05 Feb Visiting a Potential New UB Church

Last Sunday, January 31, Jeff Bleijerveld, my wife Sandy, and I drove to South Bend, Ind., to attend a Hispanic church which is interested in possibly joining us. Connections were made through the Clearview UB church, a Hispanic congregation in Goshen, Ind. The two congregations have already done a few things together.

This congregation had originally been part of the Missionary Church. It closed for a while, then reopened under the umbrella of a different group. However, that didn’t work out, and the church went independent.

They own their building on a rather large plot of land toward downtown South Bend. When we arrived, people were scattered around the pews on their knees praying. Praying out loud.

The worship service started at 10:00 and lasted two hours. People arrived throughout that two-hour window; they probably started with 30 people, and ended with around 40. There were a lot of children and young adults. They had a very passionate songleader, very engaged with what he was singing about. Other people played guitars, drums, and congas. Throughout the church people had other percussion instruments that they played as well.

The service was in Spanish, but a lady translated for us. During the singing, she would start translating the first few phrases, and then get lost in the song, singing in Spanish. She translated anything spoken. People in the congregation knew enough English that if she got stuck, they would help her.

The pastor preached on being part of the family of God and how we are adopted into the family. He used a number of scriptures. It was clearly a message he spent plenty of time putting together.

At the end of the service, the pastor asked me to give a brief testimony. Since he was a very short man, I drew the analogy with Boehm and Otterbein, two men of different stature and different backgrounds who found that they shared the same passion for Christ.

Jeff Bleijerveld also spoke. Then we went out to a restaurant with the pastor and his wife, and four ladies from the church who comprise the board. We talked about what it would mean for them to become United Brethren. I don’t know that it will happen. This was just an exploratory meeting, and there are always issues to be resolved. But they were very interested, and we enjoyed the chance to get acquainted.

04 Feb News from Reedsville, W. Va.

Marshall Woods (right), pastor of Mill Chapel UB church (Reedsville, W. Va.), sent this report: “Last week, some men from our church, with their own heavy equipment, enlarged our parking area. After some traffic jams, it was time to do something. We can seat approximately 220 in our newly expanded sanctuary, and we are at 170. We are holding off on going to two services. God is so good.”

03 Feb Cardboard Testimonies in Findlay, Ohio

This 10-minute video is of the January 31, 2010, worship service at Findlay First UB (Findlay, Ohio). It’s quite inspiring to watch.

Pastor Darwin Dunten explains:

“We had a testimony Sunday where the people of the church wrote testimonies regarding how God is transforming their lives on posterboard. This came from an idea shared with us from a member of our church from Grabill Missionary church when they had cardboard testimony Sunday in November. It took a little over a month to prepare the church for this service. God is working at Findlay First UB.”

01 Feb 3000 People Attend King Street’s Christmas Program

King Street Church in Chambersburg, Pa., presented their 2009 Christmas program at Shippensburg University’s Luhrs Center for the Performing Arts. Dually motivated by a lack of space in their current worship center and, more importantly, a desire to take the Gospel into the larger marketplace of their community, the decision was made to change the context of this annual event.

LIGHT was an original program written and produced by Jonathan Ford (right), Worship Arts Pastor at King Street since January 2006. The program reflected the different worship styles that are a part of the King Street experience. It featured the Mass Choir and Orchestra, Kid’s Choir, Dance Team, Drama Ministry, Praise Band, and King Street Horns (a 19-piece jazz ensemble).

In many ways, this was a church-wide endeavor as the Evangelism and Missions commissions partnered with Worship Arts to achieve the unique goals of this Christmas outreach. Attendees were carried through a progression which:

• explained the darkness of our fallen world and our need for spiritual light.
• introduced Jesus Christ as the true Light of the world.
• challenged each person to be more than simply receivers of the Light, but to be active Light Bearers both locally and globally.

The King Street Media ministry produced 6 video testimonies featuring the stories of “Light Bearers” at King Street Church. North Africa, Cambodia, Honduras, India, South Africa, and Indonesia were each represented in these stories of ordinary people who have seen God work in extraordinary ways as they carried his Light to others.

In all, a cast and crew of over 300 people shared this message with an audience of 3000 over two performances. Evangelism volunteers had the joy of following up with dozens who responded to the invitation that was given. Twenty-one people sponsored children through a partnership with Compassion International. Many exciting accounts are still being shared about how attending this event has spurred conversation with friends, coworkers, and family members about faith and a relationship with Jesus Christ.

A remarkable number of curious University students attended the program to help fulfill their Fine Arts requirement for the semester. It has been thrilling for King Street’s college students to begin connecting with classmates on a new level as they return to school after winter break.

It is our prayer that the intentional work of evangelism and missions will be the long shadow cast by the light of Christmas 2009 at King Street.

Here are a few more photos from the program.

01 Feb Happenings in Rockford, Ill.

Barry Skinner, pastor of Kilburn Avenue UB (Rockford, Ill.), sent this note:

In November 2009, I had the honor of baptizing my ten-year-old grandson, Spencer, and a friend’s daughter, 18-year-old Rose. My younger son Joshua is resurfacing our baptismal tank, and we are redoing the plumbing and top to make it easier to use. We have finished painting the children’s Sunday school room, and now we will add trim and border and an interlocking colorful floor mat system. Little by little, we will keep updating as we can.

In addition:

• Eight of us from the church, along with three others, will attend the Iron Sharpens Iron conference in Rockford on March 13.
• We will be collecting a special offering this month for Haiti, and we will send that to the UB headquarters to make sure the money is applied where it is needed.
• We are participating in the Rockford Rescue Mission services. I will preach there this Easter.