A dedication service was held May 7 for the new Pleasant Hill UB church, located in the small community of Mount Pleasant about ten miles outside of Muncie, Ind. On May 1, 2005, a fire destroyed the old portion of the church and the sanctuary suffered severe water and smoke damage.

Pleasant Hill dates back to 1835, when informal meetings were held. The first church was a log building located near the present church site; a new church was built there in 1860.

The building which burned in 2005.

When the denomination divided in 1889, the people followed the leadership of Bishop Milton Wright in leaving the main church body. In the process, they, like many other such congregations, lost their building. They held meetings in a sawmill until a new church could be erected in 1892. The church, according to its history, was dedicated debt-free.

A room was added around 1915. Sometime later a small basement was dug, and it was expanded to a full basement in 1957. The original belfry was replaced with a new one in 1963. Men and women always sat on opposite sites of the church. That tradition ended following the marriage of Paul and Minnie Huffman, who insisted on sitting together.

Dr. Ray Seilhamer held revival services at Pleasant Hill in 1976. Afterwards, the congregation decided to build a new sanctuary and fellowship hall.

The Sunfield UB Church (Sunfield, Mich.) and Impact Weslyan Church of Lowell, Mich., are partnering to start a church in Portland, Mich. The launch will be on October 6.

Mark Ralph (right), pastor of Sunfield UB, writes, “Recently, we negotiated with an American Legion Hall to take over their utility bills and fix the place up and also to cover all insurance costs. The location is right off I-96 between Lansing and Grand Rapids. Already there is a buzz going on in Portland about this new church plant. We covet your prayers as a Wesleyan Church and UB church work together to build the Kingdom.”

On Thursday morning, a fire struck the Jerusalem Chapel UB church in Churchville, Va. The old sanctuary, which goes back over 100 years, and Sunday school facilities were destroyed, causing about $750,l000 of damage. The fire is being blamed on faulty wiring.

Here are two local news reports about the fire and the church:

• Church and Faith Rebuilds at Burned Church
• Despite Damage, Services to Go On

Bishop Ron Ramsey reports: "I am pleased to announce a pastoral appointment to the Bethel UB Church in Elmore, Ohio. The stationing committee has agreed that Robert Norman Pickett should be appointed to this pastorate. Norman will preach at Bethel this Sunday as a pulpit supply and will begin as the newly appointed pastor the first Sunday in June.

"Norman has an AB degree in Christian Education from Point Loma Nazarene University and an MDiv from Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. He was ordained by the Baptist General Conference in 1982. He was examined and answered the questions asked of candidates for ordination satisfactorily, and upon completion of UB Church History and one year of service to the United Brethren, he will be granted an ordained status.

"Norm and his wife Cindy currently live in Northwood, Ohio, but will move to the Elmore, Ohio, area. Cindy is a registered nurse at the St. Charles Hospital, Oregon, Ohio. They have two grown children, a daughter Leah and a son Micah."

About 5:30 this morning (May 25), a fire was discovered in the "old" section of Jerusalem Chapel in Churchville, Va. The old chapel and Christian education wing in that facility were a total loss. The new sanctuary, offices, fellowship hall, and classrooms appear to be fine, except for some possible smoke damage. It is suspected that an electrical short in the old sanctuary caused the fire.

Pastor Denny Sites (right), who has been in Denver but is flying back this morning, sent an email to Bishop Ron Ramsey about the fire. He reported, "The fire was discovered by a couple of faithful prayer warriors that daily go to the church to pray about 5:00 a.m. They called the local fire department and made the staff aware of the situation. We are grateful for such prayer warriors and their dedication to prayerfully keep the needs of the church family and community before the Lord, and who have now been the intercessors in sparing part of our worship facility."

Denny says the trustees and associate pastors are supervising the emergency measures, along with the help of eight local fire departments.

The Eastside UB church in New Castle, Ind., withdrew from the denomination as of March 2006. The pastor was Tom Current.

