People and Programs

• Advisory Board
• Staff
• What we do
• How it all began--history of NCP
• 2007 Income/expense pie chart

Advisory Board:

Chair: Steve Brady -- Steve has served on the Committee on Interchurch Relations for the Church of the Brethren and hails from Lebanon, OH.

Vice Chair: David Rogers -- From North Manchester, IN, David is a retired pastor and avid advocate for justice and peace, with extensive experience in Central America.

Secretary: Sophie Wilhelm -- Our youth representative is from Richmond, IN and has taken a special interest in promoting NCP's Give a Girl a Chance fund.

Al Hansell -- Al Hansell is a former district executive and national staffperson for the Church of the Brethren, and currently serves as director of church relations for Elizabethtown College. He hails from Mountville, PA.  

Chrissy Sollenberger --  Chrissy is the young adult rep on the board, and attends Earlham (IN) College.

Kim McDowell -- Kim is pastor of the University Park Church of the Brethren in Hyattsville, MD.

Larry Lesh -- Larry is a retired teacher and member of the Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren in Fort Wayne, IN.

Robbie Miller -- Robbie lives in Bridgewater, VA where he serves as college chaplain at Bridgewater College.

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Staff:

Director: David Radcliff -- Based in Elgin, IL, David travels widely around the U.S. doing presentations in schools, congregations, youth events, community settings, and regional and national gatherings. His areas of emphasis are living responsibly with the earth, living respectfully and justly with our neighbors, and generally confronting the culture of consumption for our own spiritual health and for the good of the planet, its people and coming generations. David is a graduate of Bridgewater College and Bethany Seminary (MDiv, DMin [peace studies]); teaches courses at Elizabethtown College in the areas of globalization, environmental care, and poverty and hunger; leads Learning Tours to the Arctic, Amazon, Nepal, Burma, Sudan, and Central America; received the 2008 West/Whitelow Humanitarian Award from Bridgewater College; and has traded in his car for a bicycle.  Contact him at dradcliff@newcommunityproject.org.

Undoing Global Warming/Sustainable Living Homestead program coordinator: Tom Benevento -- Tom has a degree in Sustainable Systems and has extensive experience in development work and community organizing. His work with NCP involves leading Undoing Global Warming workshops for congregations and other groups, and developing a model sustainable living homstead at his home in Harrisonburg, VA. Learn more about his work at our Undoing Global Warming page. Contact Tom Working with Tom is Beth Schermerhorn, Community Garden manager.

Administrative Assistant: Pat Owen brings a deep commitment to justice and peace along with an interest in engaging the global community to her work with NCP. She lives in Geneva, IL and is a student at Bethany Seminary. Pat's role is to nurture congregational connections, strengthen our networks, help out with office work, and handle bookkeeping.

Creation Stewardship Coordinator: Kim Chaffin -- Kim is an avid environmentalist and peacemaker, and lives in Jonesboro, TN.

Website Manager: Lutricia Zerfing -- Lutricia has her own web design business, and lives near Harrisburg, PA. Email web comments here.

Program Associate: Heidi Gross -- When Heidi drives around North Manchester, IN, look for her in a light blue Prius. For NCP, she takes care of administrative details, manages mailing lists, proofs materials, manages the NCP Store, and keeps David in line. Contact Heidi

Office Assistant: Daniel Radcliff -- Living in Elgin, IL, Daniel pitches in with mailings and other office chores, and is available for his I Francis performance on the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

Special Projects promotion: Alex Murphy -- Hailing from Schwecksville, PA and a recent grad of Bridgewater College, Alex works part-time promoting NCP's Special Funds on girls' education, women's development, and reforestation. Contact Alex about Special Projects here.

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What We Do

Schools and colleges, congregational presentations, retreats and workshops, sessions for children and youth, religious or secular settings—whenever/whatever/with whomever, the New Community Project is available to provide stimulating, informative, affordable, and occasionally humorous leadership

In today's fast-paced and often challenging world, NCP staff can help your group, school or congregation:

• practice sustainability in our over-consuming society
• respond to global injustice (poverty, sweatshops, women's issues, child labor, etc.)
• learn about challenges facing the planet (global warming, over-fishing, water supplies, species extinction, disappearing rainforest and ice caps, etc.)
• assess the energy footprint of facilities and grounds for ecological and economical reasons
• explore the Arctic, Amazon, Africa and Asia through photos and stories
• find a spiritual grounding for one's outward deeds of justice and peace

Along with creative up-front leadership, NCP staff bring ideas for putting one's faith into action. Flyers, study materials, action projects offering next steps in one's journey to live more sustainable and justly

Take us to school!

NCP staff are available for presentations on the environment, world hunger, globalization, or specific regions such as Central America or North and South Korea.

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