I Joined the UPC
 

I Dreamed That I Joined the UPC

I had a weird dream last night. I dreamed that I joined the UPC.

In my dream I was in a room with other people. The room was a meeting area and also had a dining area in it. I was in the meeting area. There were chairs out and arranged facing a head table with several leaders sitting at it. The chairs were not in straight rows but placed rather randomly. The dining area was right next to it and some people were seated at tables at the edge of the dining area but were part of the group that were in the meeting. I walked up to one of the men at the head table and said, “I’ve decided to take out a license with the UPC.” The man stood up, smiled, reached for my hand and seemed happy and said, “Well, it’s about time.” Another man who had been seated next to him also stood up to welcome me and echoed the same sentiments. It seemed they were familiar with me and happy that I had decided to join them and they willingly accepted me.

The people at the head table were not dressed up but were in casual attire or semi-dress up attire. They did not have on suits and neck ties but were in dress slacks and casual shirts. One woman seemed to be the “Queen Bee.” She was walking around and stopping often to converse with people seated in the seating area. She had a place of prominence and I thought she was the wife of the Superintendent, Chairman, or Presiding Bishop. She had on a small “pill box” type hat. Her hair was (dyed) black and quite short just feathering out from under her hat. She had on several strings of pearls and a black dress. She had on earrings that matched the pearls around her neck.

A younger woman came up to me and I recognized her. She was a combination of a couple of the teenage girls who were a part of the youth group in our ALJC Church back in the nine teen seventies when I was a sectional Youth Leader and my sons were teenagers. This young lady was now in her late forties, possibly early fifties which is the age of my children now. She was a teenager with them and knew them. Her hair was light brown to blonde and came down to about her shoulders. Her husband (that I did not see right then) was a UPC minister. She was glad that "Bro. Ellis" was now part of them sorta like it was when I was a youth leader and Sunday School teacher to them years ago.

I was dressed casually with gym shoes, jeans and a western type shirt --blue and red stripes, two pockets with flaps on the front, and pearl snaps instead of buttons. I don’t drink alcohol but at one point in my dream I was sitting with some ministers and I had a quart bottle of a local Cincinnati brand beer next to me from which I had been drinking. I did not try to hide the bottle and it seemed OK to them. I thought, “well, they can smell the alcohol on my breath so there is no need to hide this bottle from them.”

It seemed to me that this was not an international or national meeting but was a meeting of the Ohio District of the UPC and they were meeting in Cincinnati.

The whole group seemed very accepting of me even though they knew what I believe and teach. It seemed like they welcomed diversity among them and had “relaxed” some of the things they had taught in the past.

I remember wondering about a couple things. I had not filled out an application for license yet I was accepted and licensed as a minister. I had not read all the books required for licensing and thought that maybe they had waived that requirement for me based on my one year of UPC Bible School back in 1956/1957 and the years of experience preaching and teaching that I have. I also wondered how I could ever keep up the dues, assessments, etc. realizing that even if I took it out of my tithe, the tithe might not be enough to cover it all and that would result in a decrease in financial contributions to our local church. I had the impression that I was granted a UPC minister’s license and would not be giving up my ordination in the Churches of Jesus Christ International and in the Hamilton Dream Center (our local church). So I would now be affiliated with 3 organizations instead of 2 like I am now. I also wondered, “What will I do about the Affirmation Statement? Do they still do that every other year or should I just modify it by saying that I will preach ‘the Bible’ and cross out some of the other words before I sign it.”

When I woke up it just seemed so strange to have dreamed something like that. It seemed strange to see a UPC which had relaxed, become more open and accepting, and could accept me as I am. I guess that really IS a dream.

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

Speaking of Ohio, UPC, and Cincinnati I heard Joel Urshan Jr. preach for the first time recently this year at a youth conference. Very good preacher. Sorry... off topic... but interesting dream.

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

I only heard him preach once and that was a sermon I downloaded. He does all right. I would expect him to go "far" in the UPC.

There are currently 3 "UPC" churches in Cincinnati. Joel Urshan pastors one of the oldest. It was started in the 1920's when Bro. Frank Curts took over a split group that had left another church. I'm not sure if any of the non-UPC churches in Cincinnati are descended from that church that was split back then or not. Bro. Curts came from Indiana and started with about 13 people and got up to several hundred at one time. It was called Bethlehem Tabernacle and later changed the name to First Apostolic (FAC).

In 1945 a group split off the congregation Bro. Curts was pastoring and became the Full Gospel Church. They later hired a pastor, Joe David Sizemore, and then became an ALJC Church. After Joe David Sizemore died he was replaced by Shelley Hendricks and the church became UPC. I think it is still UPC and also affiliated with Joel Osteen.

The FAC church split in the 1960's and Bro. and Sis. Norman Paslay left with a pretty good sized group and started the Calvary Church which is now pastored by their son Norman Paslay III

FAC passed to Bro. Leroy Buller after Bro. Curts died and Bro. Buller pastored until he retired. He is now the "Bishop" and they have been through 2 or 3 pastors. Joel Urshan is the current pastor

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

Have you ever been to Bishop Paul A. Bowers church in Cincinnati? He fellowships with my church back in DC yearly. We used to be in the same organization until my pastor split from the PAW just recently. A lot of apostolic church is Cincinnati so I've found out. Large churches too.

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

I was at Bishop Bowers church back in the early 1960's when he was in just a small building in the city of Cincinnati. They merged with another Church in the City of Lincoln Heights and later bought a large building where they are currently located. He was the Presiding Bishop of the PAW for a while. I was only at his church that one time for a service but did drop by his current church once several years ago to drop off a VHS tape for Transformation Cincinnati.

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

So, was that a dream or a nightmare? :)

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

Sam you need to quit before you go to sleep. It will cause you to have crazy dreams. :killinme

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

That's too funny.

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

I would not be surprised by any of this. It is a well known fact that this is where they are going.

Re: I Joined the UPC
 

Lol. I was thinking the same thing!