About 120 people from Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan attended the second Day of Missions on May 20. This event was held at the PraisePoint UB church in Willshire, Ohio. Two weeks before, a Day of Missions was held at the Salem UB church in Chambersburg, Pa. That earlier event was attended by about 90 people.

Miriam Prabhakar (right) again opened the meeting by talking about the work in India, and by answering questions from the congregation. New UB missionaries Jamie Fiedler and Anna Gievett, both of whom will begin serving this year with Food for the Hungry, were on hand to talk about their work and call to missions. Tim Flickinger, pastor of the UB church in Fowlerville, Mich., came to talk about the partnership his church has developed with the UB church planting movement in the Copan region of Honduras.

A number of former UB missionaries were also present in Willshire: Emmett and Shirley Cox (Sierra Leone), Russ and Nellie Birdsall (Sierra Leone), Eleanore Datema (Jamaica and Sierra Leone), Luke Fetters (Macau), Lynn Mefferd (Sierra Leone), Phil and Darlene Burkett (Macau), and Jeff Sherlock (Macau).

For more photos from the event, follow the link below.

Continue reading "Day of Missions - Willshire, Ohio" »

• The UB church in Leavenworth, Kansas, has withdrawn from the denomination. The pastor is Rev. Joseph Trusty.
• The Zion UB church in Shade, Ohio, has closed.

A team of three staff members, one alumnus, and ten students from Huntington University left for a 24-day mission trip to Uganda on May 16.
 
While there, the group will worship with communities, show "The Jesus Film," do construction work, and facilitate vacation Bible schools. In addition, the team will meet with representatives from Uganda Christian University, Samaritan's Purse, the U.S. Embassy, and Wycliffe Bible Translators. 
 
The course description is as follows: "The purpose of this course is to expose students to the issues of HIV/AIDS, poverty, and mission strategies in Uganda, Africa. They will be called upon to integrate academic thought and practical experience in order to shape a Christian worldview. From May 14-June 5, 2006, students will work with Food for the Hungry's various ministry sites. These include the Child Development Program for HIV/AIDS orphans; Bringing Hope, the HIV/AIDS medical ministry and abstinence program; and the local churches' clean water initiatives. In addition to ministry experience, students will have the opportunity to hear local leaders discuss the issues and trends in medicine, social ills and church leadership." 

Continue reading "Huntington University Team Travels to Uganda" »

Titus Boggs, director of Laurel Mission in Kentucky, reports on the departure of Burt and Tana Hey (right), who have served there for the past year, and the return of Titus's son, Nathan. Titus writes:

"After serving nearly a year here at Laurel Mission, our dear friends, Burt and Tana Hey, feel the call of God to minister in a youth camp in Ohio. They were sent to us 'for such a time as this,' and have been a great help and blessing to Laurel Mission. We will miss them. Their leaving at the beginning of the busy season reminds me of the Olympic runner whose shoe came off at the starting line and he sang out the Kenny Rogers song, 'You picked a fine time to leave me loose heel.' How can we face the busy summer camp schedule without our support staff?

"In steps my right-hand man, Nathan Alvin Boggs!

"Nathan is a 22-year-old senior at Kentucky Mountain Bible College, majoring in missions. He had several employment opportunities for the summer months, but said, 'Dad, do you need me to help you this summer?' Of course my answer was, 'Nathan, we would love to have you help us, but we need to pray about it and make sure this is God's will.' We did pray, and God has given his blessing."

Since the mission lacks funds to pay for support staff, Titus is inviting churches and individuals to help support Nathan for the summer. Any checks should be made payable to Laurel Mission and sent to: Laurel Mission, 77 Cedar Chapel Road, Big Laurel, KY 40808-7611.

Huntington University unveiled a new strategic plan which includes doubling the enrollment to 2000 students by the year 2016. The plan resulted from a year-long effort by the University Innovation Task Force, a 24-member group of faculty, staff, students, administrators and trustees.

