18 Apr Easter Story: Findlay, Ohio

Darwin Dunten, senior pastor, Findlay First UB (Findlay, Ohio)

Findlay First UB and the Rock Church participated in a joint Good Friday Service with over 100 people in attendance.

Findlay First UB had it highest attendance in five years with 271 in both services. The church has been seeing new faces since August. The exciting part is that the new faces are pitching in and helping. Many participated in the choir and helped with the Easter breakfast.

The most memorable event was when two little girls from the community that we invited to attend showed up wearing Easter dresses that their mother gave them. (The mother worked at a laundromat and those were unclaimed dresses.) The two little girls sat by themselves until a family noticed them and asked them to sit with them. They ate breakfast and enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt. Then their mother and father came and picked them up.

17 Apr Easter Story: Orrstown, Pa.

Milt Herrold, senior pastor, Orrstown UB (Orrstown, Pa.)

We held a round-the-clock prayer vigil from Thursday evening until the Sunrise service on Sunday. People could come and pray, read Scripture, or worship through music in the sanctuary. We tried to have a host and co-host available as well.

While only about 25% of the congregation participated, some beautiful things happened. We had two people participate long distance from Idaho. Several people gave eight or more hours over the course of the four days, even some people who don’t participate in many of the other functions outside of Sunday.

Every church leader participated. Two church leaders insisted on taking my 1:30 am to 6 am shift on Easter morning. When I went over to the church at 5:30 am, I found that a third leader had also spent the night there praying.

17 Apr Easter Story: Willshire, Ohio

Mark Rutledge, senior pastor, Praise Point (Willshire, Ohio)

We began our Easter observance with the cantata “Easter Song” on Friday and Saturday nights. The church was almost full on Friday, as it was the Good Friday Service for the Parkway Ministerial Association. There was also a good attendance on Saturday night. The cantata was open to singers from the community, along with our own congregation.

Saturday afternoon we hosted an Easter Egg hunt for community children. There were games, crafts, and Bible stories for the different age children followed by the egg hunt. There were 69 youngsters registered to find the 1000+ eggs.

Our Sunrise service began the Sunday schedule, and a powerful presentation was witnessed by over 100 people. Vicki Smith put the service together featuring singers and narrators in costume and film clips.

The breakfast was sponsored by the Camp Committee. All donations will go toward sending children to Camp Cotubic this summer. They are raising $12,000 to help send over 50 children from the church and community to Camp Cotubic.

The weekend concluded with the worship Service on sunday morning, which saw an attendance of 236.

16 Apr Break-in at Fowlerville UB

Fowlerville UB church (Fowlerville, Mich.) was broken into Wednesday night, April 15. The pastors gathered t the church that morning to travel together to a cluster meeting, and noticed that a door was ajar. They found the locked doors of the various offices busted open, kicked in, and offices ransacked.

However, not much was taken. Laptops remained on desks. A couple LCD TVs and a video player, all purchased by the youth, were taken. So was some cash. Associate Pastor Jeff Reser says it looked like someone was mainly looking for cash, and also took anything else that sounded interesting.

“It’s more of a mess and a nuisance than anything,” he said.

16 Apr Easter Story: Hope, Ind.

Mark Scroghan, Rugby UB (Hope, Ind.)
Easter service was amazing. We had Sunrise service at the church for the first time (as I understand) in years. Pastor Jesse Tays is still recovering from his back surgery, but felt well enough to conduct a wonderful service. I am currently studying under his leadership to become a pastor, although I need to obtain a local church minister’s license to get thing’s started in the process of being ordained. I am so excited for the church growth and being a big part of it.

16 Apr Easter Story: Carson City, Mich.

Valerie Reynolds, senior pastor, Mount Hope UB (Carson City, Mich.)
We had a full house! It was a great day, with 166 people attending. We had two recommitments and a house full of kids for junior church.

Every once in a while I become a character. At Christmas, I became the woman who lived across the road from the stable. This Easter, I became a woman who followed around a new Roman guard who was involved in the crucification and beatings. All through the monologue I wondered why Jesus kept looking at me…realizing at the end that he was the Messiah and that he died for me. Actually it was much better than I just described.

16 Apr Good Shepherd…Uh, Congratulations?

In a nationwide contest for “The Ugliest Church Website,” our own Good Shepherd UB church in Huntington, Ind., won the grand prize. That prize happens to be a complete redesign by Collision Media, which is worth a lot of money.

Good Shepherd, by the way, is going through a major transition. In August they will move out of their current building (a former monastery) and begin meeting in temporary quarters. Their property will be put up for sale, and they will adopt a new name. Obviously a lot of change is in the works, but Pastor Josh Kesler and this congregation has a vision for a brighter future, and they’re going for it. A non-ugly website will help.

You can read about here.

15 Apr Easter Story: Columbia City, Ind.

Rick Pride, senior pastor, Eagle Quest UB (Columbia City, Ind.)
Wow, sweet things happen when God shows up! The band was in the groove, the house was full (extra chairs had to be brought in), the Spirit was moving, and the message was on target. Wow!

This year we themed our Easter service “A Second Chance,” using the movie “Walk the Line.” An eight-foot silhouette of Johnny Cash stood outside the church for the past six weeks. We distributed nearly 1000 invitations with a seed package attached to represent new birth and we packed the house.

People came to the altar to rededicate their lives, and we had one new conversion! Many lives were touched. What an awesome God! What an awesome day! Can’t wait till next Easter, so I guess we’ll just do it over every Sunday!

15 Apr Easter Story: Grand Ledge, Mich.

Roy Atherton, Imagine This LLC, Grand Ledge, Mich.
Our Sermon Series leading up to Easter was “Look Who is Coming.” We had well over 100 in our Easter morning full-legth feature and another 50-some for the evening.

We did a Passion offering where people gave something special back to the Lord, held open communion on Friday, and helped distribute Easter fun things to two trailer parks in Grand Ledge. Some of our people helped put together Easter baskets to hand out to the children who came to church and to the National Guard post through Operation Homefront.

14 Apr Easter Story: Byron Center, Mich.

J. Michael Caley, senior pastor, Banner of Christ (Byron Center, Mich.)

We broke the 300 barrier for the first time in three years, with 304 combined in our two services. Best yet, after a meaningful Good Friday and powerful Easter morning, we saw one first-time commitment and three rededications to Christ.

The Kid City staff and Josh Good, the youth pastor, ministered to 80 kids on Saturday, then they all bagged over 4000 ‘eggs’ hidden in our back field!

Our budget is $6500 a week, but our average giving since February 1 is running over $7500.

God is movin’ and shakin’ in some cool ways.