ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Ordinary Time
Have I Got A Surprise For You? (by jamie)
No, I don’t. But here you are.
I hope your September is shaping up to be better than average.
You may or may not be aware that Sunday School starts this Sunday at 9:30 am. I don’t say “may or may not” because we haven’t announced it, but because communication is a strange and complicated thing and I don’t assume that announcing it always does the trick. But now you definitely know, right?
Good.
Because I want to use my precious newsletter week to make an appeal to you, dear reader, to attend Sunday School this semester. We have two classes, though we have a third ready to throw in the rotation if the other two are flooded.
The two classes are as follows:
Cheers! The Sunday School Class Where Everyone Knows Your Name will be led by Jeff Walter and Adam Winn. That class will be focused on getting to know one another (starting with names, as you might have gathered), and the discussion will be around Galatians. Adam is going to be doing the teaching part, and he’s a world-class scholar who is a couple of weeks out from releasing a book on Mark that has a crown of thorns and an ancient coin on the cover. He was also my professor for a class on Mark, and I can confirm that he’s very good at what he does.
Attention Collection will be led by Kerri Fisher and me. That class will be focused on getting to know one another, and the discussion will be around the things that have formed the way we think about life, God, the world, ourselves, etc.
Now, you might have noticed both of those classes will be focusing on getting to know one another. And it’s true.
Taylor and I have been working with a team to explore the dimensions of (dis)connection in this body we call ubc, and that process has been truly wonderful and exciting. [ALSO, YOUR VOICE CAN BE A PART OF THAT IF YOU FILL OUT THIS SURVEY BUT ONLY IF YOU DO IT BEFORE SUNDAY BECAUSE WE NEED TO MOVE ON FROM THIS DATA COLLECTION PHASE].
It feels kind of strange to be so excited about getting critical feedback, but we literally asked for it, so whatever.
I think it might be exciting because it’s difficult to address problems (great or small) without looking at them, taking the time to notice and pay attention to the pain.
I once heard Peter Rollins quote someone somewhere as having noted that problems/symptoms/aches are prophets to us—they proclaim the truth of what is wrong, and we have to learn to listen to them if we’re going to approach healing.
I think about it often, and it seems true enough.
But anyway, back to my appeal to you to come to Sunday School.
I’ve been processing the data we’ve received so far, and I’m compiling a MEGA document to have it all organized together. In this process, it is clear that the best points of connection among the things we currently have in place are mi casas, sunday school, and volunteering.
Of the three, Sunday School seems to be the most accessible—you are presumably coming to church that morning anyway, which means you don’t have to muster the energy to leave the house again after work, or wait to be scheduled in a rotation to volunteer in some capacity, and if you have kids, there’s stuff for kids/youth happening during that hour as well.
The topics of the classes will no doubt be interesting and formative, but I truly believe that their most worthwhile and enduring value will be in the connection they foster.
But connection can only happen if you show up.
So please show up.
And, yes, showing up can be difficult.
And connecting with other people has its own share of difficulties and potential awkward moments.
But I’m inclined to believe it’s worth it.
—
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, lets get coffee: feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Parents Night Out
Could you really use a break? Would you love nothing more than to sit on your couch and listen to silence? Does your life feel like the Duggars without the paterfamilias? PNO might be for you then. On Friday, September 14, we invite you to drop your kids off at UBC and have a wild night on the town on us. Interested persons should email Taylor@ubcwaco.org to let her know.
Life's Too Short To Pretend You're Not Religious Book Club
If you want to read David Dark's Life's Too Short To Pretend You're Not Religious and talk about it with other people, email jamie@ubcwaco.org.
nUBC’ers Luncheon
If you are new to UBC in the last 6 months, we would like to invite you to lunch on the 23rd of September, after church. We will talk to you a little bit about UBC’s history, what we are currently doing, and give you time to meet other folks who are in the same stage of church life. If you have any questions, please email toph@ubcwaco.org
Fall Groups
We will have another sign-up for our Fall Groups this Sunday after the service. Tables will be set-up in the sanctuary for you to get more information from the leaders, and if you have any questions before hand please email toph@ubcwaco.org All of our groups are rolling sign-ups, so don't feel like you have to sign-up this week if you aren’t ready.
Lunch Buddies
Hello all, we will be starting up our Lunch Buddy program with Caesar Chavez soon. Lunch Buddies is a great opportunity to get involved with the community, if you choose to participate you will be pared up with a middle schooler at CC and you will get lunch with them once a week. If you are interested sign ups will be in the foyer starting 9/16 and more information will be given to you later.
Random Pic To Generate Clickbait Traffic
Parishioner of the Week
Jon Davis, for securing a magnificent projector screen for the backside and leading the way in hanging it.
Work is Worship
Greeters: Ricky & Rose
Coffee Makers: College Women's Group
Mug Cleaners:
Money Counter: Kuhl
Welcome Station:
Announcements
- Sermon Text:
- 9-16 Mi Casa's begin
- 9-16 Children Worker Teacher Training
- 9-19 Faith & Family Session 1
- 9-21 Youth Game Night w/ parents (5-6)
- 9-23 nUBC'ers Luncheon
- 9-28 Backside
- 9-30 OOTP Taco Fund Raiser After Church
- 10-4 College Womens/Mens Group Skate Night
- 10-18/21 Junior & Senior Fall Retreat
- 10-19 Youth Lock In (5-6)
- 10-26/27 Stay in Retreat for youth (7-12)
- 10-27 Womens college group service project
- 10-31 OOTP Halloween Party
- 11-9 Youth Boys and Girls Night (7-12)
- 11-18 Youth Sunday
- 11-4 Bring Parents to Church Day
- 12/5 Pre-Pancake Party Mens and Womens college group
- 12-9 Last Sunday of the fall semester/Christmas Youth (5-6)
- 12-12 Last Wednesday of fall semester/Christmas party Youth (7-12)
Leadership Team
If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members.
Chair- Adam Winn: adamwinn68@yahoo.com
Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com
Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu
Emma Wood: emma.wood@yahoo.com
Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com
Jeremy Nance: Jeremy Nance <Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com>
Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com
Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu
Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu
UBC Finance Team
Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.
JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu
Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com
Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com
Doug McNamee: douglas.mcnamee@gmail.com
Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com
UBC HR Team
If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.
Josh Blake: joshnblake@gmail.com
Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu
Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com
Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com
Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com