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Hurricane Francis caused damage at two of our churches in Florida, both in the Daytona area on the east side of the state.
A large part of Faith UB church in Port Orange was destroyed. The building was condemned by the city and must be torn down.
The Daytona UB church, located in Holly Hill, needs a new roof. So does the parsonage.
A Florida Hurricane Relief Fund has been established to help.
Bishop Paul Hirschy reports that he has been feeling great. His chemotherapy treatments were concluded some weeks ago, and his hair is growing back. Throughout the treatments, he was able to maintain his regular schedule, and never got sick. That is an answer to many people’s prayers, and he is very grateful.
When the recent hurricane struck Haiti, it wiped out a village where one of our churches is located. People were killed. The government has ordered that the village not be rebuilt in the same location.
The United Brethren Headquarters is undergoing a transition in the position of Finance Director. Janet Bilyew, our present Finance Director, will leave us at the end of July. Janet has worked at the UB Heaquarters since the early 1970s, longer than anyone else. She has accepted a position in Fort Wayne, just a few miles from her home. She will be greatly missed.
Janet’s replacement has been found in the person of Jane Jordan. She is moving to the Huntington area, and started with us on July 19. Her husband is in the Navy and is being transferred from Seattle; he is about reach to begin a six-month submarine tour. Jane will be in the Huntington area for an extended period before her husband is then transferred to Virginia Beach.
Tim Walberg, a layperson from the Trenton Hills UB church in Adrian, is running for the US Congress. Tim was a delegate to the 2001 US National Conference.
Murray Stevens is the new pastor of Saint James UB in Mid-Atlantic Conference as of July 1.
At the end of August, Rev. M. E. Burkett will step down from the active pastorate after 66 years in the ministry. He and his wife, Frances, will move to Florida for about nine months. He has served as a missionary in Sierra Leone and at the Laurel Mission, and has pastored churches in Canada and across the United States. Most recently, he has been pastor of the New Hope UB church in Huntington, Ind.
Kanchoon Lee, pastor of The Forever Love Church, next to his church's sign.
First UB (Findlay, Ohio) has been involved with a new church plant in Findlay. First, they parented the Faith Community Church in a mother-daughter situation. Now they are fostering a new Korean congregation. Because of the University of Findlay, the city has a large Korean population.
Kangchoon Lee is a church planting pastor from Korea. He has planted two churches in Korea and is now planting a Korean congregation in the United States. He is partnering with First UB to start a new congregation called, in English, “The Forever Love Church.” Currently, the church is running around 12 individuals. Once school starts, the numbers will escalate.
The First United Brethren Church is supplying the building, along with partnering in ministry. Also, First UB will provide an “English as a Second Language” course for the Koreans. This is very similar to the course that our missionaries teach in Macau.
On June 27, Colwood UB (Caro, Mich.) dedicated a new 28,000 square-foot addition. Sandra Whipple writes, “We are blessed with a great group of dedicated laity that did almost all of the interior work on a wonderful building that includes a new sanctuary, children’s center, and an administrative wing. We also remodeled our old sanctuary into a youth center.”
During the week of July 12, Colwood did VBS using the Lava Lava Island curriculum. Sandra writes, “Our building was transformed into a jungle island. It was a wonderful week that was topped off on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, when 72 kids made first-time commitments to Jesus Christ. Over 400 kids and parents shared in a luau together on Friday night.”
The Dewitt UB church (Dewitt, Mich.) is holding its final service on August 1. The pastor has been Rev. Ron Watterly.
