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22 Oct

October 22, 2008 |

In February, Huntington University’s EXCEL Adult Degree Programs will begin offering classes in Fort Wayne, Ind. That makes four EXCEL locations, the others being Huntington, Columbia City, and Wabash.

EXCEL offers evening classes tailored to the schedule of most working adults. Classes are held one night per week, one subject at a time. Classes last 5-8 weeks and lead to an associate degree in organizational management or bachelor’s degrees in accounting, business administration, human resource management, or not-for-profit leadership.

22 Oct

October 22, 2008 |

Denny Miller, pastor of Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) underwent surgery September 18 to remove disc fragments and repair a ruptured disc. Everything went well, and it ended two weeks of what he describes as “relentless pain.” Full recovery recovery is expected to take a year. He’ll return to the pulpit on October 25.

21 Oct

October 21, 2008 |

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
In early October I attended the 140th anniversary of the Liberty UB church in Stockport, Ohio. Bishop Milton Wright, father of the Wright Brothers, preached when the Liberty church was dedicated. I love being in the hills of southern Ohio. That’s my roots. And being at Liberty turned out to be among the highlights of my three years as bishop.

The pastor is Charles Simmons, a converted oil derrick worker. He told me, “I’ve done every sin imaginable.” A few years ago he found Christ in a Nazarene church, and through a series of circumstances, he became the preacher at Liberty when the former preacher left. He doesn’t have a ministerial license or any formal training.

They have a girl with Down’s Syndrome who reads well. She selects the music for every service and tells the pianist, who tells the chorister. She doesn’t know what the pastor is preaching about. But it was absolutely amazing how her song selections fit what he preached about that day. It gave me goosebumps. I spoke in the afternoon, and she had no information about my sermon. But again, she chose appropriate songs.

At Liberty, the preacher preaches. He preached loud, walking down the center aisle and across the back and around the sides and back to the front. The church was full, with about 75 people. They had a sound system, but you didn’t need it for him, or for me.

Liberty is so different from Mainstreet, the church I pastored on the outskirts of Toledo. But I sat there thinking: those people are happy, they lead a Christian lifestyle, and you sense God’s Spirit in that place. I enjoyed being there. They didn’t have printed bulletins, no projector or video. But they knew how to connect with God, and it was very evident.

What works at Liberty wouldn’t be appropriate for every congregation. But one thing belongs in every church, regardless of style: to make a connection with God in worship.

20 Oct

October 20, 2008 |

RegionalMeeting_500.jpg

About 40 people, mostly pastors, attended the first of 6 regional meetings Bishop Ron Ramsey is holding during the next few weeks. This morning’s meeting was held at the Good Shepherd UB church in Huntington, Ind.

  • Bishop Ramsey gave challenge to the group, speaking about Christian Newcomer, one of the early bishops whose ministry extended the United Brethren church into Ohio and Indiana.
  • Bishop Ramsey discussed the upcoming US National Conference, and
  • Bishop Ramsey discussed two referenda items being proposed for next summer’s US National Conference.
  • Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries, walked through a variety of Discipline changes being proposed, and invited feedback.

20 Oct

October 20, 2008 |

Mid-Atlantic Pastoral Resource Day will be held Monday, November 10 at Rhodes Grove Camp outside Chambersburg, Pa. The event includes afternoon seminars on key issues of interest, including the Foundation Health Insurance Plan.

Speakers

  • Ron Ramsey, Bishop
  • Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries
  • Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Sunday night will feature a fireside chat hosted by Dr. Anthony Blair.

Cost

  • $35 (includes meals and continuing education credit from Lancaster Bible College)
  • $75 (lodging, meals, and continuing education credit, if staying overnight)

This event is hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for Church Multiplication, in conjunction with the Ecclesiastes Institute (a continuing education program hosted at Rhodes Grove).
For additional information, contact Rhodes Grove Camp and Conference Center:

20 Oct

October 20, 2008 |

Todd Fetters, pastor of Devonshire UB church (Harrisburg, Pa.) spoke recently at a youth retreat in Ocean City, N. J. He spoke on the theme “Jesus is Greater Than….” to the 18 students and 9 adults attending. He wrote on his blog about the unique commitment time on Saturday night.

