01 Feb Dick Thorp Named to Calvary UB
Dick Thorp has been named senior pastor of Calvary UB church in Bridgeport, Mich.
31 Jan Over 3000 Attend KSC Christmas Eve Services
King Street Church in Chambersburg, Pa., held seven services on Christmas Eve Sunday. The total attendance was 3,034.
In January, Jonathan Ford became Pastor of Worship Arts at King Street. A graduate of Nyack College, Ford has been serving as Associate Pastor of Worship and Family Life at First Baptist Church, Clayton, N. J., since 1995. Ford will shepherd the entire worship ministry, providing direct leadership at two of the four worship services.
02 Jan “Bud” Blausey
The Toledo Blade has a nice article about “Bud” Blausey, a lifelong member of the Bethel UB church in Elmore, Ohio. Mr. Blausey passed away Decembert 26 at age 82.
28 Dec Cellular Church Withdraws
The Cellular Church, a UB hispanic church, has withdrawn from the denomination and joined the Missionary Church. The church, located in Canyon Country, California (the Los Angeles area), was perhaps our most successful church plant in the last 20 years. The church started in 1994 under the leadership of Pastor Edwin Recinos and, in 2005, reported an average attendance of 505 people.
The Pixley UB church in Pixley, Calif., is now the only United Brethren church in California.
28 Dec New Pastor of Mongul UB
Rocky Spear has been named senior pastor of Mongul UB church in Shippensburg, Pa., effective January 21. He previously served on staff at Colwood UB in Caro, Mich.
28 Dec Helping Others in Biloxi and at Home
MLive.com has an article about Rick and Jan Talbert of Heart of the Lakes UB church in Brooklyn, Mich. After Rick spent 11 days repairing roofs and damaged walls in Biloxi, Miss., following Hurricane Katrina, he came back to Jackson, Mich., and began helping local people with various needs. And the church got involved, too. For instance, a group from the church spent the summer painting the home of a disabled woman and paying for new windows. Click the link above to read the article.
15 Nov Anchor’s Hard-Core Concerts
Saints Never Surrender. Tony Biard is on the far left.
The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel newpaper published an online article about the concerts held at Anchor Community Church once or twice a month, with a couple hundred kids usually showing up. It includes a bunch of photos.
Tony Biard, a member of Anchor, heads up the concerts. He is also lead singer for the Christian hardcore band “Saints Never Surrender.” The band was recently signed by Blood & Ink Records.
03 Nov Fountain UB and Operation Christmas Child
Fountain UB in Keyser, W. Va., serves as a collection center for “Operation Christmas Child,” a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse which provides shoeboxes of items for needy children. You can read much more about this in an online article in the Keyser Mineral Daily News-Tribune.
31 Oct Findlay, Ohio: Pumpkin Patch Party
The city of Findlay, Ohio, recognized Halloween on Thursday, October 26. The First UB church of Findlay organized an outreach during that time. They provided games, face painting, cookies, and treats for the neighborhood children and called it the Pumpkin Patch Party. Each child received a bag containing a king-size candy bar, an evangelistic tract, and a church brochure. The children then proceeded to six more stations where they received even more treats. Over 200 neighborhood youth visited the church.
To attract more children, the youth group set up a station at a key intersection, where they gave out small candy and said, “Hey, there are huge candy bars down at that church.” Once they set up station, neighborhood people flocked to flock to the church. If the community didn’t know there was a church at the end of the street, they do now.
It was a success, because the church people got excited and got involved. The organizer, Jane Mathers, stated, “I heard so many good comments from the neighborhood people.” Darwin Dunten is the pastor of First UB.
24 Oct Mt. Olivet Busy in Missions
Here is a report from Mt. Olivet UB church in Mt. Solon, Va.: “Our church has been busy with mission projects. In March, Rob and Fonda Cassidy went on a medical team project led by Donna Hollopeter in Honduras. In July, a large group was involved in a work project at Laurel Mission in Kentucky. And in September, the Cassidys were back in Bolivia on a surgical team working in the area of Santa Cruz.
“In August, a large group of men and women were involved in a community project headed up by Ray Hussey. They cleaned up one property and repaired and replaced a porch that was needed. In another place they moved a wood stove into a home and helped build shelves. This group joined five area churches for this project.”