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19 Mar

March 19, 2013 |

Praise Point Church (Willshire, Ohio) held a Sportsman’s Banquet on March 9, 2013. The Sportman’s Banquet was organized as an outreach opportunity. Over 200 people attended, and prizes valued at over $7000 were given away. Fifty volunteers from the church help make it a success. The video above shows some of what happened at the banquet. (You can also view it here.)

Pastor Brad Kittle writes, “It was crazy exhausting, but I’d done them before and I knew the possible impact. At the banquet we gave opportunities for guys to make first-time commitments, etc. As a result, 10 adults and 5 students make first-time commitments at the banquet. We also had a lot of guys check on a response card that they wanted to know more about what it means to follow Christ and even more wanted to know more about the church.”

On Sunday, March 17, youth pastor Marcus Flood talked individually with teens. “Nine teens made made recommitments because they realized they hadn’t been living like a Christian, and 1 teen made a first-time commitment to Christ.”

Kittle continued, “I’m hoping these trends continue, and now the real work begins with the discipleship end of things (and I was hoping for rest after the banquet).”

19 Mar

March 19, 2013 |

fight-for-joyJason Garwood, lead pastor of Colwood UB church (Caro, Mich.), has published his first book, “The Fight for Joy: Reflections on the Book of Philippians.” It’s available for $6.38 at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The description on Amazon reads: “Feeling stagnant, stressed out and anxious? Would you consider yourself a joyful person? For many followers of Jesus, joy seems like a far-fetched concept that is unattainable in this life. Feelings of happiness are replaced by anger, stress, discontentment, and depression. The demands of job, school, family, and schedules are difficult. What can we do? The Fight for Joy is an honest look at what it takes to find joy in the Christian life. Whether you are a seasoned Christian looking for a fresh start, or someone who just met Christ yesterday, this book is for you.”

Jason GarwoodPastor Garwood (right) writes on his blog, “For me it was a journey through the mind of Paul as we learn to appropriate the gospel in the context of missional communities. My prayer is that no matter who reads it, he/she will find it to be encouraging and challenging. Philippians is very rich in content, and it was a blast working through it at our church.”

19 Mar

March 19, 2013 |

On Saturday, March 2, Hillsdale UB (Hillsdale, Mich.) held the closing program for their fourth Upwards season. Over 300 elementary age kids were enrolled in the two events, basketball and cheerleading, more than doubling the number from the first season.

Each year, the church gains new families through Upwards. “Most of the kids in Upwards are not from our church,” says Pastor Lester Smith (right).

The Upwards program is for children in kindergarten through grade 6. The basketball program had 252 students, and 60-some girls participated in cheerleading. In addition, 78 volunteers helped out each week.

Pastor Smith estimated that over 1000 people came through the church’s doors each Saturday during the season (January and February).

The kids wore their Upwards uniforms for the closing program. As each team was introduced, they took the stage with cheerleaders cheering them on. Each basketball participants received a basketball, and duffel bags were given to the cheerleaders.

Then came Jon Bruney, a minister whose program, Pressing the Limits, includes acts of strength and endurance–breaking cinder blocks with his first, ripping apart phone books, tearing open a pop can, etc. Along with these demonstrations, Bruney presents the gospel message.

19 Mar

March 19, 2013 |


On March 11, Renew Communities (Berea, Ohio) celebrated its second anniversary as a church. They put together the video above to celebrate what God has done in their midst during the past two years. It is narrated by founding pastor Andy Sikora (right). (You can also view it here.)

14 Mar

March 14, 2013 |

Dawn Spangler and her husband, Jay.

Dawn Spangler, pastor of Strinestown UB church (Strinestown, Pa.), is mourning the loss of her son Jay, who died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. The funeral service was held at 7 pm on Thursday, March 14, at the Church of the Nazarene in New Cumberland, Pa.

Dawn Spangler, an ordained Nazarene minister, was assigned as pastor of Strinestown UB in May 2012. Her address:

Dawn Spangler
5675 Susquehanna Trail
Manchester, PA 17345

14 Mar

March 14, 2013 |

Huntington University will overhaul its campus wireless network and add cloud printing capabilities during the summer months.

“When we first built our campus wireless network in 2001, students might have brought a single laptop computer to college,” said Gary Campbell (right), director of technology services. “Today, things are very different. Our students now bring a wide variety of wireless devices to campus — computers, tablets, mobile phones, gaming consoles, and even televisions and DVD players — so the demand on our system is much greater. To help meet students’ expectations, we have developed a plan to substantially overhaul our wireless infrastructure.”

In addition, the university will also provide a new cloud-based printing system for students. The initiative will replace low-volume printers that have been available in residence halls and computer labs with more reliable, high-volume multi-function printers.

“We are moving away from small distributed network printers where students had to supply their own paper,” Campbell said. “Instead, we will strategically locate high-availability printer/copier/scanner units in student and academic areas around campus for student use as needed.”

These two initiatives will be underwritten by a new $250 per year technology fee.

