earth Peace from , serving as the chairman of that Board from Dean s faith and work have always been grounded in a local faith community. Since 1961, that community has been the Bridgewater Church of the Brethren. Dean has served on the church board, as a teacher, and as the congregation s moderator. In the last fifteen years he has worked on the congregation s Refugee Resettlement Committee. During these fifteen years Dean and the church have helped to relocate and settle 23 families and for this work Dean is on call most every day. Though it is fitting to honor Dean Neher with a Living Peace Award, there is irony here as well. Dean would be the last man to expect such recognition or to talk about it. Several weeks after he was told that he had been chosen for this award, Dean s pastors discovered that his own children had not yet found out about it. Dale Ulrich said of his longtime friend and colleague that Dean carries out the bulk of his responsibility so well, so efficiently, so unassumedly, so behind the scenes that you don t even know it is being done. He just does it! Seventy-six persons attended the Living Peace Award Recognition Banquet sponsored by Pastors for Peace on March 15 at the Linville Creek Church of the Brethren. David Miller, pastor of the Montezuma Church wrote and presented the above citation and the Living Peace Award of $250 to Dean Neher. Page 2

3 Page 3 In Our Pastoral Family Congratulations and best wishes to Janell and Don Williams (Pastor, Bethel-Mayland) on the birth of Donald Joseph David on January 31. All are doing fine, and his two sisters are a big blessing! Ed Carl has announced his retirement as Pastor of the Waynesboro Church of the Brethren. He concludes his ministry on April 30, Ed began his ministry at Waynesboro in September, 2002, completing nine years. Ed and Phyllis will retire to Kentucky where they will be closer to a son and his family. Garold Senger, Jr. (Lebanon) has accepted the call to be Interim Pastor at the Waynesboro Church of the Brethren beginning May 1, Antioch Church of the Brethren will host a Benefit Concert for Brother Elmo Mantz on Sunday, May 13, at 7:00 p.m. Music will be provided by the PromisedLand Quartet. A free will offering will be taken to assist with Brother Elmo s medical expenses. Time for fellowship and refreshments follow the concert. Elmo and Shelvie Mantz serve as pastors of the Pleasant View Church near Mt. Jackson. Save the date of June 12! The District Leadership Team will host a retirement reception in honor of Jim & Mary Miller on Sunday, June 12, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Bridgewater Church of the Brethren. Bernie Fuska (Timberville), Bea Miller (Bridgewater) and Martha Graves (Leake s Chapel) serve as the planning team for the event. Join us to honor Jim s years of ministry and service to the Shenandoah District! Pulpit Vacancies Full-Time: Leake s Chapel; Smith Creek-Friends Run (Yoked Parish), Valley Pike, Wakeman s Grove Senior Pastor, Wakeman s Grove Associate, and Waynesboro. Part-Time: Antioch Associate Pastor, Cedar Grove (Ruckersville), Evergreen, Hiner, Little River, Moscow, Mt. Zion (Linville), and New Dale Milestones in Ministry Each year, the Shenandoah District Ministry Commission recognizes milestones in ministry. Congregations often do a good job in recognizing tenure milestones of the ministers in their midst. We also know that a minister s years of ordination to the set-apart ministry are significant chapters. Areas of service for the ordained extend beyond parish ministry and include chaplains, counselors, biblical professors, district and national staff and other specialized ministries. Listed below are colleagues in ministry who celebrate in 2011 a variety of ordination milestones. These persons will be recognized at District Conference on November 5. (If we have any information that is incorrect or missing, please call us at the District Office.) Ministers Ordained for Sixty-Five Years Fred Bowman Bridgewater Emerson Fike Middle River Ministers Ordained for Sixty Years Bob McFadden Bridgewater Ministers Ordained for Fifty-Five Years Dee Flory Blue Ridge Chapel David Rittenhouse Pocahontas New Hope Albert Sauls Madison Ministers Ordained for Fifty Years Auburn Boyers Fred Swartz Ministers Ordained for Forty-Five Years J. D. Glick Sunrise Ministers Ordained for Forty Years Ed Carl John Foster Harrisonburg First Bridgewater Waynesboro Barren Ridge Ministers Ordained for Thirty-Five Years Sam Sligar Timberville Ministers Ordained for Thirty Years JuliAnne Bowser Sloughfy Salem Don Curry Durbin Bruce Noffsinger Round Hill Ministers Ordained for Twenty-Five Years Jim Jinks Mountain Grove Chapel Fellowship Elaine Hartman McGann Mt. Bethel Ministers Ordained for Twenty Years Bill Abshire Staunton Elmo Mantz Oak Hill Shelvie Mantz Oak Hill Julian Rittenhouse Pocahontas New Hope George Yocum Forest Chapel Ministers Ordained for Fifteen Years George Bowers Walt Crull Bill Fitchett Don Guthrie Ministers Ordained for Five Years Gary Major Daryl Ritchie Glenn Shifflett Antioch Garbers Columbia Furnace Mountain Grove Mt. Zion - Luray Smith Creek Shiloh