“About a dozen students and adults came forward to commit something in their lives that they were making greater than Jesus. A relationship? Their iPod? Their Facebook or MySpace pages? Their career? Anything. The challenge just kept coming at them, “Who are you making famous with your life? Is it Jesus or you?”

“I shared personally with them that my life has been a series of moments where I had to make Jesus greater than something in my life, i.e. my music, my relationships, my career, etc….Each student and/or adult came to the front of the room to physically turn a makeshift ‘greater-than’ sign (>) that stood beside the hanging letters, J-E-S-U-S. With ‘lesser-than’ pointing at ‘Jesus,’ each individual turned the sign so that ‘lesser-than’ was aimed at them and ‘greater-than’ was directed at J-E-S-U-S.

“As a result of this retreat, I’ve heard students say that they needed to take a closer look at their Myspace and Facebook pages to make changes that will bring less attention to themselves and more on Jesus. Others are going to read a chapter a day from the Gospels and meet weekly to talk about what they are reading. Some were convicted about their movie/entertainment choices and are putting greater time into deciding if the movie is something that helps them honor God.”

It’s great to hear stories like that.

18 Oct

October 18, 2008 |

Ed Gebert, pastor of Mt. Victory UB church near Decatur, Ind., wrote a superb blog post called, simply, “Empty.” It’s the honest admission of a pastor…and we know that many pastors reach this same place.

16 Oct

October 16, 2008 |

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On October 15, Mount Zion United African Church dedicated its new church facility located on 1453 N. 52nd Street in Philadelphia, Pa. They’ve been holding meetings there for a few weeks, but on Sunday, people came from far and wide for the dedication.

In the photo (l-r): Bishop Emeritus Paul Hirschy (guest speaker), Dr. Anthony Blair (former Mid-Atlantic Conference superintendent), and Joe Abu, the church’s pastor.

16 Oct

October 16, 2008 |

Tim Hallman, senior pastor, Anchor Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
I am attending the REVEAL conference at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. On Tuesday, Bill Hybels, Willow’s pastor, talked about the four categories of people they identified in the REVEAL study. Here’s what he had to say about them:

  • Exploring Christ. People at this level are not sure what they believe or even really think about Jesus.
  • Growing in Christ. These are people attending the church who are beginning to work on their relationship with Jesus.
  • Close to Christ. These church people depend on Jesus regularly for help in their lives.
  • Christ-centered. For these people, Jesus is the most important person in their life.

As revealing as this information was to Hybels, what he really wanted to know was how to move people from segment to segment. How do you do that? Preaching? Worship singing? Church activity?

A major revelation was the primacy of engagement with the Bible! The more an individual fed on the Scriptures, the more they moved towards becoming Christ-centered.

Interestingly, the most difficult transition to make in becoming Christ-centered was the last movement–from Close to Christ to Christ-centered. It’s the Christ-centered ones who give sacrificially of money, time, energy, love, service. People in the other three categories are still very self-centered about their relationship with Christ. Only in the last category are people fully-devoted to the person of Christ. They have moved beyond self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness, abandoning self in complete surrender to Jesus.

The new strategy at Willow for Hybels? Focus on helping people make the move to become Christ-centered. It’s the hardest move, but it’s the one that will yield the biggest results for the Kingdom.

15 Oct

October 15, 2008 |

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
On Monday we sent an email to the denominational list telling about the upcoming regional meetings regarding National Conference. The first is next Monday here in Huntington at the Good Shepherd UB church, followed by a meeting three days later in Bryan, Ohio. Then, in November, we’ll hold meetings in:

  • Cochranton, Pa. (Nov 6)
  • Chambersburg, Pa. (Nov 10)
  • Lancaster, Ohio (Nov. 12)
  • Ashley, Mich. (Nov.18)

These meetings are for both ministers and laypersons. Pat Jones and I want to talk to you about various things in preparation for next summer’s US National Conference.

  • How your church should process the two referenda items, which your members must vote on next February.
  • Make sure your church selects lay delegates for the conference.
  • Get your input as we look toward a leadership transition next summer, when we elect a new bishop.
  • Inform you about a variety of Discipline revisions being proposed.

The meetings:

  • Are open to all UB people, both ministers and laypersons.
  • Will last two hours.
  • Are free (but we’d like you to register).
  • Won’t include a meal, like the Hang with the Bishop meetings held earlier this year.