30 May General Conference: Day 1 Ends in Guelph

Bishop Brian Magnus introducing the General Conference delegates.

It was a packed house on Wednesday night at Parkwood Gardens church.

Yiu Kin Keung, superintendent of Hong Kong Conference, preached on Wednesday night of General Conference.

Day 1 of General Conference including hearing reports from every national conference except for the United States (they went in alphabetical order; the US will begin the day o Thursday). In the afternoon, the delegates took an excursion to Doon Village, an old village in Kitchener.

The day ended with a worship service at Parkwood Gardens UB church in Guelph, Ontario. This is the church pastored by Brian Magnus, bishop of the UB Church in Canada.

For a Wednesday night, they turned out quite a crowd, pretty much filling the sanctuary. The service included:

• The Parkwood Gardens worship team (with Bishop Magnus playing bass and his wife, Lynette, singing) led the crowd through a number of worship songs.
• Bishop Magnus introduced all of the international delegates and guests, bringing them to the platform and having prayer for them.
• A Vietnamese congregation started at Parkwood Gardens at the end of 2012. A number of them were present, and they were recognized.
• Yiu Kin Keung, superintendent of Hong Kong Conference, preached. It was his first time ever preaching in English. As Bishop Phil Whipple wrote on Facebook, “He hit a home run.”
• A dessert reception was held after the service in the downstairs fellowship hall, with way too much sugar present. The Vietnamese congregation had their own table of goodies, including some amazing egg rolls.

29 May General Conference Begins in Ontario

Brian Magnus opening the General Conference meeting.

Bishops John Pessima (Sierra Leone, left) and Isaac Nugent (Jamaica).

The General Conference delegates.

The 2013 General Conference got underway at 9 am Wednesday, May 29, at Emmanuel Bible College in Kitchener, Ontario. General Conference is an international meeting held every three years. Each national conference can send two delegates.

Seven of the ten national conferences are represented.

1. United States (Bishop Phil Whipple and Jeff Bleijerveld are the delegates).
2. Canada (Bishop Brian Magnus and Paul Plato, a layperson, are the delegates).
3. Jamaica (Bishop Isaac Nugent and Pastor Winston Smith)
4. Honduras (Superintendent Juanita Chavez and Ms. Iveth Raudales)
5. Hong Kong (Superintendent Yiu Kin Keung and Mr. Daniel Ko).
6. Sierra Leone (Bishop John Pessima).
7. Mexico (Bishop Denis Casco).

Bishop Brian Magnus of Canada, chairman of the 51st General Conference

Three national conferences are not attending: Nicaragua, the Guatemala, and the Philippines.

Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, is serving as secretary.

Two persons representing mission districts are also attending. A mission district consists of UB churches in a country which have not yet organized as a national conference, and are under the supervision of an existing national conference. We have mission districts in Haiti, India, Germany, Thailand, Macau, El Salvador, and Costa Rica. Attending are:

• Rev. Gonzalo Alas, a Honduras pastor now serving in El Salvador and overseeing the churches there.
• Rev. Oliam Richard, superintendent of the UB churches in Haiti. He won’t arrive until Wednesday night (a plane crash at the Port Au Prince airport in Haiti threw everything off and caused his delay).

Rev. Alas’s visa was initially rejected by the Canadian embassy, but Brian Magnus’s Parliamentary representative stepped in and got him cleared. The delegates from Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Costa Rica were not so fortunate–either they were denied entry visas, or they started the process too late.

Bishop Brian Magnus of Canada is chairman of the international executive committee, a position to which he was elected in 2001 when the United Brethren denomination first reorganized with an international structure. He is chairing the General Conference, as he did in 2005 (in Huntington, Ind.) and in 2010 (in Honduras).

Magnus began the meeting with a devotional on “Growing Spiritually in Life.” He addressed leadership issues such as responsibility, finances, difficult relationships,

The General Conference meetings last Wednesday through Friday. However, most persons will be in Canada through Sunday. Here’s what the schedule looks like:

Mornings: business sessions of the General Conference.
Afternoons: an excursion of some kind (Thursday is Niagara Falls).
Evenings: a service in one of the Canadian UB churches.
Saturday: a big missions conference for the UB churches in Canada.
Sunday: delegates will be dispersed to speak in various Canadian UB churches.

