On the Move
Celebrating
In Memoriam
Webb Joins Vision Ohio Full-Time
On the Move
Steve Adriansen is the lead pastor at Community of Hope Grace Brethren Church, Columbia City, Ind. A graduate of Grace College and Grace Theological Seminary, he has been a pastor in Commerce, Mich., for the past 18 years. He and his wife, Kathy, have a son, Dan, and a daughter, Rachel, in photo at right.
Micah Heckert has joined the staff of the York, Pa., Grace Brethren Church (Dan White, pastor) as associate pastor of student ministries. He is married to the former Sarah Humberd.
Doug Kegarise has been named pastor/elder of Grace Church, a Grace Brethren church in Lititz, Pa. (Scott Distler, pastor). Previously he served as youth pastor. He will now give pastoral oversight to the church’s entire children and youth ministries.
Ben Long is the assistant/youth pastor at Hopewell (Pa.) Grace Brethren Church (Mark Lingenfelter, pastor). He previously served as youth leader at the Martinsburg (Pa.) Grace Brethren Church. He is also employed as science instructor at Youth Forestry Camp #3 near Huntingdon, Pa.
Matthew McCoy has been ordained into the Christian ministry at the Summit Mills Grace Brethren Church, Meyersdale, Pa., where he has served as senior pastor since 2008. A January 10, 2010 service celebrated the occasion with Dr. Gregory Howell, Community Grace Brethren Church, Goldendale, Wash., as the speaker. Also participating were Allegheny District pastors Randy Haulk (Meyersdale, Pa., Grace Brethren Church), Ron Rosner (Accident, Md., Grace Brethren Church), and Roland Maust (Grace Brethren Church, Uniontown, Pa.).
Greg Serafino and Brian Baughman, Osceola, Ind., Grace Brethren Church, and Tom Abbitt, Community Grace Brethren Church, Warsaw, Ind., have been recommended for licensure in the Christian ministry by the Heartland District examining board.
Celebrating
Lew and Pearl Ingwaldson celebrated 60 years of marriage on November 12, 2009. For 35 years, he served as a pastor and on the staff at the Grace Brethren Navajo Mission. Congratulations may be sent to 26 Rd. 6263 NBU 16, Kirtland, NM 87417.
In Memoriam
Jesse Donald Abshire Sr., 87, of Boones Mill, Va., died February 1, 2010. He was the founding pastor of the Grace Brethren Church of Boones Mill.
Ralph Charles Hall, 84, of Winchester, Va., died January 24, 2010. He retired from the Grace Brethren Home Missions Council as an architect and engineer, where he specialized in the building of churches. He designed and engineered more than 300 churches in 22 states.
Richard Dean McCarthy, 81, died January 22, 2010, in Dayton, Ohio. He served as pastor of several Grace Brethren churches, including: Allentown, Pa.; New Holland, Pa.; Altoona (Juniata), Pa; Grafton, W.V., and Johnstown (Pike), Pa. He maintained his pharmacology license throughout his career as a pastor and worked for 10 years in a pharmacy after retiring from the pastorate.
Ronald L. Raber, Winona Lake, Ind., died January 14, 2010, at the age of 53. He had been an English professor at Grace College, as well as at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne; Bethel; and St. Francis colleges.
Dennis Holsinger, 75, of Wadsworth, Ohio, died December 22, 2009. He was a member of the Rittman, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church (Bud Olszewski, pastor).
Marilyn J. Morr, 72, the mother of Grace College and Seminary faculty member, Dr. Christy Morr Hill, died December 14, 2009, in Ashland, Ohio.
Click here for complete obituaries.
Webb Joins Vision Ohio Full-Time
After nearly 19 years pastoring Southwest Grace Brethren Church, Grove City, Ohio, Dr. Tony Webb has become the second full-time staff person with Vision Ohio, a Grace Brethren church planting group in the Buckeye state. He joins Ron Boehm, senior missionary, on the staff, though Webb has directed the organization on a part-time basis for the past two years. In his expanded role, Webb will continue to give oversight, to recruit church planters, and to coach, but with a unique twist – he will personally engage in church planting.
He and his wife, Cathy, believe they can work on two or three new churches at a time, using a cost effective gatherer/shepherd/elder process. The gatherer reaches out and draws people to the new group. As the group’s shepherd, Tony will care for the group until an elder is raised up to lead the group into greater definition and growth.
