ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Easter 2015
Missions Update (exciting news locally and an update on our global initiatives)
As people on an intentional journey toward Christ, we are to be active participants in bringing the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We strive to be missional, to be the incarnate Christ immersed in the world, without becoming a product of it. In each situation we find ourselves in (i.e. - work, home, school, church, the grocery store, the pub, etc.), we seek to actively love those around us through word and deed, and to consistently seek out opportunities to live and be caught up in the life Christ embodied.
Exciting News with CCMS
Recently, UBC received some exciting news: we are being given the “Award of Excellence – Secondary,” through the Waco ISD Adopt a School Program. The program coordinator asked us for a little more information on what we do with CCMS, and our response is below.
“We are honored to be able to attend the Partnership Recognition Breakfast, accept the Award of Excellence - Secondary, and have loved another year of partnering with CCMS. We have two main areas with which we help, then a few one-time things we did this year. In our lunch buddy program, we had 12 mentors who began meeting with their kids the first week of October 2014, through the beginning of May 2015. These mentors committed to being at school for at least one lunch a week to meet with their student, and spend some time investing in them. We also had 8 tutors who began about the same time, and they spent 1-2hrs a week, from 4-5 on Tues/Thurs. afternoons working with students on Reading and Reading Comprehension. Each week, we probably put in 10-14hrs combined at the school, working with students.
CCMS is our longest standing community partner, and we love working with the school and administration to help the families in our neighborhood. UBC has been in our current location, 1701 Dutton, since 1997, and our goal has always been to be invested/involved in the neighborhood, and to love those around us. Partnering with CCMS allows us to help in some unique ways, as does partnering with the South Waco Community Center and Jesus Said Love. Each year we seek not to propose programs to the school, but to talk with Ms. Ash and Mrs. Garcia, and others in administration, to see how we can help them this year. The tutoring program was started this year out of those conversations that happened last summer.
UBC also tries to be a resource anytime the school needs help with one time projects. Recently Ms. Ash called to see if we would be willing to collect school supplies for kids who might need them, and this was an immediate “yes” from us. When we helped out with greeting during STARS testing, we had 12 volunteers who showed up early, energetic, and ready to interact with students.
Lastly, having partnered with CCMS for several years, we know how draining/demanding the STARS testing season can be on teachers as well, so we decided to encourage them. I worked with the staff at CCMS to collect the names/job of each person at the school, and our UBC community spent time writing personalized notes to all 90+ faculty and staff at CCMS. Inside each note we put a $5 gift card to either Shipleys, Starbucks, Common Grounds, etc… During one of the days of STARS testing, we placed the notes in the teacher’s boxes’ in their workroom, along with some cookies from Lula Janes. Our why: we simply wanted to remind the teachers that they are not forgotten during this season, that we love you and are praying for you.
If you include all those who helped with teacher encouragement, tutoring, greeting, and mentoring, we had over 100 volunteers this year at CCMS.”
Update on UBC Global
As our partnership with Batey 50, Dominican Republic, was coming to a close in the Spring of 2014, we began exploring potential new partnerships in Asia. Since UBC began engaging the work of the kingdom overseas, we focused on Kenya first, then, most recently, the Dominican Republic. Through research, prayer, and discernment, the Leadership Team directed staff to begin pursuing a 3/4yr intentional partnership in Asia. After much conversation and prayer, we did a scouting trip to India in February 2014 to discern working with one of two organizations there. Upon completion of the trip, everything looked promising for UBC to begin a partnership in India starting May 2015, but over the course of a few months, doors began to close on our potential work in India.
In early October 2014, we made the decision that India would no longer be a viable option for our next partnership, and we went back to the drawing board, while still keeping our focus in Asia. Over the last few months, we have researched potential partnerships in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and we have been prayerful about what next steps to take concerning UBC’s next international partnership. Through connections with missionaries in Thailand, we pursued a potential one-time opportunity that we advertised in the Spring of 2015, but there was not significant interest in the trip at the time. Over the course of the last few months, as we have been in conversation with potential partners in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, we discerned that our next partnership will be in Thailand.
