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05 May

May 5, 2008 |

Carlson and Naomi Becker

This past Sunday, May 4, Carlson and Naomi Becker (left, with David Kline on right) were honored by the Living Stone United Brethren congregation in Taipa, Macau. Visitors for the packed-house afternoon gathering included the Living Stone congregation, English students, neighbors, friends from the Living Water Church, and a delegation from the Hong Kong Conference.

The Beckers are wrapping up three years of ministry. They arrived in Macau in September 2005 and have contributed to the ministry in a variety of ways. Perhaps the most enduring contribution will be the leadership mentoring they offered to the church family of Living Stone. Carlson and Naomi have worked closely with Pastor Michael Chan, and just this past Sunday morning presented to the congregation its first five-member leadership team.

It was an honor for me to express gratitude to the Beckers on behalf of Global Ministries and the entire United Brethren family for their years of service. Carlson and Naomi tell me this will be their third and final retirement. We’ll see!

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

Denominations take a lot of flack, and it’s not necessarily undeserved. The pro-denomination and anti-denomination sides have their fan clubs. What do you think?

  • Is being part of a denomination a useful thing?
  • Does a denomination help, hinder, or otherwise affect what happens in a local church?
  • If you’re a pastor, what’s your perspective about being part of a denomination? Would life be better for you in a non-denom church?
  • Does the average person in the pew give a hoot about denominations?
  • What’s the proper role of a denomination?
  • Are denominations dinosaurs that should just go away?

Please use the Comment feature to give your views. We have an authentication process (spam makes it necessary), but when you get authenticated once, it’ll be easy to leave comments in the future.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |
The former sign, which technically hasn't been the international headquarters since 2001.

The former sign. The building hasn’t technically been the international headquarters since 2001.

The new Healthy Ministry Resources sign.

The new sign for Healthy Ministry Resources, which was unveiled on May 2. It stands outside the building along Lake Street in Huntington, Ind.

A sign for Healthy Ministry Resources now stands in front of the UB national office building in Huntington, Ind. So it’s official and very public. The office has a new name.

Eleven fulltime staff work out of the national office. They include Bishop Ramsey, three persons working in Global Ministries, two persons in Finance, two persons in the bookstore, a director of Healthy Church Ministries, a Communications director, and an administrative assistant.

The United Brethren offices were originally located in downtown Huntington on the corner of Warren and Franklin streets. The denomination constructed that building beginning in 1915, with occupancy in 1916 and a formal dedication on May 2, 1917. It housed the United Brethren Publishing House in addition to offices for the various denominational officials.

In May 1976, the printshop and offices moved to a brand new building at the corner of Lake and Guilford Streets. The publishing house, which occupied about a third of the building, was closed in 1981. Over the years, as the number of staff members decreased, portions of the building were rented out to other parties.

In 2001, the Huntington University Graduate School of Christian Ministries moved into one large section at the front of the building (facing Lake Street), with Family Centered Services occupying the offices at the back of the building. When Family Centered Services moved to a new location in the fall of 2007, their offices were taken by the Huntington University EXCEL program. Now, the entire Huntington University Graduate School is housed in the building.

The bookstore operation uses a good share of the former printshop to warehouse Sunday school curriculum, which is sent to about 350 churches every quarter.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

HMRLogo_200.jpg

The United Brethren national office has a new name: Healthy Ministry Resources. The name reflects the mission of the national office, which is: “To effectively resource pastors and congregations of the US National Conference to fulfill the Great Commission.”

When Bishop Ron Ramsey took office in 2005, one of his strategic initiatives was to create a “brand” for the national office in Huntington which would:

  • Provide an official name and logo for the office. The generic “UB Headquarters” has been used until now.
  • Focus the office’s purpose squarely on serving and resourcing local churches.
  • Emphasize that the national office’s only reason to exist is to help UB churches. The churches don’t exist for the sake of the national office.
  • Change the perception of the national office as an hierarchical entity.

“The real work of our denomination occurs at the local level,” says Bishop Ramsey. “As a national office, our only reason to exist is to help those churches thrive. Many people in our churches around the country view us as a bureaucratic, top-down entity. I want to change that perception. Our purpose is to serve our churches. The new name, the website, and everything we do will emphasize that purpose.”

The branding initiative was unveiled on April 21 to the Executive Leadership Team, and went public on May 2. It includes:

  • A name and logo for the national office, which you’ll begin seeing on stationery, forms, and all kinds of other materials.
  • A new website for the national office: healthyministryresources.com

UB.org remains the official website of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA, and UBMissions.com is the official website for Global Ministries. Those aren’t going away. The new website deals specifically with the work of the national office.

The BishopBlog, which was launched in 2006, has been revamped and folded into the new website. It has a new purpose, and will be given far more attention than in the past. Communications director Steve Dennie describes the new BishopBlog as the “Grand Central Station” of UB communications–the one place to go to find out what’s happening throughout the UB internet world.

The Healthy Ministry Resources name and logo apply only to the national office. It is just one ministry of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.

  • We’re not changing the name of the denomination.
  • This is not a new denominational logo.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

Jeff Bleijerveld, our new Global Ministries director, left today on his first overseas trip for the UB church. It started out a bit rocky, with weather delays in both Fort Wayne and Chicago, but he finally made it onto his plane in Chicago just as they were closing the doors.

Jeff will visit the Pearl River Delta part of China (which includes Hong Kong, Macau, and the surrounding province) until May 7, and then travel to the Philippines May 8-12 to take part in the 25th anniversary of the Looking Unto Jesus church, which is how our Philippines churches are known in their country.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

bestworkplaces_100.jpgHuntington University is one of 33 organizations listed among the Best Christian Workplaces Institute in the US, according to the Best Christian Workplaces Institute.

The survey involved more than 7,834 employees in 67 organizations across the US to identify great workplaces with a Christian mission and/or values. Based on the survey, people love to work for the Best Christian Workplaces for two reasons: the cause and the culture.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

Jeff Bleijerveld

Jeff Bleijerveld, director of Global Ministries, speaking to the 70-some persons who attended the “Hang with the Bishop” meeting on April 16 at East Washington UB church (Ashley, Mich.).

Jeff Bleijerveld, our new Global Ministries director, leaves today on his first overseas trip. He’ll be in the Pearl River Delta part of China (which includes Hong Kong, Macau, and the surrounding province) until May 7, and then travel to the Philippines May 8-12 to take part in the 25th anniversary of the Looking Unto Jesus church, which is how our Philippines churches are known in their country.

01 May

May 1, 2008 |
  • Randy and Toni Fennig plan to depart for their first term of service in Sierra Leone this month. Pray that they will complete their support-raising efforts, and then for their transition to the field.
  • The Looking Unto Jesus Church in the Philippines, one of our national conferences, will celebrate its 25th Anniversary on May 11 in the capital city of Manilla. Pastor Michael Brown (Franklin UB, New Albany, Ohio) and Jeff Bleijerveld (Director of Global Ministries) will participate.
  • The US Center for World Mission created a 20-minute DVD titled “Global Purpose.” It combines dynamic special effects with biblical, historical, strategic, and cultural perspectives to give an overview of God’s movement throughout history. It’s an effective teaching resource for Bible studies or small groups. You can borrow the DVD from our Global Ministries Lending Library. Contact Darlene at darlene@ub.org.