Matt McKeown

Matt McKeown wears a few different hats. His title is associate pastor of of First UB church in Holly Hill, Fla. (where his father, Chuck, is senior pastor). He manages Sound Mind Studios, a recording studio which is a ministry of first UB. And on the side, he writes lots of music.

At the moment, Matt has written songs for (and is waiting on possible approval from) mainstream artists like Leona Lewis, Jennifer Hudson, Meatloaf, Jordin Sparks, Matthew Morrison (from Glee), Apocalyptica, and others. Nothing’s been picked up yet. He’s still mostly in the “trying to get my foot in the door” stage. But he’s been working hard at it.

Matt was delighted last week when a song he co-wrote played on an NFL promo on Fox. I asked him to tell me more.

“For the last 2 years I’ve been writing with a man named Billy Chapin. He has been in the business for years. He has written for and/or produced for a lot of mainstream pop acts like Backstreet Boys, O Town, and artists like Edwin McCain and Sister Hazel. He won an award for the song he wrote for the Christian group Avalon called “Undeniably You.” He has offers all the time from people looking for songs.

“I have submitted literally dozens of ideas for lots of different artists. I submitted a song called “Nothin’ but the Best.” It was passed on by the band. So we submitted it to a company that gets music placed in pro sports games. That’s when the NFL picked it up. It played last Thursday (August 19, 2010), the day of the pre-season Patriots/Falcons game in a promo for the NFL on FOX. We heard from the music company that got it to the NFL that they want more music. So, in the last week or so he and I have written 10 or so more ideas to submit.

“This first time is not going to mean anything big money-wise for me, but it was a way to get in the door. Now that I’m in, Hopefully there will be enough demand to insist on a nice paycheck. As we all know, being in ministry doesn’t pay a lot, but like tentmaker Paul, I can work with my hands and make some extra money.”

Earlier today, Matt reported on Facebook, “The media company that got my song placed on Fox for the NFL has picked up another one of my songs. Life is good.”

Way to go, Matt!

• Lead some portion of the worship service periodically–announcements, prayer, etc. Talk to people at altar.
• Preach a couple times a year.
• Teach GROW Discipleship classes. He’s been substituting for GROW teachers, but in the fall will probably start his own class.
• Do pastoral care: contact visitors and regular members, some hospital visitation, a little counseling.
• Participate in a mission trip at least once every two years (a requirement of all Emmanuel staff).
• Make contacts with cluster leaders. Senior pastor Denny Miller works one day a week as the denominational Cluster Coordinator. Bishop Ramsey says, “I’m really excited that I’ll work with Denny to contact cluster leaders. Bishop C. Ray Miller has been given half the list, I’ve been given half the list. We’ll call the cluster leader once a month and see how things are going, what’s happening in their lives, areas we can serve, needs they have, etc.”

Since leaving the bishop’s office last August, Ron has been speaking frequently in UB churches. He will remain free to do that occasionally.

Saturday, January 10
Saturday. Traveling to Honduras, the San Pedro Airport, the road trip to La Ceiba, getting checked in at the hotel, and eating at Pizza Hut.

Sunday, January 11
Sunday Morning. The morning breakfast and service.
Sunday Afternoon – Children. The opening of the service, with the children singing the various national anthems.
Sunday – Bethel Band. The band performing during the service.
Sunday – Singing. The congregation singing during the opening service.
Sunday – Pastors. The stationing of pastors.
Sunday – Miscellaneous. A variety of other shots from the Sunday afternoon service.

Monday, January 11
Monday Business. Monday morning and early afternoon.
Monday – Camp. Visiting the Honduras Conference campground.

Tuesday, January 12
Tuesday Business. Tuesday morning and afternoon.
Tuesday Night. The evening service.

Wednesday, January 13
Wednesday Business. Wednesday morning and afternoon.
Wednesday Night. The concluding service on Wednesday night, and praying with Oliam Richard.

• 1220 people worldwide have joined the UB news email list. We average 2-3 emails a month, only sending them as needed (rather than on a set schedule).
• 230 people are now fans of the United Brethren Facebook page (up from nothing a few months ago).
• 92 people are following the United Brethren Twitter feed.
• 59 people are using Feedburner, a nifty service from Google which sends a daily email of everything posted to UBCentral.
• 2900+ people are fans of the Huntington University Facebook page.
• 369 people receive the monthly Huntington University Prayer Ministry email. This comes from the office of Bishop Emeritus Paul Hirschy, who says, “I would like to see it top 500.”

