04 Oct Meetings: It’s That Time of Year

Early October is always a time of denominational meetings at the national office in Huntington, Ind.

• The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team met this past Monday and Tuesday (October 1-2, 2012). Lee Rhodes, pastor of Countryside UB church (Breckenridge, Mich.) is the chairman.
• The Global Ministries Leadership Team meets today and tomorrow (October 4-5). Kurt Uhen, a layperson from Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) is the chairman. This group is a joint venture of the US and Canadian national conferences (2 of the 10 members are from Canada).
• The Executive Leadership Team meets next Monday and Tuesday (October 8-9). Bishop Phil Whipple is the chairman. This is the highest governing body between sessions of the US National Conference. The ELT will be looking at a number of proposals for changing the Discipline, which the US National Conference will then consider in June 2013.
• The Higher Education Leadership Team meets October 17. J. Michael Caley, pastor of Banner of Christ UB church (Byron Center, Mich.) is the chairperson. This team provides oversight of Huntington University.

24 Sep Four-Day Meeting for Pastors of Mid-Sized UB Churches

A UB Mid-Sized Church Conference is being held September 24-27 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The conference is designed for pastors and spouses from United Brethren churches with an average attendance of 150-300. The theme is “Breaking Through Common Barriers.”

A group of 37 persons are attending. They include senior pastors from 22 of the 25 UB churches in this attendance range.

Lodging for Monday through Wednesday evenings at the Ocean Walk Resort is covered, as is one evening meal. Participants are paying for transportation and all other meals.

The basic schedule:

• Monday, September 24. The event begins with a 6:30 dinner, after which Bishop Phil Whipple will speak to the group.
• Tuesday. Workshops in the morning, with the rest of the day free (hit the beach go golfing, etc.).
• Wednesday. Workshops in the morning, afternoon free, with an 8 pm closing session.
• Thursday. A service project with First UB church in nearby Holly Hill, Fla.

Presenters will be UB pastors from the larger churches who have at least taken a church through the 400 barrier. Topics include: Space Utilization, Leading vs. Managing, Staffing, Developing Leaders Around You, and Impacting Your Community.

Persons attending from the national office are Bishop Phil Whipple, Jeff Bleijerveld (Director of Global Ministries), Dennis Miller (Cluster Coordinator), and Gary Gates (Director of Ministerial Licenses).

Getaway meetings for pastors, staff, and spouses from the largest UB churches (300+) have been held somewhat regularly for about eight years.

13 Sep 226 Now Registered for UB Women’s Conference

The upcoming UB Women’s Conference, Sept. 28-30, is about two weeks away. Right now, 226 persons are registered.

The conference will include a silent auction. A silent auction at the 2010 conference raised over $1000. The money was used for women’s ministry and to keep down the cost of lodging at the conference.

Women attending are invited to:

• Bring new or gently used items to donate for the auction. They can include handmade items and baked good.
• Bring some extra spending money.

Some ideas: books, décor, scarves, plants, handmade items, baked goods.

The money raised in 2010 was a tribute to the quality of items donated, and to generous bidding.

Complete information, including a schedule revised as of September 13, can be found on the UB website.

27 Aug Sept 15: Tom Ponsot Golf Tournament for Camp Cotubic

The 8th Annual Tom Ponsot Memorial Golf Tournament will be held on September 15 at Donald Ross Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Ind. (7102 S. Calhoun St.). The late Tom Ponsot was a member of the Zanesville UB church (Zanesville, Ind.) and a member of the camp’s board of directors for many years.

The proceeds will once again support the ministries of Camp Cotubic in Bellefontaine, Ohio. During the past 7 years, the Classic has raised over $26,000, and hosted over 500 golfers.

We invite you to enter a team in this year’s tournament. The cost is $50/person. That includes green fees, cart, snacks, and lunch. There will also be plenty of door prizes and prizes for the winners and various other accomplishments.

Registration begins at 7:30 am with the tournament start time at 8 am.

Camp Director Dave Stephens reports that they will have hosted over 3000 campers from May through August. “Now we move into our fall and pre-winter season with weekend retreat groups here almost every weekend.”

09 Aug UB Women’s Conference–a Little Incentive

The Women’s Team is looking forward to hosting this year’s Women’s Conference in beautiful Shipshewana, Ind. Reservations are filling up quickly, but we want to give you some incentive to register more women from your church.

For a limited time, every registrant will have an opportunity to be entered into a drawing for a $100 Visa Card. This offer is good now until August 27, when our room block is lifted.

Check out all the details of this event–2 nights lodging, meals, speaker and worship music, as well as some “down time” to take in some shopping or other activities. And now a chance to win $100!

