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18 Jul

July 18, 2013 |

2013-2015 UB DisciplineThe United Brethren Discipline has been updated with the 20-some revisions made during the 2013 US National Conference on June 27.

From this link, you can download the 2013-2015 Discipline in PDF and also view it online.

We do not print hard copies of the Discipline. Since it’s up for revision every two years, that’s not enough shelf-life to make it economically feasible. Since 2005, the Discipline has been available only in electronic form. But you can download it and print out a copy for your own use.

 

03 Jul

July 3, 2013 |
Bishop Phil Whipple chaired the meetings of the US National Conference business meeting.

Bishop Phil Whipple chaired the US National Conference business meeting on Thursday, June 27.

Steve Dennie, Director of Communications

The major issue before the 2013 US National Conference last week involved the National Conference Covenant, which churches sign every two years. Substantial changes were being proposed. Everybody knew it would be a major source of discussion on the conference floor, and it was.

The National Conference Covenant was instituted in 2005. Every two years, all UB churches must sign the Covenant to remain part of the denomination. Through the Covenant, they reaffirm these six points:

  1. They are committed to the Confession of Faith.
  2. They agree with the core values of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
  3. They agree to abide by the Constitution and Discipline of the US National Conference.
  4. They are passionate about fulfilling the Great Commission through their local church.
  5. They support the ministry and mission of the United Brethren Church, USA, through the annual partnership fee.
  6. They will participate in a cluster.

Two other points were in the original Covenant, but were removed in 2007:

  • They are interested in partnering with other like-minded churches.
  • They support the work of the camps, university, and other ministries of the US National Conference.

Over the years, various objections have arisen to the whole idea of the Covenant. Some folks found it a bit insulting that they would be required to re-up every two years. Did their commitment to the denomination need to be questioned?

Bishop Whipple has used the analogy of marriage in relation to another aspect of the Covenant. Imagine if a married couple were asked, every two years, to review their vows and decide if they wanted to continue the relationship. In the course of a marriage, there may come a time when, at the re-upping time, things were a bit rocky and, rather than sign up for another two years, they decided to go their separate ways.

In the same way, churches may encounter a Covenant-signing time when things aren’t going well, or when they have a pastor who is unhappy with the denomination for some reason, or when some other issue has arisen which sours them on being part of the United Brethren Church.

Churches also seemed administratively challenged with the task of completing and returning the signed Covenant. Churches would put it off, or just not get around to it. The two years seemed to go by very fast: “I thought we just signed it? Is it time to do it again already?” Pastors would claim to have lost the blank Covenant sent to them, or to not have received it altogether, and a new copy would be sent from the national office.

Even though the deadline for returning signed Covenants was February 15, the bishop always ended up signing a half dozen or more Covenants at National Conference, so that those churches could have a vote in the business session. That happened again last week. You can argue all you want about “What’s so difficult about signing and returning the Covenant?” But that’s just the way it is, and the way it has been.

The Executive Leadership Team discussed the Covenant, and ultimately advanced some major changes:

  1. Require churches to sign the Covenant only once, but ask local boards to review the Covenant every year.
  2. Make a signed Covenant a condition of being eligible to send lay delegates to the national conference.
  3. Changed the language in the Covenant statements.

The six statements in the previous Covenant were rewritten into just four points:

  1. We commit to the Confession of Faith and Core Values of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, International.
  2. We agree to abide by the Constitution and Discipline of the US National Conference.
  3. We will prioritize our assets, energies, and ministries toward fulfilling the Great Commission.
  4. We will support the broader ministry and mission of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA, through prayer, promotion of its interests, and the annual partnership fee.

As expected, a number of people addressed the proposal when it hit the conference floor, nearly all of them wanting to keep the two-year requirement. The other aspects of the Covenant proposal, such as how the statements were rewritten, received no discussion. The frequency of signing was the issue people most cared about.

But though the people who spoke nearly all opposed the change, the eventual voice vote fell strongly in favor of the proposal. It indicated that people had thought it through ahead of time. The regional meetings Bishop Whipple held during the spring no doubt influenced the outcome, since people heard the rationale months in advance, had opportunity to discuss it among themselves, and formed their own opinions before arriving in Fort Wayne.

There was one amendment. A line stated, “The Covenant shall be reviewed annually by the local board.” That was changed to, “The Covenant shall be reaffirmed annually by the local board.” It seems minor, but it carries some weight. A “review” could involve just reading through the Covenant statements, reminding everyone of the content. But a reaffirmation goes further. You not only review the statements, but say, “We’re still on board with this.” Local boards could even place a reaffirmation of the Covenant in their minutes once a year.

