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The Otterbein United Brethren church in Waynesboro has withdrawn from the denomination.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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11 Jul Sunfield UB Burns Mortgage

The Sunfield Church (Sunfield, Mich.) on June 19th burned their mortgage on the new building they added only two years ago. The 60×82 building is a spacious fellowship area suitable for many activities. The cost of the building was $450,000. This month a new building study committee was put together to bring together a plan for a new Recreational Building.

This year, Sunfield plans to start an Upward Basketball ministry for the community.

06 Apr Report from the Cellular Church

Edwin Recinos, pastor of La Iglesia Celular, a Hispanic UB church in Santa Clarita, Calif., sent this report:
“On Saturday, April 4, the First Youth Convention, named “Mission Possible,” was held at La Iglesia Celular. Almost 700 youth attended the event! Fourteen Hispanic pastors brought youth to the convention. They came all the way from Sacramento to the North, and Santa Ana to the South. Pastors Manuel Lopez from UB Palmdale, Ricardo Rivera from UB Sacramento, and Amilcar Serrano from UB Simi Valley were among the delegations attending the event.

“The Hispanics churches are multiplying, and we are united in the vision of reaching all the unsaved in California. We expect more events like this to come in the future.”

06 Apr Burt and Tana Hey Joined Laurel Mission

Laurel Mission in Kentucky will soon be blessed by the addition of Burt and Tana Hey, who are going there as support staff. Burt was raised in the Prince Street UB church in Shippensburg, Pa. Tana was born in Belize as the daughter of Mennonite missionaries.

Burt will be involved in youth ministry, overseeing work groups and projects, maintenance, and technical matters. Tana will help in the school, daycare, and Vacation Bible School, and in preparing for camp guests.

The Heys plan to go to Laurel Mission in June. They are currently building their support team. If you would like to be part of that team, please contact Tana at the Prince Street UB church office,where she works: (717) 532-8404.

31 Mar Christmas Packages for Prison Inmates

Over the Christmas season, First UB of Findlay made 100 Christmas packages for the local inmates at the county jail. Packages containing socks, candy, Bibles, Christmas cards with a stamped envelope (so the prisoners could write their families) were placed in clear Ziploc bags and given to the jail warden to be passed out on Christmas morning.

On February ;13, a prisoner from the county jail showed up in the church’s worship service, wearing his prisoner’s uniform, to personally thank the church for their kindness and thoughtfulness. He was released for a short period of time and placed under the direct supervision of a First United Brethren’s church member who is a barber in the jail. He stated, “During a time of the year when we tend to be forgotten, it was nice to know that you thought of us.”

31 Mar Living Water Church Buys Property

Pastor Chris Mullett reports that on January 29, Living Water Church in Bridgeport, W. Va., closed on its first piece of property, which consists of two-and-a-half acres with a small metal building on it in Bridgeport. “We are in the process of remodeling the building in the hope of worshiping there Easter Sunday. We are a church of but 50 people, but the Lord is doing wonderful things here. In 2004 we implemented Evangelism Explosion and saw the Lord draw 52 people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Many were transients, some were inmates, and some were relatives of church members who live in other cities. A few have been able to be assimilated into our church. We are working to strengthen our discipleship ministries.”

20 Mar Dayton Church has New Roof

The reroofing project at the Daytona Church in Florida is now complete. A total of 30,000 square feet of roofing was replaced on the church buildings. The reroofing project was the result of the damage done by last year’s three hurricanes that impacted the Daytona Beach area. The people of Daytona UB are grateful for everyone who helped on the project.

20 Mar Closing of UB Church in Manlius, Ill.

The Grace UB church in Manlius, Ill., has closed.