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31 May

May 31, 2023 |

On May 31, registrations for National Conference hit 469, and we’re looking to hit (and pass) 500 very soon. If you’ve not registered yet, please do so soon. The conference rate for the three hotels we’re using will end on June 19, so don’t delay.

Thursday morning of NC will feature three sessions of workshops. Nearly all have now been posted on the conference website. Take a look at them using this link. You’ll find plenty to catch your interest.

16 May

May 16, 2023 |

Morocco Church is a country congregation located in southeastern Michigan, approximately 10 miles west of Lake Erie and 20 miles north of Toledo, Ohio. We are looking for a pastor who will work with the church and board to help us grow into our next season of ministry.

Our next pastor will possess a shepherd’s heart and be an effective communicator. The ability to work well with a team, build a sense of fellowship in the congregation, and help bring new members into the church are essential. Skill and experience in connecting with young people will be a benefit. It is also expected that this individual will maintain professional ministerial credentials with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.

Morocco Church is a small church. We are financially stable and have a location and facilities which will enable growth.

If this sounds like something for which God has been preparing you, please send a copy of your resume, a cover letter, and a current photo to bishop@ub.org.

11 May

May 11, 2023 |

Prince Street UB church in Shippensburg, Pa., is looking to hire a part-time (24 hours) Ministry Assistant. This person will provide administrative support for the ministry staff and church leadership of Prince Street Church.

Click here for the full job description.

If interested in applying, please send a resume and cover letter via email to Jim Staver, prc@princestreetchurch.com or mail/drop off to the church office (17 N. Penn St. Shippensburg, PA, 17257).

Application deadline is May 15, 2023.

02 May

May 2, 2023 |

Bishop Todd Fetters previewing the National Conference schedule.

Joni Michaud, chairperson of the Human Reproduction Task Force.

Steve Dennie presenting Discipline revision proposals.

About 35 people attended at Sunfield UB church.

About 35 people attended the first National Conference Preview Meeting, which was held May 1 at the UB church in Sunfield, Mich. Bishop Todd Fetters led the meeting. Kristi McConnell reported on behalf of the Nominating Committee, Joni Michaud presented the report of the Human Reproduction Task Force, and Steve Dennie presented a number of miscellaneous proposals for revising the Discipline.

Four more in-person Preview Meetings are scheduled, beginning on May 3 at Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind., 9:00 – 11:30 am. Subsequent meetings will be held:

  • May 7 at Lancaster UB church (Lancaster, Ohio), 6-8 pm.
  • May 8 at King Street UB church (Chambersburg, Pa.), 9:00 – 11:30 am.
  • May 9 at Atlantic Avenue UB church (Franklin, Pa.), 9:00 – 11:30 am.

Finally, a virtual meeting will be held Monday, May 15, from 7-8:30 pm (EST).

While ministers and lay delegates are especially encouraged to attend, the meetings are free and open to anyone. You can register online here.

The proposals which will be reviewed can be downloaded in PDF format here.

02 May

May 2, 2023 |

Beverly Rhodifer, 92, wife of the late Rev. George Rodifer, passed away April 20, 2023, in Livingston, Tenn. She and George, who died in 2010, were married for 60 years. George began pastoring in the United Brethren church in 1972, and served nine different churches in Ohio and Indiana, all in the former Central Conference.

02 May

May 2, 2023 |


Bishop Todd Fetters has completed a series of nine podcasts about the United Brethren Core Values, which unite UBs around the world. There is an introductory podcast, and then one podcast for each Core Value.

Listen in as Bishop Fetters and Brian Biedenbach, a UB minister, engage in an informal, fun, back-and-forth conversation about each Core Value–it’s meaning, significance, and history.

Bishop Fetters explains, “I want to draw attention to our Core Values as a unifying glue that defines the United Brethren in Christ—who we are, how we interact with each other, and how we engage our neighborhoods and the nations.”

Go here for links to all of the podcasts.

Introduction to the Core Values. (28m)
Core Value 1—We Adhere to the Confession of Faith. (23m)
Core Value 2—We Respect Unity Amidst Diversity. (31m)
Core Value 3—We Seek the Lost. (29m)
Core Value 4—We Demonstrate Social Concern. (27m)
Core Value 5—We Preserve Our Christian Witness. (30m)
Core Value 6-We Protect the Family. (28m)
Core Value 7: We Esteem Each Other.(32m)
Core Value 8-We Link with the Larger Church. (25m)

28 Apr

April 28, 2023 |

Earl Haggard, a former minister in Kansas and Ohio, passed away April 13, 2023, in Kansas City, Kansas. He attended Huntington University, and went on to pastor the Abilene UB church (Abilene, Kansas) and Salem Chapel UB church (Junction City, Ohio). He was ordained in the UB church in 1986, and remained UB until 1997, when he became a minister in the United Methodist Church.

