On Saturday, March 15, Franklin UB church in New Albany, Ohio, held its first annual Breakfast of Champions. The purpose was to bring as many unchurched men as possible to hear the gospel presented and give men an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ. Six men responded, giving their life to Christ.

The church has developed a friendship with the local Athletes In Action ministry at Ohio State University. Using that contact, they secured Roy Hall, former Buckeye and current Indianapolis Colts wide receiver. Roy was the featured speaker, with Tom Rode of Athletes in Action the host. Roy shared that his faith in Christ never became real until he learned that football was not the most important thing in life. Of the 30 people who attended the breakfast, 55% were not from Franklin.

In addition to Breakfast of Champions, Franklin has held Fall Football Sunday the last four years with Buckeye players Vernon Gholston, David Patterson, and Marcus Freeman sharing their testimony. Gholston and Patterson are now on NFL teams making an impact for Christ; Freeman is a senior this year for OSU and is expected to be a Defensive Captain.

platt-ty_small.JPGTy Platt (right) will take over as head coach of Huntington University men’s basketball team, beginning in the 2008-2009 season, the University announced on April 1. Platt succeeds his father, Steve Platt, who coached the Foresters for 14 years.

The younger Platt has served as associate head coach of the Foresters since 2005. He joined the staff after coaching 12 years in the high school ranks, most recently six years at Norwell high school in Ossian, Ind.

On April 12, Eagle Quest UB Church in Columbia City, Ind., will present an Internet safety seminar called “Get Connected.” The purpose is to inform parents and youth workers about the dangers of the internet, and offer proactive ways to keep youth safe. Topics include internet bullying, on-line predators, internet pornogrphy, social networking, and security software.

Speakers include the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, Patt Mossburg (Whitley County Salvation Army Director), and Eric Kelly (Youth for Christ Director of Juvenile Justice).

Jay Michaud of Pleasant Valley UB (Lake Odessa, Mich.) sent this item: “It may be of interest to some in the United Brethren church, and the former Michigan Conference in particular, that Betty Neeb of Clarksville, Mich., passed away on Monday, March 24. She was the wife of the late UB minister Max Ovenshire of Michigan Conference, and she was a member of Pleasant Valley UB church. Her funeral is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 27, at Pleasant Valley, 9975 Thompson Rd., Lake Odessa, Mich. 48849 (corner of M-50 and Bell Road). You may want to contact the church for more details and an obituary: (616) 693-2265.”

Pathway_PurposeDriven_300.jpgPathway Community Church, a UB church in Jackson, Mich., will host a Purpose Driven-Basic Workshop on Saturday, April 12. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the workshop lasts from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

The conference normally costs $199 per person, but Pathway has arranged the following special pricing:

  • $50 per person.
  • $40 per person for groups of 5-9.
  • $30 per person for groups of 10 or more.

Lunch is included in the cost. 

Pastor Scott Hardway writes, “The workshop is being presented by Rev. Glenn Bone of Good Seed Ministries, one of the ministry partners that we support. Glenn is a fantastic presenter, a dynamic and engaging speaker. He’s been recognized nationally by Rick Warren, and works closely with Bill Hybels, Ed Young, and Mark Beeson (Granger Community Church in Granger, Ind).  We’re really excited to be able to offer this one-day workshop.”

bluerock_250.jpgFountain_250.jpg

L-r: The Bible quiz teams from Blue Rock UB (Waynesboro, Pa.), and Fountain UB (Keyser, W. Va.).

MountPleasant_250.jpg

L-r: The Bible quiz team from Mount Pleasant UB in Chambersburg, Pa.

You don’t hear much about Bible quizzing anymore, but it’s still going on. Every year, church teams in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia compete.

Here are photos of three senior teams competing this year in the former Mid-Atlantic Conference. The team from Fountain UB won the January quiz, and Salem won in February.

2007_HU_plate_small.jpgThe Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has released a special recognition motorcycle license plate for Huntington University. The design features the university’s athletic logo.

An authorization form is needed to purchase the plate from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles office.

Specialty plates are available for a number of organizations within the state, and all require some additional fees. The Huntington University plate is being offered with the minimum required $15 administrative fee assessed by the BMV. No extra fee will be collected by Huntington University.

Many people already own the license plate available for passenger cars, trucks, and recreational vehicles.

Huntington University‘s Graduate School will consolidate two programs into one new program. The Master of Arts programs in pastoral ministries and discipling ministries will be merged to form the new Master of Arts in ministry leadership program.

In addition, the university’s Graduate School of Christian Ministries will now be referred to as the Graduate School and will encompass the new program, the online Master of Arts program in youth ministry leadership, the new graduate counseling program, the Master of Education program, a diploma in pastoral leadership program, and continuing education courses.

Beginning in the fall of 2008, the Ministry Leadership program will prepare graduate students for healthy and balanced pastoral leadership and train them to equip, teach, mentor and lead others to grow and serve as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Master of Arts in ministry leadership is recognized by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ as the basic standard for ordination.

This summer, the Huntington University will host its third Summer Theatre Youth Camp. From June 25-July 20, campers entering grades kindergarten through 12 in the fall will learn basic theatrical training from theatre professionals and perform a fully produced musical theatre production. This summer’s performance will be “Guys and Dolls Jr.,” and every camper will have a part.

The camp will run Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Huntington University Merillat Centre for the Arts with performances on July 20. Camp will not be held on July 4.

The cost is $175 per camper with a late registration fee of $25 after May 1. Space is limited to 50 campers.

In 2006, the first camp of 16 children performed “Music Man Jr.” In 2007, the camp’s enrollment for “Annie Jr.” more than doubled from the previous year.

David and Kristi Shamburger, Huntington University theatre faculty, serve as co-camp directors. The Shamburgers created and directed summer youth musical theatre camps in Georgia and have experience with the Nevada School of the Arts youth theatre programming.

David most enjoys the enthusiasm and passion of the young actors. “To them it is magic,” he said. “I always try to get my actors to return to a sense of play. The children still have that, and it’s nice to work with.”