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18 Apr

April 18, 2011 |
Bishop Phil Whipple with Linton and Michelle Thomas of First UB in the Bronx.

Bishop Phil Whipple with Linton and Michelle Thomas of First UB in the Bronx.

Phil Whipple, Bishop

Yesterday, April 17, Sandy and I attended First UB Church in the Bronx, a Jamaican congregation. It was pastor’s appreciation day. The church had quite a program to honor Pastor Linton Thomas and his family. Many gave a tribute to him. He was also given the Logos Bible software and reservations for a two-day get-away for Linton and Michelle.

The sanctuary was packed, and the children were upstairs because there wasn’t room for them. I had the opportunity to preach, with a meal afterwards. We started at 11:15 and left around 4 pm. It was a great and meaningful day.

18 Apr

April 18, 2011 |

Bishop Phil Whipple (right) with Jon Christophel, pastor of Brooklyn Park UB in Baltimore, Md.

Bishop Whipple and Edner Antoine, pastor of God's Church by the Faith in Philadelphia, Pa.

Bishop Whipple and Edner Antoine, pastor of God's Church by the Faith in Philadelphia, Pa.

Bishop Whipple (right) with leaders from God's Church by the Faith.

The building used by God's Church by the Faith is a former Episcopal church. Can you tell? (Click to enlarge. Get a good look at this amazing place.)

Phil Whipple, Bishop

Bishop Phil Whipple and his wife, Sandy, are on the road for a few weeks visiting churches in the east and then heading to Florida for the annual Youth Leaders Summit. Here are some notes from the first couple days of the trip, which started last Wednesday, April 13.

We spent the first day of our trip in Baltimore, Md., at the Brooklyn Park Church. We spent a couple of hours with John Christophel, the pastor, and then shared a meal with the people at the church. Sandy and I had a Maryland crab cake which was quite good. Then I shared  for a little bit with all of them.

We then drove up to Philadelphia and met Edner Antoine and his wife and a couple of laymen from God’s Church by the Faith, and toured their building. They bought a former Espiscopal Church. It is quite ornate, and they have done a great job cleaning it up and making it usable.

We went out to eat with Edner and his wife and one of the laymen. Then we came back around 9 p.m. with a Bible study in full swing. I was asked to speak to the group.

It was a great beginning to our trip.

17 Apr

April 17, 2011 |

John Cole, pastor of Park UB in Bluffton, Ind., leads training for the Monroe Cluster. (Click to enlarge)

The Monroe Cluster (Indiana) held its second Leadership Development Day on April 9. John Cole, pastor of Park UB church in Bluffton, Ind., led the training for the 17 people attending. Cluster meetings are designed for senior pastors, but in this case, they’ve been inviting laypersons to participate in the training.

“When I arrived in Bluffton in August 2010,” says John, “I started talking to Troy Green, our cluster leader, about extending the cluster experience beyond pastors and into the churches more. We also talked about leadership development being a significant addition to the great teaching we already get through the video lessons.

“During our fall meetings, I began introducing the group to the Habitudes series from Dr. Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders. I received training in that back in 2008 at the Train the Trainer seminars held in Huntington, Ind. The cluster liked the idea, and we decided on a quarterly training day to invite the leaders from our churches so they could interact and share ideas around the leadership principles I would be teaching about.

“So far, we have had 15-20 from the Park, Monroe, and Praise Point churches attend the two meetings, and some great discussion has come out of it. We are looking forward to continuing this and seeing it expand.”

13 Apr

April 13, 2011 |

Beginning in the fall of 2011, the EXCEL Adult Degree Programs at Huntington University will offer a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing.

The new degree program will be available at EXCEL’s onsite campuses in Huntington and Columbia City, Ind. The program will include several courses unique to the marketing major, including advertising and salesmanship, digital marketing, public relations and social media, market research, and graphic design for marketing.

Classes are enrolling now. For more information, call 800-600-4888 or visit huntington.edu/EXCEL.

EXCEL offers online and evening classes tailored to the schedule of working adults. Onsite classes are held one night per week, one subject at a time in Huntington, Columbia City, and Wabash, Ind. Classes last 5-8 weeks and lead to an associate degree in organizational management or Christian ministry. Bachelor’s degrees in accounting, business administration, human resource management, not-for-profit leadership or nursing (RN to BSN) are also available in this adult-friendly format.

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.)