February 26, 2009

ELGIN, IL – In a new endeavor for Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS), the organization will be working to develop community living opportunities for its volunteers, in partnership with interested congregations.

BVS will be seeking Church of the Brethren congregations that can host a community house to accommodate groups of four to six volunteers who will work at project sites in the area. Volunteers will commit to being active in the life of the congregation. Housing could be in an unused parsonage or other suitable housing arrangement.

The new emphasis is part of an ongoing partnership that BVS has established with the Volunteers Exploring Vocation program through the Fund for Theological Education (FTE) and a grant from the Lilly Foundation. Through the new emphasis on community living within the context of a local church community, BVS is seeking to broaden the vocations program it is already doing through FTE. The vocations program invites volunteers to explore their call to ministry.

BVS has named a volunteer staff member to lead the emphasis. Dana Cassell began Feb. 1 as volunteer staff for Vocation and Community Living. She will work with Jim Lehman of Elgin, Ill., who is the facilitator of the vocations program for BVS. She is a member of First Church of the Brethren in Roanoke, Va., and a graduate of the College of William and Mary. She holds a master of divinity degree from Candler School of Theology and recently completed 15 months as a BVS volunteer in the Church of the Brethren's Ministry Office.

Congregations interested in hosting a Brethren Volunteer Service community site may contact Dana Cassell at dcassell_gb@brethren.org, or 800-323-8039, ext 317.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts more than 125,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

Church of the Brethren News Service