(260) 356-2312

UB.orgUBGlobal.orgChurch Search

20 Feb

February 20, 2007 |

During Huntington University’s January Term, many students take advantage of trips offered by departments or professors. This year’s J-Term offered eight off-campus and 25 on-campus classes spanning the two-and-a-half weeks (January 8-24), giving students a chance to delve in-depth into a single subject.

One group traveled to Italy to study the country’s rich art culture. The group consisted of 29 students, two faculty members, and three non-student adults. Over the course of their trip, the group visited Venice, Florence, Siena, San Gimignano and Rome, gaining an understanding of the historical art and architecture. The group visited such landmarks as St. Mark’s Cathedral, the Guggenheim Museum, and St. Peter’s Basilica.

Rebecca Coffman, professor of art, and Ken Hopper, assistant professor of art, designed the trip so that students would learn to appreciate the different art styles.

Junior Melissa Shepard, an entrepreneurship/small business major from Brooklyn, Mich., said of her Italy experience, “The friendships and experiences will be a memory that I will never forget, and when I look back on college as I grow older, I will always have Italy as a climax to my experience in college.”

20 Feb

February 20, 2007 |

Irving Fryar, a former NFL wide receiver with the New England Patriots and five-time Pro Bowler, will speak to a group of teens fasting for world hunger at the Atlantic Avenue UB church in Franklin, Pa.

Fryar will be the guest speaker for the church’s second annual charity dinner and sports auction on Friday, February 23. All proceeds from the dinner will benefit the World Vision 30-hour Famine world hunger program.

08 Feb

February 8, 2007 |

An early morning fire destroyed the home of Danny and Dorothy Bailey and their two children. All escaped without harm, though son Steve, 18, was treated for smoke inhalation after trying to save some possessions.

The Baileys are members of Fountain United Brethren Church in Keyser, W. Va. The church is collecting food and clothing for the family.

05 Feb

February 5, 2007 |

In light of the process every church is going through currently in signing the National Conference Covenant, some questions are being asked for clarification. The National Conference Covenant consists of eight statements which churches must agree to; the senior pastor and board chairperson sign it for the congregation, and the bishop signs it on behalf of the denomination. We thought it would be good to give answers to the most frequently asked questions about the covenant.

1. Do we have to sign it to remain a United Brethren Church?
Yes. In 2005, we chose to move toward being a proactive church that is held together by a common commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission and our common adherence to the Confession of Faith. We also moved from being purely hierarchical to more of an association of churches. The covenant is our way of making a mutual, on-going commitment to each other.

2. What is the 3.5% fee?
A part of the covenant is the agreement to contribute 3.5% of all non-missions, non-building fund monies as a partnership fee. This fee enables us to provide help to each local church through support services, coaching, resourcing, and leadership training. It is a small investment in each other.

3. What does it mean to partner with like-minded churches (point 5)?
The concept of partnering with like-minded churches involves working with other churches that share our passions. They may be UB or non-UB. The idea is that you work in cooperation with others to accomplish the greater good. Some churches may be passionate about the work in Sierra Leone or Honduras. It may be that two churches, though not located geographically close to each other, may partner to build a church or housing unit, or to support starting some new ministry in one of those countries. There could be many variations to the theme of partnering together. A cluster may decide to jointly plant a church and the constituent churches contribute prayer, people, or money to see it happen.

4. What does it mean to support the ministries of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA (point 8)?
This is considered by some to be more of a programmatic issue than a covenant issue. Support may be as little as praying for those ministries, or as much as funding them at a high level. That is up to the goals and desires of the local church and its mission. There is nothing mandatory in this provision.

5. What happens if our church doesn’t sign the covenant?
By choosing not to sign the covenant, your church is choosing to withdraw from the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA. If you don’t return the covenant at least 90 days prior to the National Conference, a process outlined in the Discipline, paragraph 602.2, kicks in. It starts with the cluster leader (or other elder appointed by the Bishop) arranging a congregational meeting (at least 60 days prior to the National Conference) to determine if it is, indeed, the desire of your church to withdraw. If a majority of the church’s members at that meeting determine not to sign the covenant, the church shall be considered to have withdrawn from the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.

6. What are the ramifications of withdrawing?
Here are some of the key ramifications.

  • You will lose your tax-exempt status if you are functioning under the umbrella of the denomination’s 501c(3) charitable exemption, which enables the gifts of congregation members to be tax-exempt and for the minister to qualify for clergy housing allowance. Those advantages will be gone until you either attach yourself to another non-profit group or establish your own 501c(3) status. This may also affect the tax-exempt status of any church property, depending on local or state laws.
  • Members who are attending Huntington University may lose grants that go to UB members and UB churches.
  • In the future, you will be on your own when it comes to securing a new pastor.
  • Some current retirement benefits could be lost or affected.
  • Pastor and any staff members of churches that withdraw will lose their credentials or license. Therefore the local church or another group would have to provide licensing or ordination for them. This could affect their performance of certain duties depending on local or state law until the alternative licensing is secured.

