Participants in the upcoming Brethren Heritage Tour will have an unprecedented opportunity to interact with Grace Brethren leaders from around the world during the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Brethren movement.
The anniversary celebration will be held August 2 and 3 in Schwarzenau, Germany and is the first stop on the tour, which is hosted by Grace Brethren International Missions. The anniversary celebration includes activities such as seeing the village of Schwarzenau, visiting the Alexander Mack Museum — named after the founder of the movement, hiking (as Mack did) to the mill along the river, and attending a Saturday evening concert.
Dave Guiles, executive director of Grace Brethren International Missions, and Pastor M’Boie Andre, president of the Union of Grace Brethren Churches in the Central African Republic, will participate in the Sunday afternoon anniversary celebration. Also representing the Grace Brethren movement at the event will be 35 delegates from 18 different countries. (At the conclusion of the weekend, they will travel to Bad Homburg, Germany for the Charis Leadership Encounter.)
The Heritage Tour, hosted by Grace Brethren International Missions, departs the U.S. on July 31 immediately following the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches conference and concludes in Paris on August 14.
Other scheduled stops include visits with Grace Brethren missionaries in Germany and France, a worship service at the Lyon (France) Grace Brethren Church, and a stay at the Chateau de St. Albain, a Grace Brethren retreat center in the Burgundy region of France.
Grace Brethren historian and pastor, Dr. David Plaster, will guide the group through both Brethren and Protestant historical locations and there will be sight-seeing opportunities in Switzerland and Paris.
Cost is $2,800 plus airfare, per person for an all-inclusive land package. Informational and registration materials can be found on the GBIM website at www.gbim.org. For more information, contact Ted Rondeau at (574) 268-1888, extension 29 or trondeau@gbim.org.