You’ll notice that the Covenant statements no longer require churches to participate in a cluster. Actually, clusters are intended for senior pastors, and their participation is required elsewhere in our governing documents. But there’s another reason. The cluster system is a method which could change over time, as happens to all methods. To ensure that the Covenant remains an enduring document, it seemed wise to keep methodology out of it.

As long as a church’s signed Covenant is kept on file with the national office, they remain a member congregation of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ USA, and are eligible to send lay delegates to the national conference. If the church refuses to sign the Covenant, or if they do not keep their commitment to the standards of the Covenant, the Executive Leadership Team has authority to terminate their membership in the denomination.

All UB churches will be asked to sign the Covenant one more time, prior to the 2015 US National Conference. After that, we ask only that the church board look over the Covenant once a year and reaffirm what they’ve agreed to.

17 Jun

June 17, 2013 |

The Nominating Committee has submitted the ballot for bishop. It has one name on it: Phillip Whipple (right).

In 2009, the US National Conference elected Phil Whipple as bishop. He has now served in that position for four years.

Phil Whipple was born on June 23, 1957, and named Walter Phillip Whipple. However, he has gone by his middle name since birth. When Phil was very young, his father died. His mother remarried, and they moved to Illinois, where he spent his school days.

Phil grew up in a strong Christian family where he learned the importance of prayer and obedience. He sensed God’s call into ministry at the age of 17, and began an educational journey through two Bible colleges before graduating from Liberty University. He attended Huntington University for graduate school.

Phil took his first pastorate in 1984. In 1990, he joined the United Brethren Church as an as- sociate at Richfield Road UB church in Flint, Mich. In 1991, he was stationed as pastor of Pleasant Valley UB in Lake Odessa, Mich., and remained there for seven years.

Phil became pastor of Colwood UB church (Caro, Mich.) in 1998 and stayed there 11 years. During that time, the church’s morning attendance grew from 200 to over 500, and they baptized over 130 people.

Phil and his wife, Sandy, have been married for almost 30 years. They have two sons, Josh and Mike, both of whom serve on staff at Colwood UB church (Caro, Mich.).

The election of the bishop will occur on Thursday morning, June 27, during the business session of the 2013 UB National Conference. As always, nominations will be allowed from the floor.

02 Jun

June 2, 2013 |
The General Conference delegates lined up at the front of the Stanley Park UB church in Kitchen, Ontario.

The General Conference delegates lined up at the front of the Stanley Park UB church in Kitchen, Ontario.

Canada's missions leader, Paul Plato (right) and other during lunch at Stanley Park.

Canada’s missions leader, Paul Plato (right) and other during lunch at Stanley Park.

Former Sierra Leone missionaries Kathy Jones (right) and Audrey Federlein registering for the conference.

Former Sierra Leone missionaries Kathy Jones (right) and Audrey Federlein registering for the conference.

The missions conference at Stanley Park church in Kitchener, Ontario.

The missions conference at Stanley Park church in Kitchener, Ontario.

General Conference actually ended on May 31. But on Saturday, June 1, the Canadian conference held a missions conference at the Stanley Park UB church in Kitchener, Ontario. All of the national leaders had a chance to speak. It was a unique opportunity for the UBs of Canada to hear from such  wide range of United Brethren leaders from around the world–probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

The conference started at 10am Saturday morning and concluded around 3 pm, with the church serving lunch. Paul Plato, Canada’s missions chairman, led the conference and kept things moving, with one person after another speaking.

Up to that point, all of the General Conference delegates had been staying at Emmanuel Bible College in Kitchener. But now, the group split up, with some of the delegates–those from Central America, Mexico, Jamaica, and Haiti– going home with missions conference attendees to their churches, where they would speak on Sunday morning. That left only the Hong Kong and US delegates spending the night at Emmanuel Bible College.

Bishop Phil Whipple would speak Sunday morning at Mill Crossing in nearby Cambridge, and Yiu Kin Keung would speak at Stanley Park. Jeff Bleijerveld was lined up to speak at the Stevensville UB church in the Niagara area.

Many more photos are posted on the United Brethren Facebook page.

01 Jun

June 1, 2013 |
2013 General Conference delegates

2013 General Conference delegates (click to enlarge)

Each national conference is eligible to send two voting delegates to General Conference. The international bylaws call for “the bishop or equivalent and his or her designee.” National conferences are responsible for the expenses of their own delegates.

Each of the ten national conferences named two delegates. However, three national conferences sent no delegates, and two sent only one delegate. Here’s the entire list of delegates. The ones who didn’t attend are in italics (the issues primarily involved problems getting visas to Canada).

