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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.

31 May

May 31, 2013 |
Bishop Phil Whipple reporting on the work of the US National Conference.

Bishop Phil Whipple reporting on the work of the US National Conference.

At the falls (l-r): Daniel Ko (Hong Kong), John Pessima (Sierra Leone), Winston Smith (Jamaica), Isaac Nugent (Jamaica), Phil Whipple (USA).

At the falls (l-r): Daniel Ko (Hong Kong), John Pessima (Sierra Leone), Winston Smith (Jamaica), Isaac Nugent (Jamaica), Phil Whipple (USA).

Bishop Brian Magnus with delegates at the front of the Grace church.

Bishop Brian Magnus with delegates at the front of the Grace church.

Denis Casco (right) and his translator, Jorge.

Denis Casco (right) and his translator, Jorge.

Day 2 of General Conference began with the final country report–the United States (they went in alphabetical order). Bishop Phil Whipple touched on these areas:

  • How the cluster system has evolved since being instituted in 2005.
  • How they station pastors.
  • US church plants (he mentioned 7 churches).
  • Changes at Huntington University.
  • Leadership development effort – the UB history course, other courses, and summits for youth, worship ministers, and associate passtors.
  • The 26 proposals for revising the Discipline, coming before this summer’s national conference.
  • Pastoral licensing changes.

Brian Magnus, chairman of the General Conference, then led the delegates in discussing the only major decision to come before the delegates. It involved the UB National Conference in the Philippines. Unanimous action was taken. More will be said about this later.

Brian Magnus then turned to national conference reports about mission efforts. Canada and Honduras reported on what they were doing. Rev. Oliam Richard, superintendent of the UB churches in Haiti, had arrived the night before. He told about the work in Haiti as part of the report of Canada, which oversees the Haiti mission district. Honduras also reported. And then it was time for lunch.

After lunch, the delegates climbed aboard a luxury tour bus and headed to Niagara Fall, about two hours away. The foreign visitors could not be allowed to get this close to the falls, one of North America’s premier natural wonders, and not see it. The trip included a ride aboard the Maid of the Mist, a boat which approaches very close to the Canadian horseshoe falls. The wind and dense spray left everyone quite wet.

Four of the UB churches in Canada are in the Niagara area (or at least on that end of Ontario). The bus took everyone to the Grace UB church in Sherkston, where a delicious meal awaited. Then the evening service was held there. Persons came from all four of the nearby churches.

Grace has been a strong missions-minded church over the years, producing a number of missionaries (Olive Weaver, Shirley Fretz, Ruth Benner, and others) and faithfully supporting the work of United Brethren missions. In that respect, Grace has few peers in the denomination. Pastor Dan Nickless said they view themselves as a sending church, having raised up so many missionaries and pastors since the church began in 1897.

The Grace worship team led the congregation in singing a number of the great hymns–“Amazing Grace,” “It is Well,” and others. As he did the previous night in Guelph, Bishop Magnus introduced all of the General Conference delegates, bringing them to the platform for everyone to see. The Grace missions team then joined them and prayed over the delegates.

Denis Casco, bishop of the Mexico National Conference, spoke. The conference’s intrepid translator, Jorge, got quite a workout. Denis and Jorge are both kidders, with wonderful senses of humor, and they are probably not good for each other. Denis switched back and forth between English and Spanish, seemingly trying to catch him off guard, and the audience loved it. A lot of laughter occurred during this service.

But it was also a powerful message. Bishop Casco spoke on the simple topic of “Love,” which he had found to be one of the most difficult topics to preach on. Throughout the message he referenced Archie Cameron, a Canadian whose love for a distant people caused him to spend his life in Honduras, where his influence led numerous people to Christ–including Denis Casco himself.

After the service, the delegates boarded the bus for the trip back to Kitcheer, arriving at Emmanuel Bible College around 11 pm. It was a long day, but a good one.

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]
Facebook

08 Feb

February 8, 2013 |

The United Brethren Facebook page reached a new milestone: 700 likes. In fact, we’re at 701. The Facebook page is especially handy for urgent prayer needs.

Here are subscription numbers for our various email newsletters.

  • 985 people subscribe to the Connect newsletter. This is the official denominational newsletter.
  • 99 people subscribe to the UB Daily News (daily posts on UBCentral.org delivered to your inbox). So we’re on the edge of a milestone there.
  • 221 people subscribe to the UBCentral posts using Feedburner. It does the same thing as the newer and better-looking UB Daily News.
  • 105 people receive the monthly Global Ministries Prayer Guide.

Subscribing to the UB Daily News is the best way to keep up on what’s happening in the United Brethren world–missions, urgent prayer needs, pastoral changes, UB events, local church news, mission trips, etc.

You can subscribe to any of these e-letters here.

11 Jan

January 11, 2013 |

Phil Whipple, bishop

I am pleased to announce the addition of a new staffperson at the national office. On February 4, 2013, Todd Fetters (right) will join the staff as Director of National Ministries.

Todd has pastored United Brethren churches since 1989–six years at Lake View UB church in Camden, Mich., and the past 18 years as senior pastor of Devonshire Church in Harrisburg, Pa. He has served in various leadership positions, including cluster leader and, since 2005, member of the denominational Executive Leadership Team.

Todd grew up in a minister’s home as the son of Dr. Paul and Barbara Fetters. Todd’s two brothers, Brooks and Luke, are also ordained UB ministers. He graduated from Huntington University in 1989 with a degree in Bible & Religion, and in 1991 with the Master of Christian Ministry. More recently, in 2005, he received a Master of Arts in Religion from Evangelical Seminary in Myerstown, Pa.

Todd and his wife, Lisa, were married in 1988. They have two sons, Jordan and Quinn, both of whom attend Huntington University.

Todd’s responsibilities will include various administrative duties, such as assisting with the process in stationing ministers, overseeing the national ministries staff, and developing strategic initiatives to move the UB church forward in such areas as leadership development and healthy church ministries. Todd will also oversee the cluster system, assuming responsibilities which Denny Miller has handled on a part-time basis for the past two years.

Todd announced this decision to the Devonshire congregation on January 6. He told them that the position blends his love for the local church, and his love for the denomination which is so much a part of his identity.

I am excited about bringing Todd aboard and working closely with him in the years ahead.

02 Jan

January 2, 2013 |

The annual reports for the year 2013 will be mailed to all UB ministers and churches the first week of January. They are due back at the bishop’s office by February 15, 2014. Completed reports are a basic requirement of all ministers. All reports can be downloaded at the UB website, and most can be filled out online.