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12 Apr

April 12, 2011 |

Registrations for this summer’s US National Conference hit 487 on April 12, and will no doubt pass 500 by the end of the week.

You can register online, or by using the registration brochures mailed to all churches.

Attendees are invited to join the first-ever National Conference Choir. Participants from across the denomination will sing on Friday, July 8, during the evening session.

The Choir will have ONE practice: 1:30 – 3:30 Friday afternoon, July 8.

Much more information is available on the conference website, including:

  • A PDF file containing all of the music, so you can download and print the songs.
  • Links to YouTube videos of all of the songs, in case you’re not familiar with some of them.
  • A form you can use to confirm your interest in joining the choir,

 

12 Apr

April 12, 2011 |

The Executive Leadership Team

Bishop Phil Whipple (left), who chairs the ELT, with Global Ministries Director Jeff Bleijerveld.

The Executive Leadership Team met Monday night and Tuesday, April 11-12, in Huntington, Ind. The Executive Leadership Team meets twice a year, and is the highest governing body of the US churches between meetings of the US National Conference. Bishop Phil Whipple chairs the meetings.

Some items which came out of the meeting:

  • Bishop Phil Whipple presented a strategic plan for the US churches on Monday night, and the ELT spent a couple hours on Tuesday further discussing his vision.
  • Lee Rhodes, pastor of Countryside UB (Breckenridge, Mich.), was appointed by Bishop Whipple to chair the Nominating Committee for the US National Conference. The only elections which will be needed at National Conference this summer are for the Executive Leadership Team; members serve only two-year terms. The National Conference will elect 8 members, and the new ELT will then appoint four more members.
  • Bishop Whipple doesn’t anticipate doing any revising of the UB Discipline at National Conference.
  • About 30 churches still have not submitted their annual reports, which were due in February.
  • The partnership fees (3.5% of income from each church) are coming in well.
  • Global Ministries anticipates hiring an additional (and much-needed) associate director in the near future.

11 Apr

April 11, 2011 |

Bishop Phil Whipple (left) and Bishop Winston Smith

Bishop Brian Magnus of Canada spoke during the Friday night banquet during Jamaica Conference.

The banquet hall.

Jamaican choir. (click to enlarge)

Phil Whipple, Bishop

I had the privilege of attending Jamaican Conference this year as they celebrated their 60th anniversary. The sessions and services were held the Battersea UB church in Mandeville.

The event kicked off on Wednesday, March 9, with “Jamaica Night, which included music, dance, and skits–some religious in nature, some related to Jamaican cultural.

The conference business began Thursday morning and continued into the afternoon on Friday. I spoke during their Thursday night service.

Friday night featured a big banquet, with probably 250 people attending. It was very elaborate, and many of the women wore formal gowns. They gave plaques to longstanding members of their churches, persons who had been members of their church for a least several decades. The wives of district superintendents (they have three districts) gave out the awards, and a photographer recorded everything. I would guess they honored at least 50-60 people. If the person couldn’t attend, someone received the award for him. Brian Magnus, bishop of the UB Church in Canada, spoke that night.

Nothing was planned on Saturday, conference-wise. Instead, they scheduled a bus to take us to Malvern to see the building project at the camp. Then we had lunch at a restaurant on the beach.

They expected 1200 people for the closing service on Sunday, and they were packed out. The tabernacle area was full, and there were lots of people roaming outside the doors. That service service was held at Missionary Church campground in Mandeville.

Rev. Jasper Green spoke in the morning, and after lunch we had an afternoon youth service. Then in the evening, Bishop Winston Smith spoke. After his message, they read off the stationing committee report, telling where pastors would be assigned during the coming year. I was told it was a year with more transitions than normal.

08 Apr

April 8, 2011 |
Ordination of Elizabeth Cudney

Rev. Elizabeth Cudney kneels next to her husband, Dr. D. Neil Cudney. Leading the ordination are (l-r) Bishop Brian Magnus, Rev. Nick Swirski, and Rev. Martin Magnus.

