With the Lord
Joyce Elaine Ashman, 67, of Winona Lake, Indiana, died September 19, 2006, in Warsaw, Indiana. She was the daughter of Rev. Robert Allen and Bernice Eyleen Miller Ashman and the family moved to Winona Lake when Joyce was 12. She worked in the Grace College and Seminary business office from 1961 to 1990, worked for Dr. William Remington’s office, and at Jefferson School in Winona Lake.
A member of Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church, she sang in the choir for more than 45 years, was in local and national leadership in the SMM Girls Club program, was Sunday School secretary at WLGBC for 55 years, and was a member of Women of Grace USA for more than 45 years, having served as national and local treasurer.
Surviving are a sister, Mrs. Dan (Miriam) Pacheco of Winona Lake; a niece, Mrs. John (Maria) Tucker of Warsaw; two nephews, Dan (and wife Marna) Pacheco, Winona Lake, and David (and wife Esther) Pacheco, Naperville, Illinois; two grand-nephews and three grand-nieces. She was preceded in death by her father, who died in 1997; her mother, who died in 2002; and a nephew. A memorial service was held at Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church with pastors Bruce Barlow and Charles Ashman officiating.
Joseph Ross, 19, a freshman at Grace College, died in an auto accident September 22, 2006, near Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was from Locust Grove, Virginia, and had enrolled at Grace College in August, 2006, to study information technology.
Memorial services were held in Virginia and in Ashland, Ohio, at Ashland Grace Brethren Church. He is survived by his parents, Randy and Linnea Ross, two brothers, Scott and Matt, a sister, Heather Gross, a brother-in-law, Pete Gross, a nephew, Jon Gross, as well as his grandparents, Don and Mary Ross, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
George R. Platt, Sr., 74, of East Earl, Pa., died Thursday, August 17, 2006. He is survived by his wife Florence E. (Huey) Platt with whom he shared 52 years of marriage. George was a retired First Sergeant of the U.S. Army, having served in Korea, Vietnam, Japan, France, and Germany. Following retirement from the Army, George earned a bachelor’s degree at Lancaster Bible College. He was employed with Victor Weaver and Tyson Chicken from 1970 to 1994 as a master plumber and maintenance worker.
Platt was a member of New Holland Grace Brethren Church where he served as deacon, Sunday School teacher and food service coordinator. He was a cook at the Camp Conquest (church camp). Surviving in addition to his wife, are three daughters, two sons, six grandchildren and two great-granddaughters. Services were held at the New Holland Grace Brethren Church with the Rev. Tim Hodge officiating.
Pastor Richard D. Sellers, 81, of Goshen, Indiana, died Sunday, August 13, 2006. Born in Warsaw, Indiana, he married Virginia Rose Flora in Dayton, Ohio. She died February 19, 2000. Sellers coached and taught at New Paris High School for three years and was a Grace Brethren pastor for 45 years. He was a member of the Calvary Grace Brethren Church of Alto, Michigan.
He is survived by three daughters, two sons, ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Also surviving is a sister, Joan Wilcoxson of Winona Lake, Indiana and a brother, Charles (Bonnie) Sellers of Mishawaka, Indiana. He was preceded in death by his wife, a sister, Dorcas Isham, and a brother, Donald Sellers. Rev. Bob Moeller, retired Grace Brethren minister; Rev. Mick Funderburg of the Calvary Grace Brethren Church, Alto, Michigan, and Rev. Chris Hinshaw of the Elkhart Grace Brethren Church officiated at his memorial service.
Pastor Victor Sewell Rogers, 82, passed away Thursday, August 10, 2006, in Sun City, California. Vic had fallen in his backyard on April 23, breaking his neck. He was making a good recovery and was to come home soon. On July 25, he told family he was ready to be with the Lord. The next day he suffered a massive stroke.
His wife, Vivien Jane Rogers from Sun City, survives him. They were married for 61 years. He is survived by two daughters, Ruth Ann Rogers Mayes and Sharon Louise White, both of California, and by eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, two siblings, Catherine Lingenfelter (wife of Galen Lingenfelter) from Pasadena, California, and Levi Ellis Rogers from Sun City Center, Florida.
