Record number train for Ministry Summer Service.

A record number of interns met in Richmond, Ind., June 5-11 for this year's Ministry Summer Service (MSS) orientation. Some late additions raised the total number of young adults participating to 17, the highest total in the program's nine years. The program sponsored by the General Board's Youth/Young Adult Ministries office gives young adults ages 18-24 an opportunity to explore ministry options under the guidance of a mentor. Interns serve for nine weeks in congregational or other church-related settings.

Ministry Office director Mary Jo Flory-Steury and Youth/Young Adult Ministries director Chris Douglas led many of this year's sessions. Faculty from Bethany Theological Seminary, Southern Ohio District executive Mark Flory Steury, and other denominational staff provided additional leadership. Topics addressed included Brethren heritage, personality styles, ministerial ethics, and church polity. The group also worshiped at Richmond Church of the Brethren, visited the Bethany campus, and took turns leading devotions. Mentors arrived for the final three days of the orientation, getting to know their interns and building plans for the summer. The week concluded with a commissioning service.

Ten female and seven male interns are participating this year. Ten are serving in congregations, others are working with camps, on the Youth Peace Travel Team, with youth workcamps, in the Brethren Witness/Washington Office, and with Companeros en Ministerio of Tijuana, Mexico.

More than 100 young adults have been part of MSS since it began in 1996. The challenge now is to secure support so the program can continue. Underwritten by an individual donor for its first eight years, the program now requires other funding. General Board staff are seeking donors and funding resources.

Source: 6/18/2004 Newsline