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For January 2017, United Brethren Church Resources is offering a special on two books which are being recommended to cluster leaders. Both can be purchased, as hardbacks, for $20 each.
To order, contact Jane Seely at the National Office.
Email: jane@ub.org
Toll-free: 888-622-3019
On January 3, 1901, Clyde W. Meadows was born in Virginia. He would become the most influential United Brethren leader of the 1900s. For 33 years he pastored King Street UB church in Chambersburg, Pa., building it into the denomination’s largest church. Then he served as bishop for eight years.
Meadows was an innovator, a leader of leaders, a mentor to future bishops, a renowned songleader, and a man of boundless energy. He spoke to American troops in Vietnam, leaving the country just hours before the Tet Offensive began. He made six trips to meet clandestinely with Christians behind the Iron Curtain. He once finished an altar call for Billy Graham.
He was the first UB bishop to visit all of our mission fields. For a few years, he served simultaneously as bishop, president of the International Society of Christian Endeavor, and president of the World’s Christian Endeavor Union. In his 90s, he was still speaking up to 100 times a year.
Bishop Meadows passed away in 1999, having lived a fascinating life. His autobiography, “In the Service of the King,” is available from the National Office.
For December, free shipping is available on coffee mugs with the United Brethren logo. They make good Christmas gifts for Sunday school teachers, board members, and others. Fill with candy for a real treat.
Cost: $6 each, or 4 for $20.
You can order from the United Brethren National Office.
To order, call toll-free 1-888-622-3019.
The Grow in His Word materials, used by many United Brethren churches, can now be ordered directly from the Grow Ministries website. (They will no longer be available through the National Office.)
Grow is written by Dennis Miller, pastor of Emmanuel UB church in Fort Wayne, Ind. Since the 1980s, Grow has been used by several dozen UB churches as a discipleship tool, taking students through the entire Bible. During the past year, the Grow booklets were completely redesigned. They can be used in various ways–discipleship groups, personal study, home-school curriculum, etc.
The Grow Ministries plan is an orderly study of the Bible to help you grasp not only what happened in Scripture, but in what order. Designed to follow specific themes through the Bible, Grow in His Word also provides hooks and memory tools to help students remember what they learn. Because of the acrostics that are used to designate time periods in the Old and New Testaments and the life of Christ, students can remember what they learn and, hopefully, where to find it.
The adult material is a four-book series with 52 lessons that take students through both the Old and New Testaments, as well as Church history. Each lesson includes application questions to stimulate discussion and some spiritual wrestling.
A kids’ version, Grow for Kids, is also available. This two-book series consists of a 16-week study of the Old Testament and a 14-week study of the New Testament and Church history.
Leader’s guides are available with both the adult and children’s studies. The Grow Ministries website also includes thousands of photos of the Holy Land, taken from Pastor Miller’s numerous trips there, along with some teaching videos at biblical sites in Israel.
Steve Dennie, Communications Director
United Brethren churches need to know about Clear Elevation, a high quality design firm co-owned by Huntington University. They set up a page just for UB churches.
Need a new website? A professional logo? A nice brochure or bulletin? A church video? A Facebook page? Consider Clear Elevation. They are good–very good. They operate from a Christ-centered philosophy. And a cut of the profits goes to support Huntington University, our denomination’s college.
Clear Elevation began in 2013 as the first HU Venture, a for-profit subsidiary of Huntington University. The managing partners are Nate and Julie Reusser, both of whom attended Huntington University. They also head Reusser Design, a web development agency which has seen dramatic growth during its 10+ years in the industry.
With Clear Elevation, the Reussers are excited to help small business owners and nonprofits with their various creative needs–websites, social media, graphic design, illustration, etc. Clear Elevation strives to generate high-quality, quick-turnaround projects for lower costs.
You can see examples of their work on their website. Contact them for a quote. It may or may not fit your budget, but at least get them on your radar. Account exec Amy Mattox will be happy to talk to you about what they can do.
Books 2 and 4 of the “Grow in His Word” materials are now available.
The Grow In His Word materials, used in discipleship by over 50 United Brethren churches, have been completely revised. Grow is written by Dennis Miller, pastor of Emmanuel UB church in Fort Wayne, Ind. Grow is used in over 50 United Brethren churches, and over the years has been used to systematically take thousands of people through the entire Bible.
There are four books, each of which has its own leader’s guide and accompanying teaching slides.
