Here are five events scheduled for 2014. The links take you to further information on the UB website.

  • January 13-14: Cluster Leader Training. This is an annual event for cluster leaders. It’ll be held in Huntington, Ind.
  • April 28 – May 1: UB Youth Workers Summit (Holly Hill, Fla.). This is an annual event of encouragement and training for persons in youth ministry. It is available to all paid youth ministry staff or the lead youth ministry volunteer in the church.
  • May 5-8, 2014: UB Worship Summit in Daytona Beach, Fla. This summit, designed for persons serving on staff in positions involving worship and music, is held every two years.
  • May 12-15, 2014: Associate Staff Summit in Daytona Beach, Fla. This summit, held every two years (this is only the second one), is designed for persons in UB churches working in such staff roles as pastoral care, adult education, visitation, counseling, missions, discipleship, children’s ministry, etc.
  • September 19-21, 2014: UB Women’s Conference at Sawmill Creek Resort (Huron, Ohio). A women’s conference is held every two years, under the sponsorship of the Women’s Ministry Leadership Team.

The United Brethren History Course is a requirement for ministerial licensing in the United Brethren denomination. However, people who just want to learn more about United Brethren history are free to take the course. The course is held periodically in regional settings.

During the past two years, 91 people have attended the course in 10 different locations. Of those, 74 took it for credit (for ministerial licensing) and 17 took the course just for fun.

On November 11-12, 2013, the course will be offered simultaneously in two locations.


Chambersburg, Pa.

Date: November 11-12, 2013 (Monday and Tuesday)
Time: 9 am – 4 pm
Location: King Street UB church.
Address: 162 East King Street, Chambersburg, PA 17201
Phone: (717) 264-4651
Instructor: Dr. Daryl Elliott (right), senior pastor, Fountain UB church (Keyser, W. Va.)


Bryan, Ohio.

Date: November 11-12, 2013 (Monday and Tuesday)
Time: 9 am – 4 pm
Location: New Hope UB church.
Address: 15627 US Hwy 127 E/W, Bryan, OH 43506
Phone: (419) 636-1362
Instructor: Rev. Robert Bruce (right), Pastor of Caring Ministries, Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.)


Attend Remotely

We strongly recommend and prefer that you attend the course in person. However, remote attendance is possible with the Chambersburg course, assuming that you have a high-speed internet connection. Permission may be granted to attend remotely, but only in situations where it’s absolutely necessary.

Registration Cost

The cost is:

  • $200, if you are seeking a ministerial license.
  • $100 for everyone else.
  • $19.90 for “Trials and Triumphs,” a history of the United Brethren church. ($14.95 for the book, $5.15 shipping for US, $12.95 international). The book will be sent from the national office. Or, stop by the office and pick up a copy, to save shipping. You MUST have a copy of the book for the class. Order a copy from Church Services by calling toll-free: 888-622-3019.

Additional information about payment and a registration form are available on the UB website.

The eight persons elected to the 2013-2015 ELT. L-r: Gary Dilley, Robert Eberly, Molly Kesler, Tim Krugh, Dan Paternoster, Dennis Sites, Lester Smith, Greg Voight.

The eight persons elected to the 2013-2015 ELT. L-r: Gary Dilley, Robert Eberly, Molly Kesler, Tim Krugh, Dan Paternoster, Dennis Sites, Lester Smith, Greg Voight.

Every two years, the US National Conference elects eight members of the Executive Leadership Team–1 layperson and 1 ordained minister from each of the four districts. The new ELT will later appoint four additional members, 1 from each district.

Half of the persons elected are new: Dennis Sites, Bob Eberly, Greg Voight, and Gary Dilley. That means a turnover in three of the four clergy positions. In 2011, only one new person was elected to the ELT–Tim Hallman. Of the continuing members, Dan Paternoster has served by far the longest, now beginning his 13th year on the ELT. Lester Smith has served since 2005, Tim Krugh since 2007, and Molly Kesler since 2009.

Interestingly, two pastors’ wives who have been members of the ELT since 2005 chose not to run again. However, their husbands–Dennis Sites and Greg Voight–were elected to the ELT.

Here are the results of the 2013-2015 ELT ballot. The persons selected are indicated with italics type. The location of their church is also given.

East District, Clergy
Daryl Elliott (Keyser, W. Va.) 84
Dennis Sites (Churchville, Va.) 193
Marshall Woods (Reedsville, W. Va.) 32
East District, Laity
Steve Bakner (Waynesboro, Pa.) 82
Sherwood Cook (Chambersburg, Pa.) 95
Bob Eberly (Greencastle, Pa.) 127
Central District, Clergy
Mike Brown (New Albany, Ohio) 97
Darwin Dunten (Findlay, Ohio) 102
Greg Voight (Lancaster, Ohio) 109
Central District, Laity
Tim Krugh (Walbridge, Ohio) 303
North District, Clergy
Darrel Bosworth (Woodland, Mich.) 58
Randy Carpenter (Sunfield, Mich.) 111
Lester Smith (Hillsdale, Mich.) 151
North District, Laity
Dan Paternoster (Fowlerville, Mich.) 98
Mary Redman (Mason, Mich.) 75
Ken Savage (Byron Center, Mich.) 43
Bob Tobey (Caro, Mich.) 92
West District, Clergy
Gary Dilley (Huntington, Ind.) 148
Tim Hallman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) 97
Kent Koteskey (Fort Wayne, Ind.) 76
West District, Laity
Cary Bishop (Auburn, Ind.) 117
Molly Kesler (Huntington, Ind.) 208

Bishop C. Ray Miller (foreground) praying for Bishop Whipple as he begins a second term.

Bishop C. Ray Miller (foreground) praying for Bishop Whipple as he begins a second term.

L-r: Ron Ramsey, Phil Whipple, Ray Seilhamer, and C. Ray Miller. Standing behind Bishop Whipple, mostly hidden, is Paul Hirschy. Bishop Emeritus Ray Seilhamer is praying for Bishop Whipple.

L-r: Ron Ramsey, Phil Whipple, Ray Seilhamer, and C. Ray Miller. Standing behind Bishop Whipple, mostly hidden, is Paul Hirschy. Bishop Emeritus Ray Seilhamer is praying for Bishop Whipple.

Phillip Whipple was re-elected a bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA. He was first elected in 2009, and will now serve another four-year term as bishop. The election came Thursday morning, June 27, during the business session of the US National Conference.

Todd Fetters, assistant chairman, introduced the ballot for bishop, and gave some background, noting that they would follow much the same procedure employed in 2009, when there was also just one name on the ballot. Then Kevin Cherry, chairman of the Nominating Committee, gave some remarks about how they were led to present a ballot with just one name.

The “Rules and Procedures” states that ballot must contain twice the number of persons to be elected. So first, they had to suspect that rule (this has been done many times in the past—just once for bishop, but various times when we elected national directors).

Todd Fetters then invited additional nominations from the floor.

Molly Kesler, a member of the Executive Leadership Team, came to a microphone. She said she had approached two persons about letting their names run for bishop, and that both had said yes. One, she said, was Chuck Malson, pastor of Brown Corners UB church in Clare, Mich. However, she said, Malson subsequently declined, saying he was still committed to serving his local church.

The other person, however, and said “yes”–Lester Smith, pastor of the UB church in Hillsdale, Mich. She placed his name in nomination.

Lester Smith came to the microphone. He said he was “wired for personal evangelism,” and didn’t think the bishop’s position—“in the unlikely event I was elected to it”—would provide the right opportunities to fit his gifting. He thanked Molly for the nomination, but then declined to let his name run.