On Monday, Melissa and I will head to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to spend a week doing ministry and scouting logistics for UBC to begin taking teams in May 2016. The missionaries we will be working alongside work with SE Asian immigrants in Chiang Mai, and UBC will come alongside of them to assist in their outreach to the immigrant community surrounding the Night Market in Chiang Mai. Please pray for Melissa and I as we travel to Chiang Mai and set the framework for UBC to begin our next international partnership in May 2016. If you have any questions concerning our philosophy of missions, how we moved from Kenya, to the Dominican Republic, to India, and now to Thailand, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org . We look forward to giving you a full update on our partnership in Thailand in June when we return.
Meet Our Newest HR Team Member
Rob Engblom
Vocation: (could be your job or something you love doing/believe you were made for): I am the Associate Director for Resident Learning in the office of Campus Living & Learning at Baylor University. That’s a fancy way of saying I help run the residence halls.
favorite movie: Aliens. Bill Paxton is the greatest actor of our time.
best restaurant in Waco: Chuy’s
Bible verse/chapter/book that has been meaningful for you: I’ve always found Hebrews 11 to be encouraging…
best television show: Ever? Lost. Currently? I enjoyed Daredevil on Netflix.
favorite holiday: Christmas.
something you might not know about me: I’ve never had coffee before, but I have been a judge in a coffee brewing contest.
Office Manager Position
We are excited to announce that Michelle has landed a full time position in her field of social work. Michelle begins working for Hillcrest Hospital on June 21st. Yeah Michelle! That means we will be taking applications for the UBC Office Manager position.
The office manager position is a part time position that is paid for 20 hours a week. The Office Administrator performs the daily administrative needs of the church and staff as well as maintains responsibly of all financial duties. The Office Administrator oversees building rentals and maintenance needs of the church. Interested persons can find more information by clicking here.
Garage Sale
A few people have asked me about garage sale. We have decided to not do the the garage sale this year. The decision was made for several reasons.
1. there was conflict in staff schedules this summer. said differently because one or more of us are gone at different points we feared that the majority of the work would fall on one or two people.
2. in recent years we've found that the garage sale has accumulated junk. Often we end up being a dumping grounds for getting rid of things that can't be sold and in some cases we even need to pay to get rid of.
3. the biggest and most important reason is lack of participation. last summer that week before garage sale we didn't have many volunteers. part of the garage sale has been about galvanizing participation and community. that has been a steady decline for a few years.
a few follow up comments. if you have already made a donation to UBC for the garage sale and would like your stuff back please contact us and we would be glad to arrange that.
we are not doing away with the garage sale permanently. we are simply taking a break this year and will reevaluate next spring.
we are still financially dependent on fundraising income. in that regard you should know that we are planning a few other fundraising events. the first will happen his fall. we are hoping to partner with a few local organizations to host a comedy and magic show.
A Children's Ministry Update from Emily
It's that time of year again! If you have a child who is currently in the Roots class or who will be entering 1st grade next year, mark your calendars! On June 5th we will hold our annual Roots Camp-In Sleepover to welcome our new Roots kids! We will kick off at UBC at 6pm Friday evening and have fun together until 9am Saturday morning! Dinner, snacks, games, crafts, movies, breakfast and awesomeness will be provided...but they will need a sleep stuff and toiletries! More information will come this week, but feel free to email Emily at emily@ubcwaco.org if you have any questions! Thanks!
As I said last week, we are currently looking for extra hands to help with UBCKids this summer! We have Volunteer opportunities available in each age group, as well as Sunday School, so it's time to put aside your fear of tiny people and sign up! To whet your appetite a little, here's a teaser of the awesomeness that will be happening in UBCKids this Summer: Babies and Toddlers (Nurture and Sprout Rooms) will be loving life and loving each other as they learn about God's love through play! Our curriculum rooms will be finishing out the trifecta of UBC Values by learning about Discipleship! We will be looking at the model that Jesus gave us for Disciples ship and focusing on Scripture, Relationships and Service. To do this, Bloom (older 2's-young 4's) will be exploring the fundamentals of who Jesus was and what He taught us about how to live, while Branch (older 4's-Kindergarten) and Root (1st and up) will meet together to explore Jesus' life and relationships that show us how we should carry on His Message. In Sunday School, our 1st-4th graders will be researching and investigating those people in the Bible who had close encounters of the Jesus-kind and how they were changed! After we do a little digging, we will break into teams and use technology to create stop-motion videos that re-tell the story of their choosing!
