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28 Dec

December 28, 2010 |

Bishop Emeritus Wilber L. Sites, Jr., passed away at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, December 28, 2010. He was 84 years old.

Dr. Sites was elected bishop in 1977 and served for 12 years, retiring in 1989. Prior to that, he served in pastoral ministry at these United Brethren churches:

  • 1953-1954: Pen Mar (Cascade, Md.)
  • 1954-1956: Hopewell (Auburn, Ind.)
  • 1957-1961: Willshire and Zion (Willshire, Ohio)
  • 1961-1963: associate pastor of King Street (Chambersburg, Pa.)
  • 1963-1969: Mount Pleasant (Chambersburg, Pa.)
  • 1969-1977: Otterbein (Waynesboro, Pa.)

Dr. Sites graduated from Huntington University in 1958, and from the HU seminary in 1961 with a Master of Divinity. He was ordained in 1961. Huntington University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1978. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Ill.) in 1986.

During their retirement years, Dr. Sites and his wife, Mossie, did short-term mission work in Macau and at Jamaica Bible College. He and Mossie were married in 1946 and had three children.

Visitation: 6-8 pm Thursday, December 30, 2010
Funeral: 10 am Friday, December 31, 2010 (with visitation 1 hour before). Officiating: Dennis Sites (son, senior pastor of Jerusalem Chapel UB in Churchville, Va.), and Jason Bakker, associate pastor at Salem UB.

Visitation Location
Grove-Bowersox Funeral Home
50 S. Broad St.
Waynesboro, PA 17268

Phone: 717-762-2811

 Funeral Location
Salem United Brethren Church
4349 Letterkenny Road
Chambersburg, PA 17201

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to Jamaica Bible College, c/o Salem United Brethren Church.

Cards can be sent to Mossie Sites at:

2719 Fillmore Drive
Chambersburg, PA 17201

28 Dec

December 28, 2010 |

Steve Dennie (right), Communications Director

Everyone’s publishing “decade in review” lists–best movies, best sports plays, most significant news stories, ground-breaking new products, top scandals, etc.

How would we recap the decade for the United Brethren church? Here are ten UB highlights of the decade, in roughly chronological order.

2001 General Conference. This was a historic conference. We adopted a true international structure, with 7 autonomous national conferences joined together by the Confession of Faith and an international constitution. Huntington, Ind., stopped being the United Brethren “world” headquarters, and became just the US headquarters. No longer does United Brethrenism revolve around the United States. Colonialism: RIP.

Open Theism. A whole lot of turbulence arose around Dr. John Sanders, a professor at Huntington University who was a leading proponent of what is called Open Theism. United Brethren theology clashed, hard, with academic freedom. Both church and college came under criticism from the broader evangelical community. In the end, an exit strategy was worked out for Dr. Sanders, and both church and college began mending the wounds.

Joining the Missionary Church. In early 2003, the UB Executive Leadership Team voted to pursue merging our denomination into the Missionary Church, a like-minded, larger denomination based in Fort Wayne, Ind. As leadership pushed this initiative, a group called UB Hope arose to rally people against it. Ultimately, UB members voted it down in a referendum, 56%-44%. This set the stage for lots of soul-searching about why we exist and the adoption of a whole new structure.

(more…)

28 Dec

December 28, 2010 |

Phil Whipple, Bishop

Here are some photos from my recent travels to various UB churches.

On November 21, I presented a local church ministerial license to Dan VanArsdalen (with his wife, Deborah) at the Alvordton UB church (Alvordton, Ohio). Dan is senior pastor of Alvordton.

With Joe Cilone, pastor of Pleasant Heights UB church in East Liverpool, Ohio. I visited him the weekend of December 4-5.

The ordination of Warwick Fuller on December 12 at Devonshire UB, Harrisburg, Pa. Warwick has been hired as associate pastor of Crestview UB in Lafayette, Ind. Standing to the right or Warrick are Todd Fetters, senior pastor of Devonshire, and Dan Young, senior pastor of Crestview..

On December 19, I attended Corunna UB (Corunna, Ind.) to present a retirement pin to Jason Hollopeter (with his wife, Donna) for his 37 years of service in the UB church.

21 Dec

December 21, 2010 |

The Healthy Ministry Resources (or Church Services) bookstore at the national office will adopt new hours in 2011.

Beginning January 4, 2011, the new bookstore hours are 8:30 am – 4:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. The bookstore will be closed Fridays.

