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On June 21, 2015, Richfield Road UB church (Flint, Mich.) held a Tree Planting Ceremony to honor former pastors who has passed away. A tree was planted for each pastor in appreciation for his years of service at Richfield Road. They are:
Pastor Charles Malson, Sr., 1957-1982.
Pastor Robert Shellhouse, 1982-1987.
Pastor Charles Bugby, 1998.
Pastor Dick Raab, 1998-2007.
As of Friday, June 26, we have 730 people registered for the upcoming US National Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Some things to point out:
Rev. Burton M. Lange, 82, of Chambersburg, Pa., passed away Monday morning, June 22, 2015, after an extended illness. He was a pastor, radio personality, entertainer, and extraordinary Gospel pianist.
Burt served 58 years as a United Brethren pastor–in Kansas, Indiana, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. At the time of his death, he was visitation pastor at Salem UB church in Chambersburg, Pa. He was also a long-time radio personality on WKSL radio as well as Christian station WNLR in Virginia. Burt was known as a pianist and entertainer, providing piano comedy programs to many civic and church groups.
For a number of years, he traveled extensively as the piano accompanist for singer Tony Fontane, as well as for other Christian singers.
Burt Lange was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1932, but shortly thereafter his family moved to Peoria, Ill., where he grew up. He was a member of First UB church in Peoria. He entered Huntington University in 1950, where he majored in music and graduated in 1954. He and Esther were married in August of that year. He then studied for the ministry, graduating from the Huntington seminary in 1957.
In 1957, the Langes relocated to Kansas, pastoring the UB church in Abilene for one year followed by four years at the church in Colby. He was ordained in 1960.
In 1962, they returned to Indiana, where Burt pastored a Methodist circuit in Mt. Etna for two years. Then he moved east in 1964 to resume pastoring United Brethren churches:
Burton Lange is survived by his wife of 60 years, Esther, and his two sons, Roger and Jerry.
Memorial services will be held June 26 and 27 in different locations. In both, the family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.
Memorial service time: 11am Friday, June 26.
Service location: Salem United Brethren Church, 4349 Letterkenny Road, Chambersburg, PA 17201. Senior pastor Art Page will officiate.Memorial service time: 11am Saturday, June 27.
Service location: Bunker Hill E.C. Church, Bunker Hill, PA.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be sent to Salem United Brethren Church.
Rev. Burton Lange, who spent 40 years pastoring United Brethren churches in Pennsylvania and Virginia, passed away Monday, June 22, 2015. Since 2010, he had served on staff as visitation pastor at Salem UB church in Chambersburg, Pa.
Funeral arrangements are still being made.
Rev. Lange was well-known as an outstanding pianist. He accompanied Tony Fontaine on many of his gospel tours in the 1960s and 1970s, including performing at the White House. Every year at Pennsylvania annual conference, he would entertain people with his playing and his amazing wit.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Esther, and sons Roger and Jerry.
Todd Fetters, Director of National Ministries
Our practice since 2007 has been to go light on conference business every other year. We handled over 20 proposals in 2013, but this year is the “off” year. However, the docket has been filled with 13 proposals, some of which may generate considerable discussion.
We posted the Rules & Procedures for the upcoming US National Conference. The first order of business will be to officially adopt these rules.
Please note rule 17, which states, “Any item of business, petition, or Discipline revision proposal must be submitted to the Bishop’s Office no later than Wednesday, July 1, 2015.”
Report 41, “Proposals,” contains the official list of proposals which will go before the delegates. Any proposals you wish to have included in Report 41 must reach the Bishop’s Office by July 1. The final version of Report 41 will be posted on July 3.
Of course, parliamentary procedure allows for setting aside Rule 17 to consider new proposals from the floor. Any delegates wanting to do this will need to take responsibility for duplicating the proposal for all 300+ delegates.
Most reports, along with all of the proposals submitted thus far, have been posted on the conference website. You can view them online or download them as PDF files.
