29 Jan UB National Office Closed Wednesday, January 30
Because of the severe cold weather, the UB National Office will be closed on Wednesday, January 30.
24 Jan Register Now for UB Youth Workers Summit
Registration is now open for the 2019 UB Youth Workers Summit.
Dates: April 29 – May 3 (Monday – Friday)
Location: Daytona Beach, Fla.
Attendees will stay at the Best Western Aku Tiki Inn (2222 S. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach Shores, FL 32118).
This is an annual event of encouragement and training for persons in youth ministry. It is available for the lead youth ministry workers (fulltime, part-time, or volunteer) in every United Brethren church. About 25 persons usually attend.
The Summit is a great time of networking with other youth leaders and being encouraged by others who are in the trenches of youth ministry. Enjoy the beach, golf course, and incredibly beautiful weather, along with the chance to slow down and step away from the constant demands of youth ministry.
Cost
- $30 remote attendee (you have your own lodging)
- $150 per person (will share room with another attendee)
- $300 per couple staying in the same room
- $380 per person with private room
What is Included
- Hotel stay for 4 nights.
- Daily hot breakfast buffet.
- 4 hosted dinners
- and seminars with guest speaker Jeremy Penn.
What isn’t Included
Anything else, such as travel, spending money, excursions, lunches.
Continuing Education
If you hold a UB ministerial license, by attending this summit, you will earn 20 contact hours, which satisfies your annual requirement.
Jeremy Penn
Jeremy Penn was a youth pastor for 10 years in churches ranging from 150 – 10,000 people. He is now the founder and pastor of The Crowded House Network. The Crowded House is a network of missional house churches that serves dechurched and unchurched communities. Prior to this, Jeremy served as a youth and young adult minister at Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood, Fla. He earned an MA in Theological Studies from Talbot School of Theology, and is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at Fuller Theological Seminary that focuses on The Church and Post-Christendom. Jeremy and his wife, Crystal, have two children.
Register now at UBTeens.org
16 Jan 2019 Cluster Leader Winter Gathering
Bishop Todd Fetters getting things started on Monday night.
Andy Sikora speaking on Tuesday morning.
Dan Kopp introducing the Barnabas Project.
The event was held in The Commons at Emmanuel Community Church.
Discussion time at one of the table. L-r: Mark Wilson, Andy Sikora, Todd Fetters, Marty Pennington.
Having prayer for Christopher Little, who will be starting a new church in Pennsylvania. L-r: Dan Kopp, Christopher Little, and Derek Thrush.
The annual Cluster Leader Winter Gathering was held on Monday and Tuesday, January 14-15. Twenty of the 24 cluster leaders attended, along with several spouses. The meeting was held at Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind.
The event began Monday night with a catered meal. Dr. Sherilyn Emberton gave an update about the work of Huntington University, and Jeff Bleijerveld gave an update about UB Global and our international partners. Bishop Todd Fetters concluded the evening with a short message.
The attendees reconvened at 8:30 Tuesday morning. While the cluster leaders continued their meeting, Lisa Fetters led the spouses on a tour of the local Debrand’s chocolate factory.
Much of the morning involved presentations on two new initiatives.
Andy Sikora, pastor of ReNew Ministries in Berea, Ohio, spoke about the Fresh Start Initiative, which will recruit ministers and mobilize existing churches for church planting.
Dan Kopp, a UB minister in Columbus, Ohio, introduced the Barnabas Project, which will focus on coaching and encouraging members of our ministerial family. The Barnabas Project will recruit, train, and deploy persons interested in coaching.
The afternoon consisted entirely of Barnabas Project information and training by Dan Kopp. A number of other persons joined the group for the afternoon session.
14 Jan Death of Rev. George McCombs
George McCombs
George Alexander McCombs, Jr., 76, passed away on Wednesday, January 9, 2019. After many years as an accountant, he became a United Brethren minister at age 55 and served United Brethren churches in the area of Columbus, Ohio. He was ordained in 2005 after graduating with a Diploma of Pastoral Leadership from the Huntington University Graduate School.
Visitation: 4-7 pm Monday, January 14.
Funeral: 10:30 am Tuesday, January 15.
Location: Schoedinger Northeast Chapel, 1051 E. Johnstown Road, Gahanna, Ohio 43230.
10 Jan Off to South Africa and Thailand
Two mission teams are leaving the United States today–one to Africa, one to Asia.
South Africa
A team of 18 persons, about 13 of them women, will spend two weeks in South Africa. This is a Huntington University trip in cooperation with UB Global. They will work in Johannesburg with Impact Africa, the organization UB Global missionary Nichie Parish Stonall has served with since 2015. Two of the team leaders are Arthur Wilson, the HU Dean of Spiritual Life/Campus Pastor; Jessica Hatcher, a residence hall director and therapist for Counseling Services at HU; and Christia Whitacre, an HU grad and UB pastor’s wife from Anchor UB church in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Thailand
A team of 13 persons will spend two weeks in Thailand. This is a “vision” trip, designed to introduce people to our overseas work. Frank Y, associate director of UB Global, is leading 12 persons from various United Brethren churches. They will get to see, hear, and experience what God is doing among the ethnic Thais, one of the least-reached people groups of Southeast Asia.
