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Earl Haggard, a former minister in Kansas and Ohio, passed away April 13, 2023, in Kansas City, Kansas. He attended Huntington University, and went on to pastor the Abilene UB church (Abilene, Kansas) and Salem Chapel UB church (Junction City, Ohio). He was ordained in the UB church in 1986, and remained UB until 1997, when he became a minister in the United Methodist Church.
Rev. Kenneth E. Graham, 94, passed away April 19, 2023, in Oregon, Ohio. He served three different churches in western Pennsylvania and northern Ohio over a 41-year period, including 33 years at Mainstreet UB church (Walbridge, Ohio), before retiring in 1993. He was a prominent figure in the former Sandusky Conference, serving as a superintendent, General Conference delegate, and in other leadership roles in the conference and denomination.
Visitation: 3-7 pm Monday, May 1, 2023.
Visitation location: Witzler-Shank-Walker Funeral Home, 701 N. Main Street, Walbridge, Ohio
Funeral: 10:30 am Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Funeral location: Mainstreet Church, 5465 Moline-Martin Road, Walbridge, Ohio. Pastor Marty Pennington will officiate.
Ken and Rachel Graham were married in 1951 and spent the next 71 years together. She passed away in September 2022.
Their first pastorate the Franklin UB church in Franklin, Pa., 1952-1958. He was ordained as a UB minister in 1954. Next came two years at the Bowling Green UB church in Bowling Green, Ohio. Then, in 1960, Graham began 33 years as pastor of the Main Street UB church in Walbridge, Ohio. He remained there until retiring in 1993. Along the way he participated in UB mission trips to Jamaica and Sierra Leone.
The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Mainstreet Church.
Lanie Miller
Elaine “Lanie” Miller, 94, passed away on Wednesday evening, April 12, at Sage Bluff nursing home in Fort Wayne, Ind. She was the wife of C. Ray Miller, who served 20 years as a United Brethren bishop, 1973-1993.
Elaine was born in 1928 in Waynesboro, Pa. She graduated from high school in 1946, and that year she and Ray were married. They moved on Huntington, Ind., in 1947 to attend Huntington College. During that time, Ray was pastor of the Grayston Avenue UB Church in Huntington.
In 1954 they moved back to Pennsylvania and served several pastorates, including 14 years at the Prince Street UB Church in Shippensburg, Pa. In 1973, Ray was elected a bishop in the United Brethren Church and they moved back to Huntington. They later moved to Fort Wayne, where they lived until her passing.
Elaine enjoyed reading and watching sports. She was a homemaker and it was often said that “you hardly ever see Lanie without Ray.” They were partners in life and ministry. She was a member of the Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne.
Elaine is survived by her husband, C. Ray; a son, Dennis (Karin) Miller of Fort Wayne; a daughter, Pamela (Patrick) Jones of Lancaster, N.Y.; four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
A private memorial service will be held in the coming week, with internment at the Covington Gardens in Fort Wayne.
Memorial donations may be given to UB Global or to Huntington University.
Correspondence for C. Ray Miller can be sent to him in care of Emmanuel Community church:
C. Ray Miller
Emmanuel Community Church
12222 US Highway 24 W
Fort Wayne, IN 46814-7472
Author Steve Dennie with copies of “Against the Blighting Curse.”
“Against the Blighting Curse: The Church of the United Brethren Christ During the Civil War,” is now available on Amazon. It was written by Steve Dennie, the UB Communications Director. The paperback edition is $14.95, and the Kindle edition is a $6.95.
Thousands of United Brethren men fought in the Civil War. This book tells hundreds of stories about these soldiers, and also explores what was happening on the home front.
You’ll meet Medal of Honor winners, future professors and judges, Union spies, a former missionary turned Army surgeon, Underground Railroad operators, and a cavalry chaplain who fought Napoleon at Waterloo. You’ll meet dozens of UB ministers who left their pulpits to carry rifles and storm rebel fortifications. You’ll even cross paths with famed explorer Henry Stanley, with the author of several of our favorite Christmas songs, and with a UB layperson in Ohio who ended up in a Disney movie.
