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Chris Moore has been named senior pastor of Mount Zion (Bobo) UB church near Willshire, Ohio. This church is a part-time position.
Chris previously served on staff at Emmanuel UB (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Good Shepherd UB (Huntington, Ind.). His wife, Brenda, holds a fulltime job in Fort Wayne.
Harold Wust passed away early Thursday morning, September 17. He had been battling a final attack of leukemia and had been home with family for the past few days.
Harold served as a missionary in Honduras for many years, and later as Associate Director of Missions for the denomination. His son Dan and daughter Lynn Razor have also served as missionaries in Honduras.
Here are the arrangements:
Visitation: Sunday, September 20, at Myers Funeral Home in Huntington, Ind.
Time: 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm.
Funeral service: Monday, September 21, at Good Shepherd UB church in Huntington, Ind.
Time: 2 pm, with visitation one hour before the service.
Dave Knittle from Spencerville, Ohio, was killed in a motorcycle/car accident Friday morning, September 11, on his way to work. Dave is the son of retired minister Carey Knittle, a longtime pastor in the United Brethren church. Dave’s sister is Amy Riddle, wife of Dave Riddle, who has been pastor of Element UB church in Blissfield, Mich. Dave Knittle’s son is in the military in Colorado and has been ill. The entire family would appreciate your prayers.
Each year we start out with 52 weekends where we have the opportunity to gather with other believers and seekers. We get the chance to show off our God and to bring glory to him. Those 52 weekends seemed to crawl along when I was young, but now they race by with increasing speed.
I want to encourage each of our churches to take a good look at your worship services and to do all that you can to maximize their effectiveness. There is no such thing as a throw-away Sunday. We only have 52. Somebody might only come into your church once. Make sure that you have prayed like it is the last service you might have. Eternal destinies are at stake.
It is not all on our shoulders. But it is imperative that we do our part to pray, plan, and strategize about what you are doing on the weekend. Then trust God and leave the results in his hand. It is an amazing partnership that God allows us to be a part of. To join united with the Spirit of God to see lives transformed by the gospel.
I’m in Chicago attending MinistryCOM, an annual conference for Christian communications professionals. Nearly everyone is on staff at a megachurch. They are a tech-savvy bunch. They carry laptops, consult smartphones, use Twitter and Facebook, write and read blogs. Very connected. And highly competent.
This is my fourth year attending MinistryCOM. I always learn valuable stuff.
Yesterday I attended the “Branding 101” workshop, something they do every year. The topic of branding crops up constantly. Large churches focus a lot of attention on their brand identity–how they are perceived, and the experience people have in attending. This was my third time attending Branding 101. Today, it was led by two guys from CHANGEffect, a Christian firm based in Chicago. They hit the subject from some new angles.
Here’s one thought I found interesting. It concerns our consumer mentality.
They said we often present Christ as a transaction–you accept Christ, you get a ticket to heaven. But we shouldn’t be surprised, then, that so many of our people take the attitude, “What does the church do for me?”
Isn’t that true? Our pews are filled with folks who just take take take, and if they don’t like the meal you provide, they complain. Like people griping because their steak is medium and they asked for medium well.
Rather than view themselves as consumers, people need to understand that they are becoming part of a movement. They need to view themselves as citizens, rather than as consumers. They are citizens of a community to which they belong, and in which they have responsibilities.
In your church, do you have consumers or citizens?
They also cited several trends in society which churches need to adapt to. Let me mention two of them.
The bottom picture shows Rev. Prudencio Lim, superintendent of the United Brethren Philippines Conference, speaking to some of his people. In the Batangas province, they baptized 25 people on Holy Thursday last April. Notice the setting–a very public place. That photo should inspire.
Marilyn Reeck, UB endorsed missionary serving in Honduras, sent an email Sunday about the declining health of Guillermo Martinez, former superintendent of our work in Nicaragua. Rev. Martinez, a native of El Salvador, was a highly respected UB pastor in Honduras for many years. When the Soccer War broke out in 1969 between Honduras and El Salvador, he was imprisoned in Honduras. After the war, he couldn’t stay in Honduras, but neither could he return to El Salvador with his Honduran wife. So he agreed to go to Nicaragua, where a United Brethren work was in the beginning stages. He led the UB church there for many years.
Don Guillermo has not been well for some time now, has problems walking, and has become very thin. He is now 83 years old, and over the last few months has been in the hospital several times.
On Saturday it was confirmed that he has stomach cancer. Dr. Saul Hernandez took him yesterday to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to see a Christian oncologist. He confirmed the diagnosis and stated that he has to be operated on immediately. He would need to be taken back to San Pedro Sula again.
Three of his children live here in La Ceiba, one lives in Managua, and one lives in Guatemala.
Plese pray for the Martinez family, for seeking wisdom about the operation, and for the finances. The family, including the church family, have been supporting all these many months but the situation has become very difficult.
I personally remember Don Guillermo from away back when he first came to La Ceiba and became a pastor with the United Brethren, his wedding, and his move to Masaya, Nicaragua to start the work there. He served as Superintendent of the Nicaragua work for many years. My memories are of a great man of God. Each time I visit him now he says, “I prayed for you today.”
Huntington University’s newly launched Institute for TESOL Studies has hired Valerie Geer as associate director. TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
“TESOL is a very specific field of study, complete with its own set of approaches and methodologies,” Geer said. “People might mistakenly think that, by virtue of speaking English natively, they can competently teach English to others. This is not the case. Huntington University’s Institute for TESOL Studies is offering a valuable training tool for many types of students and majors who might find themselves interacting with ELLs (English Language Learners).”
In her new position, Geer has designed courses for the TESOL/English as a New Language (ENL) programs and selected textbooks and library holdings related to the TESOL field. Her other tasks will include raising awareness about the institute, networking with organizations and agencies that work with ENL populations, communicating with current and prospective students, and teaching the Foundations of TESOL course.
We received word that Rev. Guillermo Martinez, long-time leader of our work in Nicaragua, has been diagnosed with stomach cancer.
Several of our international fields started almost by accident, a result of taking advantage of political upheavals and unusual circumstances.
Guillermo Martinez, a native of El Salvador, was a highly respected UB pastor in Honduras for many years. When the Soccer War broke out in 1969 between Honduras and El Salvador, he was imprisoned in Honduras along with hundreds of other Salvadoranians.
After the war, he couldn’t stay in Honduras, but neither could he return to El Salvador with his Honduran wife. So he agreed to go to Nicaragua, where a United Brethren work was in the beginning stages. He led the UB church there for many years, including through the Sandinista revolution. The full story is told in the book Tio Archie.
Former bishop Paul Hirschy sends out a monthly prayer newsletter for Huntington University. It’s a good way to keep up-to-date on needs and happenings at our college. You can sign up to receive this monthly email. Follow the link to read the September edition.
