A theme interpretation for the 2025 Mission Offering of the Church of the Brethren

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your servant—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ~Matthew 20:26-28, NIV

Competition is a very human thing. It feels good when we are chosen first or when we are called the best at something. The world measures success by getting ahead, gaining power, and acquiring more. The ways of Jesus often challenge our human perspective of the world.

When the disciples were caught in a competition of their own, Jesus shared clearly about what greatness looks like in the kingdom of God. For Jesus, to be the greatest does not always mean winning, but helping others to thrive—not conquering others, but serving them. Just as Jesus loved and served his disciples, so also does he call us to serve one another.

Through the Global Mission of the Church of the Brethren, we are cultivating relationships with sisters and brothers around the world. Our work seeks to strengthen faith around the world for mutual upbuilding and meaningful partnership in mission. Through the ministries of each partner country and in how we work together, we live in the ways of Jesus and serve one another. We work with partners in the US and around the world to address human need—spiritual, physical, and communal.

The Global Church of the Brethren Communion includes churches in the US, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, India, Nigeria, Rwanda, Spain, Uganda, and Venezuela. Global Mission also has a mission worker in South Sudan, and partners in Burundi, China, Ecuador, Kenya, Mexico, Tanzania, and Vietnam.

The Mission Offering supports the Core Ministries of the Church of the Brethren and includes Global Mission. Thank you for your partnership to help our sisters and brothers thrive in ministry around the globe. Together we serve one another as we join Jesus in the neighborhood.

Learn more and find worship resources for the 2025 Mission Offering (suggested date: September 14) at www.brethren.org/missionoffering .
Give an offering today at www.brethren.org/giveoffering .

A theme interpretation for the 2024 Mission Offering by Matt DeBall, coordinator of Mission Advancement Communications

“Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” ~Romans 14:19, NRSVUE

Our houses of worship are wonders to behold. Whether constructed recently or long ago, our congregations were built—brick by brick, panel by panel, glass pane by glass pane—with purpose and beauty.

Our church buildings may differ from one to another for the Church of the Brethren in the US, but greater differences are realized as we consider churches around the world. And while all of our churches are unique, the people who worship, serve, and are served within them are even more diverse. Even while differences and distinctions exist, we are all united in our mission to love and serve one another, making room for what God is building in us and around us.

In the book of Romans, we find a letter to the church from Paul in which he proclaimed that all followers of Jesus—whether Jew or Gentile, man or woman, having weak faith or strong—are equal members of the family of God. Rather than squabbling about earthly differences and preferences, Paul called them to live unto the Lord, to extend helping hands to one another, to work for the good of all.

We build up one another through love and service, and as we do so, we become the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. Through the work of Jesus, we offer a helping hand to one another and all people, pursuing peace and working to build up our neighbors near and far. We do this because Jesus did and because we believe this work is life-giving for each of us as we share love with one another.

The Mission Offering highlights the ministry of our sisters and brothers around the world. It is an opportunity for congregations and individuals to financially and prayerfully uplift the core mission and ministry of the Church of the Brethren that provides support to pastors and leaders in the US but alsoour Global Mission staff in South Sudan (Athanasus Ungang), sister denominations that are members of the Global Church of the Brethren Communion, and partner organizations around the world.

Thank you for offering a helping hand to people in your community. Thank you for allowing the love of God to work through you to encourage others. Although each of our neighborhoods is unique, our efforts to pursue peace and offer mutual encouragement together make a difference wherever we are. May we celebrate what we have to give and receive, and marvel at the wonders that God is building in all the world.

Learn more and find worship resources for the Mission Offering (suggested date: September 15) at www.brethren.org/missionoffering. Give an offering today at www.brethren.org/giveoffering.

(Read this issue of eBrethren.)

Worship resources for the 2024 Mission Offering

“Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus… I have not stopped giving thanks for you.” ~Ephesians 1:15-16

Global Mission prioritizes collaboration with leaders of sister Church of the Brethren bodies in countries around the world. We seek to join in their faithful witness to Jesus Christ and to learn from them while sharing our heritage and blessings with them. These churches are striving to follow the Bible and example of Jesus, and they see the Church of the Brethren holding a special gift and are drawn to the idea of continuing the work of Jesus: peacefully, simply, together.

2023 marks the 100 anniversary of the founding of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN), the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. Thousands of church members and guests attended more than a dozen events held in 13 zones across the country. Celebrations included worship, prayer, scripture readings, preaching, singing, music, and traditional dances by groups representing the local tribes of each zone of the church. While the church has experienced much persecution over the years, they remain steadfast in their faith and have become a beacon of peace that is inspiring other denominations across Nigeria to seek the gospel of peace as well. We praise God with our Nigerian brothers and sisters and rejoice for their work in Africa.

