28 May The UB Youth Team is There for You

Bobby Culler, Youth Pastor, Mt. Pleasant UB (Chambersburg, Pa.)

Greetings from the UB Youth Lead Team. We are fresh off our amazing week of refreshment and refueling in Daytona Beach during the 2009 Youth Summit. It was an awesome time together, and God certainly did some neat things in us and among us during our time together. We were hoping to become more deeply “Rooted” in Christ and scriptures and in our relationships with each other, and that definitely happened.

Perfect weather and some great spiritual discipline experiences led by our speaker for the week, Dr. Jerry Davis (Huntington University), made for a fantastic week of connecting and reconnecting.

This is an annual event planned and organized by our team–a bunch of youth pastors who are and have been in the trenches of youth ministry for several years.

And speaking of the team–we would love to come alongside you and help you become better equipped and more effective in youth ministry as together we work to make an eternal difference in this generation of teenagers. If there is ever anything we can do for you and/or the leaders of your youth ministry, please do not hesitate to email us.

The names and photos of team members can be found on the UB website. It would be an honor for us to help you in any way we can. Also, keep an eye on the UB website for future youth ministry events and training opportunities. Together…let’s work hard to make teenage disciples for Jesus Christ.”

26 May Bad News About Your Wireless Mics

You may need to replace your wireless microphone, if it operates in the 700 MHz band. Here’s why.

On June 12, TV transitions from analog to digital. This move freed up space in the 700 MHz band, which the government auctioned off. Verizon, AT&T, and other companies spent billions of dollars buying the rights to this spectrum. And they’re going to use it for new services–cell phones, data services, emergency services, and more.

As a result, your 700 MHz mic system will encounter interference. The Federal Communications Commission didn’t set a date for when churches (and others) must stop using their 700 MHz systems, but you can bet that churches will be forced out at some point. Verizon and the others spent too much money to allow encroachers.

Christianity Today published an excellent article called “Understanding New Wireless Microphone Restrictions.” (Thanks to Tom Datema for notifying us about it.) Some points made in the article:

• Your 700 MHz mics won’t suddenly stop working. However, you’ll be at risk of interference from other services.
• Churches in cities will probably notice interference before churches in small towns and rural areas.
• The most efficient and cost-effective option is to replace the 700 MHz mics with mics in the 500 MHz band.
• Churches can donate their 700 MHz  equipment to churches in countries not affected by the US changes.

22 May A Church’s First Staffer

L-r: Pastor Dan and Mary Alice Drake, Zachary Kennedy, and Courtney Clark.

Last Sunday, May 17, I was privileged to participate in a service at Olive Branch Church of Lakeville, Ind. (just outside of South Bend). I was there to install Zachary Kennedy as the church’s Young Adult and Youth Pastor.

This is a historic thing for Olive Branchy–their first staff hire ever, as far as I know. Zachary graduated this spring from Bethel College in nearby Mishawaka, Ind. He and Courtney are to be married June 13. For now, the new position will be part-time, but the church is praying tha tit can become fulltime in the very near future.

21 May Easter Story: Stockport, Ohio

The US Postal Service brought us an Easter story from Liberty UB church in Stockport, Ohio. Mike Turner, a layperson, writes:

“We started at 7 a.m. with 46 in our sunrise service. Those present were encouraged to take part with testimonies, songs, readings, etc. After the sunrise service, Pastor Charles Simmons’ adult twin sons fixed breakfast for all attending. They do this for their dad every year to honor him. It was a great time of fellowship and good food. Charlie had 82 to preach to in morning worship.

“In 2008 we averaged 36 in morning worship. So far in 2009 we are averaging 52. Charlie is preaching the Word. Christians are praying. Seekers are coming. God is good, all the time.”

19 May Camp Days and the Fear of God

Dr. Paul Fetters spoke that summer during Pacific Annual Conference, the summer after my ninth grade year. He spoke on the family, and it was excellent, even to this budding sophomore.

We used a camp in Watsonville, Calif., outside of San Francisco, which meant a nine-hour drive for those of us from Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Most of our youth group was there for the conference Bible quizzing finals.

