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24 Sep

September 24, 2012 |

A UB Mid-Sized Church Conference is being held September 24-27 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The conference is designed for pastors and spouses from United Brethren churches with an average attendance of 150-300. The theme is “Breaking Through Common Barriers.”

A group of 37 persons are attending. They include senior pastors from 22 of the 25 UB churches in this attendance range.

Lodging for Monday through Wednesday evenings at the Ocean Walk Resort is covered, as is one evening meal. Participants are paying for transportation and all other meals.

The basic schedule:

  • Monday, September 24. The event begins with a 6:30 dinner, after which Bishop Phil Whipple will speak to the group.
  • Tuesday. Workshops in the morning, with the rest of the day free (hit the beach go golfing, etc.).
  • Wednesday. Workshops in the morning, afternoon free, with an 8 pm closing session.
  • Thursday. A service project with First UB church in nearby Holly Hill, Fla.

Presenters will be UB pastors from the larger churches who have at least taken a church through the 400 barrier. Topics include: Space Utilization, Leading vs. Managing, Staffing, Developing Leaders Around You, and Impacting Your Community.

Persons attending from the national office are Bishop Phil Whipple, Jeff Bleijerveld (Director of Global Ministries), Dennis Miller (Cluster Coordinator), and Gary Gates (Director of Ministerial Licenses).

Getaway meetings for pastors, staff, and spouses from the largest UB churches (300+) have been held somewhat regularly for about eight years.

24 Sep

September 24, 2012 |

Sarah Bonner has joined the Global Ministries family as an endorsed staff. She grew up in the Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind. Her sister, Jenaya, is part of the Global Ministries staff in Macau.

Sarah serves with Every Community for Christ, the church multiplication catalyst of One Mission Society (formerly OMS International). She works at the OMS World Headquarters in Greenwood, Ind., as the administrative assistant to the international director of Every Community for Christ.

Sarah assists with communication, organization, and event coordination. This involves many different tasks such as email and phone correspondence, providing up-to-date documents and information, creating organizational systems, and helping to plan training events at headquarters and around the world.

Sarah graduated from Huntington University in 2011 with a degree in sociology. She had the opportunity to complete two internships at OMS headquarters in 2011, and God has opened the doors for her to continue to serve in Greenwood. She is currently raising support to serve fulltime in this capacity.

24 Sep

September 24, 2012 |

Dan Paternoster

Dan Paternoster, who was struck by a car on August 28 while riding his bike, is making good progress. Here are recent excerpts posted to CarePages.com by Dan’s wife, Nancy. Dan, a veterinarian from the UB church in Fowlerville, Mich., is a member of denominational the Executive Leadership Team.

Thursday, Sept. 20. Wednesday was a busy and exhausting day. Dan was moved to rehab, which meant that we also moved with him. He is working with physical, occupational, and speech therapy twice each day, and this is wearing him out. Maybe he’ll start sleeping better at night now. (It’s so easy to get your days and nights mixed up in the hospital.) The current plan is for us to be here for 4-6 weeks, then possible further outpatient rehab in the Lansing area.

Friday, Sept. 21. Rehab is hard work, but we’re seeing progress! Yesterday and today were spent relearning how to walk. It’s not done for very long or without lots of assistance, but it IS happening. I’m sure it feels good to be moving again. Dan can still read well, but has a hard time recalling words. His speech therapist and his occupational therapist are both working on this. Dan can have visitors from 5:30-8 pm, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll be very awake then. His therapy sessions take up most of his day, every day, and are tiring him out.

Saturday, Sept. 22. Dan used a regular walker today! He still needed help, but walked much of his half hour therapy time. Today his trach tube was capped and he tolerated it well. Just a few more days of doing well this way and the trach will be removed. Dan was given ice chips to chew and swallow yesterday. Soon he’ll be tried on other foods to make sure that he won’t have trouble eating. If this goes well, the feeding tube will be removed.

22 Sep

September 22, 2012 |

On Sunday, September 16, Morocco UB church (Temperance, Mich.) held a Family Fun Fest after the morning worship service. Mark Smith reports:

“God blessed us with great weather, and many people came to have fun, eat, and fellowship all for free. We were not only able to have bouncin fun things for the children along with games, face painting, and crafts to do. We had great food, including a homemade ice cream-making contest. Out of the seven entries, Pastor Todd Greenman’s vanilla entry won and he went home with the Golden Scoop Award. We also were able to show off our improvements made to our santuary windows and other projects. God is blessing and using Morocco to reach many for his kindgom.”

21 Sep

September 21, 2012 |

Brian Magnus, bishop of the United Brethren Church in Canada, sent this note:

“We received some sad news this afternoon. My Mom, Lois Magnus, has been diagnosed with cancer and has been given three months to live.

“They have been removing up to three litres of fluid from her chest cavity each day this week, and cancer cells have been found in the fluid. She will be receiving palliative care only from this point.

