(260) 356-2312
The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team is meeting October 4-5 (Monday and Tuesday) in Huntington, Ind. The PMLT is responsible for issues related to pastoral education, licensing, and ordination. Lee Rhodes, pastor of Countryside UB (Breckenridge, Mich.), is the chairman.
Bishop Phil and Sandy Whipple are making a sweep out west to visit our churches and bring a message of hope. They started their trek this past weekend, with the whole weekend spent at Adeline Christian Camp, Adeline, Illinois. The rest of their itinerary is included here:
The 2011 US National Conference is less than a year away. So you need to get it on your calendar, and churches need to allow for it in their 2011 budget. Every active, licensed minister is a delegate, and each church can send at least one lay delegate. We will need to know each church’s delegate(s) by February 15. Churches can look for their info packet to arrive sometime in August.
Dates: July 6-9, 2011.
That’s a Wednesday through Saturday, as opposed to the Thursday-Sunday schedule in previous years. The conference will begin with a service on Wednesday night, and conclude with a service on Saturday morning.
Location: Sawmill Creek Resort in Huron, Ohio.
This facility served us well in 2007 and 2009, so we’re returning.
Theme: the Great Commandment of Luke 10:27.
The past two national conferences have focused on the Great Commission–evangelism. In 2011 we’ll focus on the inner life–loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.
Cost: Registration will range from $55 to $90 (single and family rates)
Lodging at Sawmill Creek will still be at the 2007 rate of $95 per room, per night.
Registration will open sometime in January 2011.
Bishop Phil Whipple (middle) speaks to the UB Church History class. Beside him are Jeff Bleijerveld (left) and course teacher Dr. Howard Cherry (right). (click to enlarge)
Bishop Phil Whipple (far right) giving a tour of the offices to the Church History class. At their workstations are Cathy Reich (left, administrative assistant to the bishop), and Darlene Burkett (administrative assistant in Global Ministries). (click to enlarge)
The annual United Brethren Church History class has been meeting this week, Monday through Thursday (June 7-10). On Wednesday, the national office hosted them for:
Howard Cherry is teaching the class for the umpteenth time.
We announced this morning the death of Paul Webster on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. Here are the arrangements:
The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team. L-r: Chuck Wheatley, Robert Bruce, Craig Burkholder, Lee Rhodes (chairman), Chris Little (red shirt, back to the camera), Bishop Phil Whipple, Cathy Reich (secretary, hidden), Terry Smith, Dennis Sites.
The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team (PMLT) met Monday night and Tuesday, March 15-16. The main agenda item involved pastoral training. The Huntington University Graduate School will discontinue the Pastoral Leadership track in June. That has always been our primary vehicle for training ministers. The PMLT needed to figure out how to replace it.
They settled on a list of 11 core courses for the National Conference license, and 24 core courses for ordination. If no college can be found that offers a particular course, the PMLT may cover the subject through a workshop of some kind. A Masters degree is no longer required for ordination.
Here are the course subjects. If you have questions, ask them in the “Comments,” and Bishop Whipple will respond.
| National Conference License |
Ordination |
| Spiritual Formation | Bible Study |
| Old Testament Survey | Mentoring and Time Management |
| New Testament Survey | Christian World View |
| Systematic Theology | Christian Ethics |
| UB History | Church History Survey |
| Pastoral Care and Counseling | Missions |
| Preaching | Worship |
| Ministry Internship | Relationship Building |
| Evangelism | Equipping the Church for Service |
| Bible Elective | Conflict Management |
| Bible Elective | Leadership of a Governing Body |
| Leadership of a Congregation | |
| Staff (Lay or Paid) Management |
Just a reminder to senior pastors and licensed ministers: your annual reports are due to Bishop Phil Whipple on Monday, March 1. Lots of reports have been coming to the office this week.
We prepared a flyer which you can distribute to your congregation on Sunday. This 8.5-by-11 document includes information about:
Just download the flyer (it’s a PDF document) and print as many copies as you need for your congregation. You can also use the information in other church publications (bulletins, newsletters, etc.).
L-r: Paul Plato (Canada), Bishop Phil Whipple, and Juan Pavon (Nicaragua) during the Tuesday night service at General Conference.
Bishop Phil Whipple speaking during the General Conference business sessions.
I enjoyed attending General Conference in January. I thought it went very well.
Every country, regardless of size, sent two delegates to Honduras. That was a change from before, when the number of delegates was based on size. It was healthy that the United States church agreed to that change. If the United States had come with far more delegates than any other conference, it would have been hard to see each other as partners. Instead, we were just one among equals.
We shared ideas and information about what was happening in our separate countries. We all wanted to support, learn from, and cooperate with each other.
Delegates from Canada and Jamaica were interested in the materials we are developing for clusters. I told them, “If it applies to your situation, great. You know what works for your people.” It’s good when we can create a resource and share it.
The Hondurans were warm and gracious hosts. They set a high standard for a host nation, particularly with the opening service, which both wrapped up their national conference and launched the international meeting.
We didn’t talk about where to hold the next General Conference in 2013. However, I suspect it’ll be a while before we come back to the United States. The visa problems people had were all American issues. I’d like to continue going to other countries, as long as cost isn’t prohibitive. I look forward to the next meeting in three years, wherever we end up.
Denis Casco in Mexico City
During his General Conference report on January 11, Bishop Denis Casco of Mexico told this story when invited to mention prayer requests.
“First, pray for my physical safety in Mexico. I was attacked a couple years ago in Mexico City while at a hotel. Three men came after me and held me down. I defended myself. There was a car stationed outside. Providently, a police car passed by, and they left.
“They broke my upper arm, they hurt my head, and they hurt my back from kicking me. The policeman took me to the Red Cross and then to the justice office for my report. After being interviewed about the circumstances of the attack, they concluded two things: the three men had mistaken me for somebody else, or they wanted to kidnap me.
“I didn’t want to stay in Mexico. I asked them to take me to the airport. I arrived at the international airport in Los Angeles and went to the emergency room. It took me six months to recover from my injuries.
“Pastors are in danger. Drug dealing, organized crime, developing poverty—half of the people live in poverty, and it seduces people to get money however they can.”
