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The Global Ministries team gathers around Miriam Prabhakar to pray for her at the conclusion of her report.

The Global Ministries Leadership Team meets twice a year, and they’re meeting right now. The always follow the same format: the Finance Committee meets Wednesday night, then the full team meets all day Thursday and Friday.

Thus far today:

  • They heard reports from Jeff Bleijerveld and Donna Hollopeter.
  • Looked at a possible new logo for Global Ministries.
  • Looked at Finances. Things are pretty good.
  • Spent an hour hearing from Miriam Prabhakar about her work.
  • Looked at a set of guiding principles for Global Ministries.
  • Reviewed new missionaries in the pipeline. Several people are at various stages, from ready to go, to just considering possibilities.
  • Discussed policies regarding Global Ministries personnel and UB membership. (For instance: can we allow dual membership, so that a missionary can be a member of the church he attends on the field, rather than only being a member of a church in the States that he no longer attends, but needs to stay qualified to be a Global Ministries missionary?)

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The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team. L-r: Craig Burkholder (mostly hidden), Lester Smith, Robert Bruce, Lee Rhodes (chair), Bishop Ron Ramsey, Charles Wheatley. Not pictured: Dennis Sites and Chris Little.

The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team met today. They actually started last night. Some of the issue they discussed:

  • Licensing status of various ministers. How to nudge forward (or get tough with) ministers who seem to be stuck in the process.
  • Various changes to the Pastoral Ministry Handbook (coming soon to the UB website).
  • Sabbatical policies for UB ministers.
  • Dealing with ministers in crisis.

In case you missed it the first time, here’s another promo for the November 1 conference in Wabash, Ind., with Dr. Kevin Leman. The event is called the 2008 Day of Healing.

In addition to Leman, over 20 other psychologists will be there, presenting workshops on a variety of subjects related to relationships, the family, and emotions. This is a good opportunity for ordained ministers looking to pick up another CEU for 2008.

We previously mentionedthe upcoming Sticks conference, designed for churches in rural and smalltown settings. They’re only taking 400 people, at $159 per registration. Since it’s being held in Loudonville, Ohio (between Columbus and Cleveland), it’s a reasonable distance from most of our churches.

The conference is being hosted by New Hope Community Church, a multi-site church with three locations in Ohio.

Many people have fond memories of attending summer camp while they were growing up. Friendships were formed, knees were skinned, challenges were conquered, and most of all, life long lessons were learned. Now that we are older, we are glad places like that still exist for our own kids and grandkids.

Camp Cotubic is one such place. It held a special place in the heart of Mr. Tom Ponsot, who passed away in the Spring of 2005. Tom saw the great potential of Camp Cotubic and volunteered his time and financial resources to preserve it as a place where his own grandkids and many other children could experience summer camp. Tom served as the chairman of the camp board for several years and was passionate about the camp’s ministry.

One of the challenges summer camps face is raising the financial resources to maintain high quality programs. To this end we are announcing the 4th Annual Tom Ponsot Memorial Golf Tournament:

Date: September 6, 2008
Registration: 7:30
Tee Time: 8 a.m.
Location: Clear Creek Golf Course, Huntington, Ind.
Cost: $50 per person (includes green fees, cart, snacks, and lunch).

The tournament will use a four-person/team Florida scramble format. Prizes will also be awarded in a variety of categories. All proceeds to go to support the ministries of Camp Cotubic.

To register, please contact Zanesville United Brethren church by email or phone (260-638-4220). For more information about Camp Cotubic, please visit the Camp Cotubic website.

We just learned about a two-day conference called “The Sticks” which may appeal to you. It’s designed for churches in rural and smalltown settings. They’ve got some excellent speakers lined up, and seem to have a great spirit and purpose.

Date: November 11-12
Location: Loudonville, Ohio (about halfway between Columbus and Cleveland (near Mansfield).

Their promo says:

Do you live out in the sticks (small cities and towns of 50K or less).
Do you want to make a big impact?
Tired of small towns being left out of the conversation?
Have you bought into the lies…”We can’t do that” or “We don’t have the funds to pull that off”?

CHECK OUT THE STICKS!
The sticks is a gathering to inspire and equip pastors in small to medium towns to make a big impact for the Kingdom!

They’re only taking 400 people (at $159 per registration), so if you’re interested, you might jump on it quick.

Global Ministries is sponsoring four events to train mission team leaders. With more and more mission teams going out, we need more people who understand how to make these teams successful. These seminars, fun and interactive, will be led by Jeff Bleijerveld and Donna Hollopeter in four regional locations.

The cost is $60 per person.

You can register online, and view information about each event–directions, hotels–by using the links below.

August 22-23 Salem UB Church, Chambersburg, Pa.
September 12-13 Emmanuel Community Church
Fort Wayne, Ind.
October 3-4 (Details still being confirmed)
Charlotte, Mich.
November 14-15 Lancaster UB ChurchLancaster, Ohio

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Pat Jones (right) introduces Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries.

About 50 people attended last Thursday’s “Hang with the Bishop” event. The location was the festively-decorated (for VBS) gymnasium of College Park Church in Huntington, Ind. As with the other three Hang with the Bishop events held thus far (in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan), Pat Jones emceed the occasion, and attendees had the chance to ask any questions they wished of Bishop Ron Ramsey.

We’re inviting UB people to design a logo for the 2009 US National Conference. We need car racing imagery combined with the name XLR8 (the text-message equivalent of “Accelerate”–clever, huh?). Think Nascar, without the trademark infringements. All the details are given on the Healthy Ministry Resources website

UB pews are loaded with talented people. Know someone in your church who might be interested in designing a logo? Make sure he/she hear about it. The deadline is July 31. And the winner gets a whopping $100. (Several possible designs have come in already.)