ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Pentecost
Wilderness
I’m currently reading David Thibodeau’s book A Place Called Waco: A Survivor’s Story. David was at Mt. Carmel in 1993. If you’ve seen the Waco mini series featuring the foxy Taylor Kitsch, then you’ll know that Thibodeau was the character portrayed by Rory Culkin. Thibodeau escaped Mt. Carmel before it burned to the ground and lived to tell the story in his memoir. I was thinking about the prominence of the theme of the wilderness in his story and the intent of that wilderness experience in spiritual formation. It shows up everywhere. When I first started preaching, my mentor Burt, told me that there’s really only 5 or 6 sermons to be preached from the bible. One of those themes is exile or wilderness. It’s such a prominent theme that we are asked to mimic it during the entire lenten experience.
I was also thinking this in many ways the pandemic has forced into the longest exile of our lives. Our social lives have changed. Our routine has changed. Our work environments have changed. There is very little about our present routines that reflects the way it was a year ago. That change has been hard. Data on depression and other mental health bears witness to the reality of the difficulty. In the most tangible way possible, we are wandering a desert in our emotional selves.
I mentioned Viktor Frankl a few weeks ago in my newsletter entry. I can’t shake his story. I think one of the reasons I keep returning to it is because if it’s true that Frankl could find volition and purpose in his difficulty, which exceeds my own difficulties by an immeasurable amount, then I can do the same. We can do the same. Wilderness can be our teacher. Wilderness can transform us. Make us better.
We are at a point in our history where the world is about to need good people. Measured people who have thick characters. The kind of people who learned to survive and eventually thrive in the wilderness.
I tend to be suspicious of talk about God’s will. We employ it too flippantly. So much so that I think we run the risk of taking God’s name in vain. Still I can’t help but wonder if perhaps this wilderness experience is forming us to be a people who have the character to act in the next moments of this drama. What I mean to suggest isn’t that God “causes all things,” but rather that “God causes all things to work for the good.” That God takes the really bad notes and finds ways to weave them into the symphony in a way that sounds pleasant. So I wanted you to be encouraged. I wanted you to know that your struggle can be redeemed. Can be used. Might be preparing you.
Meet Our Newest UBCer
Hazel Elaine Kleinbeck
Birthday: 10/27/2020
Birth Height: 7lb 8oz
Birth Weight: 20.25”
Enneagram Number: 1w9
Cesar Chavez Middle School Gift Cards
Greetings UBC Family. We are working on getting together gift cards to give the faculty/staff at CCMS, to thank them for all their hard work this semester. As many of you know, teaching during a pandemic is hard work!! We are looking to collect 100 $5 gift cards. You can buy $5 gift cards to Pinewood, Nightlight Donuts, Sonic, or Common Grounds. If you don’t have time to grab a gift card, you can also donate money. You can drop your gift cards off in the mail slot at church, or a check. If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubwaco.org.
Smile @ UBC this Christmas
Hello friends. Some of you may already be thinking about what you can get for the special someone for the Christmas season. Perhaps a gift certificate to the farmers market. Maybe you’ll purchase a gift from a local business. Wow, we love those great ideas! In the event that Waco doesn’t have what you need and you purchase from amazon, please consider making UBC your second special someone by clicking this link. Maybe you’re not supporting Christmas present exchanges because you’re done with all of that. Still you can help us out by using Amazon smile for any Amazon purchase.
For those of you who don’t want to use the link above, here are some instructions from our fearless office manager Risse: “People can also set "University Baptist Church" as their charity of choice at smile.amazon.com, or they can turn Amazon Smile "On" in the settings of their Amazon app to make all their purchases count.”
Parishioner of the Week
All of our wonderful people who partnered with us to provide baked goods for Hillcrest’s Pastoral Care Team.
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