Canada
Rev. Brian Magnus, bishop
Mr. Paul Plato, missions team leader

Guatemala
Rev. Francisco Najera, superintendent
Mrs. Trinidad Gonzalez de Najera

Honduras
Rev. Mrs. Juanita Chavez, superintendent
Ms. Damaris Canales

Hong Kong
Rev. Yiu Kin Keung, superintendent
Mr. Daniel Ko

Jamaica
Rev. Isaac Nugent, bishop
Rev. Winston Smith, pastor

Mexico
Rev. Denis Casco, bishop
Rev. Guadalupe Vazquez

Nicaragua
Rev. Juan Pavon, superintendent
Mr. Sergio Canda Garcia

Philippines
Rev. Prudencio Lim, superintendent
Mr. Aaron Lim

Sierra Leone
Rev. John Pessima, bishop
Mr. Sahr Kobio Foyoh

United States
Rev. Phillip Whipple, bishop
Rev. Jeffrey Bleijerveld, Global Ministries director

Mrs. Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, served as secretary of the General Conference. Mr. Jorge Botero provided Spanish/English translation.

Also attending were the leaders of two mission districts. A mission district consists of United Brethren churches in a country which are not yet organized as a national conference, and are under the supervision of an existing national conference.

  • El Salvador: Rev. Gonzalo Alas, superintendent
  • Haiti: Rev. Oliam Richard

We have several other mission districts which were not represented at General Conference:

  • Thailand and Macau: under the supervision of Hong Kong.
  • Costa Rica: under the supervision of Nicaragua.
  • India: under the supervision of the United States.
  • Germany: under the supervision of Sierra Leone.

In addition:

  • Mexico Conference oversees about ten Hispanic churches in the United States (Los Angeles; El Paso, Texas; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Chicago; and Miami.
  • Hong Kong oversees a church in Poland.
  • Hong Kong oversees a ministry in Myanmar.
  • Mexico has started a ministry in Belize.

31 May

May 31, 2013 |
Interpreter Jorge Botero (left) and Gonzalo Alas, superintendent of the work in El Salvador, during the prayer for the El Salvador churches.

Interpreter Jorge Botero (left) and Gonzalo Alas, superintendent of the work in El Salvador, during the prayer for the El Salvador churches.

The close of the General Conference meeting.

The close of the General Conference meeting.

The Mill Crossing worship team.

The Mill Crossing worship team.

During the Mill Crossing service.

During the Mill Crossing service.

Juanita Chavez, superintendent of Honduras Conference, preached at Mill Crossing.

Juanita Chavez, superintendent of Honduras Conference, preached at Mill Crossing.

Liz Cudney, co-pastor of Mill Crossing, having some fun.

Liz Cudney, co-pastor of Mill Crossing, having some fun.

The 2013 General Conference is the 51st edition, going back to 1815. For most of that time, it was held every four years. And always in the United States. The only exception was the 1925 General Conference, which convened in Kitchener, Ontario–the site of the 2013 edition. (The 2010 General Conference, of course, was held in Honduras.)

Day 3 of General Conference began with more reports about national conference missions efforts. By noon, they adjourned. Rev. Martin Magnus, a retired minister in Ontario who has been a voting delegate to various General Conferences over the years (and is the father of Canadian bishop Brian Magnus), closed the conference in prayer.

The conference then moved into executive session, which consisted of the highest leader from each national conference (in other words, about half of the delegates).

After lunch, the delegates took an afternoon excursion to a local Christian media company and then to CH Global, the organization with which we partner in various ways in Jamaica.

The evening service was held in nearby Cambridge at the Mill Crossing United Brethren church. This church began in 2005 as a daughter church of Parkwood Gardens UB church in Guelph. Neil and Liz Cudney co-pastor this church.

The beautifully renovated part of an old industrial building. It has the feel of a coffeehouse–very intimate and relaxed.

The Mill Crossing music team led in worship, and did so superbly (with Pastor Neil playing mandolin and banjo). Each of the General Conference delegates were given the chance to introduce themselves and say something to the congregation (which included people from several area United Brethren churches). Then Mill Crossing gave each person a gift, and prayed for them.

Juanita Chavez, superintendent of Honduras Conference, preached, with the help of interpreter Jorge Botero. She sang a song in Spanish toward the beginning, and then concluded by leaping into the deep to sing “Shout to the Lord” in English. She did well, and was helped by the congregation joining her.

Ice cream cake was served afterwards.

On Saturday, a missions conference for all of the Canadian UB churches will be held in the morning and afternoon at Stanley Park UB church in Kitchener. Most of the General Conference delegates will have the chance to speak. Should be a fun day.