The congregation at Mill Crossing

The Mill Crossing UB Church in Cambridge, Ontario

Worship team at Mill Crossing. That's pastor Neil Cudney in the background playing guitar.

On Saturday, April 2, the Mill Crossing UB church in Cambridge, Ontario, celebrated two events:

  • The dedication of their new facility.
  • The ordination of one of their pastors, Rev. Elizabeth A. Cudney.

City Councilor Rick Cowsill cut the ribbon and a capacity crowd enjoyed a time of worship, special music, welcomes by local dignitaries, and then the ordination service.

Elizabeth Cudney and her husband, Neil, are co-pastors of Mill Crossing. They started the church together in 2005 with a core group from Parkwood Gardens UB in Guelph. About half of the core group members have since returned to Parkwood Gardens.

In 1998, Liz Cudney started the Port of Grace UB church in Port Colborne, Ontario. The mother church was Grace UB in Sherkston, about 15 miles away. Neil, the pastor of Grace, resigned after a couple of years to devote all of his attention to Port of Grace, joining his wife as co-pastor. They both worked part-time on the side. Since this is Liz Cudney’s second successful church plant, it puts her in somewhat elite company among North American UBs.

Neil recently successfully defended his doctoral thesis and will receive his Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Business Ethics from Gordon-Conwell.

01 Apr

April 1, 2011 |

L-r: Joseph Stowell, Ted Bendall, Phillip Howard, Bill Fisher.

Huntington University’s annual Commencement exercises are coming up in May. This is the 113th edition.

Date: May 14, 2011
Time: 3 pm.
Location: Merillat Physical Education and Recreation Complex.

The university will award 333 graduates with master’s, bachelor’s, or associate degrees.

The commencement exercises and the baccalaureate sermon are open to the public, and no tickets are required.

The Commencement speaker is Dr. Joseph M. Stowell, president of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich. His address is titled “True Identity” and will focus on Matthew 4:18-22. He is a nationally known speaker and author of more than 20 books including “Jesus Nation,” “The Trouble with Jesus,” “Simply Jesus and You” and “Radical Reliance.” From 1987 to 2005, he served as the president of Moody Bible Institute, and as the teaching pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel in suburban Chicago 2005-2008 prior to assuming the presidency at Cornerstone.

Three honorary doctorate degrees will be awarded to:

  • Dr. Joseph Stowell, the Commencement speaker (Doctor of Divinity).
  • Theodore L. Bendall, a Huntington attorney whose firm has provided legal counsel to Huntington University since 1968 (Doctor of Laws).
  • Phillip G. Howard, president and co-owner of InterDesign, which has served as the university’s architect for over 30 years and is responsible for most of the buildings on the campus (Doctor of Commercial Science).

Rev. Bill Fisher, Huntington University dean of Christian Faith and Life, will present the baccalaureate sermon at 10:30 a.m. in the fieldhouse. His message is titled “Sticky Business” and will focus on a passage from John 15. Fisher became Huntington University’s dean of Christian faith and life in 1993.

You can read more about from the official university press release.

01 Apr

April 1, 2011 |

Registrations for this summer’s US National Conference have now hit 210, with new registrations being added every day.

You can register online, or by using the registration brochures mailed to all churches.

Reminder:

Date: July 6-9, 2011
Location: Saw Mill Creek Resort, Huron, Ohio

If you haven’t made hotel reservations, you need to do that as soon as possible. Especially if you want to stay at Saw Mill Creek, where the meetings will be held. It’ll be filling up before long. (But there are lots of other hotels in the area.)

30 Mar

March 30, 2011 |

We just received word about the death of Rev. Kenneth A. Beattie on Saturday, March 26, 2011. Rev Beattie, a minister for over 55 years, died in Toledo Hospital of complications from dementia. He was 83.

Rev. Beattie began showing symptoms of dementia about three years ago, and had broken both hips in separate falls during the past two years. He lived at home and was undergoing rehabilitation for his most recent break when he was taken to the hospital on March 22 because of difficulty breathing.

