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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!

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

Denominations take a lot of flack, and it’s not necessarily undeserved. The pro-denomination and anti-denomination sides have their fan clubs. What do you think?

  • Is being part of a denomination a useful thing?
  • Does a denomination help, hinder, or otherwise affect what happens in a local church?
  • If you’re a pastor, what’s your perspective about being part of a denomination? Would life be better for you in a non-denom church?
  • Does the average person in the pew give a hoot about denominations?
  • What’s the proper role of a denomination?
  • Are denominations dinosaurs that should just go away?

Please use the Comment feature to give your views. We have an authentication process (spam makes it necessary), but when you get authenticated once, it’ll be easy to leave comments in the future.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |
The former sign, which technically hasn't been the international headquarters since 2001.

The former sign. The building hasn’t technically been the international headquarters since 2001.

The new Healthy Ministry Resources sign.

The new sign for Healthy Ministry Resources, which was unveiled on May 2. It stands outside the building along Lake Street in Huntington, Ind.

A sign for Healthy Ministry Resources now stands in front of the UB national office building in Huntington, Ind. So it’s official and very public. The office has a new name.

Eleven fulltime staff work out of the national office. They include Bishop Ramsey, three persons working in Global Ministries, two persons in Finance, two persons in the bookstore, a director of Healthy Church Ministries, a Communications director, and an administrative assistant.

The United Brethren offices were originally located in downtown Huntington on the corner of Warren and Franklin streets. The denomination constructed that building beginning in 1915, with occupancy in 1916 and a formal dedication on May 2, 1917. It housed the United Brethren Publishing House in addition to offices for the various denominational officials.

In May 1976, the printshop and offices moved to a brand new building at the corner of Lake and Guilford Streets. The publishing house, which occupied about a third of the building, was closed in 1981. Over the years, as the number of staff members decreased, portions of the building were rented out to other parties.

In 2001, the Huntington University Graduate School of Christian Ministries moved into one large section at the front of the building (facing Lake Street), with Family Centered Services occupying the offices at the back of the building. When Family Centered Services moved to a new location in the fall of 2007, their offices were taken by the Huntington University EXCEL program. Now, the entire Huntington University Graduate School is housed in the building.

The bookstore operation uses a good share of the former printshop to warehouse Sunday school curriculum, which is sent to about 350 churches every quarter.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

HMRLogo_200.jpg

The United Brethren national office has a new name: Healthy Ministry Resources. The name reflects the mission of the national office, which is: “To effectively resource pastors and congregations of the US National Conference to fulfill the Great Commission.”

When Bishop Ron Ramsey took office in 2005, one of his strategic initiatives was to create a “brand” for the national office in Huntington which would:

  • Provide an official name and logo for the office. The generic “UB Headquarters” has been used until now.
  • Focus the office’s purpose squarely on serving and resourcing local churches.
  • Emphasize that the national office’s only reason to exist is to help UB churches. The churches don’t exist for the sake of the national office.
  • Change the perception of the national office as an hierarchical entity.

“The real work of our denomination occurs at the local level,” says Bishop Ramsey. “As a national office, our only reason to exist is to help those churches thrive. Many people in our churches around the country view us as a bureaucratic, top-down entity. I want to change that perception. Our purpose is to serve our churches. The new name, the website, and everything we do will emphasize that purpose.”

The branding initiative was unveiled on April 21 to the Executive Leadership Team, and went public on May 2. It includes:

  • A name and logo for the national office, which you’ll begin seeing on stationery, forms, and all kinds of other materials.
  • A new website for the national office: healthyministryresources.com

UB.org remains the official website of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA, and UBMissions.com is the official website for Global Ministries. Those aren’t going away. The new website deals specifically with the work of the national office.

The BishopBlog, which was launched in 2006, has been revamped and folded into the new website. It has a new purpose, and will be given far more attention than in the past. Communications director Steve Dennie describes the new BishopBlog as the “Grand Central Station” of UB communications–the one place to go to find out what’s happening throughout the UB internet world.

The Healthy Ministry Resources name and logo apply only to the national office. It is just one ministry of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.

  • We’re not changing the name of the denomination.
  • This is not a new denominational logo.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

Jeff Bleijerveld, our new Global Ministries director, left today on his first overseas trip for the UB church. It started out a bit rocky, with weather delays in both Fort Wayne and Chicago, but he finally made it onto his plane in Chicago just as they were closing the doors.

Jeff will visit the Pearl River Delta part of China (which includes Hong Kong, Macau, and the surrounding province) until May 7, and then travel to the Philippines May 8-12 to take part in the 25th anniversary of the Looking Unto Jesus church, which is how our Philippines churches are known in their country.

02 May

May 2, 2008 |

bestworkplaces_100.jpgHuntington University is one of 33 organizations listed among the Best Christian Workplaces Institute in the US, according to the Best Christian Workplaces Institute.

The survey involved more than 7,834 employees in 67 organizations across the US to identify great workplaces with a Christian mission and/or values. Based on the survey, people love to work for the Best Christian Workplaces for two reasons: the cause and the culture.