Other goals include doubling the endowment (currently valued at $21 million), raising the five-year graduation rate to 75 percent, strengthening the academic ethos of the campus, and reaching competitive compensation targets for faculty and staff (with salaries in the top 25 percent for the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities).

Continue reading "Huntington University's New Strategic Plan" »

Daniel Wehler, a local conference minister, has passed away. He was a member of the Franklintown UB church in Franklintown, Pa.

Pennsylvania minister Burton Lange (right) with new UB endorsed missionaries
Jamie Fiedler (left) and Anna Geivett, both of whom will serve with Food for the Hungry.

The first of two "Day of Missions" events was held May 6 at the Salem UB church just outside of Chambersburg, Pa.

Miriam Prabhakar began the day by talking about the work in India—the Narsapur Hospital, the work with leprosy and HIV patients at the Bethesda Hospital, the Christian school, church planting work, correspondence courses, and more.

Several missionaries spoke during the day. Alan MacDonald (right, with Global Ministries Director Gary Dilley) gave some insights regarding the changing world missions scene and the roles people play in world evangelization. In the afternoon, the participants heard from the five newest UB endorsed missionaries:

• Mike and Jenny Burtnett (right), who are joining Wycliffe/Jaars. They are from the Hillsdale UB church in Hillsdale, Mich.
• Anna Geivett, who will serve with Food for the Hungry in Lima, Peru. Anna is from Emmanuel UB church in Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Jamie Fiedler, who will serve with Food for the Hungry initially at the US Headquarters in Phoenix, Ariz. Jamie is from College Park UB church in Huntington, Ind.

The day concluded with a brief memorial service for Dr. Richard Prabhakar, who passed away last fall. Everyone had the privilege of watching a video from the funeral service, which was very moving and showed the tremendous influence of Dr. Prabhakar and the high respect he held from the Indian people.

Gary Dilley, director of Global Ministries, and Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, also spoke. The Salem church provided lunch for everyone.

The morning and afternoon sessions began with music by The Braeded Chord, a two-some consisting of Sharon Dennis and Doris Au MacDonald. Doris is the wife of Alan MacDonald, and a granddaughter of Y. T. Chiu, who was a leader in establishing our mission work in China. Doris and Sharon have a music ministry which has now resulted in three albums of original work. Check out their website.

A second "Day of Missions" will be held May 20 at the PraisePoint UB church in Willshire, Ohio. People can register online.

Some of the workers. Pastor Tim Hallman of Anchor is third from the right, and Pastor Bob Bruce (Emmanuel) is second from the left.

On Saturday, April 22, landscaping trucks and equipment and about 30 workers descended on Third Street in Fort Wayne, where they relandscaped five homes. This was a joint project between two United Brethren churches: Anchor Community Church, which is located on Third Street, and Emmanuel Community Church. The crew cleaned up yards, laid lots of fresh mulch, put in new plants, raked up leaves, and generally left the homes looking great.

Pastor Tim Hallman of Anchor and Chris Moore, an associate staffperson at Emmanuel, initiated the project. But Tom Clounie, an elder at Emmanuel who owns a large landscaping company, Clounie Landscaping, then made it happen. Hallman identified five homes along Third Street and talked to the owners for permission to relandscape their yards. Tom then brought in the equipment and organized the work. They started early that Saturday morning and finished by noon.

About 15 people from Anchor participated. The others came from Emmanuel, with Tom Clounie adding a few of his regular employees.

Anchor Community Church started in 1998 with a core group of about 40 people from Emmanuel. The church had existed there since the 1930s as Third Street UB church. It was closed in May 1998 for five months, underwent extensive renovations, and then reopened with new leadership and a new vision in October 1998.

For more photos from the project, follow the link below.

Continue reading "Anchor and Emmanuel Team for Relandscaping Project" »

The following churches are in need of senior pastors.

