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25 Jan

January 25, 2010 |
Bishop Phil Whipple (left) presents a retirement pin to Larry Taylor, as Larry's wife Linda looks on.

Bishop Phil Whipple (left) presents a retirement pin to Larry Taylor, as Larry's wife Linda looks on.

On January 17, Bishop Phil Whipple attended Park UB (Bluffton, Ind.) to present a retirement pin to Pastor Larry Taylor. The pin recognizes his 37 years as a United Brethren pastor at these churches:

  • 1972-1986: Zanesville UB (Zanesville, Ind.).
  • 1986-1999: Good Shepherd UB (Huntington, Ind.).
  • 2000-2011: Park UB (Bluffton, Ind.).

Before joining the United Brethren denomination, Larry pastored Evangelical United Brethren (now United Methodist) congregations going back to 1964.

23 Jan

January 23, 2010 |
Brian Magnus, bishop of the UB Church in Canada, gives his report on Canada as Donna Hollopeter, General Conference secretary, takes notes.

Brian Magnus, bishop of the UB Church in Canada, gives his report on Canada as Donna Hollopeter, General Conference secretary, takes notes.

Since General Conference reports were given in alphabetical order, Canada went first. Brian Magnus, bishop of the United Brethren Church in Canada, opened his report on January 11 by talking about the secularization of his country.

“I believe North America is coming to a place, soon, where Europe has been for a while. People are already calling North American post-Christian. Christian values are being dropped all over the place. Marriage in Canada is now between any two persons, regardless of sex.

“I predict that very soon, polygamy will be legal in Canada, too. We have many people who have immigrated from Muslim and other countries, and they want to bring over their second, third, and fourth wives. Marriage itself has dropped in popularity; the majority of people simply move in together and never get married. The divorce rate has gone down, but it’s only because so few people get married.

“We have a partnership with a Christian organization called Christian Horizons which provides services for handicapped people. A case currently making its way to our Supreme Court will affect all Christian organizations in Canada. One of the 3000 employees of this organization had signed an agreement to live by Christian values, but then she entered into a lesbian relationship and was fired.

“The courts have found the Christian organization guilty of discrimination. The question before the courts now is whether Christian organizations can hire only other Christians, or must hire anyone. This specifically relates to doing social work, which of course as Christians we want to do.

“The country has become very secular. But we want to take advantage of the opportunities we have, and not just feel sorry because our country is changing. God has us there for a reason. We want to be his servants.”

21 Jan

January 21, 2010 |

United Believers in Christ Fellowship consists of churches in California which withdrew from the denomination in 2005. However, they are raising funds for Haiti to be channeled through UB Global Ministries.

Nicholas Kern, CEO of United Believers in Christ, writes, “If you or your congregation wishes to do so, please send your contribution to the United Believers in Christ Fellowship. We will send any monies collected through the Global Ministries department of our parents (The United Brethren in Christ Missions Dept) designated to our Missionary in Haiti.”

20 Jan

January 20, 2010 |

Huntington University has as partnership with Star 88.3. a contemporary Christian radio station in Fort Wayne, Ind.

On Sunday night, January 17, Star 88.3 hosted a benefit concert for Haiti at Pathway Community Church in Fort Wayne. About 250 people attended. Money raised went to Mission of Hope, a Haitian charity run by HU graduates Brad and Vanessa Johnson.

An article about the event in the online Journal-Gazette gave this information:

  • All 80 orphans in the charity’s care were alive.
  • Mission of Hope’s emergency food stores provided 100,000 meals to Haitians on Saturday, January 16.
  • Mission of Hope is being used as a makeshift hospital for the United Nations and US authorities.
  • More trucks were needed to transport supplies.
  • At least two Mission of Hope teachers were killed in the earthquake.

NBC Nightly News ran a segment on Mission of Hope on January 19.

20 Jan

January 20, 2010 |

You may have seen this compelling report Tuesday night (Jan. 19) on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams in their “People Making a Difference” segment. Brad and Vanessa Johnson are Huntington University graduates (1993 and 1994 respectively). They, and their organization Mission of Hope, are on the front lines of the earthquake relief effort in Haiti, truly impacting our world for Christ.