The title is taken from a resolution by the UB church’s Erie Conference at the beginning of the war: “We will devoutly pray that God may so overrule this national calamity that THE BLIGHTING CURSE of slavery, which is causing all this loss of blood and treasure, may be swept from the land — until all its inhabitants shall enjoy the rights of men and the privileges of the gospel of Christ.”
Five in-person meetings and one online meeting will be held in early May to discuss the upcoming US National Conference (July 11-14 in Fort Wayne, Ind.). Bishop Todd Fetters will lead the meetings. These gatherings are open to anyone, but UB ministers and lay delegates are strongly encouraged to attend.
Attendees will get a preview of about 30 proposals for revising the United Brethren Discipline. A representative from the Human Reproduction Task Force will explain their proposals for revising the Discipline with statements on abortion, family planning, reproductive technologies, adoption, foster care, and related issues. The preview meetings will give people a first-look at the proposals and an opportunity to discuss them in advance of the business meeting on July 12.
For those who can’t attend one of the regional meetings, we’ll have a virtual meeting on May 15 via Zoom. You’ll receive a sign-in link before the meeting.
Please register using this link.
Monday, May 1: Sunfield, Mich.
Sunfield UB Church
8436 W. Grand Ledge Highway, Sunfield, MI 48890
Time: 9:00-11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, May 3: Fort Wayne, Ind.
Emmanuel Community Church
12222 US Highway 24 W, Fort Wayne, IN 46814
Time: 9:00-11:30 a.m.
Sunday, May 7: Lancaster, Ohio
Lancaster UB Church
1125 Pleasantville Road, Lancaster, OH 43130
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Monday, May 8: Chambersburg, Pa.
King Street Church
162 E King St, Chambersburg, PA 17201
Time: 9:00-11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, May 9: Franklin, Pa.
Atlantic Avenue UB Church
160 Atlantic Ave, Franklin, PA 16323
Time: 9:00-11:30 a.m.
Monday, May 15: Virtual via Zoom
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Later in April, the proposals and other information will be available for download at this address. You’re encouraged to look it over and bring it to the meeting.
A Youth Camp will run alongside the US National Conference this summer. It is for any youth currently in grades 8-12 (or who, this summer, will have completed those grades). They do not need to be attending the USNC.
The Youth Camp will begin on Tuesday, July 11. After the opening service of the National Conference, students will be transported to Huntington University. They will spend Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights at the college, with meals provided on campus.
On Wednesday and Thursday, students will participate in various activities, both on-campus and off-campus. They will then be returned to Fort Wayne on Friday morning, as the National Conference concludes.
We encourage you to bring your youth for this special camp. They do not need to register for the US National Conference or have parents attending the conference. Just get them to Fort Wayne for the opening service, and some great folks from Huntington University will take it from there.
Teresa Roberts has joined the UB Global staff as part-time administrative assistant. She takes the place of Angela Vincenti, who had served in that role since January 2021 (Angela has taken a position at Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind.).
Teresa grew up in Columbia City, Ind., and graduated in 2009 from Anderson University with a degree in Elementary Education. During college, she participated in two short-term mission trips to Romania. During that second trip, she felt a definite call to missions.
Her husband, Dave, grew up partly as a missionary kid in Panama, where his father served with HCJB Radio. He experienced his own call to missions during a trip to Guatemala. After getting married, they explored various mission opportunities, but every time they thought God was leading in a certain direction, the door would close. But they remained willing. Then, in 2015, they discovered Cornerstone Foundation while attending the Urbana missions conference and were immediately drawn to it. They were accepted, and in March 2017 found themselves on the field in Honduras.
Dave and Teresa served five years at the Loma de Luz hospital on the north coast of Honduras (where Christy and Rigo Andino are serving). This full-service hospital is the hub for a variety of other ministries, including education, foster care, agriculture, and community development. Dave handled maintenance for everything, while Teresa taught first grade for four years.
The Roberts family concluded their service with Cornerstone in 2022 and returned to Fort Wayne. Dave now works as an engineer with Bendix. They have two children, Levi and Zoey, and are in the process of adopting two children from Honduras.
