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16 Dec

December 16, 2024 |

The US National Conference of the Church or the United Brethren in Christ will once again convene in Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 15-18, 2025. Every two years we come together around a particular theme that is meant not only to unify the body at the event, but also to cast a vision that will propel UB churches in a unified direction for the next two years. So what is the theme that will do that for us in 2025?

 

 

Let’s Move is a call to action. It is a call to multiply disciples, multiply leaders, and mulitply churches. Rob Wegner, Movement System Director for NewThing, one of our strategic partners, will be our keynote speaker and will help cast that vision and offer some practical tools and resources to help us move.

The conference website will be live early in January. Registration for this event, which will open soon after the website goes live, will be $100 for adults (18+) and $50 for children (17 and under). Childcare will be provided for children up through 5th grade.

Keep an on ub.org for more information.

Huntington University is hosting several events that same week for our middle school and high school students. Middle school students will have the opportunity to participate in a one-day getaway on campus to catch a glimpse of high school camp (more on that in a moment) and life at the university. High school students are invited to attend the four day UB Youth Camp taking place the same days as national conference where they will focus on mind (asking good questions about the fatih), mission, mental health, and marketplace readiness. Registration for these events hosted by Huntinton University is separate from the national conference registration and is currently open. You can find that here.

Students attending the UB Youth Camp do not need to register through the national conference website.

 

08 Oct

October 8, 2024 |

(post by Steve Dennie)

Philip Burkett, age 67, passed away October 4, 2024, in Marlette, Mich. He had been in hospice care after a lengthy battle with a brain tumor. He was an ordained UB minister for many years, and he and his wife, Darlene, were part of the team that founded the United Brethren mission in Macau.

Both visitation and the Celebration of Life service will be held at the Cass City Missionary Church. Address: 4449 Koepfgen Road, Cass City, MI 48726

Visitation: 4-8 pm Friday, October 18.
Funeral: 11 am Saturday, October 19, with visitation one hour beforehand.

Phil’s life was wrapped around ministry. He grew up as a United Brethren preacher’s kid and missionary kid. He was born in Sierra Leone May 4, 1957, as the fourth son of Marion and Frances Burkett. They returned to Michigan in 1958, serving pastorates in Michigan and Kentucky. They returned to Sierra Leone in 1971. Phil spent his first three years of high school there, and finished up in Michigan.

Phil graduated from Huntington University in 1979 as a music major. As a senior, he received the top student awards in music, drama, and Alpha Chi. He and Darlene Connor, a fellow music major, were married in 1979, and then relocated to Louisville, Kent., where he earned a Master of Church Music at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

His first pastorate was at Gethsemane United Brethren Church in Jackson, Mich. He started as an associate pastor, and eventually became senior pastor. In 1986, he received the Master of Christian Ministry from the HU School of Christian Ministries.

In 1987, Phil and Darlene joined Luke and Audrey Fetters and a Chinese coworker in starting United Brethren mission work in Macau, a peninsula on Mainland China which, until 1999, was under the control of Portugal. Phil and Darlene served four years in Macau. They then accepted a UB pastorate in Toronto, Ontario, where they also helped start a Chinese ministry.

In 1996, Phil became Worship Arts Pastor at College Park UB church in Huntington, Ind. During the next 14 years, he taught classes at HU at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and completed a Doctorate of Worship Studies from the Robert Webber Institute for Worship Studies.

In 2011, Phil became lead pastor of Cass City Missionary Church in Michigan. He had a significant and powerful impact on many lives and was loved by his congregation as he continued to serve his Lord there. His ministry of 13 years in Cass City found him involved in community ministries as well, including directing community choirs.

Phil and Darlene celebrated 45 years of marriage this past May. Both children are married. Jeremy’s family lives in Baltimore, Md., and Carissa’s family lives in Portland, Ore.

27 Sep

September 27, 2024 |

Ewart Carlson Becker passed away, at the age of 87, on Monday, September 23, 2024 in his home in Traverse City, Michigan. 

Carlson was a longtime minister in the United Brethren Church, but prior to that he served as the senior pastor for Union Church in Huntington, Indiana (1964-68). His service as a UB minister began in 1968 when he stepped into the Minister of Camping position in the Michigan conference. He served at Camp Living Waters from 1968 to 1977. While there, he was ordained as an elder in the UB church (1970). In 1977, he moved to Huntington, Indiana to serve as the Director of Stewardship for the UB national office. Then in 1989, Carlson began four years of service as the Associate Director of Missions. The next move for Carlson was back to Michigan to serve as the senior pastor of Northland Church in Traverse City. 

He and his wife, Naomi, served side by side since their wedding day in 1959. In retirement, Carlson and Naomi were compelled to serve in Macau to provide pastoral leadership to Living Stone Church and to mentor another individual to take over leadership there. In 2008, the couple returned to their home in Michigan and remained active in their local church.

A Celebration of Life service for Carlson will be held on Saturday, October 19 in Traverse City, Michigan at Bayview Wesleyan Church (720 Wayne Street). Visitation begins at 10:00 am and the service will follow at 11:00 am.

More information can be found in his obituary. 



17 Sep

September 17, 2024 |

The Reverend Richard Frederick passed away at the age of 87 years on September 11, 2024 at Heritage Pointe in Warren, Indiana. Richard attended Huntington College from 1955 to 1959 as an undergraduate and later received his Masters of Divinity there as well. He was ordained as an elder in the United Brethren Church and served at Dillman, Mt. Zion, Grayston Avenue UB and Lancaster UB churches. In 1985, Richard joined and was ordained in the United Methodist Church and pastored three more churches until he officially retired in 2016.

