Fall Lecture Series: "The Brethren Service Center: Standing on Holy Ground"

Sunday, November 17, 2019
4:00 PM 5:00 PM 16:00 17:00

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Join us for a part two of the Fall Lecture series on the theme of Service. This second installment features Miller Davis, a director at the Brethren Service Center from 1971 - 1998. Miller Davis started at the Brethren Service Center as a volunteer through Brethren Voluntary Service. In 1971 he became Director of General Services, and in 1977 became Director of Center Operations. With the name change to Emergency Response / Service Ministries, Davis took the title of Manager. He served through 1998, when he was replaced by Stanley Noffsinger. Davis served on the boards of such groups as Heifer Project International and the Interchurch Medical Assistance. As part of the larger General Board structure, Davis went back and forth between Elgin and New Windsor, though his primary work was in New Windsor.

The Brethren Service Center (BSC) in New Windsor, Maryland was established in 1944 with the purchase of the former Blue Ridge College Campus. The first of its buildings, Old Main, was built in 1849. The Church of the Brethren purchased the property in 1913, sold it in 1937, and repurchased it in 1944. The purpose of the center was to provide housing for the church’s expanding material aid programs. Beginning in 1997, the work was renamed Emergency Response/Service Ministries (ER/SM) although the center name remained unchanged.

Beginning in 1944, BSC was been used to collect and distribute aid, direct disaster response, place refugees and provide facilities for groups, conferences, volunteers, and Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) training. It also provided ecumenical services for groups such as Church World Service, CROP, and Lutheran World Relief, and it worked closely with such organizations as Interchurch Medical Assistance (IMA).

A free-will offering will be received to support the mission and programming of the Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center. To receive a receipt for your tax-deductible gift, please make a check payable to Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center and be sure your check includes an address at which you receive mail.