FELLOWSHIP NEWS & NOTES Fellowship Family Updates


Mark R. Babb, 60, of Sturgis, MI, died peacefully on De- cember 1. He served a number of churches as an ordained elder and later, as an ordained deacon.


Richard Butler died in Little Rock, AR, on June 4. A life- long Wesleyan, Richard served his church, First UMC of Little Rock, on committees for Music, Worship, Ecumeni- cal Affairs, and Mission & Outreach.


Paul Erickson has been newly appointed as Director of Worship, Music and the Arts at First UMC in Corpus Christi, TX. He is relocating from Kansas City, MO.


Dan Francabandiero, 74, died on Decem- ber 10, at home with close friends by his side. Dan became president of Te Fellow- ship in 1999 and was known for his wit and constant advice to “let it go!” Dan served


as Chancel Choir/Bell Director and Organist at Riverside Park UMC in Jacksonville, FL. He retired in 2012 aſter 40 years of music ministry.


Marilyn Hirschman has retired aſter 54 years in church music, the last 42 years as music director at Farmer City UMC in Farmer City, IL. She served multiple times as president of the Illinois Great Rivers


Conference Chapter of Te Fellowship, served on Te Fellowship’s national board, and attended every national and jurisdictional convocation from 1980-2015. Marilyn writes: “Te Fellowship changed my life and, consequently, the life of our church family.”


Aſter 24 years as a classroom teacher, Cathy Love began her first appointment as pastor at Grass Valley UMC in Grass Valley, CA, in July. She is on track to graduate from Claremont School of Teology in May 2021. Cathy writes: “My 22-pound orange tabby has achieved his lifetime goal of becoming an official church cat!”


Kevin McBeth recently celebrated his 25th anniversary as Director of Music and Worship Arts at Manchester UMC in Manchester, MO. He was also a 2019 Recipient of the Missouri Choral Directors


Association Podium Award for Exemplary Contributions to the Choral Art.


Te Rev. William Bobby McClain, 82, died aſter a short illness on November 18. Rev. McClain taught preaching and worship at Wesley Teological Seminary for 34 years. He was instrumental in the publication of Songs of Zion, published by the United Methodist Publishing House and Abingdon Press in 1980. Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling (Baltimore-Washington Conference) notes that McClain “helped many young minds understand the necessity of wrestling with Scripture in light of God’s liberative preferential option for the poor.” In 2015, Rev. McClain received Te Fellowship’s Roger Deschner Award at our convocation in Indianapolis.


Jane Neve, spouse of John Neve, died on December 29. John and Jane were regular attendees of Western Jurisdiction and na- tional Fellowship events.


Sterling Rainey died October 24, at age 92. He was music director at First UMC in San Rafael, CA, for more than 60 years. He regularly attended Fellowship convocations, beginning in 1977 at Santa Clara, CA.


Sharon Saulmon retired as Music Direc- tor/Organist from Southern Hills UMC in Oklahoma City, OK, where she served as organist since 1978. Service accompanist, children’s choir accompanist, special music


and drama programs planner, and bell choir member were some of the many hats that she wore. Sharon was principal in “Ty Group” musical trio in the 1980s and “Te Fantas- tic Four Piano Ladies” (2005-2019).


Mary Scifres and her spouse, B. J. Beu, have published the first two volumes of “Worship at Home” (Advent Christmas 2020 and Lent 2021) in their new series of worship resources for Abingdon Press, written for


people to worship while sheltering at home or to design worship with congregations. Both volumes are available through Cokesbury and Amazon.


Betty Taylor, 92, of Conde, SD, died on April 17. Betty served as the organist at Conde UMC for nearly 40 years in addition to oſten helping to drive tractors or grain carts on her family farm. She served for a number of years on several national Fellowship committees.


__________________________________________________________________________________________________ January-February-March 2021 • WorshipArts • UMFellowship.org


23


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36