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24 Mar

March 24, 2006 |

In February, Randy Fennig, pastor of Prince of Peace UB church in Springfield, Ohio, spent two weeks in Sierra Leone on a fact-finding mission for UB Global Ministries. Randy, a former missionary in Mozambique, is a member of the Global Ministries Leadership Team. He was joined on that trip by fellow GMLT member Ruth Ann Price.
While in Africa, Randy contracted malaria (which he has had before). He has been battling malaria ever since, in large part because his doctors in Ohio haven’t seen this disease before. As a result, Randy continued to get worse.
On Tuesday, March 21, Randy’s family finally found a doctor near his hometown of Portland, Ind., who has some experience in treating malaria. They took him to the hospital in Jay County. On his arrival, his temperature was spiking at 105.5 degrees and he was having convulsions. The got it down to 102, and then rushed him by ambulance to Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Ind. He began a treatment which was expected to take around 72 hours to make an impact.
Fortunately, Randy is doing much better and is responding to the treatment. As of Wednesday night, after 24 hours of doxycycline and quinine, Randy had improved a lot.

15 Mar

March 15, 2006 |

The Huntington University men’s basketball team started as the Number 2 seed in the NAIA Division II national tournament in Branson, Mo. They made it fairly easily to the championship game. But then they ran into College of the Ozarks, a school which basically had home-field advantage.
In the final game Tuesday night, March14, Huntington’s poorest shooting performance and lowest offensive output of the season led to its demise. They fell 74-56 to College of the Ozarks.
Read more about the game here.

14 Mar

March 14, 2006 |

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
turnaround.jpgThere is an event planned for April at Huntington University that some of you should be interested in attending. The Hoffman Lectureship Series for 2006 will be held on the campus April 18, 2006, with the topic being “Turnaround Churches.” The speaker is Gene Wood, who has authored two books, “Leading Turaround Churches” and “Leading Turnaround Teams.” The lecture will begin at 8:30 AM and end at 3:30 PM.
The registration fee is just $30 and it covers the registration fee, noon meal, and refreshments.
Now, I know we have several churches that could and should be considered turnaround churches. A turnaround church could be described as a church that has plateaued or is in decline, but there is a sense that God really wants to do something in that place. Not all plateaued or declining churches can be considered a turnaround situation. This seminar will help you assess your turnaround potential.
We ought to have a couple dozen of our churches respond to this opportunity by sending their pastor and several key laypersons. You can request a registration form by responding to this blog with your name and address and how many forms you would like.
For pastors in the UBIC, this seminar will earn .5 CEU credits.
I plan to attend this myself and I hope to see many of you there as well.
We have plateaued and/or declining churches that if they do not develop a turnaround ministry, they probably will eventually die. And in many cases that isn’t necessary. But they must refocus their ministry and become culturally relevant to their community.
Will you come? Not can you come? But will you? I trust you will!

13 Mar

March 13, 2006 |

Jeff Dice, associate pastor at Brown Corners Church in Clare, Mich., will lead his third short-term team to Nicaragua June 9-19. This is part of Brown Corners’ ongoing partnership with that country. The team will do several small construction projects, some cultural outreach activities, and Bible training. Jeff would like to invite individuals from other churches to join the team. Interested? Call him at 989-386-2702, or send an email to Jeff Dice.

13 Mar

March 13, 2006 |

UB Global Ministries is making available two new DVDs which focus on what God is doing around the world in the UB church.

  • Living in Denial. This six-minute video or DVD features Director Gary Dilley reflecting on UBs joining God in the “war effort,” as well as looking ahead to a new work in East Asia, and our desire to stand in the gap with Sierra Leone as they rebuild and prepare for the challenges ahead. This video was made for Self Denial, but is equally suitable for a short UB mission update in your worship service or smaller group setting. Contact Darlene at Global Ministries for a copy.
  • The Philippines and the United Brethren Church. Rev. Mike Brown and Huntington University worked together to produce an introduction to the work and ministry of the United Brethren church in the Philippines.