18 Feb

February 18, 2013 |

A new logo has been developed for United Brethren churches in the United States. That’s what you see above.

We are not replacing the familiar United Brethren logo (below). That logo remains the official logo of the international United Brethren church, and local churches are free to continue using it. But the new logo applies specifically to the United States National Conference–the UB churches in the USA.

The US logo is easily identifiable with the international logo, and incorporates the three main elements:

  • The linked figures (the “United Brethren” part).
  • The cross, representing Christ.
  • The flame, representing the Holy Spirit.

The Need for a US Logo

The United Brethren churches in the United States haven’t had our their logo since 2001, which is probably news to you. When we adopted an international structure in 2001, with sovereign national conferences in what is now 10 different countries, the familiar logo became the logo of the international church. We have continued using that logo.

Left: The international UB logo. Right: The Canadian logo.

However, it was felt that we should have a logo specifically for the US National Conference. The UB Church in Canada, many years ago, developed their own logo (right), but none of the other national conferences have followed suit. Which is fine. The international logo works universally.

But this new logo, with some modern twists on the international logo, recognizes the US National Conference as a distinct entity within the worldwide body.

As a local United Brethren church, you are free to use the logo on your website, in your publications, and in any other way you see fit. Or, you can continue using the international logo. No need to run out and redo all of your stationery, or make a new church sign. Use the new logo as it fits your needs.

A Little Background

In the 1970s, we produced a denominational logo with three key elements–two linked figures, a cross, and a flame. The logo was refined by a professional design firm in 1979. They actually gave us three versions (right), and churches were free to use any of them. Probably not a great idea, as opposed to settling on a single logo which would be used consistently, but flexibility was desired and that’s what we did.

In the 1990s, we digitized the logo and settled on just one version–entirely black, with no outlined areas. We also changed the font to something less dated. That’s what you see above, beside the Canadian logo. We’ve been using this logo in all publications for about 20 years.

In 2001, General Conference adopted an international structure consisting of sovereign national conferences, and the logo we had been using became the official logo of the international church. The Canadian national conference developed their own logo, incorporating a maple leaf into the symbol, but none of the other conferences adopted a specific logo for their country.

During the past few years, the US National Conference developed logos for the national office (Healthy Ministry Resources) and for Global Ministries. Then, in late 2011, we began working on a logo to represent the US National Conference.

We hired a Christian graphic designer out of Dallas to develop the initial concepts, with these requirements:

  • The logo needed to be easily identifiable with the international logo.
  • The logo needed to include the official name of the US churches: “Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.”
  • The symbol needed to incorporate the three main elements of the international logo: the linked figures, the cross, and the flame.
  • The symbol needed to be usable by itself, without the words.
  • The logo needed to be institutional yet modern.

And so, after going through a variety of concepts, we narrowed it down to a specific design, which was then refined. Then we passed everything on to another designer for a few further refinements.

And now you see the result–an official logo specifically for the United States churches.

Ready for You to Use

The logo has been posted in the Resources area of the UB website in a variety of formats and sizes (JPG, PNG, GIF, EPS). This includes formats with the words, and formats with just the symbol. The official logo includes the words “Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.” However, you may have needs for which the symbol, by itself, works better.

The vector formats (EPS) can be scaled to very large sizes. The other formats–JPG, PNG, and GIF–can be reduced in size without distortion, but will lose some clarity if you increase them in size.

The United Brethren logo is being used by UB churches around the world. In many cases, local people have drawn or painted the logo onto church walls, signs, and banners. And the have taken some creative liberties with the logo, adding their own interesting twists to the familiar design.

The video above shows photos of the logo as used and adapted in various countries. The two concluding slides are the official international logo, and then the new US National Conference logo.

14 Feb

February 14, 2013 |

Cathy Reich (right), administrative assistant to Bishop Phil Whipple (and earlier to Bishop Ron Ramsey), is mourning the death of her mother. Carolyn Brandon, from Bryan, Ohio, passed away around 6 pm Wednesday, February 13.

Cathy wrote on Facebook: “She had a peaceful home-going. We spent much of the day singing praises and she lifted her hand in praise. She has left such a legacy for all of us, a life well lived that pointed people to Jesus. She loved him so, and was passionate about letting others know it. I’m going to miss her until I get there. Then we’re going to have a party!”

Arrangements:

Viewing: 5-8 pm Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013.
Viewing Location: Greenisen Chapel, 225 E. High Street, Bryan, Ohio 43506
Funeral: 4pm Sunday, Feb. 17. Viewing 2-4 pm.
Funeral Location: First Brethren Church, 13050 County Road C, Bryan, OH 43506

Contact Cathy Reich at:

Cathy Reich
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750
Email: [email protected]
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