Middle East expert Dr. Mark Fairchild, Professor of Bible at Huntington University, will lead this unique trip through Israel and Turkey. He will be accompanied by HU President Sherilyn Emberton and Vince Haupert, vice president for advancement.
Date: October 27 – November 7, 2015.
Registrations are needed by July 1, and space is limited. If you’re interested in taking part in this tour, reserve your spot now.
“I have had the pleasure of being in Israel in the last few years and loved my time there,” Emberton said. “I look forward to traveling with such a wonderful leader and teacher as Dr. Fairchild.”
The tour will take place from October 27 to November 7. During that time, participants will visit multiple sites throughout the Holy Land, including Ephesus, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and Jerusalem.
Fairchild, who discovered the oldest known synagogue, has explored many sites in Turkey and will serve as the trip guide.
“When people visit the Holy Lands (Israel and Turkey), we begin to understand how life was really lived back then,” says Fairchild. “There are hundreds of insights that people gain from a trip to the Holy Lands with the result that we deepen our appreciation for the forefathers of our faith and we deepen our commitment to our Lord. I almost never see students or adults return from a trip like this without experiencing a profound change in their lives.”
The trip is $3,990 per person, including international airfare (leaving from Chicago) and hotel stay.
We appreciate the work of our cluster leaders. In addition to leading the regular cluster meetings with their group of pastors, they are also called upon to interact with the churches in their clusters in various ways.
We recently had four changes of cluster leaders:
In addition, nobody is currently leading the Midwest cluster (Kansas and Missouri). Micheal Dean, the previous leader, is no longer pastoring the Sabetha, Kansas, church.
The UB website has a list of all clusters and their leaders.
Date: October 16-17, 2015
Time: 6:30pm on Friday, 9am – 3:30pm Saturday
Location: Ebenezer UB church, Greencastle, Pa.
Global Ministries conducts these two-day seminars for persons interested in leading or participating in a short-term cross-cultural ministry. It’s a very informative, interactive, and fun seminar. These seminars are held periodically in regional settings. Dozens of United Brethren people have now taken this training.
We need more people who are trained to lead mission teams. If you have ever led a team, you know how complex a responsibility it is. This seminar provides the tools and insights necessary to prepare travelers’ hands, heads, and hearts before they go.
So who should attend?
The cost includes training materials, two lunches, and coffee breaks. Lodging is available at local motels.
Active pastors can come free IF they bring at least one other person from their congregation. In addition, active pastors will receive 1 CEU for participating.
For More Information
Global Ministries is sponsoring a ministry/vision trip to Macau on November 11-21. Participants will observe the various ways God is opening doors for ministry in that part of the world. More information will be available at the Global Ministries exhibit during National Conference.
Cost: $2,500 per person. That includes airfare, lodging, food, in-country travel, and cost of visa for a visit to Mainland China.
Participants will:
A Global Ministries staffperson will lead the trip. There are a few more openings for this team. We encourage you to prayerfully consider joining this team.
The Bishop’s Office is sponsoring a luncheon at noon on Friday for retired ministers and missionaries, and their spouses. Thus far, 25 people have signed up.
The speaker will be Dr. Michael Wanous, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Huntington University. As Dean, Dr. Wanous supervises faculty, plans and operates academic programs, and oversees the library, student registration, and academic facilities. He is responsible for creating, updating, and overseeing the academic strategic plan for HU as well as providing leadership for assessment, accreditation, curriculum development, faculty development, faith-learning integration, and the use of educational technology.
Dr. Wanous holds a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Missouri, a Master of Science degree in plant breeding from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Science degree in agronomy and international agriculture from the University of Minnesota.
Prior to his work at Huntington, he served at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He chaired the natural science division and biology department, in addition to teaching biology and genetics classes. He then became associate academic dean at Augustana, the position he held before coming to HU.
His research efforts have focused on plant molecular cytogenetics and gene expression. Dr. Wanous spent a sabbatical in Norwich, United Kingdom, working at the John Innes Centre, an independent, international center focusing on plant science and microbiology. He also served as President of the South Dakota Academy of Science.
