03 Mar Cold Spring Church Withdraws

Cold Springs UB church in Fayetteville, Pa., has voted to withdraw from the denomination and become an independent congregation.

03 Mar The Ways UBs Stay Connected

We’re using a variety of ways to communicate via the internet, and people are taking advantage of them. Here’s a summary:

• 1220 people worldwide have joined the UB news email list. We average 2-3 emails a month, only sending them as needed (rather than on a set schedule).
• 230 people are now fans of the United Brethren Facebook page (up from nothing a few months ago).
• 92 people are following the United Brethren Twitter feed.
• 59 people are using Feedburner, a nifty service from Google which sends a daily email of everything posted to UBCentral.
• 2900+ people are fans of the Huntington University Facebook page.
• 369 people receive the monthly Huntington University Prayer Ministry email. This comes from the office of Bishop Emeritus Paul Hirschy, who says, “I would like to see it top 500.”

22 Feb Darlene Burkett’s Father Passes Away

Darlene Burkett’s father, Max Conner, passed away Saturday night, February 20. Darlene is the administrative assistant in Global Ministries. Darlene and her husband, Phil, now Minister of Music and Worship at College Park Church (Huntington, Ind.), were one of the founding couples of the missionary work in Macau.

Funeral arrangements:

Visitation: 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm Tuesday, February 23; and one hour before the funeral on Wednesday.
Funeral: 11 am Wednesday, February 24.
Visitation and funeral location: Smith & Son Funeral Home, 207 North Main Street, Columbia City, Ind.

Max is survived by his wife, Sue; Darlene (their only child); and two grandchildren. He and Sue have been members of College Park UB church in Huntington, Ind.

15 Feb Book: “When Helping Hurts”

In my opinion, “When Helping Hurts” is the single best book I’ve read on the topic of working with the poor. Not only should every Christian worker read it; every Christian ought to read it whether or not they work directly with the poor.

The authors of the book, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, are community development specialists with the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and professors at Covenant College. Striking to me were the misperceptions we often have regarding the true needs of the poor. Summarizing the results of a polls, they comment:

Poor people typically talk in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and voicelessness. North American audiences (or the wealthy) tend to emphasize a lack of material things such as food, money, clean water, medicine, housing, etc.

The result of such misconceptions is that we seek only to bring relief or aid, when what is ultimately needed is rehabilitation and restoration in relationship with God and others. They write that there are three reasons we do this:

1. Many service organizations have a material definition of poverty; hence they believe that handouts of material things are the solution to that poverty.
2. Relief is easier to do than development. It is much simpler to drop food out of airplanes or to ladle soup out of bowls than it is to develop long-lasting, time-consuming relationships with poor people, which may be emotionally exhausting.
3. It is easier to get donor money for relief than for development. “We fed a thousand people today” sounds better than, “We hung out and developed relationships with a dozen people today.”

Key to their approach to relief and development is assessing local assets. Too often we ask, “What do they need?” and fail to ask the even more important question, “What do they have?” They point attention to Colossians 1:16-17, where we’re told the Christ is holding all things together and that he does not allow the effects of sin to completely destroy the inherent goodness of the assets he has created. In Christ, God is reconciling to himself all things–natural resources, individuals, neighborhood associations, schools, businesses, governments, etc. All are being liberated from their “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:12).

The process of assessment involves appreciating, envisioning, co-constructing and sustaining, and can only be done together. We need to move from “doing for” to “doing with” so that eventually they will be able to do it for themselves and even assist others in the same way they have been helped.

Finally, they wrap up the book with a chapter entitled, “Doing Short-term Missions Without Doing Long-Term Harm.” This is a Must Read for anyone going on a short-term trip. The key here is quite simple: don’t do for people what they can, or should, do for themselves. The goal is for the work to be done primarily by the community members with the team in a helping role. Stay away from the “go-help-and save-them” and maintain a “go-as-a-learner” attitude.

11 Feb Camp Cotubic Summer Schedule

Camp Cotubic in Bellefontaine, Ohio, has announced its summer camp schedule.

June 13-18: Teen Camp (grades 7-12). Cost: $260
June 27 – July 2: Discover Camp (grades 5-6). Cost: $260.
July 18-22: Voyager Camp (grades 2-4). Cost: $240.

You can register online.

Camp Cotubic began in the 1970s as a year-round camp operated by Central Conference, which included UB churches in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Though Camp Cotubic is no longer operated by the United Brethren church, it continues serving the United Brethren constituency.

10 Feb If You Use Email, I Recommend Feedburner

Phil Whipple, Bishop

I’d like to give a little plug for Feedburner. I’ve been using this service to deliver UBCentral straight to my email each day. Anything posted during the previous 24 hours is sent to my inbox.

This works well for people who check email every day, but who don’t necessarily check the same websites every day. It comes to you; you don’t have to do anything except check your email. You can then scan it quickly to see what’s happening in the United Brethren world.

For people who may feel disconnected, Feedburner is a good tool to help them stay informed. I find it very convenient. It’s a free service from Google. About 50 UB people are currently using Feedburner.

It’s easy to signup. You submit your email address, and that’s it. Each email includes a link for removing yourself from the list.

07 Feb A Lesson in How to Eat an Ice Cream Cone

Bob Bruce, Pastor of Spiritual Care at Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.), shows Din Wan, a recent Burmese immigrant, how to eat an ice cream cone.

My wife and I, along with Bob and Kathy Bruce from Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) are involved with a family of Burmese immigrants. A couple days ago, Bob and I took the five children to McDonald’s for ice cream. They had never eaten ice cream before.

To to honest, the reaction was somewhat mixed. Some thought ice cream was pretty tasty; others couldn’t figure out why anyone would eat something that cold on a winter night.

But the biggest challenge seemed to be eating it. However, not to fear, Bob Bruce (or Mr. Bob to the Burmese kids) demonstrated with fine fashion the most effective method of eating an ice cream cone.