Richard’s funeral service was held on Monday, September 16, 2024 in Applegate Chapel at Heritage Pointe. You can learn more about Richard, his family and his legacy of ministry in his obituary.

28 Aug

August 28, 2024 |

We have received word that Ted Doolittle passed away on August 23, 2024 at the age of 67 in the comfort of his home in Toledo, Ohio. Doolittle served for 41 years as a United Brethren minister in six churches including Main Street Church (1980-82), Steubenville Church (1982-86), Oak Harbor Church (1986-94), First UB Findlay (1995-00), Mount Zion (2000-08), and Calvary Community Church (2008-2021). 

A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, September 14 at 11 am at Mount Zion UB Church in Wayne, Ohio, with visitation hours on Friday, September 13 from 3 pm to 7 pm and again at 10 am Saturday.

Read more about Ted, his family and his ministry service here in his obituary.

27 Aug

August 27, 2024 |

Reverend Lee Roy Palmer passed away in his home in Carson City, Michigan on Thursday, August 22, 2024 at the age of 86. Palmer was a long-time minister in the United Brethren church serving in 4 churches from 1964 to 2011 including Kalamazoo (1964-67), Pleasant Valley (1967-81), Harrison (1983-03), and East Washington (2004-11). He also spent time on the mission field in Sierra Leone from 1981-83.

A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, September 7, at 11:00 a.m. at East Washington United Brethren Church in Ashley, Michigan. Additional times of visitation and sharing will take place on Friday, September 6, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 10:00 a.m. 

You can read more about Lee, his family, his ministry and the service details in his obituary.


16 Aug

August 16, 2024 |

Dr. Sherilyn Emberton will preside over Huntington University as the institution’s 13th president for one final academic year. She recently announced her plans to retire at the conclusion of the 2024-25 spring semester.  

Dr. Emberton came to Huntington University in 2013 from East Texas Baptist University where she served as provost and vice president for academic affairs. Under her leadership, Huntington University expanded its reach and academic offerings to two additional campuses in Fort Wayne, Indiana (2014) and Peoria, Arizona (2016). Annual enrollment also increased from approximately 1,100 students in 2013 to 1504 students in 2023. 

Bishop Todd Fetters has worked closely with Dr. Emberton for the last nine years and has developed, not just an ongoing institutional partnership, but a cherished friendship. When asked for comment, he had this to say,

“The Church of the United Brethren in Christ is grateful for Dr. Emberton’s leadership at Huntington University. She has led our denominational college through continual growth and innovation, making it stronger than ever. I admire the way she has led with vision, collaboration, humility and a deep faith. 

I admire the way Sherilyn has always connected to people, especially her love for students. Her pride in them has been abundantly clear. She wants the best for them! And then there is her humble Christian spirit, which is always present. 

Although I’m sad to see Sherilyn leave, I’m grateful for her service to our University and denomination and I’m confident that God has exciting things in store for her.”

You can find the official press release here to learn more about her time at Huntington University.



23 Jul

July 23, 2024 |

Many of you are likely familiar with the film Wayfaring Stranger that was written and directed by Matt Webb and produced by Lance Clark and Matt Webb in conjunction with Forester Films and Huntington University. This movie is the inspiring true story of a United Brethren pastor and his family who set out to build a new UB church in 1970s rural Michigan. Along the way, they face challenges that threaten to unravel everything when an afflicted carpenter becomes their unlikely source of hope, proving that faith in God is the true path to redemption, even in the most tragic circumstances.

The title of this film has since been changed to A Carpenter’s Prayer, and it is soon being released to a limited number of theaters nationwide. So far, the distributors have secured 40 theaters and hope to get it up to 200 in the next few weeks. We are sharing this information with you now because you have an opportunity to bring this movie to a theater near you by visiting their website and expressing interest. Just follow the instructions below within the next week, as the next few days are crucial to determining interest in order to secure theater locations. And even if you opt not to fill out the theater demand form, you can watch the movie trailer and read more about this film on their website.

And be looking for A Carpenter’s Prayer to perhaps be coming to a theater near you beginning in September 2024!

01 Jul

July 1, 2024 |

The United Brethren National Office is pleased to welcome Stacie Betterly to the team. She joined us on Monday, June 24, 2024, in her new role as finance assistant and will be working closely with Marci Hammel. Before joining our team, Stacie was the Assistant to the Registrar at Huntington University and served as a teller at Bippus State Bank. Stacie and her husband, Aaron, live in their hometown of Huntington, Indiana along with their son, Colin (23), and daughter Morgan (18). 

If you get a chance to connect with Stacie, here are a few fun facts you should know about her:

Favorite pastime: Camping and cross-stitching
Favorite place to visit: Antique malls with her husband
Favorite candy: Hershey’s chocolate kisses and cherry Starbursts
Favorite book/movie/TV series: Movies based on Jane Austin books

 

14 May

May 14, 2024 |

This month the United Brethren Church is praying for the next generation of Christian leaders and we are inviting you to join us. Here are a few ways you can pray this month:

  1. Pray that God would call the next generation to ministry service.
  2. Pray that the next generation would hear that call.
  3. Pray that you might see those whom God may be calling.
  4. Pray for the courage to have a conversation that might alert a young person to God’s call on their life.

In a recent video, Ryan Koch (Hopewell United Brethren Church, Auburn, IN) shared his story of being called to ministry but not recognizing it until someone else saw it. Watch now.

Who do you see that God might be calling? Have you talked to them about what you see? Sometimes all it takes is a simple word of encouragement to help a young person recognize a calling.