He was a Navy SeaBee during World War II, serving in the Philippines. Before entering the ministry, he worked for a machine products company and farmed in Defiance County, Ohio. He preached and held tent revivals in the Defiance area.

Rev. Beattie received degrees from Fort Wayne Bible college and the Huntington University Seminary. He served 13 years at churches in Sherwood, Ohio, and Camden, Mich., plus several years in evangelistic work. Then, in 1969, he became pastor of Harvest Lane UB church in Toledo, Ohio. He stayed for 12 years, overseeing the expansion of the sanctuary.

After leaving Harvest Lane, he pastored two UB churches in Michigan on a circuit–Riverside UB in Monroe and Morocco UB in Temperance. He then moved on to Pontiac, Mich., to pastor First Christian Missionary Alliance Church.

Reverend Beattie planned to retire in 1988 when he returned to Toledo, but then discovered a small Wesleyan church that needed a pastor. He volunteered part-time for a while, and then went fulltime, serving as pastor until retiring in 2009.

Reverend Beattie and his wife, Jean, were married for 63 years. Surviving are his wife, two daughters, and a son.

Services were held Wednesday, March 30, at 11 am in the Reeb Funeral Home in Sylvania, Ohio.

30 Mar

March 30, 2011 |

If you’re a shutterbug and would like to share some of your photos at national conference, we invite you to participate in our “Love God, Love Others Photo Contest.” It’s not necessary that you attend the conference. You just need to attend a United Brethren church.

We’re looking for photos from your church which in some way reflect the conference theme, “Love God, Love Others.” Submissions must be sent to us electronically (digital photos) no later than June 1, 2011. Make sure the resolution is high enough for us to print out a good copy in 8×10 size (at least 3 megapixels, no more than 6 megapixels).

During the conference, photos will be displayed in a gallery and conference attendees can vote on their three favorite photographs. Prizes will be awarded as follows:

First Place – $150 Amazon Gift Card
Second Place – $100 Amazon Gift Card
Third Place – $50 Amazon Gift Card

Participants must attend a United Brethren church and may submit no more than two images.

A form is available on the National Conference site for sending your photos. Or, you can email photos to photocontest@ub.org, with this information: Your name, address, church name, phone number, and a brief description of each photo.

By entering the contest, you affirm that the photograph is your own and grant license to the United Brethren in Christ to reproduce, display, and create derivative works of the entries.

28 Mar

March 28, 2011 |

Davis Hall now includes a film studio with a large green screen.

Huntington University has been selected as a recipient of the 2011 BCA Excellence in Construction Awards for the renovations to Becker Hall.

Becker Hall, formerly known as the Administration Building, is the university’s first building. It was erected in 1897 and has acted as classroom, gymnasium, chapel, and administrative space over the years.

During the summer of 2010, renovations were made to the basement and lobby, including donations from Fetters Construction of period-like wood trim and ceramic tile for the lobby. The biggest renovations were to Davis Hall, on the third floor of the building. It now supports a film studio with a greenscreen, a stadium-seat theater, faculty offices, editing rooms, and an equipment cage. The addition of a new elevator completed the renovations during the fall of 2010. The building will still serve in its current administrative role, but now also houses the future of the digital media arts program.

The project was recognized in the “Renovation – Under $2 million” category from the Building Contractors Association. Fetters Construction submitted the project for consideration.

“Receiving this award helps to confirm that we achieved our goal of trying to emphasize the heritage of the building while enhancing its ability to meet current program needs,” said Tom Ayers, vice president for business and finance/treasurer.

The renovations to Becker Hall are part of the larger $21 million “Together: The Campaign for Huntington University” that will also expand the Merillat Physical Education and Recreation Complex and grow the University Fund and endowment.

28 Mar

March 28, 2011 |

The Children’s Ministry Summit, previously scheduled for May 17-18, 2011, has been cancelled. They had hoped for 15 registrants, but weren’t close to that number, so the decision was made to pull the plug.