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24 Jan

January 24, 2006 |

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
DiscipledWarriors.jpg

I have basically “bought in” to the Healthy Church concept that healthy churches grow and it is possible to establish criteria to describe a healthy church. However, I was a little uncomfortable with the fact that the arguments for are so pragmatic.

I recently came across a book written way back in 2002, Discipled Warriors, by Chuck Lawless that is excellent. The sub-title is: “Growing Healthy Churches That Are Equipped For Spiritual Warfare.” In this book Lawless draws the argument that Church Health must be based on a theological foundation and then the principles build from that fundation. I found it to be an encouraging and challenging book. One you might want to add to your growing library of books and material about the Healthy Church.

I for one, will continue to exhort our churches to consider taking necessary steps to becoming healthy congregations. It really doesn’t have anything to do with size. It has everything to do with being obedient to the call of God upon a local church and the fact that the enemy of our soul and the church will do everything he can do to distract us from our mission.

23 Jan

January 23, 2006 |

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
At the Huntington University trustee meeting last week, Dave Engbrecht, Pastor of Nappanee Missionary Church, was the devotional speaker. One thing he said was very thought provoking: “Whenever memories are greater than your future, you’re writing your last chapter.”
Wow! Does that hit you like it hit me? I have been in some churches that seem to be writing their last chapter. Could it be that it is partly due to living in the past? Our past is something to be celebrated, especially if it is positive, but to try to live there denies the reality of a preferred future. You see, I believe that where God is taking us is always better than where we’ve been. Because God has a preferred future for me that begins with my decisions today.
Memories, I am glad for all my memories. But as good as they have been, I think the memories made in the future will be even better. Maybe one reason we are willing to live with the past is that the future does demand a price to be paid and it is always easier not to pay the price. But the result is to miss the glorious future of tomorrow.
As a church are our memories of the past greater than the future? In some places I think so…In some places they are writing their final chapter. I do not want that to be true of me. Where He is taking me is always better than where I’ve been!

19 Jan

January 19, 2006 |

It is a new year for the United Brethren Church–not just because the calendar says it’s a new year, but because of all the changes that became official on January 1. One of those changes involves organizing our churches and pastors into Healthy Church Clusters, rather than organizing around conferences. The Healthy Church Cluster is now the entity to which congregations and pastors are primarily accountable.
A cluster is a group of 7-10 pastors and churches who meet on a regular basis for mutual support, pastoral development, encouragement, coaching, accountability, friendship, healthy church development, fun (yes I said fun!), sharing of ideas, prayer, and reporting. Thus far, 31 cluster groups have formed. Pat Jones, our new Director of Healthy Church Ministries, has worked hard at organizing these clusters. Some decisions remain in certain areas of our denomination, and some pastors have not responded to the call to join a cluster. But for the most part, we are well organized.
One of the bishop’s responsibilities is to appoint a leader for each group, a person we are calling the Healthy Church Cluster Coach. Bishop Ron Ramsey has announced the leaders for all of the clusters which have formed thus far. You can view the clusters and leaders here.
The first Cluster Leader Training will take place on January 25 and 26 at the Michindoh Ministries Camp and Conference Center in Hillsdale, Mich.

19 Jan

January 19, 2006 |

As of January 1, the new National Conference structure is official. One major change involves the way we handle assessments (sending monetary support for denominational ministries). Each church will now send 3.5% of its total income (minus new construction funds, missions giving, and estate gifts) directly to the United Brethren Headquarters. No longer will churches send assessments through the conference. Each church is responsible for calculating the amount they need to send.
Please note that the 3.5% is just the assessment portion. Any other funds, such as pastor pension, need to be kept separate. Conferences may require an additional percentage (for instance, Central Conference churches must give an additional 1% to support conference ministries until the conference is able to official dissolve–something it can’t do yet because of pending legal action against the conference).
Your church’s treasurer should have already received forms to use when sending money to headquarters.

19 Jan

January 19, 2006 |

Bishop Ron Ramsey provides the following update on his wife’s physical condition. “Many of you have been praying for my wife, E. J. I want to report that prayer works. As you may recall from an email in early December, she was diagnosed with a serious eye condition that could cause total blindness in as little as three weeks. She had already lost partial vision in her right eye. She was started on a course of steroids that could last 1-2 years to combat the disease. But after only four weeks of steroids, her latest blood test came back normal and she began to be weaned off the steroids. I thank God for all of your prayers. There is no doubt in my mind, or hers, that God supernaturally touched her. And I praise God today afresh for his compassion and healing.

