07 Jan Leading Change: New Continuing Ed Course at Rhodes Grove

“Leading Change: Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century Church,” is the title of the next continuing education class being offered through the Ecclesiastes Institute, a ministry of Rhodes Grove Camp in Chambersburg, Pa. The class will be led by Anthony Blair, dean of Academic Affairs at Easter College (Philadelphia, Pa.) and a UB minister, and Jo Ann Kunz, a member of the pastoral staff of Hosanna Christian Fellowship. The text Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church, will be used as a tool and is available to purchase through Rhodes Grove. A buffet lunch will be provided by the camp.

Date: Monday, February 9, 2008
Time: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

The classes are offered in partnership with Lancaster Bible College and qualify for a .5 CEU rating and an accompanying certificate.

23 Oct Effective Christian Leadership: Course at Rhodes Grove

The course “Effective Christian Leadership” will be taught November 6 at Rhodes Grove Campground in Chambersburg, Pa. This course is part of the camp’s continuing education ministry, The Ecclesiastes Institute. The course, which involves essential leadership components that today’s Christian leaders need, will be taught by Rev. Carl Shank, formerly on the pastoral staff at Antrim Brethren in Christ church and now ministering in Mount Joy, Pa. Participants can earn .5 Continuing Education Unit from Lancaster Bible College. The time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can register online, or call the camp office: 717.375.4162. Registrations are requested by October 29. A buffet lunch is included.

11 Sep Regional Lay Training Events

A series of training events for laypersons will be held in five different locations during September and October. They are designed for anyone serving in some type of local church ministry. The training will include principles that can be applied to any size church and to any segment of ministry.
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07 Sep Regional Lay and Youth Training Events

A series of training events for laypersons will be held in five different locations during September and October. They are designed for anyone serving in some type of local church ministry. The training will include principles that can be applied to any size church and to any segment of ministry.

Each event will be held on a Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm.

• September 22: Mount Pleasant Church (Chambersburg, Pa.)
• September 29: Mainstreet Church (Walbridge, Ohio)
• October 6: Eden Church (Mason, Mich.)
• October 13: Lancaster UB Church (Lancaster, Ohio)
• October 20: Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
• October 27: Atlantic Avenue UB church (Franklin, Pa.)

The schedule will be the same at each location, with these four sessions:

9:00 – 10:30: The Non-Negotiables for All Churches
10:45 – Noon: Structuring Your Ministry to be Effective
1:30 – 2:30: Push Backs to Effective Ministry
2:30 – 3:00: Question and Answer time

The cost is free (though lunch is on your own at nearby restaurants). You can register online, or email the names of people from your church to Bishop Ron Ramsey’s administrative assistant.

Training for United Brethren youth workers will occur at the same time. This is a whole different track. The youth training will occur in the same locations as the lay training events, and will follow the same schedule.

15 Aug WMF Convention at Rhodes Grove

A Women’s Missionary Fellowship Convention will be held August 21 at Rhodes Grove Camp near Chambersburg, Pa. It begins at 9:30 a.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring auction items. The speakers will be Bob Eberly, Lois Conway, and Rev. John Christophel.

09 Jul Reflections from National Conference

Been awhile since I have made an entry to this blog. I’m afraid I only have excuses and not valid reasons. But I wanted to reflect a little bit about the recent National Conference 2007.
First, let me say that it far exceeded my expectations. Maybe I had low expectations, but I don’t think so. Rather, I believe that God showed up in power at the conference.

While I realize that parts of the overall program were not received as well as others, the evaluations filled out by the attenders were extremely positive. For that I am thankful. I felt it was a great time for the United Brethren Church, a much-needed time of challenge, inspiration, fun, and seeing old friends. But I really believe God did something in our hearts during those days. I have great optimism for our future. Especially if we take to heart what we heard about evangelism and discipleship…which should be the emphasis of a church’s ministry.

I know we have had discussion in the past about small churches and large churches. But in reading the Great Commission again, I don’t find anything about size there. It just says we are to make disciples. Making disciples involves evangelism, education, and enlisting (baptism) of those who do not yet follow Jesus. The Great Commission is not a large church thing or a big church thing. It is an obedience thing.

Regardless of the size of a church, I really don’t understand how anyone can believe they are being obedient to Jesus when year after year the annual report shows no converts or baptisms. It really isn’t about size. It is about being obedient to Jesus. I don’t think it is even a church thing. It really is an individual thing. So the question is not so much about the church but about me as an individual. Is my life being lived so that people are coming to Christ and being built up in him because of my Christian walk. Isn’t that the real issue?

Really, what is the church but the people? The church isn’t an organization, although it needs to be organized. So when churches report zero conversions and zero baptisms, isn’t that a reflection on the individuals in that church? I know that sounds hard, but isn’t it the truth?

One thing that really blessed my heart at the National Conference was the number of people who nailed something to the cross on Sunday. That was a moving time for me. I was at the front and could hear how people pounded the nail into their slip of paper to pin it to the cross. Tears were shed as hearts were moved. Some people have reported to me what they nailed to the cross and the difference that commitment has made in their lives. That was as near “revival” as I have been for some time, and quite honestly I covet that more and more in my life and in the life of our church. We really do need a real revival.

While I appreciated that time, I know that the real test of revival is when we all get back home. Did anything change about how I live my life, how I react to my unsaved friends and relatives, how I go about my everyday life? We need a revival in many of our churches so that hearts will be changed…but the revival can’t stay in the church building. We must take it to our communities, to the barber shop or beauty shop, to the service station when we buy our gas, to the neighbor next door, to the person who takes our money at the local Burger King, to the classmate in school, to the family reunion…. “As you go about from place to place, don’t forget, MAKE Disciples.” When we truly get serious about that, we will see revival like we have not experienced it ever before. I don’t know about you, but my heart yearns for that!