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A crew is working to repair the roof of the Daytona UB church and its parsonage. The roof needed to be replaced as a result of hurricane damage. Bishop Paul Hirschy (picture directly above) was on hand to help out a couple of days.
More workers are still needed. If you’re available, contact Pastor Chuck McKeown at: 386-677-6940.
Dan and Marilyn Young formerly served the First and Faith UB churches in Findlay, Ohio. In July, Dan began serving as interim pastor of Crestview UB in Lafayette, Ind.), and was appointed senior pastor in December.
Dan’s son, Shane, suffered an epileptic seizure over the weekend. The severity of the seizure caused a heart attack. Shane, in his 30s, was hospitalized in Findlay, Ohio. His condition digressed to the point, with very little brain activity, that that family had to make a decision regarding life support later today.
Shane passed away early in the morning on Tuesday, February 1.
Fire struck the Eden UB church of Mason, Mich., last Friday, January 28. The fellowship hall and offices burned to the ground, and the sanctuary was also destroyed. Eden has an average attendance of about 240. Pastor Wes Emerson gave the following details to Steve Dennie on Monday afternoon.
The fire started around 3 pm. The secretary and janitor were in the building, along with several parishioners who were doing some work in the new Family Life Center. They heard the fire alarm go off, and when they opened the door into the old area to investigate, they discovered smoke. Investigating further, they discovered that the soundbooth in the back of the sanctuary was on fire. The fire escalated incredibly fast, and they had to run out of the building.
The fire spread first into the fellowship hall, and then made its way back to the sanctuary. The sanctuary looks okay from the outside, but is severely damaged inside and is most likely not salvageable. “Inside, it looks like it was bombed,” says Pastor Emerson. The church held services in the fellowship hall from about 1965 to 1979, when the current sanctuary was built. The congregation just recently completed its Family Life Center.
Pastor Emerson said it appears to be an electrical fire, which may or may not have actually begun in the soundbooth. The offices were lost, along with all the equipment (computer, copy machine, fax, etc.) and church records. Pastor Emerson kept the bulk of his library in his home office. The church employs two part-time secretaries, but all of their equipment was destroyed. Margaret Maybee, the Music director, had an office in the basement of the fellowship hall, so her office was destroyed as well.
“The good thing is, the fire stopped where the new building begins,” says Pastor Emerson. “They were connected. We had a fire wall and sprinkler system in the new building. The firefighters were actually fighting the fire from that part of the building, and it stopped. We still have the new facility, but can’t use it for a while because there was water and smoke damage, and the fire department had to create holes in the ceiling. But in a few weeks, we’re told we’ll be able to use it to hold services.”
In the meantime, the First United Methodist church in Mason invited them to use its facilities. They will meet in the Methodist sanctuary at 11:30 on Sundays (the Methodist congregation holds its service at 9:30). “They’ve been real gracious. They told us we can worship there until we can come back to the Family Life Center.”
The Eden congregation met there on January 30. Pastor Emerson says, “We had at least 340 people, one of our largest crowds in a long time. They filled every pew and were in the lobby and balcony, shoulder to shoulder. There is a real sense that we’re going to be unified and get through this.”
The church had good insurance coverage through Brotherhood Mutual. The church is holding an emergency board meeting tonight (Monday), and will meet with insurance representatives later this week.
“A bittersweet time has come at Rhodes Grove Camp. The historic tabernacle, constructed in 1917, was officially condemned in the spring of 2004. Since that time the management of Rhodes Grove has sought a sensible plan for its removal.
“A local German-Baptist business offered to take the building down, piece by piece, to be used for wood-flooring. This is being done for an extremely minimal amount of money. We consider this to be a blessing, as we did not want to spend significant dollars on removing the Tabernacle. The removal process should be complete by mid-February.
“There are no immediate plans to construct a new building on that site. To help preserve the important commitments, memories and decisions made in the building, we have commissioned an artist to render a painting of the tabernacle. Rhodes Grove will make prints of this painting available at a low cost to those who are interested. More information will be shared as it becomes available.”
Jamaica Conference held its first Youth Leadership Training Seminar January 6-8 at the York Town church. It was attended by 45 young people from 18 churches. The event was hosted by the conference Church Services Board.
The seminar presenters were:
The objectives of the training seminars were:
Here are some comments from persons who attended the event, in response t the question, “What are you taking back to your local church from this Youth Leadership Training?
A “Part 2” is planned for later in 2005 or early 2006.
Briana Nei is the youth and drama leader at Emmaus Church in Berryville, Va. She writes, “Incredible things are happening at Emmaus. We have been meeting for a little over a year and a half. Last Sunday, January 9, was our highest attendance with 114 people. Our youth program is growing quickly. Many have been saved. We are seeing people come out of homosexuality, drugs, alcohol etc.
“The teens put on a Christmas musical called STARS, which I wrote and directed. About 30 people were involved with putting on this 90-minute show about reality TV and the desire of teens to find hope in pop culture. Over 250 people attended the two showings at the middle school auditorium. Many non-Christian teens attended both nights because they loved it so much. It created much unity among the teens involved from different social backgrounds.
“The youth are studying godliness, honor in relationships, and other hot topics during regular youth night. We also are starting Power Groups for teens (short-term four-week small groups that focus on different topics). We are getting ready to begin the Grow in the Word discipleship series with about ten senior high students (many of them new Christians), plus a new believer’s five-week Power Group. God is moving.
“We started a Hispanic ministry, and a mercy ministry to hungry and homeless families. We have a ministry for young boys and a children’s ministry busting out of the seams (about 30-40 on a normal Sunday).
“One family has a ministry called Hope-n-Helps; they serve pastors, orphanages, and leper colonies in India. The church recently raised $2000 to send to churches in India harmed by the Tsunami. The youth did a project on giving in November through this ministry. The teens were given seed money out of the youth budget and, as in the parable of the talents, were given one week to try to increase it as much as possible. The students tripled the money in one week from $100 to $300 dollars by selling brownies, candles, or whatever they wanted to do. All the money was sent to India. They were excited as they received letters back from the pastors and orphanages.”
Margaret Maybee, minister of Music at Eden UB (Mason, Mich.), writes, “We were privileged, for the third time, to present a 20-minute portrayal of the Christmas Story on the lawn of the Ingham County Courthouse in downtown Mason. We did this on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings of Thanksgiving weekend.
“The Eden Church presented a Christmas Cantata entitled ‘Journey to the Manger.’ A new cantata with a powerful message of what God can do to change the heart of an atheist through drama and music.
“Eden church went to two services–a blended service, and a contemporary service. We recently changed this, making the first service traditional and the second one contemporary. No other church in the Mason area offers a traditional service. We have both styles, now and we trust it will help reach those who favor the hymns, choir, organ, and piano. This change came because of a request of some in the congregation. A fine worship band will provide the contemporary service to meet the needs of those who desire this type of music. Our goal is to reach all kinds of people for Christ.”
On January 7, Camp Cotubic sent out a plea for help. An ice storm knocked down numerous trees and branches, and also killed the power at the camp in the town of Bellefontaine. The ton of trees and branches and also wiped out the power.
In response, 40-50 men, women, and children showed up the next day, Saturday, to help clean up the mess. Chainsaws ran most of the day. They created a number of piles of wood to be removed or burned, and in other places pushed trees to the side to open the roads. New Horizons Church in Rockford, Ohio, offered to rent a tree chipper for the camp.
Pastor Marshall Woods reports that Mill Chapel (Reedsville, W. Va.) has baptized 15 people in recent months. They recently took in 16 new members.
Our couple in India sent a report on January 9 concerning the tsunami. “In India, the badly hit state is Tamil Nadu, which is the state south of our state. We live one and half miles from the coast, where one village was hit hard by the tsunami. Twenty houses were washed away and five people died. More than 5000 people were accommodated in the local schools and colleges in Narsapur immediately after it happened. They all returned to their villages within 48 hours. We offered medical care in our hospital.
“We have distributed saris, towels, and lunges (men’s clothing) to the fishermen community who have become Christians in the near by villages. Community health teams from our hospital are involved in helping the people in the villages. We are still in need of funds for blankets, sheets, and funds to help rebuild huts so they can start over again. These people are going through much grief. Showing the love and compassion of Christ is so important right now.
“We request that your gifts be sent to Global Ministries, 302 Lake Street, Huntington, IN 46750. Please mention that it is for tsunami relief.”
