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04 Jan

January 4, 2010 |

Troy Hendricks, UB endorsed missionary in Spain, gave this update on Facebook about his wife Julie and the broken knee she suffered in mid-December: “Just back from Julie’s follow-up appointment with the surgeon, and he removed the stitches and strips that were holding the incision. He said the knee looks good. Now comes the really tough part of physical therapy. He told Julie to begin today and only wear the brace when she leaves the house. Long painful road ahead, but HE has brought us thus far and will carry us onward!”

04 Jan

January 4, 2010 |

Melissa Kline, UB staff in Macau
On December 20, Living Stone Church celebrated Christmas by throwing a “birthday party.” For David and me, it was an incredibly special Sunday.

  • An English Language Program student from 8 years ago came with her family, and her son sang in the kids choir.
  • A PV student from 4 years ago came and brought his brother and cousin.
  • Three ladies from the women’s Bible study that has been meeting for 9+ years came along with a couple of their children.

Seeing all of these people in one room at LSC was the most amazing feeling. God does have us here for a reason!

04 Jan

January 4, 2010 |

Al Carter resigned as senior pastor of West Pleasant Hill UB church (Rockbridge, Ohio) effective December 31, 2009. He had been the pastor since August 2003.

02 Jan

January 2, 2010 |

Rev. Richard Raab, a retired ordained United Brethren minister, passed away at 4:15 pm on Friday, January 1, 2010. The funeral arrangements are as follows:

Visitation: Sunday, January 3, 2-5 pm and 6-9 pm.
Location: Stroo Funeral Home, 1095 68th Street, Southeast, Grand Rapids, MI 49508. Phone: (616) 455-9280.
Funeral: Monday, January 4, 11 a.m. Visitation 10-10:45 a.m.
Location: Banner of Christ UB church, 1111 68th Street, Byron Center, MI 49315. Phone: (616) 538-1313.

Dick pastored an Evangelical United Brethren church 1964-1967, and then pastored these four United Brethren churches:

  • 1967-1992: Gaines UB (Caledonia, Mich.)
  • 1992-1996: Shepherd Street UB (Charlotte, Mich.)
  • 1996-1999: Ithaca UB (Ithaca, Mich.)
  • 1999-2007: Richfield Road UB (Flint, Mich.)

Donelle Raab’s adddress is: 1914 Jack Pine Court, Dorr, Michigan 49323.

Dick had requested that any memorials be given to either of these:

  • The Building Fund of Richfield Road United Brethren Church (Flint, Mich.) where they served most recently.
  • The Banner of Christ church (Byron Center, Mich.), where they currently attend.

02 Jan

January 2, 2010 |

We learned that Dick Raab, a recently-retired minister in Michigan, passed away January 1, 2010, around 4:15 pm. On November 2, we reported that he had been diagnosed with cancer and given 3-6 months to live. Please remember his wife, Donelle, in your prayers. We’ll post funeral details as they become available.

31 Dec

December 31, 2009 |

Everyone’s publishing “decade in review” lists–best movies, best sports plays, most significant news stories, ground-breaking new products, top scandals, etc.

How would we recap the decade for the United Brethren church? Here are ten UB highlights of the decade, in roughly chronological order.

2001 General Conference. This was a historic conference. We adopted a true international structure, with 7 autonomous national conferences joined together by the Confession of Faith and an international constitution. Huntington, Ind., stopped being the United Brethren “world” headquarters, and became just the US headquarters. No longer does United Brethrenism revolve around the United States. Colonialism: RIP.

Open Theism. A whole lot of turbulence arose around Dr. John Sanders, a professor at Huntington University who was a leading proponent of what is called Open Theism. United Brethren theology clashed, hard, with academic freedom. Both church and college came under criticism from the broader evangelical community. In the end, an exit strategy was worked out for Dr. Sanders, and both church and college began mending the wounds.

Joining the Missionary Church. In early 2003, the UB Executive Leadership Team voted to pursue merging our denomination into the Missionary Church, a like-minded, larger denomination based in Fort Wayne, Ind. As leadership pushed this initiative, a group called UB Hope arose to rally people against it. Ultimately, UB members voted it down in a referendum, 56%-44%. This set the stage for lots of soul-searching about why we exist and the adoption of a whole new structure.

(more…)

30 Dec

December 30, 2009 |

Roland Albert, pastor of Park Layne UB in New Carlisle, Ohio, sent this message:

“Pray for Rev. George Rhodifer (right) today at 10:30 am. He is having a procedure done on his esophagus. He has been fighting the fight against cancer, and he’s winning. We just want everyone to pray for him today at 10:30.”

29 Dec

December 29, 2009 |

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28 Dec

December 28, 2009 |

Michael Mitchell of Lighthouse Community (Williamston, Mich.) says. “We always have a Christmas Eve’s Eve Candlelight service on the night before Christmas Eve, with desserts and appetizers afterwards. That way, everyone can be with their families on Christmas Eve and still be with their church family during this special season.”