ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time
For it is repeated at of a particular kind that give a man a particular character. - Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
There is change in the air and it happens that America's social calendar coincides with big change in the church calendar. As schools release students into summer vacation, the church releases her people into the largest season--ordinary time.
I was talking with Emily today and she expressed her disdain for the name "ordinary" time reasoning that God is just as active now as God is at any other point on the calendar. I suppose this is similar to the struggle we have in reminding people that categorizing life into sacred and secular isn't good for theology while also realizing there are moments that seem transcendent and set apart. Not having language for that can be frustrating. Not every day is Christmas or Easter and that is good or else Christmas and Easter would seem just like every other day.
The problem is, that there isn't even really any liturgy or even cultural artifacts that teach us how to move through the ordinary time. No Christmas music or Christmas trees. No Easter bunnies or Easter confessions. In ordinary time, we practice being Christians without a holiday to remind us what kind.
I've probably used that Aristotle quote more than any other in sermons. It cuts to the heart of what I believe discipleship is. Following Jesus is about learning to how be like Jesus so that you move through world like Jesus would. Discipleship then is rehearsing Jesus thoughts, words and actions over and over until they become your instinct and your character.
There used to be sign that hung in the weight room of my high school. It read, "game day is pay day." I took that to mean that the day on which I played games I'd be thankful for all the hard work and repetition that i put in during practice. I suppose that church calendar works the other way around. Meaning we learn the theology, themes and movement of Christian faith during Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost so that when those things are gone we still look like Jesus people. Game days teach us how to practice.
It's easy to wait during advent, fast during lent and celebrate during Easter because that's what everyone else is doing. But what happens when someone you know dies in June, you grieve in July and your kid takes her first step in August? We have to learn the life, death, and resurrection during the high points on the calendar so that we can reclaim the gospel in the everyday experiences of life. Ordinary time is the season in which we learn to live Christian Faith.
This last Sunday was Trinity Sunday. It's kind of the like that sign on the highway that warns, "no gas for the next 200 miles." We won't hear from the Calendar again until Christ the King Sunday calls us to attention in late November. As part of Trinity Sunday, Jamie read a meaningful quote from N.T. Wright. Many of you have shared your appreciation for that quote. I conclude by leaving it here.
“In the church’s year, Trinity Sunday is the day when we stand back from the extraordinary sequence of events that we’ve been celebrating for the previous five months—Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost—and when we rub the sleep from our eyes and discover what the word ‘god’ might actually mean. These events function as a sequence of well-aimed hammer-blows which knock at the clay jars of the gods we want, the gods who reinforce our own pride or prejudice, until they fall away and reveal instead a very different god, a dangerous god, a subversive god, a god who comes to us like a blind beggar with wounds in his hands, a god who comes to us in wind and fire, in bread and wine, in flesh and blood: a god who says to us, ‘You did not choose me; I chose you.’
You see, the doctrine of the Trinity, properly understood, is as much a way of saying ‘we don’t know’ as of saying ‘we do know.’ To say that the true God is Three and One is to recognize that if there is a God then of course we shouldn’t expect him to fit neatly into our little categories. If he did, he wouldn’t be God at all, merely a god, a god we might perhaps have wanted. The Trinity is not something that the clever theologian comes up with as a result of hours spent in the theological laboratory, after which he or she can return to announce that they’ve got God worked out now, the analysis is complete, and here is God neatly laid out on a slab. The only time they laid God out on a slab he rose again three days afterwards.
On the contrary: the doctrine of the Trinity is, if you like, a signpost pointing ahead into the dark, saying: ‘Trust me; follow me; my love will keep you safe.’ Or, perhaps better, the doctrine of the Trinity is a signpost pointing into a light which gets brighter and brighter until we are dazzled and blinded, but which says: ‘Come, and I will make you children of light.’ The doctrine of the Trinity affirms the rightness, the propriety, of speaking intelligently that the true God must always transcend our grasp of him, even our most intelligent grasp of him.”
A Few Things on Children's Ministry from Emily
Parents! We are going to be starting a new check-in system for UBCKids, but I need your help to get it up and running! This Sunday, we will have our 4 new iPads available in the lobby for you to enter your family information into our new database! If you will not be here this Sunday, I will be sure to get you set up, but I figured this would help speed that process up significantly! I will be available for troubleshooting and questions! Thanks~ Emily
The Roots Class Camp-In for current and upcoming Roots Kids (1st grade and up!) is TONIGHT at 6:00pm! If you haven't already, be sure to let Emily know if you are planning on being there so that we can be sure to have enough hot dogs and s'mores! See you
The Summer is coming quickly and many of the college students (and faithful volunteers!) are headed home for break, but our UBCKids are staying put! I know that no one wants to do the math this late in the school year, but I'll go ahead and tell you...it means we need some more help! If you are interested in helping out with kids over the Summer, we are organizing volunteers now and we would love to have you on our team! 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!
This (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
Meet Our Newest Finance Team Member
Lacy Crocker
Vocation: (could be your job or something you love doing/believe you were made for): Helping people fall in love with the Old Testament.
favorite movie: To Kill a Mockingbird (It's my favorite book too!)
best restaurant in Waco: Torchy's
Bible verse/chapter/book that has been meaningful for you: Psalm 18
best television show: Does March Madness count?
favorite holiday: National Coffee Day...and Christmas!
something you might not know about me: People like to give me money...I made a profit off my undergrad institution. Hopefully, this skill will come in handy as a new member of the Finance Team.
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.
We also have an update on the search committee. Per the bylaws search committees are formed in the following. The staff select one member, the HR team selects one member, the leadership team selects one member and the leadership team nominates two individuals from the community bringing the committee to a total of five. That is the following:
HR: Maxcey Blaylock, maxceykite@gmail.com
Leadership Team: Kristin Dodson, kschwebke@prodigy.net
Staff: Josh Carney, Josh@ubcwaco.org
Lay Member: Marcus Mataga
Lay Member: Jess Engblom
Summer Sunday School: “Faith and Art"
This summer (June 7th - July26th), we will discuss the relationship between faith and art, using Madeline L’Engle’s Walking on Water as our guide. Note: Artistic experience and a willingness to buy/read this book are not required. If you have any questions, email jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Work is Worship
Greeters: Gerhard and Blaylocks
Coffee Makers: Logan & Allyson
Mug Cleaners: The Kuhls
Announcements:
Sunday Sermon Text: Laborers in the Vineyard - Matthew 20:1-16
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: We will meet at Tom's Burgers, on Tuesday @ noon. Please email jamie@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 .
The Next Empty Nester event will be on June 17th. More information to come. If you have any questions about this group or would like to be added to the email list please email kim @ tackhaines@msn.com.
Our next Town Hall to review items on the agenda for the next leadership team meeting will be next Sunday, June 14th after church.
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