(260) 356-2312

UB.orgUBGlobal.orgChurch Search

02 Jun

June 2, 2009 |

RonPat_trailer500.jpg

Bishop Ron Ramsey (right) and Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries, in front of the loaded trailer. Among all the supplies, printed materials, etc., are many pieces from actual Nascar vehicles. They’ll be used in set decoration by Heather Umbaugh, who is heading up that part of the conference.

The trailer will head to Huron, Ohio, Wednesday morning, and we’ll spend the day–along with many other volunteers–getting everything set up. Then, Thursday noon, registration starts.

27 May

May 27, 2009 |

registrationcount_857.jpg

Oh ye of little faith. Registrations keep climbing toward the 900 mark, which we hit in 2007. Here’s how things look right now:

857 people registered.
182 ministerial delegates
195 lay delegates
120 teens and children
138 people attending the UB Historical Society banquet.
26 signed up to play golf each day (Thursday and Saturday)
22 attending the LEAD Team (church multiplication) lunch on Friday.

We also have 47 former missionaries registered. They’ll be recognized Saturday on Missions Night. Global Ministries is using the theme “Looking Back, Looking Ahead,” to recognize both our rich history in missions and where the Lord may be taking us in the years ahead.

All of the reports have now been posted online. Delegates received most of them by mail a couple weeks ago, and will get the rest when they arrive.

If you’re attending as a delegate, you might want to download a copy of the UB Discipline. It may come in handy during the business meeting. At the least, you can use it for devotional reading.

20 May

May 20, 2009 |

A one-day workshop on “Strategic Planning for the Local Church” will be held July 16 in Fort Wayne, Ind. It’s limited to 30 persons–the first 30 to register. This seminar was previously held in February, and it filled up.

The presenter is Dr. Rick Upchurch, director of the Huntington University EXCEL adult education program. His office, along with all other graduate school offices, is in the Healthy Ministry Resources building (and all of us agree that he’s a great guy). Rick is an ordained Nazarene minister who has worked with local churches the past ten years as a consultant in leadership-related areas.

Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009
Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Location: Innovation Center, 3201 Stelhorn Road, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Cost: $99 (or $79 each if 3 or more persons come from the same church). Includes lunch.
CEU Credit: .5 CEU

The class will focus on:

  • Steps to an effective strategic plan for your church.
  • How to implement change in a way that produces results.
  • Leadership types and how to maximize your personal type.

You can register online. You can also contact Dr. Upchurch by email.

13 May

May 13, 2009 |

Wow, things are a bit crazy around Healthy Ministry Resource as we put together a big packet of materials for all delegates to the National Conference. Which is just three weeks away.

The packet contains:

  • Reports from Bishop Ramsey and the various directors.
  • Materials regarding elections–vision statement, bios, ballots.
  • All of the proposals for changing the Discipline (about 30 of them).
  • Executive Leadership Team minutes from the last two years.
  • The Rules and Procedures of the conference.

Bishop Ramsey stresses: READ THE REPORTS. We’re not going to spend a lot of time going over them during the conference. That would be redundant. We have too much ground to cover.

The packet of reports will probably go out Thursday or Friday. But right now, you can download most of them, and also view them online at the US National Conference site.

Delegates are also advised to download the UB Discipline from the US National Conference site. Perhaps pastors could print out a copy for each delegate. It may come in handy when we’re doing Discipline revision.

09 May

May 9, 2009 |

Registrations now stand at 788, so the big 8-0-0- isn’t far away.

The number of ministerial and lay delegates has been running neck-and-neck, but now the laypersons have jumped out to a decent lead:

  • 180 ministerial delegates
  • 189 lay delegates

The UB Historical Banquet will be quite the deal, certainly the largest the UB Historical Society has had. Current signees: 135.

The golf outing has 25 people registered for Thursday and 27 for Saturday.

We’ve been publicizing the LEAD Team luncheon on Friday. We now have 22 people signed up to learn more about church planting.

05 May

May 5, 2009 |

youthworkers2009.jpg

Jerry Davis speaking to the UB youth workers.

