December 1999 News Archive

12/29/99

Death of Rev. Archie Grogan. Rev. Archie A. Grogan, 89, of North Manchester, Ind., died at 3:20 p.m. Monday, December 27, 1999, at the Peabody Retirement Community in North Manchester.

The funeral will be held December 30 at the Myers Funeral Home in Huntington, Ind. Calling is 6-8 p.m. on December 29, and 9-10 a.m. December 30. Rev. Brent Birdsall, pastor of College Park, will officiate. Preferred memorials are to Huntington College, 2303 College Ave., Huntington, IN 46750.

Rev. Grogan pastored UB churches for 43 years:

• Otterbein UB of Galesburg, Ks.--6 years.
• Fairview UB, Hartford City, Ind.--5 years.
• Fairbanks UB, Marion, Ind.--12 years.
• Eastside UB, New Castle, Ind.--5 years.
• Pleasant Hill UB, Muncie, Ind.--15 years.

He also served as a development officer at Huntington College for 10 years, as an HC trustee from 1945 to 1975, and as a Central Conference superintendent for 11 years. He was a member of College Park UB in Huntington, Ind.

Rev. Grogan was born November 21, 1910, in Mountain Grove, Mo., and graduated in1941 from Huntington College. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois, in 1996. They were married July 16, 1933, in Galesburg, Ks. They had three sons and a daughter, all of whom survive.

Pastoral Changes.

• M. E. Burkett is serving as an unpaid associate pastor at New Hope UB of Huntington, Ind. He'll assist Pastor Kent Maxwell in various ways.
• Stan Becker started on November 1 as youth pastor of Mt. Olivet UB, Chambersburg, Pa. He is also serving as part-time Program Director at Rhodes Grove Camp; for the past two years, he has been the summer program director at Rhodes Grove.
• Tamar Smith began December as fulltime Christian Education Director at First UB of Blissfield, Mich. A 1999 Huntington College graduate, Tamar is the daughter of Pastor Lester Smith of First UB in Hillsdale, Mich.
• C. Ray Miller concluded his tenure as interim pastor of Good Shepherd UB church on November 21.
• Larry Taylor is interim pastor of Park UB, Bluffton, Ind.

Church Closings.

• Welcome Chapel in Van Buren, Ind., voted to close.
• North Summit UB of Fort Wayne, Ind., closed at the end of December 1999.
• Riverside UB of Monroe, Mich., has closed.

A course in United Brethren church history will be held March 24-25, 2000, at the Church of the New Life in New York City. Daryl Elliott, pastor of Mt. Pleasant UB in Chambersburg, Pa., will teach the course from 9-4 each day. This non-academic course will meet the requirements for ministers seeking an annual conference license, the specialized minister's license, or ordination. The cost is $100 for those taking the course for licensing, and $20 for persons just auditing. This course is designed for the UB pastors in New York City and Boston working among Chinese, Jamaican, and Sierra Leonean immigrants.

Rhodes Grove Camp is recruiting summer staff. Interested in applying? Contact the camp. Phone: (717) 375-4162. Email: rgc@innernet.net. Mail: Rhodes Grove Camp, 7693 Brown's Mill Rd., Chambersburg, PA 17201.

Huntington, Ind. For the fourth consecutive year, Huntington College students took top honors in the National Religious Broadcasters' Student Achievement Awards Competition. "Still There is Peace," a 20-minute radio play telling the story behind the hymn "It is Well With My Soul," produced by Sharra Sieminski and Christine Slagel, won first place in the Radio Drama division.

In the Music Video division, the Huntington College team of Ryan Howe, Tim Manock, and Angie Steffen placed second with their winning entry, "Where is God?" The music video featured dramatic special effects and background images of the war in Bosnia. The NRB's Student Achievement Awards Competition includes students from over 300 colleges nationwide competing in eight categories. Last year, HC students won second place in four categories: Radio Documentary, Radio Demo, Radio Drama, and Television Short-Form Video.

PRIME Internships. Sixteen seniors in the Huntington College Link Institute completed their PRIME internships in December. They studied youth ministry in the following churches and ministries:

• Jason Ankerbrand: UB mission in LaCeiba, Honduras
• Eric Baldwin: Brown Corners UB in Clare, Mich.
• Tim Bordeaux: Fowlerville UB, Fowlerville, Mich.
• Heather Boyer: Macau UB mission
• Shannon Colwin: Immanuel Baptist Church in Fort Collins, Colo.
• Dawn Gault: Evangelical Free Church in Hershey, Pa.
• Ben Hamm: Snellville United Methodist Church in Snellville, Ga.
• Dan Herring: Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Indiana in Indianapolis
• Lee Houtz: The Legacy Community Church in Lewis Center, Ohio.
• Leslie Jacobs: Sagemont Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.
• Brently Jordan: First Baptist Church in Darlington, Wisc.
• Melanie Lowman: Hope Missionary Church in Bluffton, Ind.
• Christy Miller: Nappannee Missionary Church in Nappannee, Ind.
• Dave Ramseyer: First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks in Indian Rocks, Fla.
• Deb Weaver: Inner-city Mission in Chicago, Ill.
• Jason Wolf: Figtree Anglican Church in Figtree, NSW, Australia.

Leslie Tangeman remains in the field, completing a year long internship at the Black Forest Academy in Germany, and Jose Huerta just began his PRIME at Honeyrock Camp in Wisconsin.

February is Huntington College Month. What are you doing to promote the work and ministry of our college? Representatives from the college are available. Contact Linda Taylor at ltaylor@huntington.edu, or call Linda at (219) 356-6000.

12/22/99

Death of Margaret Vanderveen. Margaret Vanderveen passed away on Tuesday, December 21. The funeral will be 11:00 Friday morning, December 24, at the Stebbins-McCully funeral home in Edmore, Michigan.

12/20/99

Death of Roger Carey in Honduras. For many years, Roger and Betty Carey of Woodbury, Michigan, have spent a couple of the winter months in La Ceiba, Honduras. Through their involvement on a work team, they developed a great love for the people of Honduras, and always looked forward to returning each year. Roger, quite a handyman, would keep busy with painting and repair work. They were interviewed on the 1997 video about Honduras, produced by the Dept. of Missions.

During the year, Roger and Betty would stock up on candy and other goodies, which they would give away in Honduras, particularly to children. Roger would pull balloons out of his pocket, blow them up, and twist them into animal shapes for children. They were especially fond of the village of Sambo Creek, located east of La Ceiba; they led the work crew which built the Sambo Creek church.

Roger and Betty Carey went to Honduras a bit early this year. On December 14, they traveled to Honduras with Bob and Darlene Eberly of Greencastle, Pa., intending to spend Christmas in the country they loved.

On Thursday, December 18, feeling some physical problems, Roger took himself to the La Ceiba hospital. Some tests were run, and it was discovered that he had a perforated bowel. Surgery was performed, but poison had already spread through his body.

On Saturday, December 18, Roger passed away.

There was considerable discussion with Honduran officials about whether or not the body could be flown home. Thankfully, Bob Eberly was able to take care of many of the details.

On Tuesday, December 21, Betty Carey and Darlene Eberly will fly to Michigan. Roger's body will be flown to Michigan on Wednesday, and his wishes to be cremated will be carried out after that.

The Careys are members of the Woodbury UB church of Woodbury, Mich. A memorial service will be held there for Roger on December 26 at 3 p.m. For more information, contact Rev. Brian Allbright, pastor of Woodbury, at 616-374-8756.