17 Dec

December 17, 2010 |

Marshall Woods, senior pastor of Mill Chapel UB church (Reedsville, W. Va.), sent this note:

Our church has sensed a need in our community and have opened a weekly Clothing Bank. Erica Hines is the coordinator for the outreach ministry. The clothes are given away freely.

Also, our church is now offering a ”Free Food and Fellowship” to the community. There are many folks in our community who have fallen on hard times and we just want to help out. We are blessed with many volunteers. Gloria Woods is the coordinator.

17 Dec

December 17, 2010 |

Emily Bruce and Samantha Little

Emily Bruce and Samantha Little are preparing for a medical mission trip to Sierra Leone December 27 through January 10. They will accompany a group of students and faculty from the Nursing School at Indiana Wesleyan University to serve the people Kamakwie Wesleyan Hospital.

The medical mission team will fly into Freetown and travel by water taxi and van to Kamakwie Hospital. They will do rounds with a doctor and work alongside national nurses to provide education updates for the nurses and staff. They will also travel to three outlying clinics to assist in surgeries, deliver babies, provide inpatient care, and treat patients.

Please pray for Emily and Samantha as they represent Christ, the United Brethren in Christ, as well as their university.

Emily is the daughter of Pastor Bob and Kathy Bruce. Bob serves on staff at Emmanuel UB in Fort Wayne, Ind. Samantha is the daughter of Pastor Chris and Keri Little. Chris is senior pastor of Mt. Pleasant UB church in Chambersburg, Pa.

17 Dec

December 17, 2010 |

Ben, Lydia, Caleb, and Jackie Dailey

Previously, we reported on the Dailey family from Park UB (Bluffton, Ind.). They were in a serious accident in Fargo, ND., while on vacation. Parents Ben and Jackie were treated and released, but children Caleb (5) and Lydia (2) were hospitalized in critical condition.

The children remain in serious condition, but they are gradually improving. You can follow their progress on CarePages.com. Jackie gives regular updates.

On Thursday, December 16, Jackie wrote the following:

Want to hear the best news EVER?! We’re coming to Indiana tomorrow! From what we understand, the flight is scheduled for Friday morning! Both kids will be flown on the same flight to Riley Hospital. HOORAY!!! I will be riding with both kids. Can’t say flying is my favorite thing in the world, but I’m going to do it because it’s what needs to be done to get my kids the care they need.

We had a choice between flight crews and decided to go with the crew here at Sanford. We’ve heard they REALLY want to take our kids, and we know they’ll provide amazing care during the flight. Plus, they know our kids and their conditions–they visit every other day and check up on the kids. Ben will be taking a commercial flight to Indy. Please pray for safe travels and a stress-free trip for both kids.

17 Dec

December 17, 2010 |

The conference room at the national office is getting a makeover.

Bishop Phil Whipple surveys the "damage."

We are remodeling the conference room at the national office. Right now, it’s totally gutted. The current conference room had been in place since 1987. The new one will replace well-used furnishings, enlarge the room, and provide significant upgrades in technology (such as videoconferencing).

In the process, we tore out two closets, which contained audio-visual equipment and other things going back 30+ years.

We’re making everything available FOR FREE to United Brethren churches. All you have to do is come get it. We’re not shipping anything.

You’ll find short descriptions and photos on the UB website [Nov 2011 note: this information is no longer there]. Just contact Administrative Assistant Cathy Reich is you’re interested in an item.

15 Dec

December 15, 2010 |

At the end of each year, pastors are required to complete forms which tell about the church’s ministry during the past year and about their own ministry. The forms for 2010 will be mailed in January. However, right now they can be downloaded from the UB website.

The reports can be downloaded as Word files (which you can fill in on your computer and email back), or as PDF files (which you can fill in by hand). There are five documents:

  1. 2010 Minister’s Reports
  2. 2010 Unassigned Minister’s reported
  3. 2010 Local Church Report
  4. 2010 Women’s Ministry Report
  5. Instruction Sheet

The Unassigned Minister’s Report and the Women’s Ministry Report can both be filled out online.

All reports are due to the Bishop’s office February 15, 2011.

14 Dec

December 14, 2010 |

Alvordton UB (Aldvordton, Ohio) is trying something new: a live nativity. It will be held 6:30-8:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday, December 18-19.

The church is located on US 20 in Alvordton. Drivers can enter the horseshoe-shaped drive to view the Nativity, which will feature Mary and Joseph, the Three Wise Men, shepherds with sheep, a goat, and, of course “Baby Jesus.”

Music will add to the ambiance of the evening. Each vehicle will receive a bag of goodies as it exits the display.