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Blue Rock Church sent five people to Honduras on February 17, and three more will leave on Friday, February 22, including senior pastor Greg Helman (right). They will do repairs and maintenance at the compound in Le Ceiba and will give away various items to the poor. They will return on Saturday, March 2.
Delegates and guests who attended the 2010 General Conference in Honduras.
The next meeting of General Conference, an international gathering of UBs from every conference, will occur in a few months:
Date: May 29 – June 2, 2013.
Location: Parkwood Gardens UB church, Guelph, Ontario
General Conference brings together representatives from all 10 United Brethren national conferences, along with guests from the various mission districts (countries which haven’t yet organized as an official national conference).
General Conference meets every three years. The last event was held in La Ceiba, Honduras, in January 2010.
The 2013 General will be held at the Parkwood Gardens UB church in Guelph, Ontario. Brian Magnus (right), Bishop of the Canadian conference, is the pastor at Parkwood Gardens. He is also chairman of the International Executive Committee, and will chair the meetings of the General Conference.
The January 2013 Huntington University group at India’s Taj Mahal.
The trip ended weeks ago, but the smell of chai and the busy sounds of students still fill the Alexanders’ living room every week as they recount their J-Term trip to India.
It was the second year in a row that Huntington University students made the trek to Chennai, India, to serve in an all-girls orphanage.
“The trip revealed to me how blind I have been to a number of spiritual and emotional realities,” said Dr. David Alexander, assistant professor of philosophy, the trip leader. This was his first-time visit to India.
From January 4-21, Alexander and his family joined14 HU students in traveling to Channai, where they led a Vacation Bible School program for the girls with drama, games, music, dance, and crafts. The team also began building a new dormitory for the girls while they were in school.
“It was like I had never left,” said Genevieve Alexander, who went on the trip last year and was the student leader this year. “When I stepped foot onto the grounds of the Home of Love, I heard my name called out, ‘Sister Gen!’ There couldn’t have been a better greeting than to hear their voices call out my name.”
The 2013 team followed in the footsteps of 15 HU students who ministered in Chennai the year before. The 2012 team held a Vacation Bible School, painted a mural, and created promotional videos for the orphanage. While they made an amazing impact on the orphanage, they did not realize the extent of how they were touched personally by the experience until they returned home.
Back in the U.S., a plan was formed to raise $20,000 to build a dormitory for the 70 girls. By December 2012, the team learned that they had reached and exceeded their goal. When the 2013 team landed, ground was broken on the new dormitory. Plans are already in place to continue trips in the future.
“One of the interesting things I learned from the [Home of Love] director is that it cannot survive without trips like the one we went on,” David Alexander said. He and his family plan to return to Chennai in January 2014 with the HU student team. “So they really need us to continue to go and show the world what they are doing.”
Collectively, the team described transformation and growth in their faith through their time spent with the girls at the Home of Love. All hope to return to India to continue building relationships with their global sisters and encourage others to share in the experience.
“The India trip changed my heart beyond my wildest dreams,” said sophomore Stephanie Yoder. “I really didn’t know what to expect, and I tried to start the trip without any expectations except for one — that the Lord would move our team and protect our team. Ultimately, he did much more than that. Not only did He guide and protect us and bless us with his mercies, but he brought us closer together as a team, to the Home of Love girls, and to him.”
Beth Palmer, daughter of Rev. Charles Malson, Sr. (right, with wife Doris), sent this update on her father’s condition on February 18: “Daddy is fairly well settled in on the third floor at the specialty section of St. Lawrence. He has been breathing on his own for over 24 hours, so they are considering removing the vent machine. He will continue to keep his trach for the next few weeks. He is able to swallow the liquid from small ice chips. Daddy sat in a recliner for a couple hours this morning but is sleeping now. He may do a little more therapy later today. Will be glad to have him better and closer to home. Please pray for a very quick recovery.”
Marvin Schwartz (right), pastor of New Horizons UB church (Rockford, Ohio) since 2008, reports that his father passed away on Sunday night, February 17, 2013. The funeral will be held on Wednesday, February 20, at 10:30, at the Berne Evangelical Church (Berne, Ind.). The viewing is Tuesday night, February 19, from 2-8 pm at the same location.
Cards can be sent to:
Marvin Schwartz
3555 S 650 E
Monroe, IN 46772
A new Nissan for the work in El Salvador.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
Gonzalo Alas (right) emailed to say he is doing much better after the heart episode he had earlier this year. He has to pace himself a little better but otherwise seems much better. Rev. Alas, a Honduran pastor, leads our churches in El Salvador.
Something quite timely and practical is the purchase of this Nissan, to which United Brethren people in North America contributed. He sends his sincere thanks to you, knowing that some wished to remain anonymous.
The UB Church in Canada sent two teams, back to back, to Haiti in early 2013. Joan Sider (right), from New Hope Community Church in Toronto, led both teams and filed daily reports. Some of the daily reports were written by other team members. You can read the accounts of both trips in the Features section of UBCentral.