7. Is it possible that the bishop would choose not to sign our covenant?
Yes, that is possible, but it would likely happen rarely.

If you have any other questions, please give the Bishop a call.

02 Feb

February 2, 2007 |

Huntington University has appointed Margaret Winter as the director for the new Department of Nursing. Winter will begin her position in the fall of 2007.

“The excitement of Huntington University and the community for a nursing program was obvious and contagious during my interviews,” Winter said. “There is a good deal of support for beginning this program, and I am looking forward to the challenges and the achievements that will be a part of this developing opportunity.”

For six years, Winter has taught in the Olivet Nazarene University Department of Nursing. Her specialty area is obstetrics, though she also teaches transcultural nursing and supervises pediatric clinicals. Prior to coming to Olivet, she taught nursing at Indiana Wesleyan University as adjunct faculty and at Scott Community College in Iowa. In addition to teaching at Olivet, Winter works at Dukes Memorial Hospital in Peru, Ind., on the obstetrical unit and in the Day Surgery Department.

Winter holds a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science degree in nursing from Northern Illinois University. She is a doctoral candidate at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

“Margaret brings both clinical and educational experience to our program,” said Dr. Norris Friesen, vice president and dean of the university. “I am not only impressed with her experience but also her commitment and passion to teach nursing. Margaret has a heart for missions and views nursing as a vital way to communicate the good news of the gospel.”

Winter is a pastor’s wife and works with her husband at the Church of the Nazarene in Peru. She is an advocate against child abuse and gives lectures on Shaken Baby Syndrome.

“Margaret comes to us with a wealth of experience in teaching, missions and service,” said Dr. Pat Pierce, interim director of HU’s nursing program. “She understands the Christian ministry of the university as well as the discipline of nursing and is an outstanding role model.”

02 Feb

February 2, 2007 |

Four social work students at Huntington University completed January Term in Phoenix, Ariz., working in a community neighborhood ministries program and in a local agency called Southwest Leadership Foundations. 

Emily Risser, senior social work major, gave 10 days of volunteer service at the Neighborhood Ministries program where she worked with children in the surrounding community who attend a daily boys and girls club. 

Mack Miller, Nicole Callaway, and Jenna Rumple, all junior social work majors, were assigned to Southwest Leadership. Miller and Callaway provided service to the organization’s community center called the KEYS. Callaway worked in a preschool for children ages two to five, and Miller worked in an afterschool program for kindergarten through third graders as well as in the youth development program for at-risk and adjudicated youth. Rumple worked in the recovery from homelessness program call The Bridge, which is a “hands-on” assistance program for at risk families to recover from homelessness for up to two years. 

This meets the requirement for completion of their junior social work practicum. The area of Phoenix was chosen to provide a diverse culture experience for students to assist them with gaining a perspective of the Hispanic culture. The trip was coordinated through Food for the Hungry, which is headquartered in Phoenix. Jamie Fiedler, a UB endorsed missionary serving with Food for the Hungry in Phoenix, provided staff support for the trip.

02 Feb

February 2, 2007 |

Dick and Donelle Raab were honored on their last official Sunday as pastor of Richfield Road United Brethren Church on Sunday, January 28, 2007. After a carry-in dinner, a program in which people from four of the five churches they served spoke concerning memories of their associations with them. They have retired after 42 and a half years of pastoral ministry and will be living at 1914 Jack Pine Ct. in Dorr, Michigan.

02 Feb

February 2, 2007 |

The account in our church history of Otterbein attending a “Great Meeting” at Isaac Long’s barn and meeting Martin Boehm has remained a favorite story ever since I first read it while a student in UB Church History. Early this morning I was awakened, and not being able to get back to sleep, for some reason this story came to my mind. I came to the office early, pulled down a copy of Drury’s Life of Otterbein, and read again of the encounter of the two founders of our denomination.

For those not familiar with United Brethren history, the event occurred on Pentecost Sunday, 1767. On that day Otterbein attended this “Great Meeting” and for the first time heard Boehm preach. Drury records it this way:

Mr. Otterbein listened as Boehm unfolded the truths of the gospel; as he uttered with exulting freedom and resistless force truths that his own mind and soul, through deep pangs and struggles, had apprehended. As Boehm concluded his sermon, and before he could sit down, Mr. Otterbein, moved by an overpowering conviction of newfound fellowship in the truth, clasped Boehm in his arms and exclaimed, “We are brethren!” (pp 116-117).

(more…)