The vote then proceeded. When the written ballots were counted, they showed the following:

321 votes cast for Phil Whippe
1 “no” vote
6 abstentions
5 blank ballots
1 vote each for Chuck Malson, Dennis Miller, and Tim Hallman.

“This body has elected Phil Whipple as its bishop,” declared Todd Fetters.

Applause.

Fetters continued, “Thank you for celebrating that decision. It’s also important to consecrate that decision.”

He invited the bishops emeriti—C. Ray Miller, Ray Seilhamer, Paul Hirschy, and Ron Ramsey–to come gather around the bishop on the platform. All four bishops laid hands on Bishop Phil Whipple, and bishops Miller and Seilhamer offered prayer.

Rev. Yiu Kin Keung giving his report about the work of Hong Kong Conference during the past three years.

Rev. Yiu Kin Keung giving his report about the work of Hong Kong Conference during the past three years.

Rev. Yiu Kin Keung became superintendent of Hong Kong Conference in 2012. The previous superintendent, Rev. Ajiax Wo, stepped aside when he acquired a part-time teaching position. Rev. Wo continues part-time as pastor of the Yan Tze church, which he has been serving for almost 20 years.

Here are tidbits from the written and verbal reports given by Rev. Yiu to the 2013 General Conference meeting in Kitchener, Ontario, May 29-31. The report covers the years since the previous General Conference in January 2010.

The Churches

  • The Hong Kong churches are fairly small. The largest church, Zion, has about 100 people. Most of the churches are located in large highrise buildings—one of them on the 27th floor. There may be several other evangelical churches in the same building.
  • “We have not planted any new church in the past three years.”
  • A few churches have shown a slight increase in attendance during the past three years, “but overall we are shrinking in size gradually.”
  • Four churches, seeing the downtrend, reorganized with a cell group structure, but “all of them failed to make any significant growth in terms of size.”
  • In 2011, Hong Kong Conference instituted a mandatory training program for deacons which includes two half-day seminars—the first on governing structure, core values, and United Brethren distinctives, the second on the dynamics of serving effectively as a team with pastors and fellow deacons.
  • “We now have 12 fulltime pastors, 4 part-time pastors, and 2 retired pastors….Five of the fulltime and two of the part-time pastors were employed within the past three years.”
  • “Most of our churches are not experiencing satisfying growth. The instability of pastoral staff is one of the major reasons. Nine fulltime pastors left us in the past three years. It is difficult to maintain a healthy church without a stable team of pastoral staff.”
  • All of the Hong Kong churches are small churches established many years ago—some over 40 years old. Rev. Yiu pointed out that their small size means limited resources. Since these churches include people of diverse backgrounds and diverse ages—from babies through the elderly–it’s difficult shepherding them all on limited resources. “It is impossible to satisfy all the needs with the limited resources of a small church.”
  • The pastors are discussing ways to combine their efforts, organizing joint functions and joint ministries between two or more congregations. “This would be a possible way to solve the problem of limited resources in small churches.”

Missions
During the past 25 years, they ministered in such places as Macau, Poland, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, and China. But for the near future, they decided to concentrate their resources in two places: Macau and Thailand.

  • Macau: They are focusing efforts on helping the Living Stone church in Macau, which has struggled over the years. The Hong Kong pastors are helping to build up their ministry, organize a management committee, and guide the pastor and leaders to set vision, objectives, and strategies. Hong Kong Conference has arranged a mission trip to Macau for September 2013 “to support the worship and music ministry of Living Stone.”
  • Thailand: “We have been invited by the Second District of the Church of Christ Thailand to start a new mission project in Chiang Rai City. The scope of work would probably include three areas: organizing English/Mandarin language learning program, training nursing staff at the Overbrook Hospital, and providing theological education and training.” The project will be a join effort of Hong Kong and Global Ministries (the US and Canada).

In addition, Hong Kong and Global Ministries signed a new “Memo of Understanding” in 2012 which clarifies their roles regarding Macau.

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.

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.

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.