But this particular night, I wasn’t paying much attention to Dr. Fetters’ message. Instead, I was flirting with Tammy, a shy but very cute girl. We were sitting beside each other about in the middle of the left-hand section of the tabernacle. It’s all branded deeply in my memory because of what came next.

As I carried on–and it would have been mostly me, because Tammy was so quiet–I apparently disrupted people around me. Suddenly, I felt a big hand clamp onto my shoulder from behind. I looked over my shoulder.

One of our ministers, a big guy, well over six feet tall, had grabbed me from two rows back. He then said to me, in the type of hushed voice Jack Bauer uses, “If you don’t quiet down, I’m going to take you outside and whip you like one of my own kids.”

I quieted down, fast.

I doubt that, in my traumatized state, I actually listened to much of Dr. Fetters’ message. But at the end of the service, my heart still beat in overdrive.

That hand, that large physique, that Voice of Intimidation, belonged to the pastor of our church in Sacramento. A guy named Ron Ramsey.

16 May Worship Services–Past and Present

John Authenreith, Minister of Music at Mainstreet UB church (Walbridge, Ohio), gives some great observations about how worship service planning, particularly the music side of it, has changed over the years. He’ll take you down Memory Lane.

15 May Words from 1929 for 2009

While reading from Trial and Triumphs: History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, I came across a quote from our Bishop’s quadrennial report of 1929:

“We stand in need of a great spiritual awakening throughout the Church. A greater emphasis should be placed upon the actual presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit in the lives of our people. A consciousness of the intervention of God…is the only antidote which will counteract the poison of materialistic teaching which is everywhere pouring in upon Christianity, killing the spirituality of the church and rendering the lives of thousands barren and unfruitful.”

Wow!  That could have been written about the Church in 2009 as well.

07 May Reclaiming a Piece of UB History

Our lobby at Healthy Ministry Resources looks different. We added something new: a stained glass window from our former national office. Let me tell you its history.

Way back in 1834, the United Brethren denomination bought printing equipment for a new publishing house in Circleville, Ohio. In 1853, the publishing house moved to Dayton, Ohio, where the denominational headquarters was located.

After the division in 1889, our group lost everything. We had a temporary publishing operation in Dayton for a while. Then, in 1897, everything moved to Huntington, Ind.

Initially, we used a building on South Jefferson. But after 20 years, we built a new, multi-story brick building at the corner of Franklin and Warren Streets to house the publishing operation and the denominational offices. It was dedicated on May 2, 1917, by Bishop Fermin Hoskins.

Above the main entrance they installed this beautiful stained glass window that said “Publishing Establishment of the United Brethren in Christ.” We relocated the offices to the current location in 1976, selling the other building to a local businessman. However, that stained glass window was still there 30 years later when I became bishop.

I thought we needed to reclaim that window. So we talked with the building’s owner. He said we could have it, as long as we paid to have it removed and paid for a replacement. No problem.

And so, the window was removed, and we had it restored to pristine condition. Then a local contractor mounted it in this beautiful wooden case, which takes up most of a wall in our lobby. It is lighted from behind, and looks gorgeous.

30 Apr Book: God’s War on Terror

I am reading a new book, God’s War on Terror, written by Walid Shoebat (Executive Media). Walid is a converted Muslim. Technically the book, in my opinion, is not edited very well, but as far as getting the point across, it is power-packed.

He says that the Bible is Futurology 101: “It is a detailed roadmap of so much evidence that God exists and His design from time immemorial regarding man’s destiny with many details concerning the future, especially the coming war with an Islamic coalition against Christianity and Israel.”

He believes that the nations that God goes to war against in the end time are all Muslim nations. His arguments are pretty convincing.

The book has 98 chapters and 490 pages. So you can see there are a lot of short chapters.

This is not devotional reading, but I think it is worth the read. Has anyone else out there read it? If so,I would be interested in your take!

14 Apr Tell Me About Your Easter

The Easter season is always exciting for churches. That’s when we see some of our biggest attendances, and it’s when a lot of ministry occurs.

So tell me what happened during the Easter season at your church, so I can share it here with others. Or, just leave a comment.