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Many
with local Church of the Brethren
Manchester College ties to participate
in nationwide Christmas Eve
special on CBS
A number of northeast Indiana residents and
Manchester College alumni, students and employees are participants in a CBS Christmas Eve service provided
this year by the Church of the Brethren. The nationally telecast
one-hour program will air at 11:35 p.m. on WANE-TV Channel 15. The
service, airing in the David Letterman slot, continues a CBS tradition
of featuring different denominations on Christmas Eve.
Themed “Enter the Light of Life,” the Church
of the Brethren service will focus on the story of Jesus’ birth told in
Luke 2. The service was taped Nov. 23 at Bethany Theological Seminary,
the Church of the Brethren graduate school in Richmond, Ind., and was
produced by the church’s General Board.
Christopher D. Bowman, pastor of Oakton (Va.)
Church of the Brethren and a 1984 graduate of Manchester College, will
deliver the message. Bowman’s family traces its heritage in the Church
of the Brethren through 10 generations. His father, grandfather,
great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather all served as ministers in
the church. (His dad is Robert Bowman, associate professor of religion
at Manchester.)
The service will extend a welcome
from the 1,000 congregations of the Church of the Brethren, who are
committed to “Continuing the work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply.
Together.”
The music is coordinated by Shawn Kirchner, minister of music at the La
Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren and a 1992 graduate of Manchester
College, and features a children’s choir from four northern Indiana
Church of the Brethren congregations led by Manchester College organist
Marilyn Sexton Mason, who also is organist for the Christmas Eve
service. The service also features 1994 music grad Kim Murray Simmons as
soloist.
Indiana
voices in the children’s choir are Erin Schwartz and Ben Schwartz of
Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren in Fort Wayne; Deanna Beckner,
Alaina Beckner and Tyler Johnson of the Columbia City Church of the
Brethren; Rebekah Rich of the Eel River Community Church of the Brethren
in Silver Lake; and soloist Derek Self, Tom Naragon, Kathryn McElwee,
Claire Brumbaugh-Smith and Kristin Pittman of the Manchester Church of
the Brethren in North Manchester.
Manchester College students participating are
scripture reader Thomas Bimba of the Church of the Brethren in
Nigeria and litany reader Tobechukwu (Jenny) Ekwealor of the Richmond
(Ind.) Church of the Brethren. Percussionist
Ben Long is a 2003 Manchester graduate and setting the scene with
decorations were Howard E. Royer ’52 of Elgin, Ill., and Rosanna Eller
’85 McFadden of Goshen, Ind.
Another litany reader is the Rev. Michael Hodson, a 1962 grad and
Church of the Brethren minister who has retired in Troy, Ohio.
Two Manchester grads are consultants to the service: Stanley J.
Noffsinger ’76, general secretary of
the Church of the Brethren General Board, and Del Keeney
’77, executive director of the board’s
Congregational Life Ministries. Deanna Brown,
pastor for worship at Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren in Fort
Wayne and former Manchester College pastor and student, provides viola
and sign movement. Bethany Theological Seminary officials handled local
arrangements for the service, including Manchester alumni Eugene F. Roop
’64, president; Stephen b. Reid ’73, academic dean; Brenda J. Reish ’82,
business manager and treasurer; and Delora Mishler ’64 Roop,
administrative assistant.
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
celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008 and has 130,000 members in the
United States and Puerto Rico, with missions and sister churches in
Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Nigeria. For details about the
denomination, visit
www.brethren.org, which includes the program and photographs for the
Christmas Eve service.
Manchester is a Church of the Brethren liberal arts college with 1,075
students from 23 states and 30 countries. About 11 percent of the
students are members of the Church of the Brethren. For more about
Manchester College, visit
www.manchester.edu
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