Dan West: The Brethren in the Future

Writing in 1947, Dan West suggested that "in the last third of a century we [the Church of the Brethren] have moved so far and so fast that were my own father to return he would not likely recognize the same church to which he belonged."

Many of these changes, Dan believed, had demonstrated the genius of the Brethren in action. ... Dan concluded that the future was "uncertain as yet but potentially far beyond anything in our history."

According to him the question was, and still is, whether the Brethren would continue to develop their social policy as rapidly as they had done in the past fifty years, or whether they had reached the point where an inevitable leveling-off would take place.

Perhaps Dan would say today, as he wrote in the family's Christmas newsletter in 1944:

God is still in his heaven ...

and here on earth too

trying to help us floundering mortals

to learn how we ought to live

in homes, in churches, in communities,

and in the world.

He shouldn't have to wait so long on us!

Source: Passing on the Gift, Glee Yoder

Called to Serve

The Lord Calls Us to Serve

The Lord calls us to serve our present age. He speaks through our heritage to those of us in new communities where our neighbors, uprooted from former church homes, may easily drift away from religion to be counted among the vast unchurched. He speaks to those of us in urban communities where neighborhoods are changing in class and in color, and we must either serve or die. He speaks to those of us in rural churches where the community is so stable that rigid boundaries have long been drawn between the churched and the unchurched, the Brethren and the non-Brethren.


This is what our heritage says to me: "You have a vision of what the church can become – a fellowship of disciples, learning, growing, and following the Master together. You have the New Testament as an authority out of which your practice, your faith, and your approach should continue to grow. You have a plan that is sound: a keen interest in family living and an appreciation of what this basic unit of society can do to shape the world’s tomorrows. Your respect for conscience and for the religious experiences of others gives you the attitude for service. All this finds its final and dramatic challenge in the ordinance of feet-washing."


These are things which the Church of the Brethren holds dear. And since we do, we must share them or we shall lose them. A church that will risk losing its life in the service of a community will discover it has new life in its Lord. It was a wise brother who said, "If we have reason for existing, we have reason for serving."

Source: "To Serve the Present Age," Robert N. Miller, Brethren Life and Thought, Winter 1956

Christ-centered

It is the love experienced

when Christ is at the center of one's life,

that draws us into unity.

We do not create unity or fellowship.

They are gifts.

When our lives are Christ-centered,

we can disagree

without being bitter or divisive.

It is a mark of the working of the Holy Spirit

that we can hold one another

in love and fellowship

even though

there is diversity among us.

Source: Biblical Inspiration and Authority

1979 Annual Conference Statement

An Incarnation of God's Reconciling and Redeeming Love

We who are the body of Christ,

an incarnation of God's

reconciling and redeeming love

in the world,

are called to be a channel of God's loving justice.

Wherever brokenness among people exists,

we are called to participate

in God's work of healing;

Wherever people suffer from oppression,

we are to work

for God's act of liberation; and

Wherever people are deprived of basic

human needs and opportunities,

we are called

to God's work of humanization.

Source: Justice and Nonviolence

1977 Annual Conference Statement

Dan West: The Word Became Flesh

Dan West lived what he believed.

Thurl Metzger said of Dan, "Dan refused to eat cake until all could have daily bread."

Kermit Eby wrote: "Heifers, unlike bombs, are personal, particularly if you bring them up or sacrifice for them. Before they mature and become cows (giving their new host not only milk but the beginnings of a dairy herd) they become pets. Sent away to help the needy, a part of you goes along. Received by fellowmen in need, the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man is reaffirmed.

"And so once more the word becomes flesh; and brotherhood takes on meaning because first a simple Brethren dreamer and than a church realized that brotherhood knew no boundaries."

Source: Passing on the Gift, Glee Yoder

The Sword

Now we see that Christ always,

in all his sufferings,

endured them,

and that with great patience,

and never resisted

or defended himself.

So

we can not see or find

any liberty

to use any (carnal) sword,

but only the sword of the Spirit,

which is the word of God.

Source: 1785 Annual Meeting Minutes

Dan West: Faith

Dan was periodically known to write down a brief outline of his faith beliefs, adding "here is the outline (incomplete) of my best interpretation now. In a few more years it ought to be better and fuller."

A note written by Dan on an envelope ... postmarked January 27, 1961, expressed his continuous search for truth: "Sometimes I wonder if I am out of it for clinging to such things as hope, faith, and love. Camus in The Stranger (1946) would say that I am. But my life is too much grounded in facts of love. This I know. Deep as these doubts are that Camus helps me to see within me, my present direction - is faith!"

Source: Passing on the Gift, Glee Yoder

Dan West: Heifer Project

A Gift of Life is A Gift of Love

These words, printed in large letters, greet you as you drive up the road to the entrance of HPI. They ring true as you tour the ranch and talk with its dedicated staff. As one member confessed: I formerly looked at our help merely as providing animals for those in need. Recently, I've come to see more - it also gives new meaning to life for those of who share with others through the giving of the animals.