Mission of Hope–orphanage, medical clinic, school, and church–is located about 20 kilometres from Port-au-Prince. For now, scores of orphans are living outside until they can be sure the buildings are safe. Says Vanessa, “We’ve pitched tents and have tried to make it as fun as possible, like a camp-out experience.”

They have enough fuel to keep the generators going for a few weeks. Donations have poured in.

On Friday night (Jan. 22), a concert in Nashville by Christian artists Michael W. Smith, Nicole C. Mullins, Dave Mullins, Cindy Morgan. and Tommy Sims will raise money for Haiti. Three charities will split the proceeds. Mission Hope is one of them.

Some other links about Mission of Hope:

19 Jan

January 19, 2010 |
Bishop Phil Whipple leading the ELT meeting.

Bishop Phil Whipple leading the ELT meeting.

Andy Sikorra (right), who will be planting a UB church in the Cleveland area, with Huntington University president G. Blair Dowden.

Andy Sikorra (right), who will be planting a UB church in the Cleveland area, with Huntington University president G. Blair Dowden.

The Executive Leadership Team met Monday night and Tuesday morning (January 18-19) at Huntington University. This was the first time the ELT has met since Phil Whipple was elected bishop, though they’ve handled several items of business over the internet.

The plan was to handle all business during the two hours on Monday night, and reserve Tuesday for talking about church planting. They stuck to that plan.

On Tuesday morning, after a devotional by Bishop Whipple, the ELT heard from Andy Sikorra, who will be planting a church in the Cleveland, Ohio, area starting next fall. Andy is originally from Texas, but his family moved to northwest Ohio and attended New Hope UB church in Bryan, Ohio. He attended Huntington University, and is now on staff with a Southern Baptist church in Cleveland.

Bishop Whipple then guided the ELT members into an open discussion about church planting. Our denomination was born out of aggressive church planting, but in recent years we’ve not done so well at starting new churches. It’s something everyone agrees we need to get a better handle on.

18 Jan

January 18, 2010 |
Denny Miller (far right) leading the cluster leader training.

Denny Miller (far right) leading the cluster leader training.

Today, 22 cluster leaders came to Huntington, Ind., for several hours of training with Bishop Phil Whipple and Denny Miller, pastor of Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.). They met in the Habecker Dining Commons at Huntington University. Denny Miller works one day a week as Director of Healthy Church Ministries. He led much of the training.

Here are some photos from the event.

18 Jan

January 18, 2010 |

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

“Two years ago we added a $260,000 addition, which included classrooms, restrooms, a large fellowship hall, and expansion of the sanctuary. We baptized 45 people in 2009 and 30 in 2008. Ministries to teens, children, men, and women are active. God is great and doing great things!”

18 Jan

January 18, 2010 |

Chet Conley, associate pastor of First UB (Findlay, Ohio), almost lost his grandson, Ethan, on Saturday, January 16. Several days earlier, the eight-year-old developed viral mialytus, a virus that attacks the muscles.

Today, Monday, they are removing the breathing tube and some of the sedation. He is responding.  He still has the feeding tube and kidney dialysis. There will be much physical therapy when this is completed.

18 Jan

January 18, 2010 |

eric-church300Last May, Eric Church earned a degree in digital media arts from Huntington University. Now, he’s in the running to win a share of $5 million as part of the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” ad competition.

Church was part of a team that produced “Casket,” one of the top six finalists (out of 4000 entries). It features a man who stages his own funeral to eat Doritos and watch football.

People can vote for their favorite of those six finalists. The top three will then air during the Super Bowl. Voters also earn a chance to win Super Bowl tickets.

The “Casket” commercial was produced by Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic, a church in Whittier, Calif. Eric Church attends there.

“Shooting it was a blast,” Church says, “especially the whole falling out of the casket stunt. We used 70 bags of Doritos to cover him up inside. It was great!”