We have a new Superintendent in Honduras. Juanita Chavez was elected on January 9 during the annual conference. It was a privilege for me to kneel with her at the altar and pray for God's blessing as she assumes this responsibility.

During the conference a strategic plan was presented and approved that focuses on a number of significant outcomes and indications of church health. Juanita Chavez had a major part in the formation of the plan as a member of the leadership team and so it will be exciting to see her implement it in the coming years.

The conference is very excited to be named host for the 2010 General Conference and some very gifted people have already made themselves available to assist in the planning and preparation.

The BishopBlog is closing temporarily. In about four weeks, we will relaunch the blog with a whole new design, and significantly expanded in scope.

We want this blog to be a focal point for United Brethren discussion and thought. The new version will be designed to actively engage readers. You.

I'll let you know when we reopen for business.

I’m just finishing the book Band of Brothers, by Stephen Ambrose, which Pat Jones told me about. It is about a group of soldiers in World War 2 who were led by Dick Winters, who was a tremendous leader. They were sent to the front lines, the first to go in, and they lost people. But they had a mission. They were a "band of brothers" because they had this mission. They weren't a family--families don't necessarily have a mission. But these were soldiers with a mission--to take an objective and win the war. I find that fascinating.

Isn’t that exactly what the Lord told us to do? We talk about being the family of God and get all gushy about it. But we are the army of the Lord. William Booth knew that; it's why he called his organization the Salvation Army. If we had the same kind of desire to accomplish at all costs the mission that our leader has given us, I think our churches would look different. I would look different.

Here in the national office, we’re excited about the upcoming arrival of Jeff Bleijerveld as the new Director of Global Ministries. He’s a quality guy who will fit right in. I’ll enjoy watching him take our missions program to the next level…whatever that is. Jeff starts on March 3.

Tomorrow, the office staff will hold a farewell luncheon for Gary Dilley, who served as Global Ministries director from August 2001 until January of this year. Because of a prior commitment, I’ll miss that luncheon. Pat Jones has offered to eat my pizza for me, and he's welcome to it. But since I’ll be gone, I thought I’d use this space to say some words about Gary, who has been a beloved friend, in addition to a coworker.

The 1990s were a time of unprecedented expansion in our worldwide ministry. In 1993, Ray Seilhamer was elected bishop and Kyle McQuillen was elected as Director of Missions, and they both served until 2001. At that time, we had churches in eight countries, and had opened only one new field per decade—Nicaragua in the 1960s, India in the 1970s, and Macau in 1987.

But from 1993-2001, the number of fields nearly doubled:

• 1993: Thailand
• 1995: Costa Rica
• 1997: Mexico
• 1998: Myanmar
• 1999: El Salvador
• 2000: Haiti
• 2000: Guatemala

For a long time I have tried to read a lot of good books. It must have been from my years in book publishing. Anyway, 2007 was no exception for me. Here are several book I read in 2007, and which I recommend. The links take you to the Amazon store entry for that book. However, you can order any of these from the UB bookstore by calling 888.622.3019 and asking for Marilyn.

A couple days ago, in Part 1, I discussed my dismay over the many churches that are disobedient to the Great Commission. Now I'd like to tackle a second issue that has concerned me as I interact with our churches.

2. The amount of conflict that exists in so many of our churches.

There are people in conflict with the pastor, pastors in conflict with the people, and people in conflict with other people in the church. Dealing with conflict in churches is without a doubt the most tiring part of this job. I’ve come to the conclusion that these two issues are related. Let me put it this way: if you aren’t going to fish, you will probably fight and may ultimately flee.