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12 May

May 12, 2008 |

J. Michael Caley, Pastor, Banner of Christ UB (Byron Center, Mich.)
The most effective way to start a church is for churches to cooperate in starting new churches. Banner Church (Byron Center, Mich.) has been part of a LEAD team, the first one in Michigan. The other members are Howard Matthews (HomeFront UB, Grandville), Scott Hergert (First UB, Lansing), Thurm Payton (Lighthouse UB, Williamston), and Darrel Bosworth (Kilpatrick UB, Woodland).

Our LEAD team gathers every 6-8 weeks to support the work of Gordon Kettel, who is planting a church in Grand Ledge, Mich. Tom Blaylock, the director of Church Multiplication, also meets with us. Our experience has been good. Gordon is so fun and entertaining; we have a great time together.

The initials stand for learn, encourage, achieve, dream. It’s a group of pastors getting together for the specific purpose of thinking and praying together about the most strategic places God might have us plant a new church.

The commitment of that team and church, by the pastor participating, is:

  • Identify a potential church planter.
  • Pool resources.
  • Set goals for how often to start a new church.
  • Do everything possible to support and encourage the planter.

We commit for a period of 2-3 years to start a church and see it through. We’re a committed group of guys who serve as a sounding board for Gordon. He shares struggles and asks questions, and we agree to always laugh at his jokes.

In the 1980s, I became a church planter. I felt entirely alone, even though I received a regular paycheck from the conference treasurer and was told the conference backed us. God used that experience to teach us, as a family, some amazing things, and we learned how to share Christ without any real support. But the LEAD team concept excites me, because I feel it’ll lead to some real success stories.

10 May

May 10, 2008 |

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Everywhere we go in the Philippines we are met with smiles. This morning Pastor Prudencio Lim, superintendent of the Philippine Conference, took Pastor Mike Brown and me to visit pastors and churches around the greater Manila area.

Our day ended in Sucat Paranaque, a Manila slum area where Pastor Noel Bartolata, his wife and six children have been serving for 19 years. The church, along with all other homes and shelters, is built on squatter’s land. The neighborhood is a maze of alley ways and stairways. Cooking is done over small fires and families sleep together in the same bed or on floors. Yet Pastor Noel and his family wouldn’t think of leaving their community.

If you saw these smiles each day, you may not want to leave either.

09 May

May 9, 2008 |

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I learned a couple of important lessons about eating out in Hong Kong. Ajiax Woo (center) and Mark Choi (right) were tremendous hosts, but someone should have told me before we started to leave my tea cup full if I didn’t want more. I believe Mark had refilled my cup at least 15 times before David Kline quietly leaned over and told me to stop drinking the tea if I wanted him to stop.

Otherwise, Dim Sum with our Hong Kong leaders was a great experience. We finished off with Mango Jello. Why don’t they sell that at Krogers?

08 May

May 8, 2008 |

At the Michigan “Hang with the Bishop” meeting, someone asked, “How are you doing in this new position?”

Being bishop has been an eye-opening experience. The amount of conflict a bishop must referee is more than I expected. Some situations have been tense. It’s probably a good thing that I’m big.

But it’s an honor to be elected by your peers. I sometimes struggle with wearing the title “bishop,” but I’m okay with it.

Someone asked me if I enjoy the job. I don’t think this is something you enjoy, but I appreciate the opportunity to serve. I just believe in the sovereignty of God. He put me here, and he knows what he’s doing.

08 May

May 8, 2008 |

oneprayer.jpgA couple days ago, an email to the UB constituency mentioned the OnePrayer.com emphasis being directed out of LifeChurch in Oklahoma City. This is a very unique thing that has been promoted almost entirely through the internet. And it’s free.

One Prayer will occur for four weeks in June, focusing on the question, “If you could pray one prayer for the church, what would it be?” A number of the most prominent pastors in America are providing video sermons to answer that question, using the title “Make us ___.” Make us one, make us creative, make us dangerous, make us obedient, make us wise, make us audacious–those are some of the sermons available.

As of today, 720 churches are signed up, and the list grows by the hour. At least four UB churches plan to participate:

  • New Hope Community Church (Bryan, Ohio).
  • Eagle Quest (Columbia City, Ind.).
  • Anchor Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.).
  • Grace UB (Sherkston, Ontario).

We’re not pushing this as a denomination–just letting you know about it.
To participate, you need the ability to download and show a video in Quicktime or AVI format. You can read all about it at the OnePrayer.com site. The video by Craig Groeschel explains everything.

06 May

May 6, 2008 |

Here are two new senior pastor appointments:

  • Greg Helman will become senior pastor of Blue Rock UB (Waynesboro, Pa.), on May 17.
  • Josh Kesler, an ordained UB minister currently on staff with a non-UB church in Minnesota, has been named senior pastor of Good Shepherd UB (Huntington, Ind.).

06 May

May 6, 2008 |

During April, Pat Jones and I held “Hang with the Bishop” meetings in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. These were agenda-less meetings.

People showed up, we asked them what they wanted to talk about, and that was our agenda. About 70 people came for the last meeting, held at the East Washington UB church in Ashley, Michigan. We plan to hold a couple more, and will let you know when and where.

One question people wanted to know at each place was, “How are we doing as a denomination?”

It depends on who you talk to and on what day. We’re making progress slowly. We have churches that haven’t reported any conversions for a long time. There are barren altars and barren hearts, and yet the people are satisfied. We have so many places where people are being disobedient to the Great Commission. In some places, the Great Commission is not even on their radar.

But in other places, exciting things are happening. There are people in churches catching the vision. That’s exciting to me. We’re seeing some good fruit coming from the consultations we have held, and you’ll be hearing much more about those. So I’m optimistic about what God wants to do. 

05 May

May 5, 2008 |

Carlson and Naomi Becker

This past Sunday, May 4, Carlson and Naomi Becker (left, with David Kline on right) were honored by the Living Stone United Brethren congregation in Taipa, Macau. Visitors for the packed-house afternoon gathering included the Living Stone congregation, English students, neighbors, friends from the Living Water Church, and a delegation from the Hong Kong Conference.

The Beckers are wrapping up three years of ministry. They arrived in Macau in September 2005 and have contributed to the ministry in a variety of ways. Perhaps the most enduring contribution will be the leadership mentoring they offered to the church family of Living Stone. Carlson and Naomi have worked closely with Pastor Michael Chan, and just this past Sunday morning presented to the congregation its first five-member leadership team.

It was an honor for me to express gratitude to the Beckers on behalf of Global Ministries and the entire United Brethren family for their years of service. Carlson and Naomi tell me this will be their third and final retirement. We’ll see!