The Grow Ministries plan is a 52-week study which takes students through the Old and New Testaments in an orderly manner. Students grasp not only what happened, but in what order, with hooks and memory tools to help them remember what they learn. As believers learn about God’s Word, they gain confidence in their understanding and use of the Bible.
A student book, leader’s guide, PowerPoint and Keynote files, and audio files are all available.
September 14 will mark the 200th anniversary of the US national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner.” The song has a special connection for the United Brethren Church.
Francis Scott Key (right), who wrote the song, was a United Brethren member. He and a United Brethren preacher named John Snook organized a Sunday school in Keysville, Md. Key donated songbooks and led the singing. Snook and Key also went on evangelistic tours together, with Key handling the music.
Francis Scott Key, as most people know, penned the lyrics during the War of 1812 as he watched the British bombard Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md. He was 35 years old when he wrote the four-stanza poem on September 14, 1814. It was published a few days later under the title “Defense of Fort M’Henry.”
“The Star Spangled Banner” became the national anthem by a Congressional resolution in 1931.
The United Brethren App is now available for the Kindle. Earlier this summer, it was made available for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets.
When you launch the app, it opens up to the news feed from UBCentral.org. You can see the latest UB news directly on your mobile device.
You’ll also find many other resources:
Steve Dennie, Communications Director
You’re looking at sacred ground. I know, it looks like just a vacant field, which it is. Now. But a large white tabernacle once filled that space, and oh, the memories.
For 90 years, starting in 1917, the tabernacle was the centerpiece of Rhodes Grove Camp, the United Brethren camp in Chambersburg, Pa. The tabernacle eventually became unusable, structurally unsound, beyond repair, and was torn down in 2006. But in its day, thousands and THOUSANDS of children, and adults, walked the long aisles to the front of the tabernacle, knelt at the altar, and committed their lives to Christ. Probably hundreds of them—it’s impossible to know—became pastors and missionaries.
I was one of those children. It was June 1966, during Junior Camp, just after my 4th grade year. I walked probably eight rows to the front, and knelt across from a counselor, who happened to be my dad.
“Do you know what you’re doing, Steve?” he asked.
“I think so,” I told him.
Dad explained a few things, and then prayed with me, his firstborn.
Rev. Burton Lange was the evangelist. A few years ago, when I reminded him that he was preaching the night I was saved, he told me, quite correctly, “With your background, if it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else.” To be quite honest, I’m not sure anything Burt Lange said did the trick. I think it was just my time. I was ready.
Dozens of other kids made commitments to Christ that week—just that one week. Several more camps followed that summer. Multiply by 90 years. Imagine.
Forty-five minutes away is Gettysburg, a battlefield dotted with monuments to what happened there—fierce firefights, acts of heroism, turning points, valiant stands. Gettysburg is one of my favorite places. Been there many times. It’s pretty, but nothing particularly unusual—regular rolling countryside. But something epic occurred there.
Perhaps a monument should be erected in that field, where the tabernacle once stood. On this ground, children, men, and women wrestled mightily with God’s pull on their lives. On this ground, decisions were made which totally changed the trajectory of lives, families, careers, churches. On this ground, epic battles occurred between Good and Evil, and the Good Guys usually won. On this ground, God touched hearts—over and over and over—and people responded, “Yes, Lord.”
Kids still find Christ at Rhodes Grove, of course. Salvation doesn’t require a tabernacle. When God speaks, when He reaches out and touches your heart, you remember it, whether you’re in a historic tabernacle or sitting in a car. Hallowed grounds are being created elsewhere at Rhodes Grove, and those places will one day deserve monuments of their own.
But my heart is in that vacant field. I’m at Rhodes Grove now, attending a Pastors Summit. My room overlooks that field. And I am remembering.
Dave (left) and Scott Stephens.
Dave Stephens served 25.5 years as director of Camp Cotubic in Bellefontaine, Ohio. Dave, an ordained United Brethren minister and former UB pastor, stepped down in January 2014. Taking his place is son Scott Stephens, who has served the camp many years as Program Director.
This United Brethren camp began in the 1970s when several conferences merged in the new Central Conference and decided to build a brand new camp for their constituents in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. A contest was held to name the camp. “Cotubic” uses the first letter of each word in “Church of the United Brethren in Christ.”
Camp Cotubic, along with the other United Brethren camps (and with our blessing), went independent in 2005 when the conferences were disbanded.
