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13 Nov

November 13, 2007 |

Colwood UB church in Caro, Mich., is looking for a fulltime youth pastor, with a preferred starting date of January 1, 2008. Colwood Student Ministry (Fusion Student Ministry), a ministry of Colwood UB church, is a multi-faceted ministry that seeks a balance of worship, training, outreach, leader development, and community involvement. Currently the Sunday student average is 50-60 students. A Friday night outreach has been developed over the past three years.

The purpose of Fusion is to give students a safe place to go, where they know they can trust the adults and have fun with their friends. Anywhere from 150-300 students attend this event that is held three out of four weeks every month during the school year. Colwood is looking for the person God would have to help them lead the student ministries forward.
If interested, contact:

Phil Whipple, Senior Pastor
1106 Collingwood Drive
Caro, Mich. 48723
Phone: 989.673.3636
Email: [email protected]

09 Nov

November 9, 2007 |

Roger Sherman, an elder at Mainstreet Church in Walbridge, Ohio, suffered a massive heart attack and is now in the intensive care unit of a local hospital. Roger is the second father to Mainstreet’s senior pastor, Marty Pennington.

05 Nov

November 5, 2007 |

The Standard, a publication based in Hong Kong, published an online article about a survey conducted by the Whampoa youth center. Whampoa is one of several youth centers operated by our Hong Kong churches. The survey regards the attitudes of youth toward “global vision.” The article begins:

“Most Hong Kong youth have only a vague idea about global vision, a survey has revealed. But what makes the situation more acute is that most see no reason to improve their concepts, according to the Church of United Brethren in Christ Whampoa Integrated Children and Youth Service Center, which interviewed 747 secondary students in June.”

02 Nov

November 2, 2007 |


The Jerusalem Chapel church (Churchville, Va.) suffered a major fire a year and a half ago. Pastor Dennis Sites now reports, “We are pleased to see some major progression on the church construction here at Jerusalem Chapel. We now have the building under roof, which will allow construction to continue to go on throughout the winter. We are planning to dedicate the completed addition in Spring of 2008.”

02 Nov

November 2, 2007 |

Joe Leighton sent the following update on October 29 concerning the condition of his wife, Cheryl.

“Cheryl has been discharged from The James Cancer hospitalm because at this point she can be treated on an outpatient basis. Her next round of chemo is November 8. She has been admitted to a rehabilitation hospital for several different types of therapy: speech, so that she can learn to speak with a trach; respiratory, so she can have the trach downsized and hopefully removed altogether (she has a lot of swelling on the inside of her throat that currently hinders this; eating by mouth, which she has seldom done for the past two months, so the appetite must be rebuilt; physical, as she has been hospitalized for nearly two months now.

“Further complicating this is that the chemo she needs for the cancer can cause nerve damage, and we are beginning to see that with a condition called drop foot. We don’t know the severity as yet. Sometimes it can be treated with therapy or with surgery, and sometimes it does not respond to treatment, which means the patient will never walk again. So the hits keep on coming, and truthfully, it is a bit staggering at times.

“I sure do appreciate the prayers of everyone. It is good to know we are not in this alone. Hopefully the therapies will be effective and from this center she will be discharged home.”

29 Oct

October 29, 2007 |

Mainstreet Church held the Grand Opening for its new facility on October 21. Bishop Ron Ramsey, the lead pastor at Mainstreet for ten years prior to being elected bishop in 2005, attended. The $4.5 million, 34,000 square-foot building is located on 42 acres of land, and features a 500-seat sanctuary. The average attendance runs about 600.

The congregation originally planned to build a 58,000 square foot facility costing about $6 million, but scaled back when they couldn’t find a buyer for the previous property located on Main Street. They then began considering using both sites. The previous building, about three miles away, has been renovated for youth ministry and offices for about half of the church’s 14 staff members. The new building can be easily expanded.

Marty Pennington is the lead pastor of Mainstreet Church. You can read much more about the new facility an article in the Toledo Blade’s online edition.

25 Oct

October 25, 2007 |

Fountain UB in Keyser, W. Va., is again serving as a collection point for Operation Christmas Child. An article in Keyser’s Mineral Daily News-Tribune tells about the program. Shoeboxes will be collected November 12-17 and forwarded to a Samaritan’s Purse distribution center. Last year, Fountain collected 8042 shoeboxes; this year’s goal is 8200.

A number of United Brethren churches have participated in Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. The shoeboxes contain such items as toys, T-shirts, socks, hard candy, school supplies, and hygiene items. Since the program started in 1993, over 54 million shoebox gifts have been given to children in 134 countries, including 7.6 million shoeboxes in 2006 alone.

23 Oct

October 23, 2007 |

The course “Effective Christian Leadership” will be taught November 6 at Rhodes Grove Campground in Chambersburg, Pa. This course is part of the camp’s continuing education ministry, The Ecclesiastes Institute. The course, which involves essential leadership components that today’s Christian leaders need, will be taught by Rev. Carl Shank, formerly on the pastoral staff at Antrim Brethren in Christ church and now ministering in Mount Joy, Pa. Participants can earn .5 Continuing Education Unit from Lancaster Bible College. The time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can register online, or call the camp office: 717.375.4162. Registrations are requested by October 29. A buffet lunch is included.

22 Oct

October 22, 2007 |

I’m sitting in a training/discussion meeting in St. Louis right now with Ed Stetzer, one of the most articulate, informed researchers in America today regarding the Church. It is very insightful and stimulating.

My mind is wandering down many different trails. But there is key point that should be the focus of our discussions of conducting an extreme makeover for the church. There are three key elements we have to coordinate to be effective.

First is a clear Christology. What is it we really believe about Jesus Christ? About the Bible? About the condition of man apart from Christ? About God the Father? About the future coming of Christ? So in other words, what is it we believe and how is that shown in our lives?

Second, what is our Ecclesiology? Ecclesiology is the study of the church. What do we believe about the church? What does the church look like in the Bible? What are the essentials for the church today? What forms do we hold on to in our churches that are not Biblically mandated? What is the context of our church and do we as a church fit our context?

Third, Missiology? What is our Mission? Whose mission is it? Are we in tune with the mission? Jesus Christ is the embodiment of that mission; the Holy Spirit is the power of that mission; the church is the instrument of that mission; and the culture is the context in which that mission occurs. Is there a way for us to fulfill the mission more effectively?

What do you think? I would be interested in hearing how you see the answers to these questions for your church and for you.