The Cellular Church, a UB hispanic church, has withdrawn from the denomination and joined the Missionary Church. The church, located in Canyon Country, California (the Los Angeles area), was perhaps our most successful church plant in the last 20 years. The church started in 1994 under the leadership of Pastor Edwin Recinos and, in 2005, reported an average attendance of 505 people.

The Pixley UB church in Pixley, Calif., is now the only United Brethren church in California.

Rocky Spear has been named senior pastor of Mongul UB church in Shippensburg, Pa., effective January 21. He previously served on staff at Colwood UB in Caro, Mich.

MLive.com has an article about Rick and Jan Talbert of Heart of the Lakes UB church in Brooklyn, Mich. After Rick spent 11 days repairing roofs and damaged walls in Biloxi, Miss., following Hurricane Katrina, he came back to Jackson, Mich., and began helping local people with various needs. And the church got involved, too. For instance, a group from the church spent the summer painting the home of a disabled woman and paying for new windows. Click the link above to read the article.

Charles and Doris Malson celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on November 19. They were married on November 19, 1941, at the home of Doris' parents near Camden, Mich.

The Malsons served in the pastorate for many years in Michigan. After five years at the Brown Corners UB church in Clare, they founded the Richfield Road UB church in Flint, Mich., where they remained for over 24 years. Before retiring, Rev. Malson served as fulltime conference superintendent of Michigan Conference for ten years.

Charles and Doris remain active at the Mount Hope UB church in Carson City, Mich. They have a home on the Carson City campground.

Clarke Thomas was a missionary kid in Sierra Leone during the 1930s. His parents served with the United Brethren in Christ mission, but it was the group that, in 1969, merged into the United Methodist Church. Last Friday, Thomas, wrote a fascinating article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which combines memories of his days in Sierra Leone with a review of the new movie "Blood Diamond." Thomas is a senior editor for the newspaper. The article contains a wealth of information about the diamond trade and Sierra Leone in general.