04 Jan Five More Persons Needed for Sierra Leone Work Teams
UB Global is sending a couple of work teams to Sierra Leone to build a new roof for the maternity unit at Mattru Hospital. The teams will go for two weeks starting in mid-February through mid-March, and will work alongside Sierra Leoneans.
The main work will be welding. We have three welders along with others familiar with construction. We need five more people to complete the teams. Trip cost is approximately $3000.
If interested, please contact Michelle Harris, associate director of UB Global, at [email protected].
30 Dec Death of Shirley Cox
Shirley and Emmett Cox and family as missionaries in Sierra Leone.
Shirley Cox, 90, former missionary in Sierra Leone and UB pastor’s wife, passed away December 28, 2018, in Huntington, Ind.
Shirley Cox
Visitation will be held 3-7 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2019. Location: Bailey-Love Mortuary, 35 West Park Drive, Huntington, IN 46750. A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Shirley grew up in a United Brethren pastor’s home in Ontario, the daughter of Rev. Glenn and Lillian Betterly. At Huntington College, she met Emmett Cox, and they were married on August 14, 1948. They both graduated from HC in 1951, Shirley with a degree in Education. Emmett went on to graduate from the HC seminary.
Shirley and her family were missionaries in Sierra Leone over a 20-year period beginning in 1957. During those years Emmett served as a high school principal, business manager, general superintendent, primary school secretary, and field secretary. Shirley kept busy with her own various roles, including matron of the Minnie Mull girls’ home and teacher at Centennial Secondary School.
In 1969, General Conference elected Emmett as General Secretary of Missions. He filled that role for four years. Then he and Shirley pastored churches for the next 30 years:
- 1976-1984: Victory UB church (Burbank, Calif.).
- 1984-1985: First UB church (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.).
- 1985-1992: Willshire UB church (Willshire, Ohio).
- 1992-2003: Six Mile Church, a non-UB congregation in Bluffton, Ind.
In retirement, Shirley and Emmett served short-term as volunteers in Myanmar.
Shirley and Emmett enjoyed 66 years of marriage before his death in 2015. They had four children: son Douglas, daughters Diane and Darlene, and foster son Billy Simbo, from Sierra Leone.
Preferred memorials are to UB Global, the United Brethren in Christ mission organization. Send in care of Bailey-Love Mortuary, 35 West Park Drive, Huntington, Indiana, 46750.
18 Dec Mark Vincenti Publishes “Pursuing the Third Option”
Mark Vincenti (right) has published a book titled Pursuing the Third Option: Following Jesus in a Polarized World. Mark, an ordained United Brethren minister, has served since 2011 as youth pastor of College Park UB church (Huntington, Ind.). Before that, he served 11 years as youth pastor of King Street UB church (Chambersburg, Pa.).
The back cover explains:
Are you tired of the relentless rhetoric trying to convince you that one extreme and problem-laden approach to an issue is superior to all others? Do you long to follow Jesus authentically, but wonder if the choices typically presented to you are the only real options? You are not alone….Pursuing the Third Option invites us to consider the possibility that there is another way to approach issues, one which Jesus, himself, option exemplified. It requires a rejection of polarized thinking and the embrace of nuance and opens up new possibilities for following Jesus in this polarized world. More than ever, we need a fresh paradigm to help us engage in a world full of complex issues.
The chapters tackle a variety of subjects–nuance, politics, the church, leadership, the body, sex, disciplines, and more.
Pursuing the Third Option is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions.
12 Dec HU Hosts Event Focused on Agriculture
At the Harvest Celebration.
On November 29, the Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies hosted its third annual Harvest Celebration in Huntington University’s Habecker Dining Commons. Mitch Frazier, CEO of Reynolds Farm Equipment, was the featured speaker. His presentation focused on historic waves of innovation in the agriculture industry.
Reynolds Farm Equipment began providing agricultural equipment in Fishers, Indiana, in 1955. Since then, the business has expanded to include locations throughout Indiana and in Kentucky and Ohio and has become a leading equipment dealer.
“This year, we topped attendance records and continue to attract more regional voices in the agribusiness community,” said Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, president of Huntington University. “We are honored to host Mitch as our guest speaker. He represents the integration of agriculture and technology in providing our farming industry with emerging tools for use in crop and animal production.”
In addition to Frazier’s keynote address, the Harvest Celebration included a complimentary dinner, a recognition of the Haupert Institute’s sponsors and remarks from current Huntington University agribusiness students and members of the Ag Advisory Council.
The Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies opened in the fall of 2015 and promotes a Christian perspective on agriculture which recognizes the responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation. The Institute is intended to help meet the growing need for agriculture professionals and offers eight concentrations in agribusiness as well as an agricultural education degree.