ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Ordinary Time
Between Moves by Matt Frise
Over the course of the summer, UBC will say goodbye to four families that have been part of our community for some time. I've asked each of them to write something for the newsletter about their experience at UBC and something they learned. This first entry is by Matt Frise.
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We’re leaving UBC. My wife and I are moving our baby son and all our belongings to California, the home of redwood forests and Disneyland, Hollywood and hippies. My career as an academic makes us move often. This will be our fourth state in four years. If you live simply, your move can be a slipshod thing and still work out alright. But family-moving is rarely simple, demanding so much planning that it can feel like scheming. I know how much money I’m saving by buying moving supplies at Home Depot rather than Lowes, and how much beer to ply my friends with as they help me load the moving truck. Most folks will learn the basics within a few moves.
It’s harder to learn to live well between moves.
We used to live in California, in a redwood forest even. Redwoods grow to staggering heights. Hike among them and they will humble you, as thoroughly as a sermon will. And yet? They have strangely shallow root-balls. If you take your hike after a storm, you’ll feel a kind of grief when you see how many of the trees have toppled. They might have lived for 2,000 years, had their roots dug deeper.
Lots of us, maybe most of us, are at UBC for just a handful of years. Baylor brings us to Waco, but jobs and family eventually nudge us back on to I-35 with bags packed. Our reasons for being at UBC vary, and some of us might stick around just because it has become familiar, and familiarity is powerful.
But familiarity can make us lazy. It can keep us from showing up on time, since we already know what we’re missing; keep us in our seats when it’s time to meet the folks we’re worshipping next to, seeing how we already have friends; and keep us from going out to lunch with the folks we meet, because we already know how that sort of thing goes. It’s all familiar. Church. All its parts and motions. Familiarity can work like gravity: it pulls until it immobilizes.
But what you do with church is vital to how well you live between moves. I encourage you:
Dig in.
Live in such a way that any eventual parting from UBC is painful. Make more friends than you need.
Some of us are content with how many friends we have, and sometimes that’s fair. But probably all of us would prefer to have more close friends. A lovely thing about Christianity is that it offers a unique kind of intimacy in friendships. You and I understand ourselves to be created by a perfect being who has redeemed us and who calls us his body and his beloved. That’s something extra and unshakeable that tethers us together, something on top of mutual our love of Chic-fil-A, football, and Josh’s agrarian-phase. (Please, Josh, never stop wearing overalls.) Fight hard to find this intimacy at UBC, with the people you worship next to and take communion with.
And recognize that digging in is toil, sometimes long toil. It may be two dry years before you find folks you connect with. But you won’t regret those years as much as you’d regret leaving UBC missing no one and having no one miss you.
When you leave UBC, let your roots tear. Leave more than a little bit of yourself here, interlaced with those who helped you bow low and stand tall.
Meet Our Newest Pastoral Associate
Name: Valarie Elyse Fisk (I never respond well to being called Valarie.)
Why are you in Waco: I am finishing up my second year of study at Truett, pursuing an MDiv with a concentration in Biblical Languages. In the long term, I intend to pursue a PhD in Old Testament at Baylor and then teach at a university or seminary.
Verse, Chapter or Book of the Bible that is meaningful to you?: I first fell in love with the Old Testament because of a Psalms course I took in undergrad. I was experiencing one of the most difficult seasons in my life, and that was the first time I had ever heard a lament psalm. Laments give me the language to be real with God - no bull, no beating around the bush, no holding back, no shiny fake perfection. For that reason, Psalm 88 is especially significant to me. Every lament psalm ends with a moment of hope and trust in Yahweh - except 88. Psalm 88 is beautiful because even though the psalmist has no hope or joy, the psalmist still turns to Yahweh with the darkness that she experiences.
Best Waco Restaurant: Cafe Cappuccino - breakfast is my love language.
Movie or Show: Currently obsessed with Call the Midwife; always obsessed with Doctor Who. All of my favorite shows are BBC productions. My go-to movie is The Princess Bride.
Book You Love: I'll narrow it down to the top 3 books that changed my life: The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann, Texts of Terror by Phyllis Trible, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling.
Work is Worship
Greeters: Will & the Richardsons
Coffee Makers: Nances
Mug Cleaners: Noel Carlson
Money Counter: Doug M
Announcements
- Sunday Sermon: Exodus 19:2-8
- Tuesday Dives Location: Jasper's BBQ
- 6-25 OOTP Picnic (BYOLunch) After Church Redwood Shelter
- 7-1 OOTP Girls/Boys Night 5-9 P.M. Meet @ UBC
- 7-10 OOTP Go Bowling 5:30-7:30 @ Baylor SUB
- 7-?? Summer Event Dos ... more info to come
- 7-21: Summerside (Open Mic)
- 8-6 OOTP Pool Party After Church @ Baylor SLC
- 8-13 OOTP Parent Meeting After Church @ UBC
- 8-23 OOTP First Meeting!!! (Welcome 5th graders!) 6-8 P.M. @ UBC
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
Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@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
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.
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