Rogers attended Practical Bible Training School in Binghamton, New York, from 1942-1945. After marriage to Vivien Laux from Lorain, Ohio, he attended Biola College from 1945-1948 receiving a Bachelor of Theology degree. Victor pastored the North English, Iowa, church 1948-1952; Jenners, Pennsylvania 1952-1959; Leamersville, Pennsylvania 1959-1969; Albuquerque, New Mexico 1969-1979; Chico, California 1979-1985; Yucca Valley, California 1986-1987; and Dolan Springs, Arizona 1987-February 29, 2004 when he retired from full-time ministry. He was in the ministry for almost fifty-six years.
Rogers led Pastor Shimer Darr to the Lord and Pastor Roy Glass was often encouraged by his cousin Vic in his ministry. He was always involved in district camps. He sang in a quartet for ten years at Leamersville and had a radio broadcast for years. A memorial service was held at Grace Community Church in Yucca Valley, California.
Pastoral Staff Changes
Rhett Edwards began Sunday, August 20, 2006, as the new full-time youth director at the Delaware, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church (Gary Underwood, pastor). Rhett is a recent graduate of Grace College, where he served as Student Body President during the 2005-06 School year. He is from Wooster, Ohio.
Rick Horner is now the associate pastor at the Grace Brethren Church of Martinsburg, Pennsylvania (James Laird, Sr., pastor). Horner formerly pastored the Grace Brethren Church of Kokomo, Indiana.
Bruce Warrington, who has been pastor of counseling and pastoral care at the Grace Brethren Church of Waldorf, Maryland (Jeff Thornley, pastor) since 2002, has announced his retirement from the Waldorf church, effective upon the sale of his house and subsequent move to Yorktown, Virginia, to be nearer other family members. Warrington has served in several pastoral positions and for eleven years was senior pastor of the Manteo Baptist Church of Manteo, North Carolina, which included the building of a sanctuary to seat 500.
Paul Hutchinson, who until May, 2006, was the manager of the Herald Bookstore in Winona Lake, Indiana, is now the pastor of Living Water Community Church, the Grace Brethren church in Greencastle, Pennsylvania.
Curtis Miller of Winona Lake, Indiana, has accepted a call to pastor the Bowling Green, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church. Miller and his wife, Jessica, were wheat farmers in Kansas when they sold their operation and moved to Winona Lake several years ago to enter Grace Seminary. The Millers are in the process of selling their Winona Lake home.
Eric Eickhoff concluded his ministry as pastor of the Portis, Kansas, Grace Brethren Church at the end of September. He and his wife, Becky, are currently living in Winona Lake, Indiana.
Dan Grabill is serving as the interim pastor at the Brookville, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church.
Conference Based on BMH Book
An international conference for those engaged in cross-cultural ministry partnerships will be held at the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton, Illinois, June 11-13, 2007. The conference title and theme will be built around the recently-published BMH book Breaking Tradition to Accomplish Vision. The sponsoring organization is COSIM, the Coalition on the Support of Indigenous Ministries.
Plenary speakers for the conference will include the co-authors of the book, Dr. Paul R. Gupta, president of Hindustan Bible Institute in Chennai, India; and Dr. Sherwood G. Lingenfelter, provost at Fuller Theological Seminary. Dr. Lingenfelter is also chairman of the board of Grace Brethren International Missions.
The vision is to conduct a conference for practical training, creative dialogue, case study analysis, and strategic thinking to equip and encourage Christian leaders who are engaged in cross-cultural ministry partnerships. Breaking Tradition to Accomplish Vision, the insightful story of Hindustan Bible Institute, is the fascinating record of the dismantling and rebuilding of HBI to fulfill the vision of planting one million churches in one million Indian villages.
The book, which retails for $14.99, is available by logging onto www.bmhbooks.com or by calling (toll-free) 1-800-348-2756. The ISBN number is 978-088469-305-5. For information on the COSIM conference contact Werner Mischke at Werner@mission1.org or Mary Lederleitner at mary_lederleitner@wycliffe.org or call (630) 986-3909 .
Grace’s FGBC Enrollment Increases
Grace College’s fall enrollment has shown a 39 percent increase in new students from Grace Brethren churches, according to figures released by Grace’s dean of enrollment, Ken Moyer. Moyer says that in the fall of 2005 Grace enrolled 49 new FGBC students. By contrast, the fall, 2006, enrollment included 68 new FGBC students. Grace College has welcomed a record number of new students this fall with more than 300 new full-time students.
