ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Pentecost
On Temperance:
I grew up in Wisconsin. Seven of the top fifty drunkest cities in America are in Wisconsin (or at least that was the statistic at some point). I think it has something to do with latitude, sunshine and the Miller plant in Milwaukee, because a similar reality exists in the Scandavian countries of Europe. The robust German heritage is also at play. Culturally, German Catholics and Scandinavian Lutherans dominate the religious landscape of the region. There are laws in Wisconsin to govern the consumption of alcohol, but those are less important than the cultural attitudes that actually govern the consumption of alcohol.
I think I grew up in a religiously conservative home. I say I think because there were certainly denominational attitudes and identities to the right of me and my parents were never dogmatic about our beliefs. That’s not to say they didn’t believe them deeply, but those beliefs didn’t form obstacles for curiosity and formation like conservative values sometimes can. To boot, my parent’s conservative religious values did not preclude certain evangelical taboos like women in ministry and alcohol. That’s probably the contribution of my maternal grandparents. They loved beer. As Missouri Synod Lutherans they were predestined by the grace of God to enjoy beer. Interestingly my paternal grandfather was a liquor salesmen, but didn’t partake.
The amalgamation of this backdrop of my life means that I was handed a pretty healthy picture of alcohol consumption. It was neither the mystifying concoction of the pagans, nor was it a tool we used to express our freedom in Christ. Alcohol just was. My parents enjoyed it, occasionally, without the notion that it could be a source of condemnation for some.
I didn’t consume alcohol on a regular basis until I went to seminary. I didn’t drink in highschool and rarely in college because I signed my life away at my Baptist University. So I started playing catch up once we got married and moved to Texas. UBC was an interesting place to take up the habit. Emergent theology was our ecclesiological bedfellow and drinking a symbol of the kind of Baptist in the south we intended to be. Alcohol was a centerpiece of social gatherings and a regular item on my grocery list.
Over the years I have wondered if I drink too much. When I turned 30 I started looking at clinical definitions of alcoholism and even joined a friend at an AA meeting. At that particular meeting a woman talked about the difference between heavy drinking and alcoholism. “Phew, I thought, I’m just a heavy drinker.” Now I'm almost 40 and still wondering. I was listening to the George W. Bush podcast on Presidential the other day and learned that he stopped drinking at 40. Maybe there’s some midlife stuff going on in the psyche. I say all this to let you know that I have drastically reduced my alcohol consumption (as of recently) and am considering quitting all together. This could seem like a funny perhaps even suspicious thing to advertise in a church newsletter from the senior pastor. But the fact that I can is the point of this entry.
I met with one of our many talented professors from the school of social work this week to talk about her choice to be sober. She listened patiently, answered questions and gently talked me through her own journey. Later that day I was thinking about the fact that I'm a pastor in a Baptist Church who didn’t think twice about offering my side of that story to a parishioner. That without qualification or explanation I could assume that we were peers … a brother and sister in Christ. And then I thought to myself, “what a gift it is that I can be honest about even these kinds of things with my community and not even think to ask if I would be judged for it.” That’s a thought for all of you. Thank you for affording me and other people on the staff that kind of space to be real. It has added incalculable years to our tenures.
If some day you find yourself looking for a church job, the church shopping for a pastor will among other things likely include something that looks like this: Awesome Church is looking for a pastor who according to 1 Timothy 3:1-7 “aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?”
When I look at this list I always think, “I only have one wife, I'm doing pretty good.” OK, but seriously I do think about what the Bible asks of church leaders and how I measure up. This is what I’ve decided. I’ve decided that we should add vulnerable to that list. We should add open. Honest. We should add imperfect, but willing to acknowledge imperfection. Because vulnerability is always the chief instrument that God has used to transform my life. So thanks UBC, for being a place where I can be vulnerable among you.
Baked Goods for Doctors and Nurses
Hey friends, we are partnering with the Hillcrest pastoral care department to bring baked goods to the good doctors and nurses of the Women’s & Children’s Center. So if you feel so inclined to bake or purchase booked goods for about 15 people next one day next Tuesday 11/3 - Saturday 11/7 please do so by signing up here.
Staff Favorites
Because our newsletter has grown thin of late, i’ve added a new feature called, “staff favorites.” The instructions are as follows. Draw a line, either on a piece of paper that you printed this on or in your mind, connecting the correct individual with the corresponding category. After you venture your guesses, you can view the solution here.
All Saints Liturgy
Our virtual all saints liturgy will be at 5pm on Sunday, November 1st. Part of that liturgy involves reading the names of those who have died, but have somehow reflected the love of God to us or modeled well for us what it is to be formed in the way of Christ in their particular time and place. Spend some time thinking of names you might want to submit (you need not have known this person directly), and email jamie@ubcwaco.org by noon on November 1st.
Parishioner of the Week
One last shout out to Jon Davis for his work with us the last 3 weeks and Kat Reynolds for blessing us with her music ability.
Work is Worship
Greeters: No Greeters this week
Coffee Makers: no coffee makers this week
Mug Cleaners: no mug cleaners this week
Money Counter: no money counters this week
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: Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu
Luci Hoppe: lhoppe@gmail.com
Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com
Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com
Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com
Jose Zuniga: jzgrphix2002@yahoo.com
Taylor Torregrossa: Taylordtorregrossa@gmail.com
Student Position: Davis Misloski
Student Position: Maddy O’Shaughnessy
UBC Finance Team
Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.
Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com
Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com
Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com
George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@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.
Erin Albin: erin.albin1@gmail.com
Sam Goff: samuelgoff92@gmail.com
Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com
Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com
Craig Nash: Craig_Nash@baylor.edu