• Monroe UB Church (Monroe, Ind.).
• Living Word UB church(Columbus, Ohio).
• Mongul UB Church (Shippensburg, Pa.).
• Ebenezer UB Church (Greencastle, Pa.).
• Mt. Olivet (Franklin County) UB church (Chambersburg, Pa.).
• Sabetha UB Church (Sabetha, Kansas).
• Trenton Hills UB Church (Adrian, Mich.).
• Fifth Street UB Church (Staunton, Va.).
• Pleasant Valley UB Church (Lake Odessas, Mich.).

In addition, PraisePoint UB church in Willshire, Ohio, is looking for a part-time youth pastor to work 20 hours a week.

For any of these position, contact Bishop Ron Ramsey at:

United Brethren Offices
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750
Phone: 1-888-622-3019
Email: bishop@ub.org

Are you looking for a different kind of summer camp? This coming July the Huntington University Department of Theatre Arts will host its inaugural Huntington University Summer Theatre Youth Camp.  From June 26 to July 21, campers ages 6 to 15 will learn basic theatrical training from theatre professionals and perform a fully produced musical theatre production. This summer's performance will be a junior version of the "Music Man" in which every camper will have a part.

The camp will run Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Huntington University Merillat Centre for the Arts, with performances on July 22. There will be no camp session on July 3 or 4.

Continue reading "HU's Summer Theatre Youth Camp" »

Dr. Ann McPherren has been appointed vice president for Huntington University Planning and Strategy. She will report directly to President G. Blair Dowden and will be part of the Senior Leadership Team. The position gives McPherren responsibility for coordination, development, implementation, and monitoring of the new strategic plan and process. She will also continue serving as professor of business and economics, teaching six hours each semester. McPherren celebrates 25 years of service at the University this year. She graduated from HU in 1979.

Huntington University held its annual Forester Night recognition program on May 2. Outstandng Senior awards are given to a person in each academic department. In addition, the student body votes on the following three awards:

• Dr. Mary Ruthi (right), professor of sociology, was chosen by the student body as Professor of the Year. Ruthi, who has taught at Huntington for over 24 years, is chair of the Division of History, Social Sciences and Education.
• Jenna Rodgers, a senior educational ministries major from Franklin, Pa., was named Female Forester of the Year.
• Andy Vaught, a senior history major from Roanoke, Ind., was named Male Forester of the Year. Vaught also received the Outstanding Senior recognition from the Department of Bible & Religion.

Megan Crawford, a sophomore broadcasting major at Huntington University, invited her grandmother to make the four-hour drive from Oakwood, Ill., to attend Huntington University's first ever Grandparents Day, held April 25, 2006. Crawford, a native of Danville, Ill., says her grandmother, Diana "Granny" Jameson, is "a very curious person, and I knew she would like to have a different atmosphere for the day and see what I do here."

Continue reading "Huntington University's First "Grandparents Day"" »

The old cliché "It's not what you know, but who you know" is especially true in entertainment. That's one reason why Huntington University senior Jonathan Herr decided to get a head start on breaking into the film industry by spending his last semester in Hollywood.

Continue reading "Huntington University: A Semester in Hollywood" »

Playing sports, watching movies and taking road trip adventures sounds more like summer vacation than an internship. But for Huntington University senior Josh Wood, it's all part of the job.

Wood, a youth ministry major from Mishawaka, Ind., is currently serving at First Baptist Church in Naples, Fla., as a high school ministry intern. Wood is interning there for his PRIME experience, a seven-month immersion into ministry that all Huntington University ministry majors participate in during their senior year. 

Continue reading "PRIME Experience Confirms HU Student's Call" »

The Pleasent Hill Church just outside Muncie, Ind., is having a special service on Sunday, May 7 at 2:00 p.m. to honor the fireman and police departments that did so much to save most of the building during the fire last year, and also those contractors who did the work to rebuild the building that was distroyed by the fire.

Tom Brodbeck, superintendent of Central Conference, sent this report on two persons in the conference.