Don’t worry. If your group has already registered, they will also be entered into the drawing.

Act now! Spread the word to the women at your church!

Learn more about the Women’s Conference and register.

12 Jul September 21-22 Seminar: “Leaders Who Last”

Dave Kraft

A seminar led by Dave Kraft, author of “Leaders Who Last,” will be held September 21-22 (Friday and Saturday) at New Hope Community UB church in Bryan, Ohio. For ordained UB ministers, it qualifies as six “contact hours” toward their yearly continuing education requirement.

Kraft has spent 35 years leading, teaching leadership, and coaching dozens of Christian leaders. Kraft notes that only 30% of Christian leaders finish well. Too many Christian leaders stumble, burn out, or veer off the track. Concise, anecdotal, and packed with wisdom, this seminar will help you aim your ambitions, refine your character, and position yourself to be an effective leader who endures.

There will be three main sessions, with these topics:

• 7-9 pm Friday: A Credible Life
• 8:30 – 10:30 am Saturday: A Compelling Vision
• 10:30 am – 12:30 Saturday: A Cohesive Team

Cost: $25 per person.

You can register from this page.

Born in Los Angeles, Dave Kraft became Christian at age 20, and served with the Navigators for 38 years before retiring in 2005. He currently lives in Orange County, Calif., and travels around the country conducting “Leaders Who Last” seminars and working with several churches in Orange County in leadership development and coaching.

You can buy the book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble for about $11. It’s available on the Kindle and Nook electronic readers. (Copyright 2010, 160 pages.)

Above is an interview with Dave Kraft by Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Wash.

11 Jul 18 Persons Attending UB Staffing Course Today

Denny Miller, senior pastor of Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind., is teaching the UB Staffing Course.

Denny Miller.

Five persons are attending the class remotely–from Waynesboro, Pa., and Cochranton, Pa.

The conference room at the Healthy Ministry Resources office.

The UB Staff Management Course is being held today (Wednesday, July 11) at the Healthy Ministry Resources building in Huntington, Ind. Denny Miller, senior pastor of Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.), is teaching the class. The class includes 18 persons–13 attending in person, another 5 attending remotely via our new videoconferencing capabilities. Three persons are attending from Blue Rock UB church in Waynesboro, Pa., and two more from Cochranton, Pa.

The course is a requirement for ordination in the United Brethren church. The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team developed a list of courses required for ordination, most of which can be obtained from a variety of seminaries. However, several courses are not readily available elsewhere, so we are providing them ourselves. Two of the courses are specifically United Brethren in nature–one on UB church history (which is a basic requirement for any ministerial licensing in the UB church), and a course on UB missions. The UB staffing course is the third.

About two-thirds of the participants are taking the course as an ordination requirement. The others are taking is as a continuing education requirement, or simply because it interests them.

26 Jun Michigan Missions Conference

Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, led a prayer for the new officers elected for the annual Michigan Missions Conference.

The missions conference was held in the tabernacle at the Carson City Campground in Carson City, Mich.

A BBQ lunch for everyone!

About 60 people attended a one-day missions conference held Saturday, June 23, at the Carson City Campground in Carson City, Mich. The event was designed for persons from United Brethren churches in Michigan. This is the second year for the event.

A number of people spoke on behalf of missions. They included:

• April Dice and her son, Camden, who spoke about their ministry in Nicaragua. Camden told about the baseball team which played and ministered in Nicaragua in January 2012.
• Global Ministries director Jeff Bleijerveld.
• Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries.
• Several former missionaries in Sierra Leone, including Julie Burkett, Nancy N’Gele, and Lee and Beth Palmer.
• Former Macau missionaries Pauline Gibbs and Carlson and Naomi Becker.
• Sally Hock-Harrison, from West Windsor UB (Dimondale, Mich.) represented a fund which provides scholarships to teens wanting to do short-term missions work. Several recipients of scholarships spoke about their experiences.

Ted Beck, a representative of Samaritan’s Purse who attends East Washington UB church in Ashley, Mich., told about his church’s success with Operation Christmas Child. The number of shoeboxes collected each year has continued multiplying, leading to a collection of 10,000 shoeboxes in 2011. He told of trips to flea markets and other events, looking for items for the shoeboxes, and coming away with contacts for persons who donated items or sold them for, say, a penny each.

21 Jun UB Staffing Course and Women’s Conference

As of Thursday, June 21:

• 14 people have registered for the UB Staffing Course, to be held July 11 in Huntington, Ind. Two-thirds are taking it as a requirement for ordination. The others are taking it (at half the cost) as a CEU.
• The UB Women’s Conference is still three months away, but already 160 women have registered.