You are invited to join our UB churches in Canada as they celebrate 150 years of ministry. The Celebration will occur on June 10, 2006, at the Hartman Farm north of Guelph, Ontario. The celebration will occur from 2-8 p.m., with an optional historical bus tour from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The afternoon is truly planned as a celebration, with many activities for all ages, much like a fair. Highlights of the day will include:

  • historical displays from each of the UB churches in Canada.
  • square-dancing in the barn with instruction for beginners.
  • a tea room/tent.
  • games, contests, and recreational activities.
  • old-fashioned lemonade stand, popcorn and candy floss.
  • a wandering minstrel playing the banjo and singing.
  • historical costumes and picture taking.
  • pony rides.
  • a prayer walk trail.
  • a youth tent featuring four different bands.
  • and a catered supper meal, BBQ-picnic style.

The evening will feature an old-fashioned revival meeting under the big-top tent. The historical bus tour costs $10. However, everything else is without charge, though a freewill offering will be taken.
Please submit your registration form by April 30, 2006.

The historical bus tour will depart from the Parkwood gardens Church in Guelph and go to Doon Heritage Crossroads Village, a pioneer village in Kitchener which houses one of the oldest United Brethren Church buildings in Canada. It has been fully and accurately restored to early 1900s decor and architecture. After a time at Doon Village, the tour will proceed to Sheffield (just south of Cambridge), the location of the first United Brethren church in Canada. A light lunch will be served there. After lunch, the tour will return to Guelph and take vehicles to the Hartman Farm, location of the 150th Anniversary Celebration. Bishop Brian Magnus will be on the bus as the tour guide.

A Women’s Conference will be held September 22-24, 2006. It is being sponsored by the UB Women’s Ministry Team. The conference will be held at the Farmstead Inn in Shipshewanna, Ind. Women who attend will be challenged by seminars on women’s issues, will learn leadership strategies, will share creative ideas, and will learn ways to start or improve women’s ministries in their own local churches. More information will be coming in the months ahead.

Central Conference is sponsoring an October 6 event for ministers of Central, Michindoh, and Sandusky conferences which will focus on the creation of cluster groups. These three conferences are in close proximity, and since the clusters will cross conference boundary lines, churches within these conferences may want to link up.

In an email announcement, Superintendent Tom Brodbeck wrote, “All Central Conference ministers are strongly encouraged to be at Camp Cotubic (Bellefontaine, Ohio) on Thursday, October 6 for a day of information and inspiration. Pat Jones, the denomination’s new Director of Healthy Church Ministries, will be present to talk about the formation of clusters and the signing of the Local Church Covenant. We hope that by the end of that day all of our churches will be aligned into a cluster.

“We will meet from 10:00 am – 3:30 pm (Ohio time). Lunch will be provided by Camp Cotubic (cost to be announced later). You will need to RSVP before October 1 so that we have a good headcount. We are also inviting churches from Michindoh and Sandusky Conferences.

The Zanesville United Brethren Church is organizing the 1st annual Tom Ponsot Memorial Classic Florida Scramble to benefit Camp Cotubic. It is scheduled for Saturday, October 1, beginning at 9:00 a.m., at the Woods Golf Club in Van Wert, Ohio. Organizers are looking for hole sponsors at a cost of $100 a hole and are also in need of teams to participate. Tom Ponsot, a strong supporter of Camp Cotubic, passed away earlier this year. Persons interested in participating should send an email to Zanesville UB.

A number of significant changes in the denominational structure will be voted on at this summer’s US National Conference. These include proposals to dissolve the current annual conferences so that the whole US is part of one conference, and the move to make the denomination a membership organization in which local churches would sign a covenant to continue participating in the denomination. The details of these proposals are still being worked out by two committees.

Central Conference is planning two regional meetings to inform members of the churches and give them opportunity for input. The locations haven’t been determined yet, but the dates are:

  • Columbus area: Sunday afternoon, May 15, 3:00 pm
  • Huntington area: Sunday afternoon, June 5, 3:00 pm.

Michigan Mid-Year Council convenes on January 29 at the Colwood UB church in Caro. The keynote speaker will be Dwight Smith, president of Saturation Church Planting International and co-author of Invading Secular Space. He will challenge the conference on their church planting vision.

Kathy Bruce, chairperson of the Women's Ministry Leadership Team, addressing the conference.

The International Women’s Conference, July 25-27, brought about 140 United Brethren women to Huntington, Ind. They came from eight states: Indiana (40), Ohio (25), Michigan (29), Pennsylvania (16), plus others from Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, and Virginia. In addition, eight women came from Ontario.

The conference featured a variety of seminars and keynote addresses, complemented by drama by the group “All for One,” and music by the group “One Faith.”