(260) 356-2312
Frank Strine, a longtime UB pastor (now retired), underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery today. Everything went well and there were no problems. As always, the next 24 hours are critical. Frank and Phyllis Strine can be contacted at PO Box 613, Markle, IN 46770.
Lake View Church will offer their 18th annual dramatic Christmas musical December 14-16. The performances are open to anyone who would like to attend. Tickets are free, but are required for admission.
This year’s musical, “Bringing Christmas Home,” shows that God’s supernatural power is still at work today changing hearts. The performance schedule is:
Light refreshments will be served after each presentation. For tickets or more information, please call the church office at 517.567.8529. Lake View Church is located at 4616 E. Territorial Road in Camden, Mich., about two miles north of Pioneer, Ohio, and 16 miles south of Hillsdale, Mich.
Colwood UB church in Caro, Mich., is looking for a fulltime youth pastor, with a preferred starting date of January 1, 2008. Colwood Student Ministry (Fusion Student Ministry), a ministry of Colwood UB church, is a multi-faceted ministry that seeks a balance of worship, training, outreach, leader development, and community involvement. Currently the Sunday student average is 50-60 students. A Friday night outreach has been developed over the past three years.
The purpose of Fusion is to give students a safe place to go, where they know they can trust the adults and have fun with their friends. Anywhere from 150-300 students attend this event that is held three out of four weeks every month during the school year. Colwood is looking for the person God would have to help them lead the student ministries forward.
If interested, contact:
Phil Whipple, Senior Pastor
1106 Collingwood Drive
Caro, Mich. 48723
Phone: 989.673.3636
Email: wwhipp@mac.com
Roger Sherman, an elder at Mainstreet Church in Walbridge, Ohio, suffered a massive heart attack and is now in the intensive care unit of a local hospital. Roger is the second father to Mainstreet’s senior pastor, Marty Pennington.
The Standard, a publication based in Hong Kong, published an online article about a survey conducted by the Whampoa youth center. Whampoa is one of several youth centers operated by our Hong Kong churches. The survey regards the attitudes of youth toward “global vision.” The article begins:
“Most Hong Kong youth have only a vague idea about global vision, a survey has revealed. But what makes the situation more acute is that most see no reason to improve their concepts, according to the Church of United Brethren in Christ Whampoa Integrated Children and Youth Service Center, which interviewed 747 secondary students in June.”
The Jerusalem Chapel church (Churchville, Va.) suffered a major fire a year and a half ago. Pastor Dennis Sites now reports, “We are pleased to see some major progression on the church construction here at Jerusalem Chapel. We now have the building under roof, which will allow construction to continue to go on throughout the winter. We are planning to dedicate the completed addition in Spring of 2008.”
Joe Leighton sent the following update on October 29 concerning the condition of his wife, Cheryl.
“Cheryl has been discharged from The James Cancer hospitalm because at this point she can be treated on an outpatient basis. Her next round of chemo is November 8. She has been admitted to a rehabilitation hospital for several different types of therapy: speech, so that she can learn to speak with a trach; respiratory, so she can have the trach downsized and hopefully removed altogether (she has a lot of swelling on the inside of her throat that currently hinders this; eating by mouth, which she has seldom done for the past two months, so the appetite must be rebuilt; physical, as she has been hospitalized for nearly two months now.
“Further complicating this is that the chemo she needs for the cancer can cause nerve damage, and we are beginning to see that with a condition called drop foot. We don’t know the severity as yet. Sometimes it can be treated with therapy or with surgery, and sometimes it does not respond to treatment, which means the patient will never walk again. So the hits keep on coming, and truthfully, it is a bit staggering at times.
“I sure do appreciate the prayers of everyone. It is good to know we are not in this alone. Hopefully the therapies will be effective and from this center she will be discharged home.”
Mike Stine has been named senior pastor of Mount Carmel UB church in Fulks Run, Va.
Mainstreet Church held the Grand Opening for its new facility on October 21. Bishop Ron Ramsey, the lead pastor at Mainstreet for ten years prior to being elected bishop in 2005, attended. The $4.5 million, 34,000 square-foot building is located on 42 acres of land, and features a 500-seat sanctuary. The average attendance runs about 600.
The congregation originally planned to build a 58,000 square foot facility costing about $6 million, but scaled back when they couldn’t find a buyer for the previous property located on Main Street. They then began considering using both sites. The previous building, about three miles away, has been renovated for youth ministry and offices for about half of the church’s 14 staff members. The new building can be easily expanded.
Marty Pennington is the lead pastor of Mainstreet Church. You can read much more about the new facility an article in the Toledo Blade’s online edition.
Fountain UB in Keyser, W. Va., is again serving as a collection point for Operation Christmas Child. An article in Keyser’s Mineral Daily News-Tribune tells about the program. Shoeboxes will be collected November 12-17 and forwarded to a Samaritan’s Purse distribution center. Last year, Fountain collected 8042 shoeboxes; this year’s goal is 8200.
A number of United Brethren churches have participated in Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. The shoeboxes contain such items as toys, T-shirts, socks, hard candy, school supplies, and hygiene items. Since the program started in 1993, over 54 million shoebox gifts have been given to children in 134 countries, including 7.6 million shoeboxes in 2006 alone.
