12 Jul Six Men Ordained at National Conference
Clockwise, from upper left: Gary and Carol Boston, Marshall and Gloria Woods, Dalton and Jackie Jenkins, Jason and Julie Bakker, Roxton and Diane Spear, Micheal and Cindi Dean.
The US National Conference closed on Saturday morning, July 9, with the ordination of six men. Bishop Phil Whipple conducted the ordination service. Each candidate selected 2 or 3 other ordained ministers to assist in the ordination, laying their hands on the candidate and spouse as they knelt and the bishop commissioned him as an ordained elder.
In the past, ordinations were conducted at the annual conference meetings. In 2005, we eliminated the conference structures. Since then, ordinations have been conducted either in local churches or at the national conference.
The six newly-ordained ministers are:
- Jason E. Bakker, associate pastor of Salem UB (Chambersburg, Pa.). Assisting: Art Page and Dennis Sites.
- Micheal E. Dean, senior pastor of Sabetha UB (Sabetha, Kansas). Assisting: Ron Ramsey and Ray Seilhamer.
- Roxton (Rocky) W. Spear, senior pastor of Mongul UB (Shippensburg, Pa.). Assisting: Milt Herrold, Howard Beaver, and Dwight Spear.
- Gary Boston, an unassigned minister from Winchester, Va. Assisting: Chris Little and Dennis Sites.
- Marshall Woods III, senior pastor of Mill Chapel (Reedsville, W. Va.). Assisting: Chris Little and Dennis Sites.
- Dalton M. Jenkins, senior pastor of Bethel Temple of Praise (Yonkers, N.Y.). Assisting: Ron Ramsey and Chris Little.
The public ordination ceremony included three parts.
First, the bishop asked a series of questions to all six persons together, and they responded together.
- Are you assured that you are inwardly moved by the Holy Spirit to take upon you the office of the ministry, to serve God in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, to the honor and glory of His name? If so, answer, “I trust that I am.”
- Do you believe the Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments? If so, answer, “I do believe them.”
- Will you apply due diligence to frame and fashion your life according to the doctrine of Christ and to live as a wholesome example to the flock of Christ? If so, answer, “I will, the Lord being my helper.”
- Will you obey those whom God has placed in authority over you, and follow their godly admonitions with a willing and ready mind? If so, answer, “I will endeavor, through the grace of God, to do so.”
Next, the candidate and spouse knelt, and Bishop Phil Whipple and other ordained ministers layed hands on them and commissioned them to the ordained ministry. The bishop said to each person, “Take authority to execute the office of an elder in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The candidate and spouse then stood, and the bishop handed each one a Bible, with these words, “Take authority to preach the Word of God and to administer the ordinances in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.”
Those three parts were done before the entire conference. After the service, Bishop Whipple presented to each candidate a certificate of ordination.
A number of other photos from the ordination service can be viewed on Facebook.
From Dave Spencer, UB endorsed staff in Brazil: “I just returned from a trip to the upper Amazon where at least three different language groups are crying for translations. Please remind UBers that there are hundreds of opportunities to serve the Lord. While we have over 500 translations of the Bible in the English language, of 7000 languages in the world, less than 500 have a translation of the Bible. Over 2000 languages don’t even have a translation program in progress! Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth workers!”
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Jeff Dice, who is in Nicaragua with his family helping with work teams, sent a note on July 2 about the group of 25 teens and adult sponsors from College Park UB (Huntington, Ind.), who had been in Nicaragua since June 20.