Barb Thornton. “Barb Thornton, the Treasurer for Central Conference, has had a heart attack and is a patient at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Ind. Evidently, Barb's symptoms were experienced several weeks ago (during the rush of tax season). She thought the pains she was experiencing in her arms and back were the result of her many hours seated at her computer working on the various tax returns she was working on for her clients. However, by the end of last week, things had not cleared up. She was scheduled to have a catherization done this morning (Monday).” Barb is from the Dillman UB church in Warren, Ind.

Randy Fennig,pastor of Prince of Peace UB church in Springfield, Ohio. “Randy is fully recovered from malaria, something he credits to the many prayers being offered on his behalf, and has been back in the pulpit for the past two Sundays.” Randy contracted malaria during his visit to Sierra Leone earlier this year. He had previously had bouts with malaria as a missionary in Mozambique.

The Park UB church in Bluffton, Ind., was able to purchase property directly across the street for a bargain price of $20,100. The property had previously served as the local school district administration building.

The school district had to advertise the building twice. The church won the first bid, but since the bid fell short of the required 90 percent of the building’s $60,000 assessed value, the dist4rict had to advertise it again. However, since the second round of advertising didn’t yield any more bids, the school board was legally able to accept the highest bid offered.

Pastor Larry Taylor doesn’t know yet how the church will use the building or property. They may tear down the building and use the land for much-needed parking.

Huntington University will award three honorary degrees at its 2006 Commencement Exercises on May 13, 2006.

Dr. Robert C. Andringa, president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, will be honored with the Doctor of Humane Letters for his distinguished record of leadership and service in both public policy and higher education. He will also give the Commencement address.

Mrs. Charlotte (Char) Binkley, executive director of the WBCL Radio Network in Fort Wayne, Ind., will also receive the Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Her voice is familiar to Christian radio listeners throughout the area.

Rev. Charles Billiam (Bill) Eakin will receive the Doctor of Divinity degree. He has served nearly 60 years with Youth for Christ, a term longer than any other staff member in the organization's history. He continues serving as a Campus Life coach in Indianapolis. During the 1980s, he spoke at the United Brethren Youth Convention. He and his wife established 30 Youth for Christ clubs in Akron, Ohio. Later, as the international field director, he managed all overseas activities for Youth for Christ, a position that took him to 40 countries. In 1974, Eakin and his family moved to Indianapolis, where they have remained.

You can read more about these award recipients on the Huntington University site.

Dr. Robert C. Andringa (right), president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), will give the Commencement address at Huntington University on Saturday, May 13. Dr. Norris Friesen, Huntington’s vice president and dean, will deliver the baccalaureate address to graduates and their parents at 10:30 a.m., in the Zurcher Auditorium of the Merillat Centre for the Arts. Commencement will be held on the campus front lawn at 3 p.m. You can read more about them on the Huntington University site.

The CCCU is an association of 105 member colleges and universities, plus 71 affiliated institutions of higher education located in 24 countries. Dr. Andringa will retire from the presidency of the CCCU this summer.

As vice president and dean, Dr. Friesen (right) is the chief academic officer of Huntington University. He supervises the faculty, assistant and associate deans, the RichLyn Library, academic registration, and adult and graduate education. He came to the university in 1985 as Dean of Student Services, was named Vice President for Student Development in 1993, and accepted his current role in 2002.

Read more about Dr. Andringa and Dr. Friesen.

Katherine Hoverman of First UB in Van Wert, Ohio, sent this report about their Holy Week activities: "First UB held a Maundy Thursday "Soup and Sandwich" supper at 6:00 pm in the church basement. It was followed by a Maundy Thursday Service by pastor Jody Harr in the sanctuary, which included Communion.

"An Easter Sunrise service was held at 7:30 a.m. in the sanctuary. Following this, breakfast was served in the basement. Some parents from our Team Kids program, which is on Wednesday nights, attended with their children. After breakfast, an Easter egg hunt was held outside for all the children.

"Pastor Jody Harr brought the Easter worship service mesasge. Altogether, 112 people attended, which was a record attendance for this year."