(260) 356-2312
Two Huntington College professors recently published books which you can find in local bookstores or order from the UB bookstore.
On March 21, King Street Church (Chambersburg, Pa.) sponsored a Missions Night. Nancy Fritz of the Missions Commission writes, “This evening was a time to praise the Lord and thank those who were part of this outreach through prayer, financial support, or active involvement. Everyone experienced a wonderful time of sharing, rejoicing and recalling the wonderful things God is doing in Honduras and Belize through the efforts of short-term work teams.
“Approximately 60 men and women in the Mid-Atlantic conference area spent time in these countries in January and February. In less than two months, with a great crew of nationals, these workers began and completed a church at Mt. Hebron outside La Ceiba, Honduras. A number of team members were privileged to participate in a dedication service before returning to the States. A children’s home in Belize was constructed and is now ready for the roof, which is expected to be completed by another team in May.
“Plans are underway for the 2004 Global Missions Celebration to be held November 13-14 at King Street Church. Since God is igniting a great interest in short-term mission trips, one of the major parts of this conference will be devoted to sharing information regarding opportunities, requirements, training, and plans for maximizing the efforts and results of short-term mission trip.”
First UB in Lansing has agreed to allow the DeWitt congregation to share its building, starting May 2, 2004. Ron Watterly, pastor of DeWitt, writes, “Our building has had problems with the roof leaking and our landlord has been slow in making repairs to the point that now we are having mold problems. We will hold services at 8:30 a.m. and join them for Sunday school at 10:00. The Lansing congregation will conduct its worship at 11:00.”
Jerry Caley, from the Banner of Christ UB church (Byron Center, Mich.), sent this note on April 19:
“Our church is three months into its new Faith Promise for Missions campaign. The goal for giving and fundraising events is $17,500. Already the giving alone is nearing $6000.
“In addition, under the leadership of our new Pastor of Discipleship and Youth, Josh Good, we have 25 persons going to Costa Rica in July to build a new church with Youth With A Mission. Nineteen high school students and six adults will be part of this two-week trip–a first ever ‘out of the country’ for our youth ministry.”
Roy Scott is the pastor of a new church in Shirley, New York, called Omega Family Church. He is also pastor of Bethel African American Church in Somerset, N. J.
Ryan Clark is the new pastor of Van Wert UB church (Van Wert, Ohio). He began in mid-April. Ryan and his wife, Becky, are coming from Gordon-Conwell Seminary in Massachusetts, where Ryan is completing his MDiv. They have two children and a third on the way.
Devonshire Memorial UB (Harrisburg, Pa.) held a Family Life Conference this week. It began on Easter Sunday morning, and continued with services each night through Wednesday (with a buffet dinner before the Wednesday evening service). It was led by Home Fire Ministries.
Hilltop Community UB (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.) hired a Children’s Director in April. Erika Gloeckner has experience working with children, and she possesses a passion for helping children know the Lord. There has already been a healthy increase in attendance for Sunday school and the weekday children’s programs.
Pastor Michael Tucker writes, “The church has successfully operated a preschool for several years, and now has announced plans to add a kindergarten class for next fall. Although the announcement of the new class is only a week old, the class is already full, and there are eight students on the waiting list. Plans to build an educational building are being discussed as the church anticipates that additional grades will be added to the school next year.
“New video projection equipment has been installed in the church auditorium since Easter. The church makes extensive use of PowerPoint slides each week for the worship. There are 80-100 slides used each week, and often video is incorporated into the service.”
Grace UB (Sherkston, Ontario) is getting ready for week one of the Purpose Driven Life Campaign. Sheldon King writes, “We have been praying about this and deliberating over it a lot, and a lot of hard work has gone into preparing the campaign for the church. We have great hopes for the church and its spiritual growth and ‘people growth’ as well. This campaign will bring much change to the way we do things at Grace. We kick it off with the National Simulcast Video on April 18. The whole service will be a video of Rick Warren in his service for Saddleback’s launch of the 40 Days or Purpose.”
The Community Easter Egg Hunt at Sunfield UB (Sunfield, Mich.) drew almost 100 children from the community, and the church was able to share with the children and their parents the true meaning of Easter. Three families came back the next day on Easter Sunday, and the parents in one of those families received Christ. The two morning services had a combined attendance of 322.
Some other news from the church:
