UCG Fort Wayne photo archive page
Click here to see pictures from our various activities. (updated 1/13/08)

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Senior Citizens' Appreciation Brunch
The Sabbath services in Fort Wayne, Ind., began in an unusual way on June 27, 2009: With food! Usually the congregation starts services at 10:30 a.m. and has a potluck afterward, but at this second annual Senior Citizens' Appreciation Brunch the order was reversed.

Four chefs, including Steve Wendling, Karl Hermann, Joel Borton and John May, demonstrated their culinary prowess with scrambled eggs (fixed several ways), potatoes and turkey sausage. The children served beverages, fruit cups and sweet rolls to the delight of the seniors. 

All seniors (60+ years) were asked to provide photos of their high school and early life. Scott Moss put together a slide show that was shown as the brunch progressed. Everyone laughed as they guessed the identity of the people in the photos.

Brenda Wendling added joy and laughter as she sang senior-oriented alternate lyrics (two verses of which she composed herself) to the tune of “My Favorite Things," a rendition which Julie Andrews performed on her 69th birthday. The words were comical and reminiscent of seniors’ aging experiences.

Flower bouquets and reusable cloth shopping bags were handed out as gifts to 26 seniors that morning as tokens of appreciation for the vital role seniors play in the congregation's life. At noon everyone settled down to Sabbath services with a full stomach and a joyful spirit.

Click here to see photos. (7/3/09)

Next Bible studies
The next Bible studies will be July 29 at the Klopfenstein Inn at 1212 Magnavox way in Fort Wayne, and Aug. 26 at the Aboite Public Library. Both begin at 7 p.m. and light refreshments will be served. We will be covering parts 2 and 3 of a four-part series on the Book of Romans. (6/29/09)

Next Ladies' Book Club meeting
The UCG Fort Wayne Ladies' Book Club is currently reading Women of the Bible which is a one-year devotional study of women in Scripture. Our next meeting is the Sabbath of May 9. Suzanne Borton will discuss Delilah, Ellen Harrington will discuss Naomi, Brenda Wendling will discuss Ruth and Lori Hermann will cover Hannah. After that we will take the summer off and meet again in September. We do plan to have the "Secret Sis" program during the summer, with details coming soon. Please join us even if you haven't read the books—it's always a profitable time together! (4/25/09)

Choir practice
Our choir director, Dennis Ulrey, notes that we will be presenting "Where Your Treasure Is" the Sabbath of May 30, the day before Pentecost. The parts are posted on our choir Web page. (4/25/09)

Next Family Christian Club meeting
The next meeting will focus on the second fruit of the Spirit: Joy. It is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 17, 2009, at the Hermann home. Our first meeting, on Love, was a success and this next one promises to be as well. Please read the chapter on Joy in the Naked Fruit book we handed out in September. (12/21/08)

New local board members chosen Dec. 6
This year we had three slots to fill for service on our seven-member local church board. The balloting that took place Dec. 6 yielded clear results and we didn't need a runoff for any ties. The board now is comprised of Joel Borton, Claren Goad, Barb Hancock, Lori Hermann, Scott Moss, Dennis Ulrey and pastor Darris McNeely (permanent member). At our next meeting we'll choose officers and also try to lock in our calendar of events for 2009. (12/21/08)

Welcome to your new home, Bellocs!
About 30 people met at the new Habitat for Humanity home of Hilliar and Thi Mu Belloc in south Fort Wayne after services the Sabbath of Aug. 23, 2008, to celebrate its completion and recognize the Bellocs. Many brought finger foods and the Bellocs provided some hot and spicy Thai food. A centerpiece was a cake created by the Goads which featured a pretty realistic architectural drawing of the innovative home. The first of its kind in Fort Wayne, it is a cutting-edge, environmentally friendly "green" home. It was designed by IPFW students and the entire process was filmed to make a DVD for nationwide release to public television stations and for training volunteers across the whole Habitat for Humanity program. See the news release by clicking here. Click here to see photos. (8/24/08)

Honoring three milestone birthdays
The brethren honored Margaret Dick, Lucy Mason and Marie Welch on the Sabbath of Aug. 16. Claren and Rowena Goad created a lovely cake and refreshment table in honor of their 75th and 80th birthdays. Click here to see photos. (8/24/08)

Summer church campout photos now up
About 35 people attended the potluck at the Hermann home after services the Sabbath of July 12, and a few brave souls dared the predicted thunderstoms that threatened that night and actually camped out. Click here to see photos. (8/24/08)

Brian Brumley baptism
Brian was baptized in the pond at the Hermann home after services the Sabbath of July 26. Congratulations to Bryan and the entire Brumley extended family! Click here to see photos. (7/27/08)

Senior Citizens' appreciation brunch
The brunch served before services on June 21 in honor of our Senior Citizens went very well. Men cooked the food, children served and every senior citizen was honored and given a gift. Click here to see photos. (6/25/08)

Hope Clinic collection in June
Our church is collecting baby items for The Hope Clinic in Berne, Ind., the remainder of this month. Place your donations (baby shampoo, wipes, powder, diapers, etc.) on the back table where they will be picked up and then delivered at the end of the month. The Hope Clinic is an organization providing counseling and help for women with unintended pregnancies, an alternative to abortion. (6/25/08)

Hope House outreach meal prep
There's a sign-up list at services for those interested in preparing food at the home of Jeff and Kati Borton on April 27 for delivery to the Mad Anthony Hope House in Fort Wayne. Please see Kati Borton for additional details. (4/6/08)

Lukkas Quoc Tran born today!
Penny Pereira writes: "I wanted to let you know the arrival of my new grandson, Lukkas Quoc Tran. He arrived this morning [Friday, Feb. 22, 2008] at 7:12 a.m. and weighs 6 lb., 1 oz. and is 18 inches long.

Mom [Nikki] and baby and dad [Thang] are all doing fine. Thang was a little stressed for awhile because Nikki had the baby only 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital. She had a very short labor. The baby was 11 days early so unfortunately for me, I'm still in California, not due to arrive back in Indiana until the first of this coming week.  :-(   But I'm very thankful that all is well with Nikki and the baby. All Praise and Thanks to Our Merciful, Loving Father for everything going well and for such a blessing as a new baby! (2/22/08)

Expression of sympathy
Our congregation would like to express sympathy to John, Becky and Kristin May and their extended family regarding the Jan. 26 death of John's mother Betty at age 81. (2/2/08)

More photos posted from "Underwater Fantasy" social Jan. 5, 2008
Click here to see some snapshots of UCG Fort Wayne's twice-postponed social for which the weather finally cooperated. If you have photos you'd like to contribute, just e-mail them to Scott Moss. (1/13/08)

New choir schedule and parts posted
Choir director Dennis Ulrey has made out a schedule for choir numbers and practices for the next few months: check it out by clicking here. Also, parts are posted there so we can practice at home for our next presentation, on March 29. (1/6/08)

Photo album from 1989 posted
Lucy Mason shared this photo album from 1989 that the church took for her late husband Earl, who was sick and couldn't make it to services. Click here to view the two dozen pictures and take a trip down memory lane. (7/13/07)

Thank-you note for LifeNets fund-raiser
Our local congregation got a nice thank-you note from Victor and Beverly Kubik regarding the fund-raising garage sale held May 11 to benefit the LifeNets Developing Nations Scholarship Fund. This fund helps the children of church members in other nations get a college education. The note read: "We want to thank the Fort Wayne church for the money that they raised to support the LifeNets projects. We do appreciate all of the support!" (6/24/07)

Charitable benefit garage sale
The Fort Wayne church held its first LifeNets benefit garage sale May 11 at Karl and Lori Hermann's home, with a follow-up bake sale at a garage sale held by Becky Morales the following week. The proceeds totaled $160 and will go to benefit the children of UCG members in other countries via the LifeNets Developing Nations Scholarship Fund. See photos and an explanation of the program on the Web by going to www.LifeNets.org. (5/25/07)

Thank you from The Hope Clinic of Berne
We have received a thank-you note from The Hope Clinic regarding our recent donation of baby-related goods. They were just thrilled: “Thank you so very much for your loving care of our clients, shown through your gifts to this ministry. It is a privilege to partner with you to share the love of Jesus with clients in need! Again—thank you! Sincerely, Kelly Amstutz, Executive Director, The Hope Clinic.” (3/2/07)

UCG Fort Wayne sermon downloads
Mitch Moss writes “Do you hate tapes? I do, which is why you can now download our weekly Fort Wayne sermons online in glorious digital MP3 format! Just head to www.UCGFortWayne.org and click on the sermons link near the top of the page. Or, just head straight to the page at www.ucgfortwayne.org/Pages/Sermons.html.” (2/16/07)

Beyond Today telecast now broadcast locally on three cable access stations
Thanks to the efforts of Bea Rau and Lori Hermann last year, and of Barb Hancock this year, the UCG Fort Wayne congregation is now sponsoring the Beyond Today telecast on the public access channels of three local cable systems. In 2005 Bea secured a Sunday time slot with Channel 5 Defiance Community Television in Defiance, Ohio, and Lori got us back on Channel 57 here in Fort Wayne on Thursday afternoons. Barb took the initiative and we're now on Channel 12 in Bryan, Ohio, twice a day! See our calendar for airing times. We want to thank Barb and Bea and Lori for their efforts! Please make sure you put the success of the telecasts on your prayer list. We'd also like to see if we can sponsor the telecast on other local cable systems, such as in Columbia City, Portland, Decatur and other areas. Please see Bob Borton if you think there is an opportunity in your area. (1/29/06)

Reimbursement forms
We ask when you turn in any reimbursement forms for reimbursement of local church expenses, that you make sure you completely fill out the form. Please make sure you sign it and have a board member countersign it, then turn in to interim treasurer Bob Borton. (11/20/05)

New-song-a-month program
In an effort to learn more songs in our hymnal, we have chosen one new song to learn each month. The songleaders will lead it once a week during an entire month (it should soak in after four or five repetitions!). Click on these to hear the tune and get a head start: (7/10/05)

UCG Fort Wayne charitable donation guidelines
Your local board has been working on a donation guideline document for some time and we now have it finished! Here is a quote from our chairman Scott Moss: "In the interest of good stewardship and open communication, our local board has put together a document that formally reflects how we handle charitable contributions. It is posted on the Web, and we’ll have a stack of printouts on the back table for everyone to take a copy home with them. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask." (12/11/04)