19 Jan

January 19, 2006 |

On January 19, the annual reports for the year 2005 were mailed to all ministers. The forms have changed very little from previous years. However, the reporting process has changed. The originals will be sent to the Bishop (instead of to the conference superintendent). In addition, Bishop Ramsey wants pastors to make copies for their fellow cluster members. The cluster will serve as the “auditing” committee, since it is the place where congregations and pastors are primarily accountable. Information about the reports, including downloadable forms, is available online.

19 Jan

January 19, 2006 |

On January 15, 2006, Pastor Adam Will was officially installed as pastor of Eden UB church in Reedsville, Ohio. This happened 10 months since he took over as pastor on Palm Sunday in March 2005. He was surprised to find many people in attendance, because the congregation had surprised him with his local conference license. The ironic thing was that the title to Pastor Adam’s message was “Shhh! It’s a Secret!” By the Grace of God, the church, having been through so much, is starting to grow again in Spirit, energy, and even numbers.

17 Jan

January 17, 2006 |

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
I am praying that in 2006 we will see an unusual HARVEST of new believers. Our primary ministry focus must be outward–reaching lost people with the Good News and seeing them begin their journey to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. If you have some inspiring stories of individuals in your church coming to faith in Jesus, I would love to hear them. How about doing a short video or DVD testimony and sending it to me so it can be shared with others?

We need to regularly and consistently see lost people come to faith, so that our confidence in the Gospel will not be lost. When the 2007 US National Conference meets, I hope to share a large number of testimonies with the conference. So, keep those videos/DVDs coming in. Don’t worry that they are not professional. Just get something recorded and send it in. Oh, by the way, did I mention I wanted you to get the testimonies recorded and sent in? In case you missed it, I do!

16 Jan

January 16, 2006 |

It is a new year for the United Brethren Church–not just because the calendar says it’s a new year, but because of all the changes that became official on January 1. One of those changes involves organizing our churches and pastors into Healthy Church Clusters, rather than organizing around conferences. The Healthy Church Cluster is now the entity to which congregations and pastors are primarily accountable.
A cluster is a group of 7-10 pastors and churches who meet on a regular basis for mutual support, pastoral development, encouragement, coaching, accountability, friendship, healthy church development, fun (yes I said fun!), sharing of ideas, prayer, and reporting. Thus far, 31 cluster groups have formed. Pat Jones, our new Director of Healthy Church Ministries, has worked hard at organizing these clusters. Some decisions remain in certain areas of our denomination, and some pastors have not responded to the call to join a cluster. But for the most part, we are well organized. The cluster groups can be found on the UB website at this address.

22 Dec

December 22, 2005 |

Carlson Becker, missionary in Macau, reports that they started “Practice Church services” on November 20, as they lead up to formally launching a new church on Taipa Island on February 28. “We had 9 people present, with most of them being staff members. Michael and his wife (Michael is our co-worker in the ELP and Church), the Chinese tutor that Jen Blandin and Naomi and I are studying under, and his wife came along with the American staff. So we had 4 Chinese and 5 Americans. We are working to put together a worship service that will minister to the Chinese congregation that we are trying to build. Our tutor is very open to help us evaluate the services and how they relate to the culture here.

“After church they all come over to our apartment for a waffle feed and fellowship. We are still working to make the ‘center’ look more inviting for worship, and we are making some headway on that. We have put up a cross made of stone for ‘Living Stone’ church and we are dealing with a sink that is located in the front corner of the sanctuary space. It’s not big enough to be a baptistery unless we baptize cats or other small animals.

“Next Sunday we are planning to go out for Yum Chow after church. The group is bonding and we will probably invite in a few other Chinese folks we are coming across before the actual launch on February 28. We want to have a good core to greet and work with the newcomers at launch time. We are printing literature to mail before the launch date and have some outreach events planned. Our goal is to develop a Chinese church so that the American missionaries can back out and it will continue and multiply in the future. We may find that there are enough English speaking people on Taipa who are looking for a church that we will need an English service also, but our plan is to not make Living Stone primarily dependent upon English speaking people.”