Maybe you didn’t know that Brethren Life and Thought had a blog. Or maybe, since the blog has been silent for many months you forgot about it.
Either way, you have nothing to worry about. Brethren Life and Thought is about to do a new thing on the inter-webs.
First, we are excited to announce a new line of editors.
Joshua Brockway, Blog Editor
Joshua is the blog and book review editor for Brethren Life and Thought and currently serves as director for the spiritual life and discipleship for the Church of the Brethren. A doctoral candidate at The Catholic University of America in church history, he will defend his dissertation in the spring of 2015. His academic work focuses on the ascetic works of John Cassian in the fourth and fifth centuries. As a minister in the Church of the Brethren and as denominational staff, Joshua often teaches and writes on the practices of discipleship and the spiritual life. Though his academic and ministerial work seem worlds apart, the primary question in both is how we are formed in our practices so that we can be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Joshua often runs in Neo-Anabaptist and Missional circles, seeking out the ways the Brethren tradition is increasingly relevant in our culture. Joshua lives in Elgin Il with his wife and four great kids.
Shayne Petty, Contributing Editor
Shayne Thomas Petty is an emerging missiologist currently serving as Associate Pastor for Outreach & Discipleship at Potsdam Church of the Brethren in the Southern Ohio District. He is pursuing an M.Div. in Intercultural Ministry, Evangelism & Missional Leadership at Bethany Theological Seminary. Shayne holds a B.A. in Theatre Studies & Religion from Wright State University. He is extremely passionate about the ministry of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, and his involvement with them as a student leader, alumni volunteer, and ministry partner. A Charismatic Evangelical with ties to the Neo-Anabaptist and Hebrew Roots movements, Shayne sojourned with the United Methodist Church, Messianic Jews, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Brethren in Christ, and the Association fo Vineyard Churches before becoming a licensed minister in the Church of the Brethren. He currently resides in West Milton, OH with his wife, Erin, and their two cats.
Laura Stone, Contributing Editor
Laura Stone has an MDiv from Andover Newton in Boston, a BA from Manchester University. She has worked in mental health (at Gould Farm) and church music (Iona Community and congregations). Most recently she has been a PhD student in practical theology at Boston University. Catch more of her thinking and writing at her blog, thepatchworkpietist.wordpress.
Second, BLT is on Twitter! Even through we have had a Facebook page for some time, we are now doing Brethren things in 140 characters. In the past, the Facebook page has primarily been a forum to announce new posts on the blog. Now, with a presence on both platforms we hope to curate a space for conversation “in a Brethren accent.” This means that the editors will be posting and sharing content from around the web that may be of interest to Brethren. This of course will include new posts on the BLT blog, but want to expand the Brethren circle by sharing and reflecting on interesting pieces from a variety of perspectives.
And finally, the BLT blog has a new look. While this may seem simply cosmetic, under the hood this new design means that you can read your favorite posts on any mobile device.
As with so much on the internet today, this is an experiment. While the first launch drew some attention and traffic, the mechanics of maintaining the level and frequency of content was more than one person could do. With this new structure of contributing editors and a more robust social media community we hope that Brethren Life and Thought can be a meeting place for sharing and reflecting on the Brethren tradition and its many expressions.
So, if you are on Facebook you can find us here. And if you are part of the Twitter-verse, follow us @Brethren_Life