The Dan West Education Fund, established as a memorial to the founder of HPI, is to be used to support volunteers who manifest his spirit and who are able to give training in animal husbandry to recipients of HPI livestock. Thurl Metzger said of these volunteers: [They] have an overwhelming opportunity and responsibility. They must gain the confidence of the poor and the respect of the powerful. In addition to being technically qualified they should reflect 'the fruits of the spirit which are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance' plus a good sense of humor.

These qualities "manifest Dan's spirit," whose gentle voice was rarely raised except when he talked about the accomplishment of HPI. Then he got really excited. "Too much has already been said as if I were responsible for this. The credit belongs to God and should be given to him. It was God in the hearts of farmers who actually raised the heifers and in the hearts of the many, many people who have helped."

"Yes," responded an interviewer, "and God in the heart of a man who listened for the voice of God in the whispering grass and the wailing babies and the sobbing mothers."

Source: Passing on the Gift, Glee Yoder

Thanksgiving Day

As you give thanks this day, with family and friends, to God for the blessings of life. Don't forget your brothers and sisters who are not so fortunate this day. You may wish to reflect on these words put into a song by Kenneth Morse.

Brothers and sisters of mine are the hungry,

who sigh in their sorrow

and weep in their pain.

Sisters and brothers of mine are the homeless,

who sit without shelter

from wind and from rain.

Strangers and neighbors,

they claim my attention.

They sleep by my doorstep,

they sit by my bed.

Neighbors and strangers,

their anguish concerns me,

and I must not feast

till the hungry are fed.

Source: Let Our Joys Be Known

1972 Brethren Evangelism Statement

Throughout the twentieth century, evangelism on the national level has been lodged with a succession of home mission boards and commissions. At times there has been a specific department or office for evangelism or Annual Conference Statements such as the following excerpt from the 1972 Annual Conference Statement on Evangelism.

Christians have too often been tongue-tied,

hesitant or apologetic when they have had

natural opportunities to tell the good news of God.

...But our confidence is not in ourselves:

it is in Christ whose examples and teachings,

whose life and death still speak with authority....

If we experience the love of Christ,

like Peter and John,

"we cannot but speak of what we

have seen and heard."

Source: Let Our Joys Be Known

A.C. Wieand Quote

The Gospel Messenger of November 19, 1904 carried this self-descriptive comment by A.C. Wieand who, along with E.B. Hoff, would open the doors of Bethany Bible School the next fall.

I am fundamentally opposed to every change

in the faith and practice of the church

that will takes us farther away

from the Bible.

That's how conservative and orthodox I am.

But I am always in favor of any change

that will bring us closer in faith and life

to the Word of God.

That is how progressive I am ....

Just as fast as we get new light on

the Word and Will of God

we must change our practices

to suit it more fully.

Source: Let Our Joys Be Known,

A Brethren Heritage Curriculum

Richard B. Gardner and Kenneth M. Shaffer

Sarah Major Quote

I conceive it would be very inconsistent

in an apostle,

who has laid his hands

on men and women,

and pray'd over them,

that they might receive the Holy Ghost,

to quench the gift

of the Spirit of God,

because it was given

to a woman.

God always gave his gifts freely

where they were willing

to use them, and

I believe

in Christ Jesus

male and female are one,

just as Jew and Gentile

are made one.

Source: Sarah Righter Major

(from a letter dated April 1, 1835)

John H. Moore

J.H. Moore had a strong urge to write. Probably his greatest contribution to the Brethren was his long-time association with Brethren publishing interests. He was editor of Gospel Messenger twenty-five years and author of several books on Brethren history and doctrine. His library and a portion of his files formed the nucleus of the Brethren Historical Library and Archives.

Those who have become truly regenerated,

and are new creatures in Christ Jesus

...should be known by their manner of living,

their dealings with ... one another,

by the evils they shun,

the good deeds they do,

and their well-studied efforts to avoid things

that have even the appearance of evil.

Their character and deportment in life,

in the interest of nonconformity,

ought to be well enough defined

to make them as a separate people.

Sources: The Brethren Encyclopedia

and Let Our Joys Be Known

Wilhelm Knepper

Wilhelm Knepper was an early member of the Brethren and a hymnwriter. A weaver in Solingen, Germany, he joined the Brethren about 1716 and in 1717 was one of six Brethren sentanced to hard labor for life. While in prison Knepper wrote some four hundred hymns.

Our hearts and voices let us raise,

committed now to give God praise

in each and every hour.

Let loosened tongues our lips now fill

with talk of love and God's goodwill,

and thus acclaim God's power.

(1720)

Source: Let Our Joys Be Known

A Brethren Heritage Curriculum

Richard Gardner and Kenneth Shaffer

Alexander Mack Quotes

Two important quotations from Alexander Mack:

"Count well the cost," Christ Jesus says,

"when you lay the foundation."

Are you resolved, though all seem lost,

to risk your reputation,

your self,

your wealth,

for Christ the Lord

as you now give your solemn word?

---------

The Son of God wished to found and ordain a water bath

for his entire church,

that it should be an efficacious seal

and outward symbol

of all those who would believe in him.

Thus, the Son of God ...

made a beginning of water baptism

...as a mighty example in which

we should follow him.

Source: Let Our Joys Be Known

A Brethren Heritage Curriculum

Richard Gardner and Kenneth Shaffer