Yesterday, I received #19 in the series. As usual, it contained a batch of delightfully corny jokes which I’d never heard before. It seems that some of the world’s best humor makes its way to the hollows of Big Laurel and stops there, until Titus releases it back to the world via his Groundhog Day Letter.

For example:

• The other night I left the window open and influenza.
• Do you know the difference beween Bird flu and Swine Flu? For bird flu, you need tweetment, and for swine flu you need oinkment.
• Did you hear about the man who watered just half of his lawn since there was a 50% chance of rain?
• I heard of a preacher who named his bed “the word” and his boat “visitation.” His wife then could answer the phone calls, “He’s in the word,” or “He’s out on visitation.”
• I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
• Two cannibals were eating a clown. One cannibal said to the other, “Does this taste funny to you?”

Along with the frivolity, Titus reported that several people prayed to receive Christ this year at Laurel Mission. He noted of his six children, “They are good workers and helpers, and they each love Jesus.” He gave these updates on his family.

• Titus and his wife, Debbie, have now been ministering at Laurel Mission for 30 years.
• Nathan, 25, works at United Central, a coal mine supply company. He is also the mission’s youth pastor and leads an active group of teens weekly. “No challenge seems too big for Nathan.”
• Hannah, 22, lives and works at a high school in Vancleve, Kent., and also works part-time as a state social worker. In October, she spent ten days in Israel.
• Stephanie, 19, will complete high school in May and plans to attend Kentucky Mountain Bible College next fall. In January, she spent seven days in Jamaica on a mission trip.
• Erica, 17, loves gardening and animals, and is determined to serve her country in the Army.
• Lacy, 16, is the extrovert and is able to express herself very well.
• Taylor, 15, is the youngest, but the tallest, and she loves to do artwork.

Titus concluded his letter with this: “May the Son shine on you so that you cast a long shadow of influence every time you venture from your den.”

I’ve written about the Bethel Band a number of times over the years, going back to the 1980s, when missionary Archie Cameron led it. The band is part of the Bethel Institute, a large school operated by our Honduras Conference.

The Bethel Band has won many honors over the years. They won a competition as the best band in Central America.

But I had never heard the Bethel Band perform. I heard them practice one time, when I was in Honduras writing Tio Archie (one chapter is devoted to the Bethel Band). But I’d not seen them perform.

Until a couple weeks ago, when I was in Honduras for General Conference.

David Raudales, director of the Bethel Band, played in worship teams throughout the week of General Conference.

During the opening service on Sunday, January 10, the Bethel Band marched to the front of the gymnasium and played two numbers for us. They were extraordinary. Just blew me away.

I was sitting on the front row when they lined up, the saxophone players right in front of me. When the music started, the sax players began stepping toward me, and I thought they were going to run me over.

I knew they’d be good musically. I was not expecting all of the movement. I mean, they MOVED. I particularly enjoyed watching the three guys whirling around with their bass drums.

So much music, so much sound, so much movement, so many instruments. And the thing is–they were at half-strength. School was not in session at that time of year, but director David Raudales still managed to round up 50 of his 100 band members for a voluntary performance.

David is the son of Francisco Raudales, the former Honduras Conference superintendent. Francisco grew up playing in the band and later directed it, before passing the baton to his son.

David hopes to expand the band’s size to 150 members. The limitation is instruments. They’ll gladly take that trumpet or flute collecting dust in your attic. Why not send it to Global Ministries, so we can put it in the hands of a young Honduran? Give an opportunity to a kid who would just love to make music with Central America’s premier band.

In September, the Bethel Band will travel to Guatemala for another big competition. About 50 Guatemalan bands will compete against each other, and the winner will then go against a dozen or so bands from other countries. Bethel has won this competition in the past. After what I heard that Sunday in La Ceiba, I can’t imagine that they won’t be winning it again in the years ahead.

Enjoy these photos of the Bethel Band performing at General Conference.

Theresa Musa and Billy Simbo, the two delegates from Sierra Leone, during the January 13 prayer time for Haiti.

William Otterbein, one of the United Brethren founding bishops, originally came to America in the 1700s as a missionary from Germany. Is God up to something in Germany, UB-wise? It’s looking mighty suspicious.

• A United Brethren church was established there in 1997 by a former UB minister from Sierra Leone.
• Marshalee Brown Loerch, a missionary from Jamaica Conference, married a German and settled in Germany.
• Galen Fiedler, son of former UB missionaries to Sierra Leone, and his German wife Maritta live in southern Germany and now hold the status of “non-traditional staff” with Global Ministries.