13 Mar

March 13, 2013 |
Top row (l-r): David Holt, Todd Moser, John Authenreith, Ben Gladhill, Stuart Johns. Bottom row (l-r): Matt Kennedy, Andrew Sikora, Kevin Whitacre, Erin Stringer, Victor Collins.

New ministerial licensees. Top row (l-r): David Holt, Todd Moser, John Authenreith, Ben Gladhill, Stuart Johns. Bottom row (l-r): Matt Kennedy, Andrew Sikora, Kevin Whitacre, Erin Stringer, Victor Collins.

The Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team approved ten ministerial licenses during their meeting on March 4, 2013. All of these persons currently hold senior pastor or staff positions at United Brethren churches.

Provisional License
David Holt, senior pastor of East Ovid UB church (Coldwater, Mich.).
Todd Moser, Children’s Ministry Director at New Horizons Community Church (Rockford, Ohio).

National Conference License
John Authenreith, Pastor of Worship Arts at Mainstreet Church (Walbridge, Ohio).
Benjamin Gladhill, Associate Pastor of Christian Education at Lake View Church (Camden, Mich.).
Stuart Johns, senior pastor of Idaville Church (Idaville, Pa.).
Matthew Kennedy, associate pastor of Anchor Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.).
Andrew Sikora, senior pastor of Renew Communities (Berea, Ohio).
Kevin Whitacre, Pastor of Spiritual Care at Anchor Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

Specialized Ministries
Erin Stringer, Director of Word/Walk Ministries at Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

Ordination
Victor Collins, associate pastor of Kilpatrick Church (Woodland, Mich.).

13 Mar

March 13, 2013 |
Members of the Blue Rock team at work in Honduras.

Members of the Blue Rock team at work in Honduras.

Blue Rock UB (Waynesboro, Pa.) sent a group of 8 men to Honduras in February to work at the national compound in La Ceiba. Five men left on February 17, and the other three left on February 22.

The purpose of the trip was to secure the school and the buildings in the compound. The first group gathered the supplies they needed, found local workers, and arranged to have a gate and some window covers made and installed. Juanita Chavez, superintendent of Honduras Conference, hosted the team.

Dave Blubaugh, a member of the team, wrote:

We had a block wall to finish that runs the whole length of the property. A gate was removed, and a smaller gate was replaced with a new one. We also had some windows Encased with grills that finished all of the first floor windows in the compound. Superintendent Chavez also asked if we could extend the back of the bookstore to the block wall. That would give them storage room and help organize the store a little better.

We were also asked to update the kitchen in the administration building. They needed more cupboard space and the counter top needed replaced. Last, she wanted a little flower garden space beside the new part of the bookstore.

With the help of the Lord we finished all of this and even did some concrete work off the back porch leading to the new gate.

On our last Friday, Juanita’s husband, Carlos, took us to the Dole processing plant for a guided tour. That was something that very few folks get to see. We saw pineapples from the field to the shipping crate and everything in between. After the tour we went back to the hotel and got our swimming suits and went to the kids camp for a swim.

On our way back we stopped by the compound to finish up with sister Juanita and those that were still there. She prayed with us and then Pastor Greg Helman prayed. That is always a hard time for all of us, saying good-bye.

13 Mar

March 13, 2013 |

Jamaica Conference is currently holding their annual meeting. Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, is attending the meeting, along with her husband, Jason.

Isaac Nugent was elected bishop of Jamaica Conference in March 2012. This will be his first experience chairing the annual meeting.

11 Mar

March 11, 2013 |

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

The Evangelical College of Theology is an important part of our ministry in Sierra Leone. Many United Brethren leaders in Sierra Leone hold degrees from TECT (which was once known as Sierra Leoone Bible College). The United Brethren Church is one of four denominations that send students to TECT, which has over 350 students.

Global Ministries does not help underwrite the school itself, but we do try to support individual UB students through sponsorships. Currently, two United Brethren students attend TECT.

You may be interested in seeing this TECT-Report. The main campus in Jui, outside of Freetown, is growing and doing well. As the report shows, TECT has 99 students in the theology and Christian ministry programs, and 255 students in non-theology programs.

The student breakdown for the 2011-2012 year looks like this:

Theological Programs
Bachelor’s in Theology 49
Diploma in Theology 20
Diploma in Christian Ministry 30
     Total 99
Non-Theology Programs
BA Adult Education 62
BA Community Development 130
BA Peace & Conflict 36
Dip. Community Development 19
Dip. Peace & Conflict 8
     Total 255

TECT plans to expand its program to offer graduate studies in the city of Bo. Since Bo is central to United Brethren work in Sierra Leone, this would have a tremendous impact on our churches, pastors, and laypersons in that area.

Sierra Leone Conference is in the midst of renovating its headquarters building in Bo, a building which was severely damaged during the rebel war. One mission project focuses on the renovation. The plan is for TECT to use some of the building space, but this would require additional renovation. As TECT works toward launching this extension program, we would like to provide additional support.

Dan Ryan, TECT’s Director of Development and Communications, will attend our National Conference this summer and will be available to field your questions.