In 2018, a “Vision for a Global Church of the Brethren” mission philosophy paper was adopted by Annual Conference. Global Mission staff and volunteers have gathered the Global Church of the Brethren Communion, a group of representatives from each of the national bodies of the Church of the Brethren, to discuss and discern how to function as the Global Church of the Brethren, to gather as autonomous Brethren bodies seeking mutual encouragement, to sharing resources, and to support each other.

The Church of the Brethren has been established in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Rwanda, Spain, Uganda, Venezuela, and the United States, and is emerging in other areas around the globe. People are choosing to be Brethren and are choosing to plant the church where they are. Each week, more than half a million people around the world worship in a Church of the Brethren congregation. This specific work is in line with our mission polity, which aims to “maintain close fraternal relationships with other regional conferences; seek to be of one mind with other regional conferences as to matters of faith and belief; participate in periodic world assemblies of the Church of the Brethren; and, when appropriate, cooperate with other regional conferences for activities and programs such as disaster relief, leadership training, church planting, and ecumenical activities.”

The Global Mission office works with our country partners in Burundi, China, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, South Sudan, and Vietnam. Volunteers, like Chris Elliot and his daughter Grace, Marla Abe, Galen Hackman, Bob Kettering, and others along with Global Mission executive director Eric Miller and Global Food Initiative manager Jeff Boshart work to give support to our country partners by providing education in agriculture practices and/or spiritual practices for those who are being called into ministry. For more information visit www.brethren.org/global.

Thank you for supporting servants of Christ near and far. Your gifts to the Mission Offering support the Office of Global Mission and our sisters and brothers around the world. Learn more about the Mission Offering (suggested date: September 10) and find worship resources at www.brethren.org/missionoffering. Give an offering today at www.brethren.org/giveoffering.

(Read this issue of eBrethren.)

Worship resources for the 2022 Mission Offering
of the Church of the Brethren

A theme reflection written for the 2021 Mission Offering by Matt DeBall, coordinator of Mission Advancement Communications

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of God’s hands.” ~Psalm 19:1, NIV

Since the beginning of time, humanity has looked to the skies. Whether for direction, agricultural planning, or inspiration, the heavenly bodies—near and far—have promoted ingenuity and amazement in our world.

King David was a sky-watcher, a stargazer. In his younger years as a shepherd tending his sheep, he surely spent plenty of days under the radiance of the sun and nights with little more than the heavenly bodies to keep him company. Taking in the warmth by day and the vast masterpiece at night, David concluded that the sun and stars above were telling a story, playing a song about the awesomeness of God—a song that, he reasoned, warranted words being written and sung along with it.

Psalm 19 is a wonderful hymn for the people of God in every age. It begins with observing the lights in the sky by night and by day, declares the greatness of the Lord who made them all, reflects upon the lifegiving nature of God’s word and promises, and concludes with a plea for protection from wrongdoing and a prayer.

As we consider the body of Christ in all the earth, many have witnessed the beauty of the skies and proclaimed how great God is for bringing them into being. Around the world, our sisters and brothers continue to be inspired by God’s power and goodness, and as a result, work to share great love with those around them. Indeed, all of us are invited to catch the tune of the heavens and to share fresh testimonies of God’s handiwork in the heavens, in our world, and in our very lives. It is together that we can tell (this and other) rich stories and sing melodious songs about the God who created all things and continues to sustain them through all seasons and struggles.

In a time when each of us greatly benefits from hearing statements of hope and promise, what words of Psalm 19 resonate with you or would encourage those around you? As you look to the heavens, what fresh (or refreshed) words of worship do you feel led to sing to God in this season?

No matter where we are located, as we look to the skies, may we with one voice declare the glory of God, singing new words to the song of the universe.

Find worship resources for this year’s offering or give an offering today at www.brethren.org/giveoffering.

(Read this issue of eBrethren.)

Worship Resources for the 2020 Mission Offering
of the Church of the Brethren

A scripture medley with Romans 5:1-9 for the 2019 Mission Offering

ONE:  We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

ALL:  I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong.

ONE:  Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.

ALL:  No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

ONE:  For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”

ALL:  “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. . . . As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.”

ONE:  For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

ALL:  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

ONE:  May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other [as] Christ Jesus,

ALL:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,

ONE:  So that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

ALL:  Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

ONE:  Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

ALL:  For Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

ONE:  For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.

ALL:  “I will bless those who bless you, . . . and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

(Romans 15:1-9, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, 1 Corinthians 10:24, John 15:18-19, Romans 5:5, Philippians 2:6-7, Ephesians 4:13; John 13:35, Genesis 12:3; NIV)

Find this and other worship resources for the Mission Offering or support it today at www.brethren.org/giveoffering.

(Read this issue of eBrethren.)