“We really appreciate your prayers for her and Dad (Martin), and will keep you posted with any further news. Thanks for all of the cards that you have sent while Mom is in the hospital. Dad brings them from home to her each day.”

Cards can be sent to:

Rev. Martin and Lois Magnus
118 Ross Avenue
Kitchener, ON N2A 2A4
CANADA

20 Sep

September 20, 2012 |

Kilburn Avenue UB church (Rockford, Ill.) baptized five people on September 16, with 50+ people present. Pastor Barry Skinner reports, “Another four and possibly two more people want to be baptized next month, and another couple wants me to marry them in the church. New people are getting involved in ministry of the church.”

20 Sep

September 20, 2012 |

Charlie and Ruth Snider (seated) with family members on their 70th anniversary celebration on September 15.

Charlie and Ruth Snider, from Toronto, Ontario,  celebrated their 70th anniversary on August 15, 2012. They knew each other as children, and were married in 1942 just two weeks before he went off to serve in the military.

Ruth Snider is an ordained minister and former pastor in Ontario Conference, as well as a former member of the denominational board of missions and former director of Food for the Hungry Canada. Charlie has worked on numerous building projects throughout the world. Charlie turned 90 in 2009, and Ruth in 2010.

 

18 Sep

September 18, 2012 |

At the national office in Huntington, Ind., we’ve had a small public bookstore for 30 years. Most business involves shipping Sunday school materials to UB churches throughout the country. But for local people, and for visitors from out of town, we had the walk-in bookstore.

However, the public bookstore is closing within a couple months. There will no longer be a room in which people can browse for materials.

We will continue carrying and shipping Sunday school literature, and will continue ordering Bible study books upon request. We will also have available:

  • A variety of United Brethren items (certificates, booklets, etc.)
  • GROW materials.
  • VBS materials.
  • Bulletin and envelope services
  • Communion supplies

Jane Seely will continue as manager of the marketing operation. To place an order, you can reach Jane in these ways:

E-mail, [email protected],
Phone, 260-356-2312 ext. 314,
Fax 260-356-4730

Or, stop in the building and ask for Jane Seely.

On October 1, we begin an inventory reduction sale to get rid of the materials in the bookstore. We’ll have 25% off of books, gifts, and other non-UB items.

Thank you for all your support in the past. We hope to continue to service you in the areas listed above.

17 Sep

September 17, 2012 |

The baptism at Carmichael Pond.

Jason Sheets (right), associate/youth pastor, Shepherd of the Valley UB (Logan, Ohio)

On August 26, we had a baptism service at the Carmichael pond, a farm pond near Sugar Grove, Ohio. Senior pastor Doug Stull welcomed everyone and opened the service with prayer. We sang some hymns as a group, and I shared a short message about baptism from Matthew 3.

Then pastor Doug (left) and I baptized 9 people. One of those people was a woman who came to our church for the first time on August 18 to our Third Street Community Festival. The next day, following our Sunday morning service, she prayed with pastor Doug and received Christ and wanted to be baptized.

As our baptism service was wrapping up, a couple who were driving by pulled off the road and asked us if we were having a baptism. After talking with pastor Doug for a few minutes, they both received Christ and wanted to be baptized. Just a random couple driving down a country road, this meeting was definitely a God moment.

While pastor Doug was talking with them, I (pastor Jason) was talking with my oldest daughter, Sarah, who was saved last year at our VBS. She, too, was inquiring about baptism. So Doug and I proceeded to baptize 3 more people, bringing the total to 12.

It was an honor and a privilege to be able to assist in baptizing so many, including my daughter. Following the baptism, we shared in a time of fellowship and eating ice cream.

17 Sep

September 17, 2012 |

Dan Paternoster (right) continues to improve after being hit by a car while bike-riding on August 28. Dan’s wife, Nancy, posts daily updates on CarePages. Here are updates from the weekend (Sept. 15-16). Dan from the UB church in Fowlerville, Mich., has been a member of the denominational Executive Leadership Team since 2001.

Saturday (Sept. 15). Dan breathed on his own all of last night and today! His condition has been changed from critical to stable, now that he is off of the ventilator. He is still coughing frequently, but the coughing fits have become less severe. Dan was moved to a chair twice today so that he could have time out of his bed. Sitting up tires him out at this point. Contine to pray with us for complete healing for Dan and strength for us as we care for him during this process.

Sunday (Sept. 16). Nancy, Rachel, and Sarah went to church this morning while Dr. Currey spent the night and morning with Dan. They had a good night and morning. Dan sat in the chair for two hours this morning and saw the speech therapist at that time. They are making progress toward being able to put a cap on the trachea that would allow Dan to talk. When Dan was back in bed, he moved his left arm up from his side to his chest on his own! This is the first movement of that kind that has been seen from his left arm.