17 Apr Easter at West Windsor UB

Sally Harrison reports on Holy Week observances at the West Windsor UB church in Dimondale, Mich.:
“We gave a the drama of ‘Living Last Supper,’ a one-act play in which the 12 disciples each speak their minds about Jesus’ words, ‘One of you will betray me.’ It is based on the Da Vinci Painting of the Last Supper. We had performances on Thursday and Friday nights. About 80 people came on Thursday, and the 140 people who came on Friday maxxed out our sanctuary, which usually holds just 110.
“We had a afterglow (party with snacks) after the performance on Friday, and most everyone stayed. Some were family and friends, but some were new people from the community that we want to invite to our church as future friends. Pastor Paul Wall (right) was the driving force in this production and Mrs. Deb Fish was the director.
“On Easter Sunday at 7 a.m., we held a sunrise service at the cemetery CRYPT in Dimondale. We sang songs and prayed, and Pastor Paul gave a short sermon. We then went back to the church for breakfast at 8:00 and at 11:00 we held our regular church service, with many new people joining us.”

08 Mar UBs in Canada – Spaghetti Every Week

The following story is about the Living Hope UB church in our Canadian conference. The story appeared in the Shoreline Beacon of Port Elgin, Ontario, on January 25.
What started out as a modest spaghetti dinner shared with the community, has blossomed into one of the biggest showings of community spirit in Saugeen Shores, with more than 150 people turning out each week.

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13 Feb Church Name Change

Gethsemane UB church in Jackson, Mich., has changed its name. The church is now called Pathway Community Church.

01 Feb Hillsdale’s Priscilla and Aquilla

Lester Smith, pastor of the Hillsdale UB church (Hillsdale, Mich)., reports, “We have hired a modern-day Aquila and Priscilla team: Phill (yes, he spells it with two l’s) and Michele (hers is one l) Vigil. Both are preacher’s kids and have degrees with experience in various forms of ministry. They applied for our one fulltime position in youth and worship as a couple.
“Although our church has hired husband and wife teams before, such as Scott and Tanya Hardaway, as well a my wife (executive secretary) and I, it has never been for the same position. The Vigils will work in the area of both youth and music. In their last church in California, one had the title of Youth and Music Minister and the other was Music and Youth Minister.”

21 Dec Jim Woodward Honored by Findlay Police

Jim Woodward was honored by the county sheriffs department as their man of the year. This is the highest award given to any citizen by the sheriff department in Hancock County, Ohio. Jim is the owner of Razor’s Edge barbershop and a member of the First United Brethren Church of Findlay, Ohio.

In 2004, First UB did the Purpose Driven Life program. Rick Warren’s challenges gave Jim a vision to minister to the prisoners of the county jail. First, he challenged the church to make Christmas packets with socks, a New Testament, a candy bar, and a stamped envelope with a Christmas card to be handed out to the inmates during the week of Christmas. After that, Jim organized a monthly program where the inmates received a homemade cookie and a cup of soda. During that time, speakers would come and shares their testimony, song, or message with the inmates. In December, three inmates gave their lives to Christ as a result of the message given. One inmate was even released for a few hours to attend church with Jim.

When Jim received this award, Sheriff Mike Heldman told the entire department, “This award is given to someone who saves a life during the year. Jim has not saved a physical life. He has saved many spiritual lives this past year.”

12 Jul Otterbein Church Withdraws

The Otterbein United Brethren church in Waynesboro has withdrawn from the denomination. Otterbein was the fourth-largest UB church, with an average attendance of 814 in 2004.

In a June 9 letter to Bishop Paul Hirschy and to the superintendents and officers of Mid-Atlantic Conference, senior pastor Michael V. Newman explained that the church’s elders and management Oversight Team held a joint meeting on June 8, during which they decided “by a unanimous vote to discontinue our affiliation with the church of the United Brethren in Christ effective Sunday, June 19, 2005. Beginning Monday, June 20, we will function as a nondenominational congregation.”

Newman said the two largest factors in the decision were the following:

“By almost everyone’s assessment, the United Brethren Church is struggling right now….Our leadership, after praying for God’s guidance, has decided that it is not good stewardship to continue to put large sums of money into an organization that is seeing little spiritual impact for the Kingdom of God. We believe it would have greater impact if used in our local church or in the hands of another ministry group.”
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