Names in the News

Brent Julian, president of the North Indiana Conference United Methodist Men, was recently elected chairman for the group's prison ministry. He will oversee a committee of seven to eight members scattered throughout the United States.

Rev. Ralph E. Miller was honored Feb. 24 as Pastor Emeritus of Central UMC in Evansville after 60 years of ministry, which included 18 years as visitation pastor at Central. He was presented with a plaque. A plaque will also be placed in the church as well.

Gwendolyn Dobbs, a 38-year member of Lafayette Trinity UMC, recently received the Sagamore of the Wabash for her commitment to education throughout her life.

Indianapolis St. Luke's UMC is the one United Methodist church listed among five Indiana protestant churches, on a new Web site that highlights innovative congregations throughout the U.S. The site, www.findagreatchurch.org, lists over 600 "excellent" churches, compiled as the result of a two-year study of church excellence funded by a Lilly Endowment grant. The Web site is hosted by the Pastoral Summit, based at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The description of St. Luke's on the site notes, "Three hand bell choirs and five vocal add a delightful element to a traditional worship."

Pittsboro UMC was recognized on March 22 at a meeting of Brownsburg Wal-Mart store associates for the church's involvement with the Pittsboro and northwest Hendricks County communities. Pittsboro UMC reaches out to the community through a free, all-volunteer tutoring program; Fifth Quarter fellowships, open to all Tri-West students after Bruins' home games; and the community preschool program, which currently serves 130 children. Donna Land, community involvement coordinator for the Brownsburg store, presented the $1000 check to the Rev. Norm Campbell in recognition of the church's ministries.

Methodist-related DePauw University has been awarded a four-year, $445,740 grant to support the addition of a full-time faculty member in a tenure-track position in the modern languages department to teach Chinese language and literature The grant was awarded by the Freeman Foundation through its Undergraduate Asian Studies Funding Initiative. The funds will also provide funding for a number of programs that will enrich DePauw's on-campus programming related to China, strengthen the university's China-related library holdings and allow DePauw to develop closer ties with selected Chinese universities.

Christian Theological Seminary has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from Lilly Endowment to continue Clergy Peer Group Study. The program provides leadership consultation and resources for local congregations through clergy peer groups that focus on leadership in ministry.

Methodist-related DePauw University's Web site is pretty cool. At least that was the consensus of visitors to DePauw.edu recently, when the site was named "Cool Site of the Day" by coolsiteoftheday.com. DePauw Web Director Daniel Pfeifer says the designation drew an additional 39,000 extra "hits" to the site. Moreover, the site received a "coolness score" of 8.865, the second highest in the past four months. Only the FBI (with a 9.307 on Feb. 19) scored higher.

Milestones

Roselawn UMC (and Roselawn, Ind.) recently celebrated its 120th anniversary. According to church history, the town was founded Jan. 17, 1882, but the founders realized that the town wasn't complete without a church. Pastor Kerry O'Brien leads the congregation.

Brushwood UMC in Rensselaer recently celebrated the opening of a 48-by-98-foot classroom wing for Sunday school and youth ministries. The expansion was budgeted and built for about $120,000, thanks to volunteer labor.

The Methodist Thrift Shop in Syracuse recently celebrated its 40th anniversary during worship at St. Andrew's UMC. The thrift shop opened Feb. 16, 1962 in the former Bushong Beauty Shop. The thrift shop is open for sales from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. It has been supported with donations from churches of many denominations. Donations are welcome.

Last updated on 01/14/2004

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