The following news briefs are from the November-December issues of The Brethren Missionary Herald magazine.
Fifteen Years Ago – 1993
Dr. Rick Fairman is the new associate academic dean and professor in the Bible department at Lancaster Bible College. He and his wife, Judy, and their two children have moved to the Lancaster, Pa., area.
Uniontown Grace Brethren Church, Uniontown, Pa., called Darrel Taylor as pastor.
Four men from the Grace Brethren Church, Waldorf, Md., made a short term missions trip to Brazil to explore a church planting program. They included Nathan Bryant, assistant pastor at the church, Ted Adomanis, Joe Jameson, and Joe Little.
Three men were examined for ordination in the Northeastern Ohio District. They were Tom Gale, minister of music at the Wooster, GBC; Tom Peters, missionary to the CAR; and Tim Hawkins, missionary to Portugal. All three passed the exam.
Twenty Years Ago – 1988
Ed Lewis has been named director of GBC Christian Education. He is the first full-time director in the office since 1976.
Robert Combs, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church in Norton, Ohio, was recognized as “Pastor of the Year” by the National Fellowship of Grace Brethren Ministers.
Ray and Mary Thompson retired from ministry at the Grace Brethren Navajo Mission. They now reside in Winona Lake, Ind.
Twenty Five Years Ago – 1983
Keith Shearer, a 1983 graduate of Grace Theological Seminary, has been installed as pastor of Bethel Brethren Church in Osceola, Ind.
Chaplain John W. Schumacher has been selected for promotion to the rank of colonel. With the promotion comes a move to the Directorate of Combat Developments at the U.S. Army Chaplain School, which is charged with recommending approaches to chaplain ministry in the Army of the future.
The Waimalu Grace Brethren Church in Hawaii dedicated their new building, including a 300-seat sanctuary, which was located under a freeway overpass.
Thirty Years Ago – 1978
Southern Lancaster Grace Brethren Church, Lancaster, Pa., purchased three acres of land for a new church home.
The First Brethren Church in Rittman, Ohio, broke ground for a building addition and a new parking lot.
The Grace College board of trustees named the athletic field “Miller Field” in honor of the late R. Paul Miller, a Brethren evangelist.
Milton Ryerson assumed the pastorate of the Grace Brethren Bible Church, Fort Myers, Fla.
Thirty-five Years Ago – 1973
Becky Kochheiser, from the North Central Ohio District, was named SMM Girl of the Year. Runners up were Amy Stice, Michigan District, and Mary Male, Indiana District.
In leading the University of Illinois to a 15-13 victory over Purdue, freshman Dan Beaver, son of Grace Brethren missionaries Rev. and Mrs. Wayne Beaver, set a Big Ten record for field goals. Using a soccer-style kick he learned on the mission field in Africa, Beaver’s five field goals, the only scoring for Illinois, eclipsed the old mark of four.
Rev. Robert Combs began his duties as pastor of the First Brethren Church of Norton, in Barberton, Ohio, on November 11.
The Grace Brethren Church in Sacramento, Calif., dedicated its new building. Richard Cron was the pastor.
Seven students at Grace College were recognized in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. They include Deb Cahill of Indianapolis, Ind., Ruth Craig of Maroa, Ill., Hope Hungerford of Oxen Hill, Md., Bill Katip of Pontiac, Mich., Bob Arenobine of Hagerstown, Md., Lonnie Skiles of Modesto, Calif., and Len Blackstone of Santa Rosa, Calif.
Forty Years Ago – 1968
E. William Male was granted a Ph.D. in education from Indiana University.
Grace Schools assumed control of the Winona Lake Christian Assembly and announced a 16-member board to oversee operation.
Grace Brethren Foreign Missions commemorated 50 years of work in Africa.
Dr. Orville Jobson was the guest speaker at both the morning and evening services of the Woodville Grace Brethren Church (Robert D. Kern, pastor), Mansfield, Ohio.
The Harrah, Wash., Brethren Church celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding. Dr. Charles Mayes spoke at a series of meetings, a potluck supper was served, and there were displays of church photographs and records. (Charles Winter, pastor)
The Minerva (Ohio) Grace Brethren Church (Dennis Beach, pastor) held a ground breaking service on November 17. Fifty members and friends gathered at the new site.
Forty-Five Years Ago – 1963
The First Brethren Church of Long Beach, Calif. (Charles Mayes, pastor) celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Dr. Harold Etling, director of the Sunday School Board of the National Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches was re-elected president of the National Sunday School Association.
Warren Tamkin resigned as pastor of the Grace Brethren Church, Hagerstown, Md., to become pastor of the Community Grace Brethren Church, Warsaw, Ind.
The First Brethren Church, Middlebranch, Ohio (Wesley Haller, pastor) dedicated a new $35,000 Sunday-school addition on December 1. The new unit added 4,500 square feet to the existing building.
Kenneth Koontz was ordained to the ministry at the Leesburg Brethren Church on November 10.
Fifty Years Ago – 1958
After several months of waiting, Rev. and Mrs. Tom Julien and daughter, Becky, sailed for France from New York on the S.S. America.
The charter membership of the Fairlawn Brethren Church (Raymond Gingrich, pastor) in Akron, Ohio was closed on November 2. The church meets at Rankin School and has purchased four acres on State Route 76.
Forrest Jackson, pastor of the First Brethren Church in Dallas Center, Iowa, was ordained to the ministry on November 9.
The church-parsonage of the Grace Brethren Church (Donald Farner, pastor) of Toppenish, Wash. was dedicated on November 16.
Fifty-five Years Ago – 1953
The new Brethren Chapel at Dryhill, Ky. (Evelyn Fuqua, missionary) was dedicated. Rev. Gerald Polman, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church, York, Pa., gave the dedicatory message.
The First Brethren Church (Lewis C. Hohenstein, pastor), Whittier, Calif. celebrated its 40th anniversary. At the afternoon service, Walter Haag was ordained to the Christian ministry with Dr. C. W. Mayes delivering the ordination message.
Thieves entered the Second Brethren Church, Los Angeles, Calif. (Henry Rempel, pastor) and stole more than $600 of their home mission offering.
Sixty Years Ago – 1948
A new Brethren church has been established at Jenners, Pa. Wayne Baker, a recent graduate of Grace Seminary, is the pastor.
The Seminary Quartet traveled to Rittman, Ohio; Hagerstown, Md.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Allentown, Pa.; to minister following exams. Quartet members included Roy Snyder, Charles Ashman, Jack Churchill, and Ken Marken.
Sixty Five Years Ago – 1943
The West Kittanning (Pa.) Brethren Church (Arthur Malles, pastor) was gutted by fire in an early morning blaze of uncertain origin. All the furnishings in the church auditorium and the basement Sunday school rooms were destroyed by fire or damaged by water.
The Flora (Ind.) Brethren Church (Don Bartlett, pastor) celebrated its mortgage burning.
Writing just before sailing for French Equatorial Africa, Miss Ruth Snyder calmed those who questioned her going to the mission field “in times like these.” She said, “when we hear only the ‘Go ye,’ we think that it is impossible to go; but that is immediately followed by ‘I am with you.’ Where He goes we can surely follow, by His grace.”