ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Epiphany
Resolution
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness
Lamentations 3:22-3
This is the first time I have written since January 1. We are now in a new calendar year. Whether we care to mark the occasion or not, it is the annual moment when we decide if something will change about our life. Resolutions, they are called.
I've made an observation in the last few months that has been a kind of revelation for me. So many of my epiphanies in Christian faith come retrospectively. By that, I mean that I mostly learn by looking over my shoulder. My dad was a pastor. I don't remember not knowing meaningful faith. The blessing and curse of the reality is that I sometimes fail to appreciate (or really understand) what is and has always been true about the suppositions of my worldview.
Let me give you an example. I don't know what it’s like to not be a Christian. I think this perspective has skewed some of my understandings.
I'm not a philosopher, but Wikipedia tells me that epistemology is defined this way: the branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge. Ontology, on the other hand, is defined as the philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations.
hat's a bit much, so let me reduce those. Epistemology is concerned with how we know. Ontology is concerned with how things are.
Here's why I took the time to define those. As far back as I can remember, my faith has had a kind of ontological status in my memory. I don't remember struggling to accept my suppositions because I’ve always held them. This has marginalized the role of epistemology in my faith pursuit, and that reality has made me lazy in my reading of scripture. So much of what Paul says seemed mechanistic to me. Imperatives didn't seem to work in my life because I already believed Paul. It made me wonder what the role of epistemology was in formation.
Recently, I’ve talked about my obsession with all things agrarian in sermons. In walking through this process I made my discovery. My chicken coop, soon to be filled with chickens, my fallow garden beds and my fledgling compost pile are all direct results of my reading. I read an idea. I internalized the idea. The idea took form and became part of my identity and there are tangible symbols in my yard. An idea became reality. The epistemological became the ontological.
So this is my resolution: I'm going to reclaim the role of epistemology in my devotional life. I’m going back to the scriptures with a trust that I can be drawn into a belief, and that that belief can change the way I live. I'm going to read Paul's and Jesus' and the biblical authors' imperatives and lean into them.
Sunday School
Will begin on Sunday, January 22nd. Information about the classes will be printed in next weeks newsletter.
New Leadership Team Members
Giving Joy's wonderful blogpost, it should now be evident that we are looking for new leadership team members. If you were at our December town hall then you heard me announce that the leadership team decided in their October meeting to add two leadership team positions specifically for college students. It is a kind of quota. The only qualification or difference between the seven current seats for leadership team and these two additional student spots, is that the student spots will be one year commitments with the chance to renew for three years as opposed to the current three year commitment the other leadership team spots require.
So if you would like to be serve or nominate someone else to serve please email our leadership chair Jon Davis, jdavis83@gmail.com.
Here are some things to consider from the bylaws:
(A) Purpose. The Leadership Team shall be the primary decision-making body of UBC. The Leadership Team will oversee all the business and property of the church, as well as make the final decisions regarding hiring and dismissal of staff and the acquisition and selling of assets that are beyond budgetary provisions.
(B) Composition. The Leadership Team shall consist of nine members, two which are university level students, of the UBC community that are not staff, finance team or human recourses and support team.
(C) Qualifications. Each member of Leadership Team shall have been a member of UBC for at least one year, exhibited an understanding and commitment to the mission and values of the church, and be willing to fulfill all responsibilities in the Leadership Team job description.
UBC’s Thailand Partnership
We have some exciting news: the missionaries we work with in Thailand our coming for a visit the weekend of January 29th. They will be sharing more about their work in Thailand during the service that Sunday, and we will also have a time for you to get to know them. On Sunday, January 29th, please join us in the Backside for coffee and fellowship. At 9:30am, during the Sunday School hour, we will be hanging out in the Backside with coffee and snacks, and this will be an opportunity for you to get to know our partners in Thailand better. If you have any questions, please email toph@ubcwaco.org
Work is Worship
Greeters: Will & the Richardsons
Coffee Makers: Emmy & Stephen
Mug Cleaners:
Money Counter: Justin Pond
Announcements
- Sunday Sermon: John 1:35ish "a new place"
- The Middle Ages January 21--Restaurant 1424 at 6:30pm
- Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting is January 29th
- February 3-- Parents Night Out -- More Info to Come
- February 12th - Love Lovefeast
- February 18--The Middle Ages -- TBA
- March 1st - Ash Wednesday
- March 18-- The Middle Ages--TBA
- April 2-- UBC Families @ Soccer Fields -- More Info to Come
- April 7th and 8th - Spring Retreat (Freshman/Sophomores)
- April 13th - Maundy Thursday
- April 14th - Good Friday
- April 16th - Easter
- April 22--The Middle Ages Baylor Theatre production of the comedy NOISES OFF—
- April 30th - Mr. Rogers Sund
- April 30th - Graduate Luncheon
- May 2nd - Study Hall
Do you have an emergency and 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- Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com
Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com
Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu
Adam Winn: adamwinn68@yahoo.com
Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com
Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com
Emma Wood: emmaj.wood@yahoo.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.
Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com
Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com
Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com
Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com
Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu
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
Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu
Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu
Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com