Billy Simbo, Bishop of Sierra Leone Conference.;

At General Conference this past week, Billy Simbo, bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, told about the work in Germany, which is considered an outreach of Sierra Leone Conference.

“In 1997, one of our ordained ministers took refuge in Berlin. Being a well-trained United Brethren pastor, he didn’t sit idle, but started a church in Berlin.

“In 2007, I was privileged to visit Berlin to celebrate their tenth anniversary. They invited me to preach at the final service. About 400 people attended. Most were German citizens, but many other African nations were represented.

“My challenge to them was that when we get together to celebrate their 20th anniversary, they should come to General Conference asking to become a national conference of the United Brethren church.

“We have reaped a lot of benefit from this church. Before medical teams from the United States came to Mattru Hospital, the church in Berlin was sending us equipment for the hospital.

“The minister who started the church in Berlin moved on to the United Kingdom in 2008, and another pastor took his place. He’s pastoring a Methodist church, but has asked permission to start a United Brethren church in England. So I said yes. We’re excited about that.

“There is great potential in Germany and all of those European countries, because everywhere you go, there are lots of African immigrants. We can start churches everywhere with them.”

Jeff Bleijerveld, director of Global Ministries, explained that the United Brethren name is registered with the German government, which is a difficult process. Now, if we want to open other churches in Germany, we have representation before the government.

Me, after I've just signed 100 copies of Tio Archive.

I started writing Tio Archie in 1996, and it was published in May 2001. While it tells the story of Honduras, it was not written in Spanish, the language of Honduras. It was published in English. Because that’s what I speak.

But it needed to be in Spanish.

Over the years, missionaries Roger and Marilyn Reeck translated Tio Archie into Spanish. Marilyn worked hard this year to finish the book. On Satuday, January 9, the book arrived in La Ceiba the same day I did (though it came from a printing plant in Tegucigalpa).

The book was unveiled at the end of the January 10 service which opened the General Conference. A number of people asked me to autograph their copies. That’s always a joy and a privilege to do.

L-r: Jeff Bleijerveld, Phil Whipple, and Alan Simbo in Chicago.

Steve Dennie (left) and Jeff Bleijerveld waiting for the flight to Fort Wayne...home,

A tired group of General Conference delegates left the Gran Paris Hotel in La Ceiba, Honduras, at 4:15 a.m. The conference bus (“Followers of the Lord” in bit white letters across the windshield, but in Spanish) came to pick us up. David Raudales, director of the Bethel Band and son of Francisco and Maira Raudales, tagged along with the bus driver to see us off.

The two Guatamalans, Francisco Najera and Rolando Valenzuela, deboarded at the bus station on the outskirts of town. The rest of us continued on to San Pedro Sula.

In San Pedro, the Americans, Jamaicans, and Sierra Leoneans boarded a flight for Miami about 9:30. they left four persons behind. Carlos Quesada, a workshop leader, would be catching a flight to Brazil to continue his presentations on behalf of Operation Mobilization. Jeff Dice waited for a flight to Costa Rica. And the two Canadians, Brian Magnus and Paul Plato, also had a later flight back to Canada.

In Miami, we lost Winston Smith and Isaac Nugent, who continued on to Jamaica. That left five Americans and three Sierra Leoneans.

On to Chicago. There, the Sierra Leoneans and Americans parted company. Billy and Alan Simbo were heading to Philadelphia, while Theresa Musa caught a flight for Baltimore.

Phil Whipple waiting for the flight to Fort Wayne.

That left the Americans waiting for a tiny American Eagle flight to Fort Wayne, Ind. Phil Whipple, Jeff Bleijerveld, Jason and Donna Hollopeter, and Steve Dennie arrived in Fort Wayne just after 8:30.

Meanwhile, back in Honduras….

• The Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans left Wednesday night, driving home.
• Oliam Richard would left this morning from La Ceiba, hoping to make his way to stricken Haiti. (We were happy to see, in Miami, that a scheduled flight to Port au Prince was On Time.)
• Denis Casco left Thursday from the La Ceiba airport, heading back to Mexico.
• Ajiax Wo and Karis Vong began their journey back to Hong Kong in late afternoon.

And that’s it. The end of a great meeting.

Bishop Phil Whipple will preach tonight at one of the Honduran churches here in La Ceiba. Last night, Francisco Najera of Guatemala gave a dynamic message in a highly energetic service.

Unfortunately, Phil has been having some stomach problems–nothing serious, but enough to be very discomforting. You might say a prayer, that he’ll be just fine tonight.