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William Wheeler has been named senior pastor of Mt. Pleasant UB church in Angola, Ind. He had been filling the pulpit since the retirement of the previous pastor, Devon Strine. Wheeler is a 1987 graduate of the former Fort Wayne Bible College, and in 1991 received the Master of Christian Ministry from Huntington University.
Brent Liechty has been appointed senior pastor of Mogul UB church in Shippensburg, Pa., effective August 16, 2016. He has served since 2005 at Pathway UB church in Jackson, Mich.–as associate/youth pastor until 2013, and since then as senior pastor. Prior to that, he served six years at Criders UB church in Greencastle, Pa. Rocky Spear, who had pastored Mongul for nine years, is now senior pastor of Kilpatrick UB church in Woodland, Mich.
Rev. Devon Strine has retired effective July 31, 2016. He was ordained in 1976. Most recently, he has pastored the Mt. Pleasant UB church (Angola, Ind.) since 2012.
Rev. Teddy Fairchild has been appointed to a two-year assignment as interim pastor of Eagle Quest UB church (Columbia City, Ind.), effective July 31, 2016. He is a 2010 graduate of Huntington University, and earned a Masters from Liberty University in 2014. He has served UB churches in Wilshire and Findlay, Ohio. Teddy and Sarah (right) have been married since 2007 and have two children—daughter Julz, a college student, and son Gabriel, who is 5.
Rev. Jeff Lawson has been appointed senior pastor of Hopewell UB church (Auburn, Ind.) effective July 25, 2016. He takes the place of Rev. John Erwin, who recently retired after serving Hopewell for 16 years.
Jeff Lawson is a graduate of Taylor University (1995) and Crown College in Minnesota (2007), and has been an ordained minister since 1995 in the Christian & Missionary Alliance. Since 1999, he has pastored eight churches in five states, with a focus on church revitalization. He cites “turn-around” situations as his preferred ministry role. Jeff and his wife, Cindy (right), have two grown children.
Roxton “Rocky” Spear (right) has been named senior pastor of Kilpatrick UB church (Woodland, Mich.). He takes the place of Darrel Bosworth, the pastor since 2002, who is retiring. Rocky had been pastor of Mongul UB church (Shippensburg, Pa.) since January 2007.
Michael Elkins (right) has been appointed lead pastor of New Hope Community Church in Bryan, Ohio, effective January 1, 2016. His first Sunday to preach is January 17.
He graduated in 2007 from Baptist Bible College (Springfield, Mo.) with a degree in Pastoral Ministries, and earned a Masters in Human Services (Executive Leadership) in 2015 from Liberty University (Lynchburg, Va.). Since 2009, he has served as associate pastor of Connections Community Church in Schoolcraft, Mich. He and his wife, Michelle, have three daughters ages 2-7.
The previous pastor, Pat Schwenk, left at the end of 2015 to plant a new church in Michigan (with New Hope’s blessing and support).
Ken Thompson has been appointed senior pastor of South Scipio UB church (Harlan, Ind.), effective January 1, 2016. He was ordained as a UB minister in 1993 and previously pastored UB churches in Van Buren, Ind., Huntington, Ind., and Hillsdale, Ohio.
Dr. Jody Bowser (right) has been appointed as senior pastor of King Street UB church in Chambersburg, Pa. King Street is the second-largest United Brethren church, with a weekly attendance of over 1500.
Dr. Bowser has been senior pastor for over 12 years at Moses Lake Alliance Church in Moses Lake, Wash. His ministry experience also includes five years as youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Visalia, Calif., and over ten years as director of Student Ministries and Preaching Associate at The Chapel in Akron, Ohio.
He and his wife, Caryn, have six children, three of whom currently attend Christian colleges in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Their oldest son, Jay, is on staff as a video producer at a church in Charlotte, N. C.
Jody’s doctor of ministry degree, with an emphasis on preaching, is from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass. His doctoral preaching studies were done under Dr. Haddon Robinson.
Jody’s first Sunday in the pulpit at King Street will be November 1, 2015. King Street Church is excited to see where God takes us under Jody’s leadership. The congregation has been without a senior pastor since Dr. John Beukema left in January 2014 to become pastor of a church in Houston, Texas.
Ricky and Jami Hull and children.
Ricky Hull concluded his ministry at Mt. Hermon UB church (Pomeroy, Ohio) on Sunday, March 15. He has been senior pastor there since 2012. Ricky has been named senior pastor of Crossroads UB church in Charlotte, Mich. He replaces Mike Arnold, who retired as senior pastor last fall.
In 2014, Ricky graduated from Winebrenner Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity. He and his wife, Jami, a medical transcriptionist, have four children.