4 Dean Neher 2011 Living Peace Award Recipient Pastors for Peace See complete story on page 2. Picture courtesy o f Paula Neher, Dean s daughter-in-law. We regret that we did not receive it in time to place it with the story on the color cover. Disaster Ministries Alert! Pulaski Tornado Response Page 4 In cooperation with Virlina District and Brethren Disaster Ministries, Shenandoah District will be responding to the rebuilding needs of persons affected by the recent tornado in Pulaski, Virginia. Four hundred plus homes were damaged with over sixty homes needing complete rebuilds. Over the next several weeks, our district will be providing volunteers to assist with roofing, replacing siding and windows. We will begin with day trips and, as lodging arrangements are finalized, will begin overnight or longer trips. The first trip will take place on Friday, May 6. For more information or to sign up, please contact Galen Halterman at or galenhalterman@aim.com. See you in Grand Rapids! Shenandoah District will be well represented at the 2011 Annual Conference with sixty-two churches having registered delegates. Conference information and opportunities for fellowship, worship, learning & sharing are available on the conference website at Annual Conference Delegate Briefing June 7 Do you have first time delegates or attendees planning to attend the Annual Conference in Grand Rapids? This year s delegate briefing will be held Tuesday, June 7, at Mt. Pleasant Church of the Brethren on Boyers Road in Harrisonburg. We will begin at 6 p.m. with a buffet dinner, followed by a program led by our district s Standing Committee delegates Henry Elsea, Millard Driver and George Bowers. We are also delighted to have a Shenandoah Valley retired pastor and Moderator of this year s Annual Conference, Robert Alley, as our guest speaker. Cost for the dinner is $12.50 per person. To register, complete the form below and mail by May 31. Annual Conference Delegate Briefing Tuesday, June 7, doors open at 5:30 p.m.; eat at 6 p.m. Mt. Pleasant Church of the Brethren, Harrisonburg, VA Name: Address: Phone #: Congregation: (Circle One) AC Delegate Pastor Other Number of meals Cost per meal: $12.50 Make check payable to and mail to: Shenandoah District, PO Box 67, Weyers Cave, VA Deadline for Registration: May 31, 2011 Total enclosed: $

5 Page 5 19th Annual Shenandoah District Disaster Ministries Auction May 20 & 21, 2011 Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg, VA The 19th Annual Shenandoah District Disaster Ministries Auction is almost here! Join us for two days of fun, fellowship and lots of opportunities to give so that others may have adequate shelter and food in the midst of disaster. A schedule of events follows: Thursday Saturday, May 19-21, 2011 First Annual Skeet Shoot Competition Flying Rabbit in Mt. Crawford (see more info about this new event below) Friday, May 20, 2011 (all events take place at the fairgrounds unless noted otherwise) Golf Tournament-Heritage Oaks Golf Course Arts, Crafts, Baked Goods, Plants, Silent Auction Oyster-Country Ham Dinner ($15/person; $6 children 10 & under) Art, Furniture, Selected Handwork Auction Livestock Auction Saturday, May 21, 2011 Breakfast (omelets, pancakes & sausage gravy) Sales (arts, crafts, baked goods, plants, t-shirts) Worship Service Main Auction (quilts, crafts, handmade furniture, etc.) Outside Sale Lunch (BBQ Chicken/Pulled Pork BBQ) Shotgun Start 8:30 AM 1:00 PM 3:00 7:30 PM 6:15 PM in the Exhibit Building 6:15 PM in the Cattle Barn 7:00 10:00 AM 8:00 AM - Until 8:45 9:00 AM 9:00 AM 10:30 AM 11:00 AM Donuts, sandwiches, drinks, ice cream, and strawberry pie are available throughout the day. Church Team Competition at the Flying Rabbit! Tournament Fundraiser for the Disaster Ministries Auction May 19, 20 & 21 Tournament Times: Thursday-Friday 12 p.m. - dark Saturday 8a.m. - 1p.m. Setting up your team! Each Church will pull together a four person team. There is no limit to how many teams per Church. The team that wins will receive a floating trophy that will go from Church to Church depending on the winner that year. Flying Rabbit will keep scores for the teams and individuals. As an individual shooter you will be competing with others from the area for a trophy in the class levels: Over 55, Under 16, Female, Intermediate A, B, C. Costs: $60 = A 100 round event; $6 = A box of shells; $10 = Gun Rental Or feel free to bring your own gun. (If you bring your own, maximum shot size allowed is 7 1/2, 3 dram, 1 1/8 oz.). For more information call Melissa Sager:

