11 Jun Five Changes Made to the UB Constitution

The 2007 US National Conference, meeting on June 1 in Huron, Ohio, gave official approval to five changes to the Constitution. All five proposed changes, called referenda, were advanced by the 2005 US National Conference and voted upon by members of all UB churches in the United States during February 2007.

Each referendum received at least 90% of the votes cast. Here are the complete results:

The delegates responded by giving their assent with comparable percentages (a two-thirds vote is needed to make a referendum official).

The ramifications of these referenda are:

1. Referendum 1 removed some language from the preamble which the new structure adopted in 2005 makes obsolete (specifically, reference to annual conferences).
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11 Jun Two Items Removed from National Church Covenant

The US National Conference approved two changes to the National Church Covenant, which United Brethren churches must sign every two years (2007 was the first year for that). The covenant consists of eight points. By action of the 2007 US National Conference, points 5 and 8 have been removed.

Point 5 says, “They are intererested in partnering with other like-minded churches.” It was explained that this point is vague and nobody is sure exactly what it means (nor how to force churches to comply with this).

Point 8 says, “They support the work of the camps, university, and other ministries of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.” This line was added from the floor of the 2005 National Conference. Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries, explained that this is the only part of the covenant which is programmatic in nature, in that it requires supporting two “programs” of the church–the camps and university.

He pointed out that most of the camps are now separate entities from the denomination, organized with their own board of directors; so that part was already obsolete. He stressed that there is no intention of weakening the relationship with Huntington University.

This issue received a good deal of discussion at the spring 2007 Executive Leadership Team, and the ELT passed on the recommendation that item 8 be removed. The original desire with the covenant was to keep program issues out and stick mainly to matters of philosophy and relationship. If we include the camps and college, why not also specifically name Global Ministries and church multiplication, which are arguably more central to the work of local churches? Other potential additions might include Women’s Ministries, Bible quizzing, and the Youthworkers Summit.

There was some discussion, but not much. Both points 5 and 8 were removed. So when local churches are asked to once again sign the covenant in early 2009, it will look like the following, but without the two points in bold:

Every congregation shall…reaffirm their support of and membership in the US National Conference by signing a covenant which includes affirmation of these points:

1. They are committed to the Confession of Faith.
2. They agree with the core values of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
3. They agree to abide by the Constitution and Discipline of the US National Conference.
4. They are passionate about fulfilling the Great Commission through their local church.
5. They are interested in partnering with other like-minded churches.
6. They support the ministry and mission of the United Brethren Church, USA, through the annual partnership fee.
7. They will participate in a cluster.
8. They support the work of the camps, university, and other ministries of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.

07 Jun New Executive Leadership Team Elected

Delegates to the US National Conference elected eight of the 12 members of the Executive Leadership Team. The ELT, the highest governing body between sessions of the National Conference, meets twice a year.

The delegates chose one layperson and one ordained minister from each of the four regions. Four of the persons chosen are new. The representatives from the East and North regions remain the same, but both persons elected from the Central and West regions are new–and in both cases, both the minister and layperson come from the same church. That’s just the way it worked out.

East Region

• Todd Fetters (senior pastor of Devonshire Church, Harrisburg, Pa.).
• Annette Sites (pastor’s wife, Jerusalem Chapel, Churchville, Va.).

Central Region

• Marty Pennington (senior pastor, Mainstreet Church, Walbridge, Ohio).
• Timothy Krugh (layperson, Mainstreet Church, Walbridge, Ohio).

North Region

• Phil Whipple (senior pastor, Colwood Church, Caro, Mich.).
• Dan Paternoster (layperson, Fowlerville UB, Fowlerville, Mich.).

West Region

• Stan McCammon (senior pastor, Good Shepherd Church, Huntington, Ind.).
• Cathy Reich (layperson, Good Shepherd Church, Huntington, Ind.).

Bishop Ramsey and the Executive Leadership Team will appoint four more persons to the ELT, one from each region (2 laypersons, 2 ministers). Bishop Ramsey is chairman of the ELT, but no other employees from the national office or denominational positions are voting members.

07 Jun Ron Ramsey Re-Elected as Bishop

Ron Ramsey was re-elected as bishop of the US National Conference during the business session on Friday morning, June 1. He was the only nominee placed before the conference.

When Bishop Ramsey was elected in 2005, the understanding was that he would serve a four-year term. However, the Constitution required that each National Conference elect a bishop, and since national conferences now meet every two years instead of every four years, it presented a temporary problem.

That particular item in the Constitution was removed through one of the five referenda this year, but since changes won’t take effect until August, it was still necessary to elect a bishop. And so, a ballot with just one name was presented, and Bishop Ramsey was chosen unanimously.

The delegates also approved a statement in the Discipline saying that the National Conference will elect a bishop to a four-year term. We will elect a bishop again in 2009, but after that, the next election will be in 2013.