You can obtain a copy of these DVDs for your church by contact Global Ministries in these ways:

Toll-free Phone: 1-888-622-3019
Email: missions@ub.org

13 Mar

March 13, 2006 |

The Huntington University men’s basketball team has reached the Final Four of the NAIA national tournament in Branson, Missouri. The entered the tourney as the number 2 seed, and the number 1 seed has already bowed out.
The Foresters defeated #10 Morningside (Iowa) on Saturday, March11, to reach the Final Four. They trailed most of the first half, but overcame a five-point half-time deficit to eventually win 82-70.
The tournament continues at 6:00 p.m. (CST) on Monday, March 13, as Huntington faces MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (25-10) in the semifinals. The game will be broadcast live from Branson by Huntington University Radio WQHU 105.5 FM. MidAmerica is the only unseeded team to reach the Final Four. The other two teams left in the tournament are 4th-seed College of the Ozards (27-6) and 8th-seed Lindenwood Univeristy (26-9). HU’s season record is 31-5.

08 Mar

March 8, 2006 |

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
2006ELT_Pat480.jpg

Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries, reporting to the Executive Leadership Team

During the past few weeks, we’ve had a lot of meetings–the Global Ministries Leadership Team, the Healthy Church Leadership Team, the Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team, and finally, the Executive Leadership Team. The ELT met March 6-7 at the United Brethren Headquarters in Huntington, Ind. I presented a written report covering my first six months in office, August 15, 2005, to February 28, 2006. Here are excerpts which might interest you.

These first 6 months were spent generally:

  • In getting moved and settled in Huntington.
  • Becoming involved in a steep learning curve as to the status of the various areas of emphasis.
  • Becoming acquainted with the condition of churches and pastors.
  • Picking up stationing committee duties for churches needing pastors.
  • Learning the routines and procedures of the office and staff.

The transition has gone well. There are always some bumps and surprises along the way, but all in all it was a good initial beginning. Pat Jones and I have formed a solid team and positive working relationship. Along with Gary Dilley, Steve Dennie, and Marci Hammel, we have a strong administrative team in place. Adding Tom Blaylock as a part time Director of Church Multiplication was a good decision and we will see benefits from that decision.

(more…)

08 Mar

March 8, 2006 |

HUBBall_300.jpgThe Huntington University men’s basketball team is ranked second in the national in the NAIA Division II, with a 28-5 record. They are now in Branson, Missouri, for the national tournament, and were given the number 2 seed. The top seed went to Embry Riddle, a Florida college, with a 30-2 record.
The Foresters will play their first game on Thursday, March 8, against Fisher College (16-14) of Boston, Mass. The game begins at 4 pm, and can be heard over the internet on HU’s radio station, WQHU. Go here for the link.
The Foresters are led by Alex Kock, MCC co-player of the year, who averages just under 21 points per game. Kyle Ganton leads the Division II in 3-point field goal percentage at 51%, and averages 18 points per game. Both are juniors. HU enters the tournament with the best team free throw percentage in Division II, at 78.6%.
On February 28, HU squared off against 8th-ranked Taylor University for the Mid-Central Conference championship, and won easily, 68-44. The photo on the right was taken after that victory.

08 Mar

March 8, 2006 |

2006ELT_Pat500.jpg
Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries, reporting to the Executive Leadership Team

The Executive Leadership Team met March 6-7 at the United Brethren Headquarters in Huntington, Ind. Bishop Ron Ramsey presented his report covering his first six months in office, August 15-2005 to February 28, 2006. Here are excerpts:

These first 6 months were spent generally:

  • In getting moved and settled in Huntington.
  • Becoming involved in a steep learning curve as to the status of the various areas of emphasis.
  • Becoming acquainted with the condition of churches and pastors.
  • Picking up stationing committee duties for churches needing pastors.
  • Learning the routines and procedures of the office and staff.

The transition has gone well. There are always some bumps and surprises along the way, but all in all it was a good initial beginning. Pat Jones and I have formed a solid team and positive working relationship. Along with Gary Dilley, Steve Dennie, and Marci Hammel, we have a strong administrative team in place. Adding Tom Blaylock as a part time Director of Church Multiplication was a good decision and we will see benefits from that decision.

(more…)