I am attending the UB Youth Workers Summit, which started today at First UB church in Holly Hill, Fla. We have 33 United Brethren youth workers from as far away as Boston.

Dr. Jerry Davis, from Huntington University, is our speaker. The theme is “Rooted.”

  • Rooted in relationships
  • Rooted in worship
  • Rooted in scripture
  • Rooted in prayer
  • Rooted in Christ

04 May

May 4, 2009 |

We’ve added some information about XLR8:

A very complete list of restaurants near Sawmill Creek, where the conference will be held. Some of these may be closed, and probably some new ones have opened. But this list–quite lengthy–should be pretty close to reality.

Information on the four keynote speakers:

  • Tim Brown (Thursday and Friday).
  • Pat Jones (Friday night UB Historical Society Banquet).
  • Jeff Bleijerveld (Saturday night focus on missions).
  • Ron Ramsey (Sunday morning).

Ministers: set up a time with Denny Zimmerman to go over your pension account.

Sign up for the Friday luncheon on church multiplication.

01 May

May 1, 2009 |

The numbers for XLR8 keep climbing and climbing. Here in the national office, we’re very pleased, excited…and maybe a bit scared.

Here are the latest numbers:

  • Total registrations: 751
  • Ministerial delegates registered: 185
  • Lay delegates registered: 184
  • Attending the UB Historical Society Banquet: 125
  • Golf outing: 25 on Thursday, 25 on Saturday
  • Teens and children registered: 113
  • LEAD Team lunch on Friday: 11

We’ve got an interesting neck-and-neck race between laypersons and ministers to see who has more voting members.

15 Apr

April 15, 2009 |

We recently posted the nominees for Bishop and Executive Leadership Team, along with an explanation from the Nominating Committee That ballot is only tentative and not considered complete until the current Executive Leadership Team approves it. My bad. The ballot will be reviewed and approved by the ELT when it meets next Tuesday, and then we will publish the official one prior to National Conference.

I also want to comment on having just one nominee for Bishop. In case anyone questions whether that is procedurally allowable, the answer is “yes.”  There is no Constitutional or Discipline requirement to have more than one candidate for a position. That concept is found in our Standing Resolutions.  Current Resolution 23 states:

23. The Nominating Committee will nominate at least twice the number of persons required for all positions.

But Rule 24 states:

24. The Nominating Committee may move to suspend the preceding rule as it sees fit.

The Nominating Committee did due diligence in seeking qualified candidates for the position of Bishop, and after asking a number of individuals to consider the nomination, found one qualified candidate who was willing to serve. By consensus, they submitted one name and will take action at National Conference to move that Rule 23 be suspended for the ballot for Bishop.

I applaud their efforts. In their search, they had in mind a list of qualifications for the position. It was desired to see someone who has a proven track record of leadership.  Who knows what it was to lead a church to grow. Who is committed to Great Commission ministry. Who knows what it is to work with a team. Who has the gift of administration. Someone who has a heart for the church, and believes in the ministry of the local church.

It is imperative that we don’t compromise qualifications for the sake of a perceived procedural need. Our procedures allow for a single name to be placed in nomination.

My desire is that we all pray fervently for the work of our upcoming National Conference and for those who will lead us in the future. The task before them is great, but our God is greater.

15 Apr

April 15, 2009 |

Tom Datema alerted me to a seminar–in just two weeks–by the guys at Midnight Oil Productions. Tom and I heard these guys at a ChurchMedia.net conference. They’re tremendous. Both were once on staff with Ginghamsburg Church in the Dayton, Ohio, area, as part of the group that designed worship experiences. They are especially good when it comes to using imagery and metaphor. Their seminar was perhaps the best one on this subject I’ve ever attended.

The cost is $99 per day, and they’re taking walk-ins, so you don’t even need to register in advance. And if Dayton is too early, they’re doing this seminar in other locations.They are doing two one-day seminars back to back:

  • Monday, April 27: Creative Worship. Philosophy and tips putting together engaging digital-age worship experiences.
  • Tuesday, April 28: Design Matters. About creating media for use in worship services.