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Nick Woodall, pastor of Stryker UB Church (Stryker, Ohio), has experienced the loss of his father. Robert A. Woodall passed away Thursday, February 3, 2011, at age 82. He was a member of Mainstreet UB church in Walbridge, Ohio. The funeral was held Monday, February 7. You can send condolences to Rev. Woodall at:
Nick E. Woodall
P.O. Box 329
Stryker, OH 43557
Email:
The six living bishops. L-r: Ray Seilhamer, Paul Hirschy, Phil Whipple, Raymond Waldfogel, C. Ray Miller, and Ron Ramsey. (click to enlarge)
The six living bishops gathered for breakfast this morning in the new conference room at the national office in Huntington, Ind. Bishop Phil Whipple meets with them every couple of months; they are his accountability group. The original plan was to try to do a conference video hook-up with Wilber L. Sites, Jr., who lived in Pennsylvania; unfortunately, he passed away December 28.
On January 23, Hillsdale UB Church (Hillsdale, Mich.) dedicated an Activity Center. Bishop Phil Whipple gave a challenging address to the congregation before they went across the parking lot to enjoy a celebration meal in the new building.
Special guests included State Rep. Ken Kurtz, State Senator Bruce Caswell, and Congressman Tim Walberg. Rep. Kurtz, a member of Hillsdale UB, gave the dedication prayer to close the service.
The Activity Center was opened just in time to accomodate the explosive growth of the Upwards basketball/cheerleading ministry. In just its second year at Hillsdale, the number of children increased by over 100 and the number of teams grew from 19 to 30. Every Saturday, several hundred people pour in to watch the Upwards games. The majority do not yet attend services, but new families have been added to the congregation.
Even though Hillsdale County has had unemployment rates ranging from 15 to 20 per cent the last few years, an anonymous church member provided a check for $150,000 to purchase the building debt-free.
Tim and Christine Scroggs kneel as they are prayed over by (l-r) Bishop Phil Whipple, Robert Bruce, and Rick Pride.
Tim Scroggs was ordained January 31, 2011, at Eagle Quest UB church in Columbia City, Ind. Bishop Phil Whipple conducted the ordination during the Sunday morning service. Assisting him were Rick Pride, pastor of Eagle Quest, and Robert Bruce, associate pastor of Emmanuel UB in Fort Wayne, Ind. Tim has been Family Life Pastor at Eagle Quest.
Because of the blizzard, the Healthy Ministry Resources offices will be closed on Wednesday, February 2.
The new conference room at the national office is now finished. Everything is brand new–tables (with A/C and ethernet plugins), swiveling chairs, indirect lighting, carpet, electronic projection system, and more. Very, very nice. Removing two closets even made the room a little bigger.
The previous conference room had remained basically the same since 1987. Cathy Reich, administrative assistant to Bishop Phil Whipple, oversaw the makeover.
Jeff Bleijerveld (left) praying for newly-elected Sierra Leone Bishop John Pessima (right) following his confirmation at Sierra Leone National Conference in December. Billy Simbo, now bishop emeritus, is in the middle.
On Sunday, January 16, John Momoh Pessima was consecrated as the new bishop of Sierra Leone Conference. The service was held at the AU Memorial church in Kissy, a neighborhood on the east end of Freetown. Rev. Pessima had been pastor of this church. Rev. Henry Allie, the first national superintendent of Sierra Leone Conference, also pastored this church when he was elected to that post in the 1980s.
The Council of Ordained Elders, which consists of all United Brethren ordained ministers in Sierra Leone Conference, recommended 
Rev. Pessima to become the new bishop. Their recommendation was referred to the National Conference meeting in December, where it was unanimously approved.
Bishop Pessima succeeds Billy Simbo, who now carries the title “bishop emeritus.” Rev. Simbo served three years in Sierra Leone under the umbrella of Global Ministries, during which time the conference began using the term “bishop” for its highest leader (the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Jamaica also use that title). Rev. Simbo has now returned to the United States.
Rev. Pessima is a graduate of The Evangelical College of Theology in Sierra Leone, where Rev. Simbo was once his professor. He just recently received his graduate degree in Religious Studies from the University of Sierra Leone.
“It was a really powerful God-thing,” says pastor Greg Voight of the Prayer Meeting for Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse. This special community service was held Sunday, January 16, at Lancaster UB church in Lancaster, Ohio.
The purpose was to rally local people to pray about the heroin and prescription drug problem in Ohio. Fairfield County ranks high nationally with prescription drug and heroin addiction.
“The church was absolutely full,” says Pastor Voight (right). Though they didn’t take an actual count, he estimates that over 400 people attended. “It’s the largest crowd we’ve had since I’ve been there.”
The attendees included the mayor, police chief, county sherrif, drug court judges, persons from various organizations, and a number of pastors.
The event was a cooperative effort of various churches of all flavors. Greg and another pastor spearheaded it.
After a brief time of worship, they showed a locally-produced video called “Hooked,” which included interviews with former addicts, the police chief, mayor, doctors, and others. The typical pattern is that addiction begins with prescribing pain medication, and when they can no longer afford it, opiates are a cheap and easy-to-find substitute. There was a tesimony from a woman whose daughter was “raised in the right way in all forms,” says Pastor Voight, yet she ended up addicted to heroin.
Each participating pastor prayed over a different aspect of the problem–root causes, law enforcement, medical fields, community awareness, civic organizations that work in this area, etc. Another time of worship ended the event.
Says Pastor Voight, “I think God is revealing to us that this the epidemic of our time, and God is calling the church out and calling the church together. The system won’t fix the problem. The only answer is God’s power unleased in the community in people’s lives.”
Neoma Yohe, 90, wife of the late Rev. Howard Yohe, passed away on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, at Lutheran Homes in Muscatine, Iowa.
Neoma ws born in 1920 in Claytonville, Ill. She went on to attend Huntington University, where she met her future husband, a ministerial student. She and Howard were married in 1939 in Hunington, Ind. They served 13 churches in Indiana, Illinois, and Virginia until 1974, when health concerns forced them to leave the pastoral ministry. Howard passed away in 1995. Neoma remained a member of Jerusalem Chapel in Churchville, Va.
Both visitation and the funeral will take place at Jerusalem Chapel.
Visitation: 6:30-8:00 pm Monday, February 1, 2011.
Funeral: Tuesday, February 2, 2011.
Officiating: Rev. Dennis Sites, pastor of Jerusalem Chapel, and Mr. Harold Fry.
Rita Wild Koroma, 87, passed away on January 8 in Oxford, England. She served as a missionary teacher in Sierra Leone 1954-1962.
Rita was the daughter of Rev. Fred Wild, who served UB churches in the Midwest for 48 years, including Milltown, SD., and the Rockford and Coleta churches in Illinois. She graduated from Huntington University, and later earned a Masters in History from Northwestern University.
Rita arrived in Sierra Leone during the early stages of the Mattru High School, where she served under principal E. DeWitt Baker. She taught at the school for ten years, and served one year as interim principal while the Bakers were on furlough. In 1963 she married Adams Koroma, and spent the rest of her days in England.
