(260) 356-2312
The Together Student Life group at Mount Zion UB (Wayne, Ohio) raised $2,818 through a 30-hour famine. The money was sent to Global Ministries to benefit the children of Haiti and to help with rebuilding from Haiti’s earthquake last January.
Bishop Wilber L. Sites, Jr.
The funeral for Bishop Wilber L. Sites, Jr., was held Friday, December 31, at Salem UB church in Chambersburg, Pa. Bishop Phil Whipple attended the funeral. Wilber Sites served as bishop for 12 years, 1977-1989.
The website of the Chambersburg Public Opinion newspaper published an article “Friends Recall Bishop Sites’ Grace, Kindness,” which consisted mostly of interviews with Paul B. Baker, former pastor of King Street UB church, and Garry Culler, associate pastor of Mount Pleasant UB church.
Here is the official obituary published on the website of the Waynesboro Record Herald.
Bishop Wilber L. Sites Jr., 84, of 2719 Fillmore Drive, Chambersburg, Pa., died at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010, in his home. He had been in failing health for the past month and critically ill for the past week.
Born Oct. 1, 1926, in Chambersburg, he was the son of the late Wilber L. Sites Sr. and Della L. (Stewart) Sites. He lived most of his life in the Chambersburg area.
He graduated from Chambersburg High School with the Class of 1944. He later received his bachelor of arts degree from Huntington College; his master of divinity at Huntington College Seminary; his doctor of ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; and his doctor of divinity from Huntington College.
The Rev. Sites served with the United States Army during World War II, serving in the Pacific Theater at both the Philippine Islands and Korea.
He and his wife of more than 64 years, Mossie M. (Baker) Sites, were married on Nov. 29, 1946, in Hagerstown, Md. They moved to their present residence in 1989.
In his early life, the Rev. Sites was employed at Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, as a clerk in the parts department and later as a supervisor. He served various churches as pastor in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. He served locally as pastor of Penn Mar United Brethren Church; associate pastor at King Street United Brethren Church; pastor at Mount Pleasant United Brethren Church; senior and associate pastor of Otterbein United Brethren Church, Waynesboro; and prior to retiring on Dec. 31, 1998, he served as bishop of the United Brethren in Christ Church for 12 years. He also served as a volunteer teacher at Jamaica Bible College in Mandeville for more than six years.
He enjoyed spending time with his family.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters, Judy A. Baker of Hagerstown, Md., and Linda S. Etter of Chambersburg; one son, the Rev. Dennis A. Sites of Churchville, Va.; six grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; three sisters, Florence M. Burkholder of Fayetteville, Pa., Delores I. Hargleroad of Culbertson, Pa., and J. Marie Hawk of Chambersburg; and a number of nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one sister, Velva B. Cormany.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 31, 2010, in Salem United Brethren Church, 4349 Letterkenny Road, Chambersburg, with his son, the Rev. Dennis A. Sites, and Pastor Jason Bakker officiating. Burial will follow in Fetterhoff Chapel Cemetery, Guilford Township, Pa., where military graveside honors will be conducted by the honor guard of Charles Nitterhouse VFW Post 1599, Chambersburg.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday evening in Grove-Bowersox Funeral Home, 50 S. Broad St., Waynesboro, and one hour prior to the services Friday morning in the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Jamaica Bible College, in care of Salem United Brethren Church, 4349 Letterkenny Road, Chambersburg, Pa. 17201.
Online condolences may be expressed at www.bowersoxfuneralhomes.com.
Ten-year-old Dylan Culler, standing with his dad at the bus stop one morning, remarked about how lucky they were to have coats, since many people didn’t.
“Coats for folks,” said his father, Bobby Culler, who is associate pastor of Mount Pleasant Church in Chambersburg, Pa.
An thus began a campaign to collect “gently-used” coats for the Salvation Army and local homeless shelters.
Dylan got permission from his schoolteacher to solicit coats at Falling Spring Elementary School. Soon, “Coats for Folks” fliers were being distributed throughout the school, and an email was sent to parents.
Bobby Culler also solicited coats at Mount Pleasant UB. One area shelter told him they could use as many coats as they could get.
Ultimately, 111 coats were donated. Bobby picked them up and delivered them to shelters.
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:
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Emily Bruce and Samantha Little
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.
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.
