30 Jun Hang with the Bishop, Part 4

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.

26 Jun Design a Logo for the 2009 US National Conference

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.)

18 Jun Reminder: June 26 Hang with the Bishop Meeting

This is just a reminder, for people in the Indiana-Ohio area, of next Thursday’s “Hang with the Bishop” meeting. Pat Jones and Jeff Bleijerveld will join Bishop Ron Ramsey. It’s for UB pastors and laypersons from churches within driving distance of Huntington, Ind.

• Date: Thursday, June 26
• Time: 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
• Location: College Park UB church, Huntington, Ind.

12 Jun 2009 US National Conference

The planning committee (l-r): Nate Perry, Steve Dennie, Josh Greenfield, Heather Umbaugh, Chris Kuntz, Amy Pennington, Ron Ramsey, E. J. Ramsey, Donna Hollopeter, Opal Sherman, Marci Hammel, Cathy Reich.

The 2009 National Conference will return to Saw Mill Creek Resort (Huron, Ohio), scene of the 2007 US National Conference. Last weekend, an extended version of the planning team (above) met at Saw Mill Creek to continue the planning they’ve been doing for the past nine months.

The date: June 4-7, 2009. That’s Thursday through Sunday morning. We’ll follow pretty much the same schedule we did in 2007.

The location: People liked the general location, northern Ohio, according to the evaluations. It made a good mid-point for the bulk of our people (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, the Virginias). We looked at various venues large enough to accommodate 900-plus people, and Saw Mill Creek floated to the top of the list.

Two things to know:

• Saturday will feature a “missionary homecoming.” Many currently-serving UB missionaries will be brought back for what promises to be an amazing day.
• We intentionally minimized conference business in 2007. But next year, we’ll need to spend more time in this way, and will devote all of Friday to conference business. It will include election of a new bishop.

We’ll get you more information as plans come together. But for now, get June 4-7 on your calendar and begin talking to people in your church about attending. By year’s end, you’ll need to identify persons to represent your church as lay delegate(s).

12 Jun 2009 National Conference: Back to Saw Mill Creek

L-r: Nate Perry, Steve Dennie, Josh Greenfield, Heather Umbaugh, Chris Kuntz, Amy Pennington, Ron Ramsey, E. J. Ramsey, Donna Hollopeter, Opal Sherman, Marci Hammel, and Cathy Reich.

The 2009 National Conference will return to Saw Mill Creek Resort, scene of the 2007 US National Conference. The planning committee has met several times during the last nine months. Last weekend, the planning team, plus several other persons who are playing an important role in making it happen, met at Saw Mill Creek to continue planning.

Date: June 4-7, 2009
Location: Huron, Ohio

We’ll follow the same basic schedule as in 2007:

• Start Thursday night, end Sunday morning.
• Registration starting at noon on Thursday.
• Opening service at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
• Business session all day Friday (last year, it was only Friday morning). This will include election of a new bishop.
• Workshops on Saturday morning.
• An exciting missions emphasis on Saturday night (more later).

10 Jun Annual Meeting of Michigan Churches

The annual meeting of the Michigan United Brethren churches (a hold-over from the previous Michigan Conference) will take place:

• Date: Saturday, July 19
• Location: Carson City Christian Camping Center, 5940 S Mt Hope Rd. Carson City, Michigan 48811
• Time: 9 a.m. to noon, followed by a noon meal.

The event will include:

• Worship in music
• A message from Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries.
• A business session, with various reports and elections.
• Each cluster leader introducing the pastors in their cluster.
• A chicken barbeque meal at noon ($1.50 per quarter).

Persons interested in the meal should contact Jim Kendall to order the number of quarters of chicken they and their family will need. Contact him by June 30 at (989) 236-5070.
 
Camp sites are available for $10 per night. They include water and electricity ($12 if you have air conditioning). Call Lee Palmer to reserve a spot at (989) 235-6525

05 Jun Church History Class Finishing Up

To receive a national conference ministerial license, you must complete the UB church history course. That class has been meeting since Monday at Huntington University, and will conclude today. One attendee is Jeff Bleijerveld, our new Director of Global Ministries, who is preparing to transfer his ordination from the Missionary Church USA.

Here are the class members from the photo, left to right (click the image for a larger photo):

• Marvin Schwartz, senior pastor of New Horizons UB church (Rockford, Ohio) since May 25.
• Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries.
• Warrick Fuller, from Devonshire Church (Harrisburg, Pa.). He holds a local church license. (He’s got a blog.)
• Doug Moyer, youth pastor of Lancaster UB (Lancaster, Ohio).
• Dustin Staples, youth pastor of Atlantic Avenue UB (Franklin, Pa.).
• Steve Henry, senior pastor of Victory Heights UB (Franklin, Pa.).
• Dr. Howard Cherry, the teacher.
• John Schadle, associate youth pastor at Fowlerville UB (Fowlerville, Mich.).
• Brad Kittle, currently pastor of Findlay Evangelical Congregational Church (Findlay, Ohio).
• Thurm Payton, senior pastor of Lighthouse UB (Williamston, Mich.).

Dr. Howard Cherry, who served in the HU Graduate School of Christian Ministries until 1992, has been teaching the course for nearly 20 years.

04 Jun 2008 Bible Quiz Finals

The denominational Bible quiz finals will be held June 13-15 (Friday through Sunday) at Huntington University. The Saturday night awards banquet starts at 5:30. Churches from three areas will compete:

• Michigan: Eden UB (Mason, Mich.).
• Pennsylvania: Salem UB (Chambersburg, Pa.) and Ebenezer UB (Greencastle, Pa.).
• Central: The Chapel and Bethel (both non-UB churches).

15 May Train the Trainer, Day 2

The Train the Trainer seminar is continuing today at Huntington University. In addition to the 20 UB ministers who are attending, there are various people from the local community–from government, the schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other groups. Huntington University, the Huntington Foundation, and the UB denomination are jointly sponsoring the event.

Tim Elmore, the leader, is sharing principles about communication, vision, leadership, and other topics that can apply to various types of organizations.