Room Volunteers (during the service) will be on a once-every-4-week team rotation (that means 3 times, at most, over the Summer), while the Sunday School team will meet with 1st grade and up each week during the Sunday School hour (9:30-10:15). If you are interested in helping out with kids over the Summer, we would love to have you! Please email Emily at emily@ubcwaco.org for more information! Thanks!
If you are a parent who DOESN'T feel called or otherwise inclined to hang out in a room with kids, but you value the UBCKids program, we have the opportunity of a lifetime for you! This Summer we will be starting our PG-13 Team! (No, silly, this doesn't mean that we will use bad language...) PG-13 is a group of 12 parents (there's the P!), plus the Children's Pastor (see...13!), who help guide the UBCKids program towards success (and there's the G...are you with me now?!) We will work together to do things like, keep the rooms organized, decorated and updated, greet families, old and new, to make them feel welcome and cared for, show appreciation for volunteers, help with child check-in/check-out and anything else that we find will help UBCKids be more effective and fulfilling for our kids, families and volunteers! If you are interested, I'd love to hear from you! Please email me at emily@ubcwaco.org!
Not this Sunday...but next Sunday...(June 7th) will be promotion Sunday! Because kids stay for at least 2 years in most of our rooms, this is a big change for our kids who are promoting! If your child has turned 2, 4 or 6 during this school year, they will be promoted to the next class up, so help us out by discussing this in the coming weeks and tell them how excited we are that they are growing up SO fast! We will be having a fun-filled, celebratory Sunday in the three biggest rooms (Bloom, Sprout and Root) to welcome our new friends and to help them get acclimated to their new classroom! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Thanks- Emily emily@ubcwaco.com
A Call for Artists (of all kinds)
Jamie is mulling over some future projects for the community that would enlist the use of art.
so ...
If you are a visual artist of any kind, and are interested in creating things for UBC, we want to know! Please contact Jamie (Jamie@ubcwaco.org)
Empty Nester Event
Our next empty nester event will be Tomorrow, May 30th, at the Haines house. Fajitas will be provided. Please plan on bringing a side, dessert or drink to share. If you would like more information please email josh@ubcwaco.org.
Work is Worship
Greeters: The Haines, Jana Parker, & Bonny Dennis
Coffee Makers: Jacob & Hopefully Somebody Else ...
Mug Cleaners: Team Kuhl
Shutdown Team: The Golden Glitter Girls
Announcements:
Sunday Sermon Text: Luke 12:13-21. We are beginning a Six week series on the Words of Jesus. Here are the texts that will be used in worship for preaching over the next several weeks.
5-31 The Rich Man and the Barns - Luke 12:13-21
6-7 Laborers in the Vineyard - Matthew 20:1-16
- 6-14 The Pharisee and the Publican - Luke 18:9-1
- 6-21 Weeds and the Grain - Matthew 13:24-30
- 6-28 The Closed Door - Luke 13:22-30
- 7-5 the Good Samaritan - 10:25-3
Summer Sunday School Begins June 7th
Grillz and Chillz will take place at the Carney household on the evening of June 10th. We will meet at the Carney Casa to enjoy food, fun, and fellowship. We will provide the main dish (hamburgers and hot dogs), you bring a side and drinks. This is open to everyone who wants to come: college, young professionals, grad students, families, etc... Please sign-up in the foyer if you can make it, so we can know how many burgers/hotdogs to buy. If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org .
Waco dives will start this June. Our first one will be June 3rd. We will meet at Taqueria Arandas, at noon. Please email toph@ubcwaco.org if you have any questions.
UBC Summer Party Jun 28th - directly after church - we will provide the food and drinks. More information coming soon...
School Supply Drive - starting this Sunday, we are partnering with CCMS to collect school supplies for kids in Waco. There will be a box in the foyer through the month of June to collect the supplies, and attached to the box is a list of supplies needed. If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org .
Justice Conference - June 6th - is being simulcast for free at Baylor University. You can find more information, and register for free here: www.justiceandmercy.engineering
Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:
254 413 2611
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- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net
Jana Parker: jparkerslp@gmail.com
Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu
David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu
Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu
Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com
Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com
UBC Finance Team
Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.
Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu
Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com
Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu
Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com
Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com
Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@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.
Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com
Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com
Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu
Jeff Walter: Jeff_Walter@ubcwaco.org
Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu