The number of registrations for the US National Conference now stands at 212, Almost a fourth of them have signed up for the UB Historical Society Banquet, at which Pat Jones will speak.

With ten days to go before the March 15 deadline, Bishop Ramsey has received:

  • 106 local church reports.
  • 96 reports from churches about their referendum results.
  • 99 signed local church covenants.

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Back row (l-r): Carlos Salazar (MC – Holland, MI), Jimmy Santiago (MC – Chicago, IL), Volfi Valenzuela (MC – Ft. Wayne, IN), Tulio Duran (MC), Dalton Jenkins (UB – Yonkers, NY), Gary Rowland (MC – Ft. Wayne, IN), Martin Roman (MC – Kalamazoo, MI), Tom Blaylock (MC/UB – Everywhere), Gordon Kettel (UB – Grand Ledge, MI), Brian Reinhardt (MC – Sebewaing, MI). Front row (l-r): Bob Loar (MC – Blissfield, MI), Jeremy LeVan (MC – Mishawaka, IN), Matt Woodburn (MC – Macomb, MI), Roy Scott (UB – Brooklyn, NY), Howard Matthews (UB – Grandville, MI), and Josh Hossler (MC – Macomb, MI).

Church planters from the United Brethren Church and the Missionary Church held a retreat together January 29-31 in Orlando, Fla. They focused on three things: encouraging the church planters, sabbath rest, and learning from each other’s experiences. Tom Blaylock, who works part-time in church planting with both the UBs and MCs, headed up the event.

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L-r: Josh Greenfield (promotion), Jeff Bleijerveld (missions), Ron Ramsey (bishop), and Kathy Bruce (women’s ministry).

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L-r: Todd Rupp (youth), E.J. Ramsey (prayer), Susie Burson (children), Chris Kuntz (worship/music/sound), Loretta Bailey (helping Chris).

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Things are moving along for the upcoming US National Conference. The planning committee met last Saturday at Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind. Most of the members live in northeast Indiana, but several drove down from Toledo and one came from Grand Rapids, Mich.

Since the last meeting in June, groups or individuals have been working on their specific areas–music, promotion, set design, sound, workshops, registration, nursery, hospitality, children and youth, hotel arrangements, etc. It’s a big job, planning one of these conventions. Lots and lots of details.

We’re excited about our speaker, Tim Brown. He’s bringing his wife, Charity, who will do a workshop session just for pastor’s wives. We have a good line-up of workshops, which you can read about on the USNationalConference.com website.

Missions Night, on Saturday, should be great. A worship team from Owen Gordon’s church in Jamaica will lead us that night. They’re good, very good, and it should be great fun.

Registration brochures will be mailed to all churches this week. The online registration will go live soon–maybe this afternoon (still working out a few bugs).

Please promote the conference in your church. Over 900 people attended in 2007. We know the economy is an issue this year. But please, do everything you can to bring people from your church. It’ll be a great time for them, and for all of us as United Brethren.

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Every year, United Brethren youth workers meet in Daytona, Fla, for the UB Youth Workers Summit. You can now register online for this event.
The Summit is held at First UB church in Holly Hill, Fla. The registration fee is:

  • Before April 1: $90.
  • After April 1: $110.

The registration fee covers the cost of:

  • Materials
  • Speakers
  • Lodging (the church has lodging facilities, so there are no hotel costs).
  • All breakfasts and lunches (some dinners will be on your own).

Because of space limitations, this is designed for the “lead” youth worker at churches. Send the person who leads your youth ministry, whether fulltime, part-time, or volunteer. It’s a great chance to rub shoulders with other UB youth workers and gain insights to help you minister more effectively to your teens.

The nominating committee is finalizing the ballot for bishop, and is working on the ballot for the Executive Leadership Team. The US National Conference will elect 8 persons to the ELT, and the ELT will then appoint 4 more persons (one from each district).

We previously mentioned the four ministers appointed to the Nominating Committee. They, in turn, selected two laypersons to join them. Here’s the complete list:

  • J. Michael Caley, pastor of Banner of Christ UB (Byron Center, Mich.). Mike is the chairman.
  • Greg Voight, pastor of Lancaster UB (Lancaster, Ohio).
  • Greg Reed, pastor of Morning Star Church (Kokomo, Ind.).
  • Todd Fetters, pastor of Devonshire Church (Harrisburg, Pa.).
  • Don Burkholder, layperson from King Street Church (Chambersburg, Pa.).
  • Brian Hughes, layperson from Mainstreet Church (Walbridge, Ohio).

Ten persons are on their way to Sierra Leone. Or will be, in a couple hours. Six people from northern Indiana will fly out of Fort Wayne around 6:00 tonight. They’ll meet two persons from Virginia in Chicago, then fly to London, where they’ll meet two more persons. Then it’s on to Freetown, Sierra Leone. They’ll arrive tomorrow night (Friday, Jan. 16) around 7:30.

This group will stay in Sierra Leone until January 27. Then another team–three doctors and a nurse–will arrive for a two-week stay at the hospital.

Some of your teens would no doubt enjoy taking part in the Big MAC Ski Attack. This youth ski retreat started as a ministry of the former Mid-Atlantic Conference, thus the MAC. But UB youth from Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio have taken part during the last few years. It’s open to any UB youth.

Bobby Culler, youth pastor of Mount Pleasant Church (Chambersburg, Pa.), heads up the Big MAC event, and also chairs the denominational Youth Ministry Team, He says they have around 500 people at Big MAC. So this is no small thing.

You can find complete information on the UB Youth website. Here are some basic details:

Date: February 6-8
Location: a Mennonite conference center in Laurelville, Pa. (near Pittsburgh).
Cost: $80 registration, plus an activity fee of $10-$40, depending on the activity you choose.

Emmanuel Community Church is hosting a free concert featuring rock band Attaboy and indie-rock newcomer The Fabulous at 7 p.m. on December 5.

Three of the four members of Attaboy, a Huntington-based alternative rock group, are graduates of Huntington University. Vocalist/keyboardist Amos Caley, who holds a degree in Bible and Religion, is the son of UB pastor J.
Michael Caley (Banner of Christ UB, Byron Center, Mich.).

The concert is open to the public and is sponsored by Huntington University, Remedy.fm, and Emmanuel Community Church Student Ministries.