A new logo has been developed for United Brethren churches in the United States. That’s what you see above.
We are not replacing the familiar United Brethren logo (below). That logo remains the official logo of the international United Brethren church, and local churches are free to continue using it. But the new logo applies specifically to the United States National Conference–the UB churches in the USA.
The US logo is easily identifiable with the international logo, and incorporates the three main elements:
The Need for a US Logo
The United Brethren churches in the United States haven’t had our their logo since 2001, which is probably news to you. When we adopted an international structure in 2001, with sovereign national conferences in what is now 10 different countries, the familiar logo became the logo of the international church. We have continued using that logo.
Left: The international UB logo. Right: The Canadian logo.
However, it was felt that we should have a logo specifically for the US National Conference. The UB Church in Canada, many years ago, developed their own logo (right), but none of the other national conferences have followed suit. Which is fine. The international logo works universally.
But this new logo, with some modern twists on the international logo, recognizes the US National Conference as a distinct entity within the worldwide body.
As a local United Brethren church, you are free to use the logo on your website, in your publications, and in any other way you see fit. Or, you can continue using the international logo. No need to run out and redo all of your stationery, or make a new church sign. Use the new logo as it fits your needs.
A Little Background
In the 1970s, we produced a denominational logo with three key elements–two linked figures, a cross, and a flame. The logo was refined by a professional design firm in 1979. They actually gave us three versions (right), and churches were free to use any of them. Probably not a great idea, as opposed to settling on a single logo which would be used consistently, but flexibility was desired and that’s what we did.
In the 1990s, we digitized the logo and settled on just one version–entirely black, with no outlined areas. We also changed the font to something less dated. That’s what you see above, beside the Canadian logo. We’ve been using this logo in all publications for about 20 years.
In 2001, General Conference adopted an international structure consisting of sovereign national conferences, and the logo we had been using became the official logo of the international church. The Canadian national conference developed their own logo, incorporating a maple leaf into the symbol, but none of the other conferences adopted a specific logo for their country.
During the past few years, the US National Conference developed logos for the national office (Healthy Ministry Resources) and for Global Ministries. Then, in late 2011, we began working on a logo to represent the US National Conference.
We hired a Christian graphic designer out of Dallas to develop the initial concepts, with these requirements:
And so, after going through a variety of concepts, we narrowed it down to a specific design, which was then refined. Then we passed everything on to another designer for a few further refinements.
And now you see the result–an official logo specifically for the United States churches.
Ready for You to Use
The logo has been posted in the Resources area of the UB website in a variety of formats and sizes (JPG, PNG, GIF, EPS). This includes formats with the words, and formats with just the symbol. The official logo includes the words “Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.” However, you may have needs for which the symbol, by itself, works better.
The vector formats (EPS) can be scaled to very large sizes. The other formats–JPG, PNG, and GIF–can be reduced in size without distortion, but will lose some clarity if you increase them in size.
The United Brethren logo is being used by UB churches around the world. In many cases, local people have drawn or painted the logo onto church walls, signs, and banners. And the have taken some creative liberties with the logo, adding their own interesting twists to the familiar design.
The video above shows photos of the logo as used and adapted in various countries. The two concluding slides are the official international logo, and then the new US National Conference logo.
The Cayes medical team (Team #11).
The UB Church in Canada sent two teams, back to back, to Haiti in early 2013. The first team worked mostly on construction issues (read their story here). The second team held medical clinics, and you can read their story here. Joan Sider (right), from New Hope Community Church in Toronto, led both teams and filed daily reports. Some of the daily reports were written by other team members.
Merrilee Trussler was the first writer for Haiti Team #11. This is her first visit to Jamaica.
The travel from Toronto to Montreal to Port au Prince went smoothly. We all got called into customs at Haiti and most of the bins were opened and inspected. Several bins were set aside, and there was concern that they would be kept. But God works in mysterious was! A customs official let us and all of our bins with supplies go for a soccer ball, a pump, and a stuffed animal for his son. A very small price to pay.
We arrived at the guest house and quickly settled in. We unloaded all 14 bins and started sorting. It was great to be joined by Dr. Germain, his friend, and his son. Halfway through we got a welcome relief of dinner. It included a very nice green salad, rice, bean sauce and roasted turkey. Joan shared that she missed the main event but was able to see the turkey alive and well in the morning and on the plate at night.
After dinner the team finished the bin sorting. It is amazing how quickly everyone is working together. We then had a brief devotional time outside (there was a nice breeze).
Today has been a great start and I pray that we will be able to bless the Haitian people through our stay.
The for locations where clinics were held in Cayes.
A reminder that annual reports for churches and ministers were due February 15, 2013. If you have not submitted your report to Bishop Phil Whipple, please do so right away.
This is a basic requirement for all member United Brethren churches, and for all licensed United Brethren ministers.
