ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Ordinary Time
One of the lectionary texts for this week is Mary’s Magnificat. Found in the gospel of Luke the Magnificat is also known as the song or canticle of Mary. When Mary goes to visit the home of Elizabeth (her cousin) and Zechariah. When she greeted Elizabeth – who was pregnant with John the Baptist at the time – Elizabeth immediately proclaims a blessing over her, saying, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
And then Mary launches into the Magnificat, saying:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
I wrote some about Mary and the Magnificat last year in the blog. And about how I’m beginning to understand Mary as a guide for me on this leg of my spiritual journey. Lots of people have opinions about Mary – and lots of people have had opinions about Mary since the beginning of Christianity essentially.
One of my favorite things I learned about Mary in seminary is that at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431 they determined that Mary was henceforth to be understood as “Theotokos” or the bearer of God. There had been some people claiming that Mary had only been “Christokos” the bearer of the incarnated Christ. So, ultimately, they were saying that Mary had carried and given birth to the human part of Jesus, but not the divine part of Jesus. It was decided that this was heresy because it divided the divinity and humanity of Christ in a way that the Church did not affirm – Christ was fully God and fully human at all times. So – Mary must have been Theotokos – the bearer of God. What a title.
And it makes me thankful that our God is a God who chooses to let humanity be involved. A God who chose a human woman to be the bearer of God – to bring both the humanity and divinity of God into the world.
You can let me know if you have any questions or if you’d like to talk about any of this by shooting me an email at taylor@ubcwaco.org.
Image to Generate Clickbait Traffic
Social Media Intern
UBC is looking for a social media intern. Someone to help Digital manage and promote the happenings of UBC. This is not a paid position, but it does pay in resume building and access to a really great bunch of people (AKA the UBC staff). The expectation is that this person would work 3-5 hours a week, presumably, from wherever, because the digital world exists online. Interested persons can request the job description by emailing josh@ubcwaco.org.
ITLTOC Break
The last edition of the ITLOTC in 2019 will be published on December 17th. ITLOTC will be off the weeks of 12-24, 12-31, and 1-7. A new edition of ITLOTC will be published next year, in a new decade, on 1-14-20. We look forward to being re:united with our faithful readers at that point.
UBCYP Christmas Party
We’re having a Christmas Party for “young” “professionals” on December 14th at 6pm. Sign up by emailing jamie@ubcwaco.org for more the details!
Study Hall - December 10 & 11 - 10am-midnight
Yes, it is in fact Tuesday December, 10, but I thought that reading this in an email might remind you that study hall his happening RIGHT NOW! This a real time announcement baked right into the newsletter. Almost like a tweet. How’s that for a wild happening.
Youth Word of the Week
The youth word of the week was “geyser.” I did use the word geyser when describing the anger that erupted in me as the lady took my parking spot at HEB.
Parishioner of the Week
Announcements
Sermon Text:
Last youth group meetings/Christmas Party 12/15 & 12/18
Christmas Eve Service December 24th, 5:30 PM
Work is Worship
Greeters: Richardsons
Coffee Makers: Clark and Co.
Mug Cleaners: Nelson
Money Counter: George Thornton
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: Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu
Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com
Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com
Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com
Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com
Jose Zuniga: jzgrphix2002@yahoo.com
Taylor Torregrossa: Taylordtorregrossa@gmail.com
Student Position: Davis Misloski
Student Position: Maddy O’Shaughnessy
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
Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com
Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com
Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com
George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.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.
Erin Albin: erin.albin1@gmail.com
Sam Goff: samuelgoff92@gmail.com
Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com
Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com