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24 Feb

February 24, 2010 |

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A conference focusing on spiritual care will be held May 18-20 at the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center in Wheeling, W. Va. This event is aimed at church staffpersons who work in such areas as spiritual care, assimilation, and visitation.

Cost: $75. That includes lodging on May 18 and 19, and 1 dinner. You will need to purchase 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, and 1 dinner.
Registration Deadline: April 30
Arrival: Tuesday, May 18, by 5 pm
Departure: Thursday, May 20, by 11 am

24 Feb

February 24, 2010 |

A conference for United Brethren worship leaders.

A conference for United Brethren worship leaders, especially staffpersons who work in this field, will be held May 3-6 in Daytona Beach, Fla. Two keynote speakers have been lined up. Workshops and morning devotions will be led by UB worship leaders.

Cost. $110 per person. This will cover lodging and the evening meal. Pastors will be on their own for breakfast and lunch.

Lodging. Accommodations will be on the beach. Larger group meetings will be held at First UB church in Holly Hill, about 10 minutes away.

Transportation. You must provide your own transportation to Daytona Beach and and for getting around once there.

 

23 Feb

February 23, 2010 |

We made some changes in the cluster system, which is our primary structure for pastoral training and accountability. One change involves staffpersons.

Previously, we required all licensed ministers–senior pastors and staffpersons–to attend monthly cluster meetings. In some cases, staffpersons attended the same cluster as the senior pastor. In other cases, staffpersons attended a cluster with other persons in their area of specialty–a youth cluster, a pastoral care cluster, a cluster for music ministers, etc.

Now, we only require that senior pastors attend cluster meetings. But we don’t want to neglect training for staffpersons.

As a substitute for staffpersons, we are holding four “summits” in the coming months. These are two-day events designed for ministers in specific areas of specialization.

April 26-30: UB Youth Workers Summit. This annual meeting goes back a number of years. It is not limited to staffpersons. Rather, UB churches are invited to send their “lead” youth worker, whether on the payroll or not.

May 6-8: Worship Summit. This new event is designed for staffpersons who focus on areas related to worship and music.

May 17-19: Children’s Ministry Leaders Summit. This new event is for persons who specialize in working with children. Again, it is not limited to staffpersons. As with the Youth Workers Summit, it’s limited to your “lead” children’s worker.

May 18-20: Warmth Summit. This new event is for staffpersons whose ministry involves such issues as spiritual care, visitation, and assimilation.

As bishop, I encourage churches and pastors to make sure their staffpersons are able to attend one of these summits if it is in their area of specialization.

16 Feb

February 16, 2010 |

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A United Brethren women’s conference will be held September 17-19, 2010, at the Willow Valley Resort in Lancaster, Pa.

The theme is “I Do, Do You?” It is not a conference about earthly marriage or male-female relationships. Rather, it is about women living with joy in the knowledge of who they are in Jesus Christ.

Join women from across the country for a weekend that promises to change your life, challenge the way you see yourself, and captivate your senses as you experience the beauty of the Lancaster area and all the amenities that Willow Valley Resort offers.

Your total cost depends on how many people share your room:

  • 2 people in a room: $209 per person
  • 3 people in a room: $179 per person
  • 4 people in a room: $159 per person

The first 20 pastors’ wives to register will receive a $50 discount.

Brochures about the conference have been mailed to all UB churches.

The Women’s Ministry website has complete information–speakers, schedule, costs, area attractions, directions, and more. You can also register online. Go to: UBWomen.org

12 Feb

February 12, 2010 |

The two-day Mission Team Leader Training is underway at Mainstreet Church in Walbridge, Ohio. Jeff Bleijerveld and Donna Hollopeter are teaching 12 people, who have come to learn how to effectively lead a short-term mission team. Three other persons from the east were signed up, but had to cancel out because of the blizzard.

28 Jan

January 28, 2010 |

childrensinging500

mexicocanada500

General Conference opened on January 10 with a Sunday afternoon service at the Bethel Institute in La Ceiba, Honduras.

The service began with a parade of flags representing each United Brethren country and mission district represented at General Conference. That would be nine national conferences, plus Guataemala, Haiti, El Salvador, and Costa Rica. Honduran teenagers carried the flags, escorted by younger children clad in outfits symbolic of that country.

The flags were inserted into holders on the stage, while the younger children lined across the front. And then came this amazing part: those children took turns singing the national anthem of the country they were representing. The two children representing Mexico went first, then three for Canada, and on down the line. You could see General Conference delegates singing along, smiling with delight, when it was their country’s turn.

Missionary Marilyn Reeck spearheaded this part of the program. You can imagine it was an incredible amount of work–making the costumes, finding recordings of the various national anthems, teaching Spanish-speaking children to sing those songs in other languages, etc.

At the end came the Honduran national anthem, which really brought the local assembly alive. After finishing with the national anthems, the children then did several more songs before marching out. General Conference was off to a great start, thanks to the children of Honduras.

Click on any thumbnail photo below to view a photo gallery of the children singing at General Conference.

19 Jan

January 19, 2010 |
Bishop Phil Whipple leading the ELT meeting.

Bishop Phil Whipple leading the ELT meeting.

Andy Sikorra (right), who will be planting a UB church in the Cleveland area, with Huntington University president G. Blair Dowden.

Andy Sikorra (right), who will be planting a UB church in the Cleveland area, with Huntington University president G. Blair Dowden.

The Executive Leadership Team met Monday night and Tuesday morning (January 18-19) at Huntington University. This was the first time the ELT has met since Phil Whipple was elected bishop, though they’ve handled several items of business over the internet.

The plan was to handle all business during the two hours on Monday night, and reserve Tuesday for talking about church planting. They stuck to that plan.

On Tuesday morning, after a devotional by Bishop Whipple, the ELT heard from Andy Sikorra, who will be planting a church in the Cleveland, Ohio, area starting next fall. Andy is originally from Texas, but his family moved to northwest Ohio and attended New Hope UB church in Bryan, Ohio. He attended Huntington University, and is now on staff with a Southern Baptist church in Cleveland.

Bishop Whipple then guided the ELT members into an open discussion about church planting. Our denomination was born out of aggressive church planting, but in recent years we’ve not done so well at starting new churches. It’s something everyone agrees we need to get a better handle on.

18 Jan

January 18, 2010 |
Denny Miller (far right) leading the cluster leader training.

Denny Miller (far right) leading the cluster leader training.

Today, 22 cluster leaders came to Huntington, Ind., for several hours of training with Bishop Phil Whipple and Denny Miller, pastor of Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.). They met in the Habecker Dining Commons at Huntington University. Denny Miller works one day a week as Director of Healthy Church Ministries. He led much of the training.

Here are some photos from the event.

16 Jan

January 16, 2010 |
Me, after I've just signed 100 copies of Tio Archive.

Me, after I've just signed 100 copies of Tio Archive.

I started writing Tio Archie in 1996, and it was published in May 2001. While it tells the story of Honduras, it was not written in Spanish, the language of Honduras. It was published in English. Because that’s what I speak.

But it needed to be in Spanish.

Over the years, missionaries Roger and Marilyn Reeck translated Tio Archie into Spanish. Marilyn worked hard this year to finish the book. On Satuday, January 9, the book arrived in La Ceiba the same day I did (though it came from a printing plant in Tegucigalpa).

The book was unveiled at the end of the January 10 service which opened the General Conference. A number of people asked me to autograph their copies. That’s always a joy and a privilege to do.