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07 May

May 7, 2013 |

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We’re almost to 600 registration for this summer’s US National Conference. And three weeks remain before the June 1 early-registration deadline.

Our keynote speaker this year (Wednesday and Thursday nights), is Dave Engbrecht. Dave has been the senior pastor of Nappanee Missionary Church (Nappanee, Ind.) since 1979. A gifted communicator, Dave’s humor, personable style, passion for developing fully committed disciples, and commitment to world missions is well reflected in his messages. Dave has been the featured speaker in venues across the nation and around the world.

The 26 proposals for revising the UB Discipline have been finalized. You can download them from the National Conference website. Other reports will soon be added to that page.

07 May

May 7, 2013 |
The new dormitory at Malvern Camp, though unfinished, was used during Jamaica National Conference this spring.

The new dormitory at Malvern Camp, though unfinished, was used during Jamaica National Conference this spring.

Dwight and Patti Kuntz will return to Jamaica on July 2 and would like to take a small work team with them specifically to do some finishing work on the first floor of the dormitory building at Malvern. They need a team of 5-6 people for the week of July 2 – 9. The work will include tiling floors, installing fixtures in bathrooms, and other work.

Though the building is not yet completed, it was used to house pastors at the annual conference in March of this year. The photo above shows the project as it stands now.

03 May

May 3, 2013 |
Essie Kauffman and Markus Clancy.

Essie Kauffman and Markus Clancy.

Each year, Huntington University students donate thousands of hours to serve in the community. Two such students were given the PACE Servant Leadership Award, which recognizes students who have demonstrated leadership in community and ministry service.

The two recipients:

  • Essie Kauffman, a junior nursing major from Toyama-shi, Toyama, Japan.
  • Markus Clancy, a junior physical education major from Huntington, Ind.

The awards were given at the May 2 Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service Appreciation Banquet. Both students received a $1,000–$750 toward academics, and $250 to any charity they choose.

03 May

May 3, 2013 |

Here’s a pastoral transition we neglected to report earlier.

Robert Staup retired as senior pastor of Mt. Pleasant UB church in Angola, Ind., on November 24, 2012. Effective the same day, Devon Strine (right) was appointed as senior pastor of Mt. Pleasant church.

01 May

May 1, 2013 |

The United Brethren denomination has had a long relationship with Brotherhood Mutual, and many of our local churches are insured through Brotherhood.

Brotherhood Mutual has developed MinistryWorks, a church-specific payroll service provider, affordable for all sizes churches with staff numbering one and up. The cost is as little as $2.50 or less per person/payroll, plus a yearly fee of $10 per W2. You don’t need to be a Brotherhood customer to use MinistryWorks.

Call Tonya Birkey at 866-215-5540 ext. 5335 or Tonya Miller at 866-215-5540 ext. 5356. You can also visit their website at Ministryworks.com for more information, or download this PDF.

01 May

May 1, 2013 |

Dick Case (left), pastor of Dillman UB church (Warren, Ind.), will retire as of June 30, 2013. He and his wife, Darlene, have served Dillman since 2004.

Richard Mose (right) will also retire as of June 30, 2013. He is pastor of Lurgan UB church (Lurgan, Pa.). Rev. Mose has pastored five different UB churches in Pennsylvania since 1973. He has pastored Lurgan UB since 2004. Interestingly, Lurgan was also the first church he pastored, initially serving there 1973-1974.

Both of these churches are seeking a new senior pastor. Other open churches, along with the method for applying, are listed here.

01 May

May 1, 2013 |

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, we have been hearing about brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev and their connection to Dagestan and Chechnya. Apart from being places we have heard little about, what we are learning is that they are centers of Islam with radicalized pockets under pressure to conform to the dictates of Russia.

What we don’t hear in the news is that praying groups have “taken into their hearts” (persistently and long-term) 31 of the 34 unreached peoples of Dagestan and the 11 unreached peoples between Chechnya and Adygheya. Among them are groups of evangelicals from Russia who have mobilized their people to live in the Caucuses and share with them the Jesus of the Bible–not the Western Jesus, not the Russian Jesus, but the Jesus who came to set Chechens free.

According to Mission Frontiers, 13 of 45 language groups are legitimately engaged with various phases of intentional, cross-cultural efforts toward disciple-making movements. Fruit comes from “work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

Still, 32 unreached peoples in Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia remain painfully isolated from God’s blessings of messengers, the message, and [Christ-focused] communities.

While the CIA and other international intelligence agencies go about their work of trying to make the world a safer place, God is at work transforming nations and peoples in ways no human effort could ever imagine.

As you listen to the news, don’t forget to pray.