The business session agenda for the three days looks like this:

• National conference reports and updates (15-20 minutes per country).
• National conference mission efforts reports (outreach efforts within and outside of their own borders).
• Approval of any changes made to national conference governing document. This is mostly an accountability check to make sure national conferences haven’t taken actions which might violate the international Confession of Faith, Core Values, Constitution, and By-Laws.
• Miscellaneous issues.

30 Apr Prayer Warriors for National Conference

Gary Gates (right), Director of Ministerial Licensing

I am looking for prayer warriors. This is not an easy task. Satan will do everything he can to keep you from doing this, but I need at least 13 people who will pray for a specific assigned area of National Conference. We have 13 areas we want to bathe in prayer leading up to National Conference.

Should you accept this challenge we ask that you…

• Pray at least once a week between now and June 17 prayer. Requests will be updated at least every other week.
• Pray daily from June 18-25 for your specific area.

To be assigned as a prayer warrior, email gary@ub.org and you will be assigned an area of prayer to prepare for a spiritually uplifting and challenging National Conference.

29 Apr UB Youth Summit Underway

The annual UB Youth Workers Summit began today in Daytona, Fla. Bishop Phil Whipple is there, along with about 25 youth workers from United Brethren churches. They’ll meet through Thursday, May 2. The keynote speaker is Arthur Wilson, campus pastor at Huntington University.

17 Apr Youth Summit Registration at 26

Online registration has closed for the annual UB Youth Workers Summit, which begins April 29 in Daytona, Fla. The housing is full, with 26 people registered (one more than last year).

16 Apr Registrations: Almost to 500

We are on the verge of having 500 registrations for this summer’s US National Conference. More registrations come in every day.

Hotel rooms in the two conference hotels are filling fast. There are limited openings at both the Hilton and the Courtyard Marriott, so make your reservations quickly!

• The Hilton is attached to the Grand Wayne Center, our meeting place. The cost is $95 per night, plus parking. The remaining rooms available there are mostly for people who are only staying there Wednesday and Thursday nights (not Friday night).
• The Courtyard Marriot is directly across the street from the Grand Wayne Center. The conference cost is $104 per night, with complimentary parking.

There are many other hotels within a short drive. Some hotel deals can be found at VisitFortWayne.com/deals. We do not have room blocks at any of the other hotels, so you will want to make your reservations soon.

For complete information and to register, go to: www.ub2013.org

09 Apr 50 People Attend Final Regional Meeting in Michigan

Todd Fetters opened the meeting with a devotional.

Jeff Bleijerveld giving an update on Global Ministries.

Bishop Phil Whipple (right) with his sons Josh (left) and Mike, both of whom are on staff at Colwood UB church (Caro, Mich.).

About 50 people attended a regional meeting at East Washington UB church in Ashley, Mich., on Monday, April 8. This was the last of four meetings held to review proposals which will be presented to the US National Conference this summer. Attendees came from various UB churches in Michigan, along with four persons from the national office.

The meeting began at 9:30 and ended after a lunch provided by the East Washington church. It included:

• An opening devotional from Todd Fetters, Director of National Ministries.
• An update on ministerial education and licensing issues from Gary Gates, Director of Ministerial Licenses.
• An update on the work of Global Ministries from Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries.
• A review by Bishop Phil Whipple of the proposals for revising the Discipline (our “manual of operations,” so to speak, which can only be amended by the National Conference). Everyone had a copy of the proposals. The Bishop walked through them and invited discussion.

02 Apr Tell Us About Easter at Your Church

The Easter season–-Lent, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday-–is always exciting for churches. There are special events, and often large attendances. Churches do some pretty creative things to capitalize on the Easter season.

Tell us what happened during the Easter season at your church. You can use this form. Then we can share it with other UBs right here on UBCentral.

If you have digital photos, send them along using the mechanism on the form, or email them directly to news@ub.org