24 Apr

April 24, 2023 |

 

Rev. Kenneth E. Graham, 94, passed away April 19, 2023, in Oregon, Ohio. He served three different churches in western Pennsylvania and northern Ohio over a 41-year period, including 33 years at Mainstreet UB church (Walbridge, Ohio), before retiring in 1993. He was a prominent figure in the former Sandusky Conference, serving as a superintendent, General Conference delegate, and in other leadership roles in the conference and denomination.

Visitation: 3-7 pm Monday, May 1, 2023.
Visitation location: Witzler-Shank-Walker Funeral Home, 701 N. Main Street, Walbridge, Ohio
Funeral: 10:30 am Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Funeral location: Mainstreet Church, 5465 Moline-Martin Road, Walbridge, Ohio. Pastor Marty Pennington will officiate.

Ken and Rachel Graham were married in 1951 and spent the next 71 years together. She passed away in September 2022.

Their first pastorate the Franklin UB church in Franklin, Pa., 1952-1958. He was ordained as a UB minister in 1954. Next came two years at the Bowling Green UB church in Bowling Green, Ohio. Then, in 1960, Graham began 33 years as pastor of the Main Street UB church in Walbridge, Ohio. He remained there until retiring in 1993. Along the way he participated in UB mission trips to Jamaica and Sierra Leone.

The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Mainstreet Church.

16 Apr

April 16, 2023 |

Lanie Miller

Elaine “Lanie” Miller, 94, passed away on Wednesday evening, April 12, at Sage Bluff nursing home in Fort Wayne, Ind. She was the wife of C. Ray Miller, who served 20 years as a United Brethren bishop, 1973-1993.

Elaine was born in 1928 in Waynesboro, Pa. She graduated from high school in 1946, and that year she and Ray were married. They moved on Huntington, Ind., in 1947 to attend Huntington College. During that time, Ray was pastor of the Grayston Avenue UB Church in Huntington.

In 1954 they moved back to Pennsylvania and served several pastorates, including 14 years at the Prince Street UB Church in Shippensburg, Pa. In 1973, Ray was elected a bishop in the United Brethren Church and they moved back to Huntington. They later moved to Fort Wayne, where they lived until her passing.

Elaine enjoyed reading and watching sports. She was a homemaker and it was often said that “you hardly ever see Lanie without Ray.” They were partners in life and ministry. She was a member of the Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne.

Elaine is survived by her husband, C. Ray; a son, Dennis (Karin) Miller of Fort Wayne; a daughter, Pamela (Patrick) Jones of Lancaster, N.Y.; four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

A private memorial service will be held in the coming week, with internment at the Covington Gardens in Fort Wayne.

Memorial donations may be given to UB Global or to Huntington University.

Correspondence for C. Ray Miller can be sent to him in care of Emmanuel Community church:

C. Ray Miller
Emmanuel Community Church
12222 US Highway 24 W
Fort Wayne, IN 46814-7472

14 Apr

April 14, 2023 |

Author Steve Dennie with copies of “Against the Blighting Curse.”

“Against the Blighting Curse: The Church of the United Brethren Christ During the Civil War,” is now available on Amazon. It was written by Steve Dennie, the UB Communications Director. The paperback edition is $14.95, and the Kindle edition is a $6.95.

Thousands of United Brethren men fought in the Civil War. This book tells hundreds of stories about these soldiers, and also explores what was happening on the home front.

You’ll meet Medal of Honor winners, future professors and judges, Union spies, a former missionary turned Army surgeon, Underground Railroad operators, and a cavalry chaplain who fought Napoleon at Waterloo. You’ll meet dozens of UB ministers who left their pulpits to carry rifles and storm rebel fortifications. You’ll even cross paths with famed explorer Henry Stanley, with the author of several of our favorite Christmas songs, and with a UB layperson in Ohio who ended up in a Disney movie.

The title is taken from a resolution by the UB church’s Erie Conference at the beginning of the war: “We will devoutly pray that God may so overrule this national calamity that THE BLIGHTING CURSE of slavery, which is causing all this loss of blood and treasure, may be swept from the land — until all its inhabitants shall enjoy the rights of men and the privileges of the gospel of Christ.”