ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Lent
A Collection for Reflection (by jamie)
Greetings. Hope your Lenten season is going well. I don’t know if you are actively pursuing a particular practice or taking up a particular fast this season, but if you are, I hope that it is proving to be meaningful for you.
I’ve put together a little collection here of offerings for reflection, and hope that whether or not you are already engaging in something specific this season, you’ll find what follows to be something meaningful to engage for a little while.
1) This is an excerpt from Henri Nouwen that I found in a Lent and Easter collection of his quotes.
Life is a long journey of preparation—of preparing oneself to truly die for others. It is a series of little deaths in which we are asked to release many forms of clinging and to move increasingly from needing others to living for them. The many passages we have to make as we grow from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to adulthood, and from adulthood to old age offer ever-new opportunities to choose for ourselves or to choose for others. During these passages, questions such as: Do I desire power or service; do I want to be visible or remain hidden; do I strive for a successful career or do I keep following my vocation? keep coming up and confront us with hard choices. In this sense, we can speak about life as a long process of dying to self, so that we will be able to live in the joy of God.
2) This is a section from the fifth chapter of David Dark’s incredible Life’s Too Short To Pretend You’re Not Religious (106-107) [note: at some point he refers to “religion” and “bad religion”—he isn’t using that word to specifically refer to what we might think of as organized religions, but rather, more generally, as a controlling story we carry that informs how we make sense of the world and our place in it.]
What I’m up to with my imagination is what I’m up to. It’s me making do. And complicatedly—oh so complicatedly—neutrality doesn’t appear to be a live option, because writer Ronald Sukenick was rich: “If you don’t use your own imagination, somebody else is going to use it for you.” The question of how I imagine myself and others is at the core of my lived life, how I relate (no getting away from relating), the way I dwell in the world. How shall I go about mattering if not mattering isn’t an option for anyone anywhere anytime?
Slowly and carefully and with a wary eye on all the flashy, artificial offerings that serve to obscure the reality of where I’m sitting, standing or walking. There is so much that can call me away from a proper estimation of who I am, where I am and what the joys of right relation might yet require of me; so much that draws me into a denial of the reality of my own body, so much that drives me to deny, to my everlasting detriment and that of others, the fact of the living world. As I see it, we most effectively practice the right of dissent and resistance when we begin to realize that we’re in the thick of a religious quandary, one in which we’re in danger of no longer meaningfully experiencing our own lives. It’s as if we’re awash in bad ideas that often render us unable to engage with anything larger than our own misperceived egos. Recognizing bad religion when we see it—and it is coming at us from every angle—can make us more vigilant and alive to the possibilities of genuine consciousness and more wary of the trivializing shallowness into which we’re otherwise unwittingly enlisted. Amid the static that degrades, how might we access wisdom, compassion, hospitality and other forms of life for which there is no app?
As I see the bad religion situation, the answer isn’t a matter of stepping out and starting new traditions so much as it’s a matter of approaching the currents we’re already in from a different angle, one person, one relationship at a time. And even putting it this way brings to mind the poet-pastor Eugene Peterson, who once observed that the besetting sin of the American people is probably impatience. This sounds so right to me, especially when I consider the possibility that there’s hardly a sin I can think of that isn’t somehow born of misperceived need, of haste and its accompanying inattentiveness, of some feverish variation once more of Hurry up and matter! Being true—ringing true— will have to involve a slow work of recognition and resistance to that mad and nervy, deluding spirit. To begin to be true is to try to choose—or risk choosing—presence over progress, really showing up and taking the time to wonder what we’re really up to, what we’re doing and why.
3) This is a prayer from Prayer: Forty Days of Practice by Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson (Prayer 15):
May my limitations be doorways to partnership and relationship
Rather than reasons to feel shame and isolation.
4) This is a song called Rejoice by Julien Baker:
5) And, finally, Jon Davis took the time to put together a mix of the live recording of last week’s offering song. The song is called “Acetone,” and it is about God’s dissolving away of the decorative paint we make of our faith, which in some way is what we are leaning in to during Lent. It also includes the moment a little ubcer concluded the song with “Yay! We did it!” which is wonderful.
Sunday School Resumes This Sunday
9:30am—see you there.
Cesar Chavez Support - April 6
Make plans to support the kids and teachers of CCMS on April 6, from 10-12:30. We will encourage them as they prepare for their state exams, and enjoy some time playing together. If you have any questions, please email toph@ubcwaco.org
College Retreat - April 12-14
Join us for an all college retreat on the weekend April 12th. The cost is $40, and that covers everything for the weekend. Sign-ups will be being this Sunday. If you have any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org
April 4th - 8pm
If you are a college student or young professional, join on us on Thursday evening April 4th for a time to connect, learn together, and grow. Jamie (and maybe company) will be playing some music, Taylor will be preaching, and there could be a special surprise. You don’t want to miss this. If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org
The Harris’s
We have some UBC folks who are going to Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific to do some work translating this summer. We as a community are committing to praying for their time there, and if you would like to support them financially you can go to this link: www.wycliffe.org/partner/Harris If you have any questions, please contact Daniel or Lydia Harris: Daniel_Harris2@baylor.edu lydia_harris@wycliffe.org
Benny Fountain Art
This week Benny Fountain (Ph.D. art) was teaching our roots class and did some real time story art. here is a sample of his work.
Finance Team Help
Are you good with numbers? Do you have some business experience? Would you love to serve on UBC’s finance team? We’d love for you to do that. Here is some information from the bylaws below. Interested persons should nominate themselves or eligible candidates by sending your nominations to josh@ubcwaco.org.
(A)Purpose. The Finance Team shall exist for the following purposes:
a. To serve as the primary advisory group for the Leadership Team in all budgetary and financial aspects of the church.
b. To oversee, in coordination with the ministerial staff, yearly budgetary processes, working to create a financial ministry plan in alignment with the ethos, mission and values of UBC.
c. To advise the staff and Leadership Team on any emergency financial matters that may arise with regards to the physical infrastructure of the church building, as well as those matters pertaining to compensation and benefits of personnel.
d. To assess the current financial status of the church on a monthly basis and advise the staff and Leadership Team on matters concerning changes in planned ministry expenses.
e. To advise the Human Resources/Staff Support team on all financial matters regarding new and existing personnel, including available resources concerning salaries, salary increases, insurance, taxes, etc.
(C) Qualifications. Finance Team members shall have been an active participant in the life of UBC for at least a year, have received at least a bachelors degree level of education (or roughly an equivalent amount of experience in business or finance,) and have at least a basic understanding of financial reports and budgets.
(E)Term. Finance Team members shall serve for a duration lasting up to five years. All efforts shall be made by the Finance Team to ensure that no more than two members in a given year rotate off of Finance Team due to duration requirements. While they are encouraged to remain the full five years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time.
Image to generate clickbait traffic
Parishioner of The Week
That kid that yelled, “yay!” after Jamie’s song and during Emmy’s sermon last week.
Announcements
Sermon Text: Exodus 3:14 “Ineffable God”
Work is Worship
Greeters: Blaylocks
Coffee Makers: Clark Mi Casa
Mug Cleaners: Aleigh Ascherl
Money Counter: JD
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- Adam Winn: adamwinn68@yahoo.com
Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com
Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu
Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com
Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com
Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com
Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com
Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu
Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.
JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu
Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com
Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com
Doug McNamee: douglas.mcnamee@gmail.com
Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.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.
Josh Blake: joshnblake@gmail.com
Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu
Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com
Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com
Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com