6 News From Across the District With generous gifts from individuals and sister churches, Hope Chapel, our church planting project in Verona, has purchased a trailer to store their sound equipment and worship supplies during the week. Hope Chapel is also hosting a Weekend of Hope from 11-8 on May 21 and 12-6 on May 22 at the Verona Firehouse. Jon Prater reports that We will have bands, food, a cruise in, a magician, kid s games, and a bounce house. Please join us as we reach out to folks in the Verona community! National Older Adult Conference September 5-9, 2011 Lake Junaluska, North Carolina Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 NRSV Page 6 Blue Ridge Chapel Church of the Brethren reports that they are in the process of a building expansion, which will include a new fellowship hall, kitchen, rest rooms and general office space. Praise God for His blessings, guidance and abundant grace. We covet your prayers as we work together to bring honor and glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as we proceed through this expansion process. The Christian Growth Institute is sponsoring its annual Practice of Ministry Day on Saturday, June 4, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Summerdean Church of the Brethren in Roanoke. 0.6 CEU is available to ordained ministers for The Sermon on the Mount: Jesus and the Old Testament. Guest leader is Dr. Steven J. Schweitzer, Dean, Bethany Theological Seminary. For continuing education units for ordained ministers, the cost is $25.00, which includes lunch. Contact John Jantzi, CGI Dean, at or johnjantzi10@gmail.com for more information or to register. CrossRoads Heritage Center Hope Chapel storage trailer and, soon to be, mobile church sign! Position Opening for Executive Director The Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center ( invites applications for the position of fulltime Executive Director. The successful candidate should have expertise in fundraising, marketing, administration, public relations, volunteer coordination, and interpreting the vision of the Center to the church and community. The Director should be committed to the heritage which Brethren and Mennonites share, especially in the Shenandoah Valley. Salary and benefits as determined by the Board of Directors. Send letter of application, resume, and three recommendations to Beryl H. Brubaker, Chair, Search Committee, 965 Broadview Drive, Harrisonburg, VA, (brubakeb@emu.edu). Position open until filled. May 7 Spring Tea The Center is sponsoring a spring tea on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 3 p.m., to benefit the mission of the center. Plan now to attend this event and enjoy the delicious finger foods and drinks being provided by the Rhodes Sisters. Come and enjoy the beauty of spring on the CrossRoads campus and make this a special Mother s Day outing for your wife or mother. Call (540) to make your reservation by May 2, 2011, and then send the $20 per person fee to CrossRoads, P.O. Box 1563, Harrisonburg, VA

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8 Together, we reach out with Jesus... doing the transformative work of the Great Commission making disciples, baptizing, and teaching, continuing ministries of healing, peace, justice and grace to all, encouraging, challenging and equipping our congregations for mission, nurturing congregational life and relationships, discerning the gifts of people and calling them into ministry. Consisting of the churches located in the counties of Frederick, Warren, Highland, Page, Shenandoah, Rockingham, Augusta, Rockbridge, Bath, Albemarle, Greene, Madison, Louisa, & Orange in Virginia and Pocahontas, Hardy, and Pendleton in West Virginia, the Shenandoah District is led by a 7 member Leadership Team. You may contact the District Office at or toll free at or any of the office staff by Jim Miller, District Executive jmiller@shencob.org Joan Daggett, Associate District Executive jdaggett@shencob.org Sandy Kinsey, Administrative Assistant districtoffice@shencob.org Jennifer Rohrer, Financial Secretary districtoffice@shencob.org Sam Cupp, Youth Ministry Assistant youth@shencob.org Pastoral placement, personnel, ministry & stewardship Congregational resourcing, educational and witness/service ministries General office administration Contributions and clerical support Youth Council leadership and youth ministry resources SHENANDOAH DISTRICT CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN P.O. Box Westview School Road Weyers Cave, VA Phone: or Fax: RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED