ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Pentecost
Taking Delight
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Of all the disciplines I regularly practiced in my evangelical past, the one I remain appreciative of was praying with my friend Nate. In college we would often go to the woods of Bethel’s 200-acre campus, light an illegal fire, and pray for all kinds of things. My prayer language, cadence and understanding has evolved since those prayers, but I believe it was in part the act of praying that allowed for that evolving. One of the bible verses that Nate and I would often quote to each other was 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. They almost read like pithy proverbs. Brief imperatives. Yet despite their brevity and apparent simplicity they are all difficult to embody. I liked the practice of thanking God though. It felt right. As a regular habit, it did something good for my soul.
I have been giving more thought to the “rejoice always” part. It strikes me as a particularly helpful antidote. Rejoicing is hard. Sometimes it can even seem inappropriate. A current effort to rejoice without taking seriously the stark racial violence that is being unveiled would be a theological mistake. Had Jesus laughed by Lazarus’ tomb instead of weeping with Mary and Martha we would have found that inappropriate. Sometimes, it is precisely in those circumstances that we need to rejoice.
On Saturday I read a story about a murder mystery that had been solved after 38 years. An eight year old girl in Columbus, OH was walking home and never made it. They found her a few days later in a cornfield. With DNA testing, they were able to identify her killer this week. He’s been dead for a while. I hate those stories. I thought about the parents wondering all these years. Wondered if there was any solace to be had. About an hour later I was painting outside and listening to Dax Shepherd interview economist Jeffery Sachs on his podcast Armchair Expert. One of the things Sachs talked about was how close we came to nuclear war with Russia. Allegedly, during the Cuban Missile Crisis the Russians had some bad intelligence information about an aggressive American act of hostility. A Russian Admiral with a submarine in the Caribbean got clearance to launch the missile. At the last minute he decided to consult fellow officers. It was voted down 2-1. That close though! The world feels so fickle. It’s that fickle right now.
What do we do? The choice to see only good can be myopic. The choice to meditate on the bad can be lethal. I think a Christian response of discipleship is one that rejoices in the midst of both of them. A friend gave me a copy of Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way this spring. We are both aspiring writers and talk about writing occasionally, hence the gift. The book is designed to be a kind of companion that calls for action on the part of the reader. It assigns daily and weekly tasks that have the aim of developing the artist within you. I started it on spring break, which coincided with the global shutdown due to COVID. So I stopped. I knew I couldn’t keep my commitments during the chaos. I picked the book up again last week. I want to share something that Cameron says: “The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight.” Cameron is a theist, who is writing to elicit the creative spirit she argues abides in all of us. But I think this is consistent with Paul’s admonishment. Joy seems to have a relationship with the intent to take delight. In this sense, joy is in part an effort. But it might be better to return to the phrase in the transliteration, rejoice.
I have been practicing taking delight. In the morning I wake up with what sometimes feels like depressive feelings and despite those, I pray for the eyes to see and experience things to take delight in. The murders and nuclear weapons haven’t disappeared since I’ve started, but the delightful has come into focus. It’s getting easier to find. So I will continue to make the effort to rejoice always.
Meet Our Newest UBCer
Junia Truth Harris
Birthday: Born 6/25/20
Birth Weight: 7lbs 15oz
Birth Height: 21 inches
Enneagram Number: 2w1
A Word About Cake & Pie
This week during our welcome time during worship Taylor posed the question, “what do you like better cake or pie?” As some of you indicated, it seems complicated perhaps unfair to pit cake against pie, especially now in a difficult time. I stand by my answer that in general, cake is better. But there are some good pies that beat some cakes. Someone also pointed out that cobbler is different than pie. If this is the case, that only works against pie, dropping it another notch for me. Also, as was discussed in the comments, there is the ambiguous category of cheese cake and the likes. Alas, I give you some cake/pie rankings: 1. Dirt Cake 2. Dump Cake 3. Chocolate Cake 4. German Chocolate cake 5. French Silk Pie 6. Assorted Flavors of Edwards Pie 7. Key lime pie 8. Boston Cream Pie 9. Peach Cobbler 10. certain cheesecake.
VBS Update
Hey UBC Kids and Families! We will be doing Compassion Camp Online VBS this summer! Everything will be on our website to watch and participate July 13-17! And we will have supply boxes for you to pick up on Sunday July 12! If your family would like to participate please email Taylor at taylor@ubcwaco.org and let her know you want to participate!
Family Resource Pantry
Thank you to everyone who has been volunteering and everyone who has donated so far. This is our week to donate and buy supplies for the pantry, so please use the link below to see what still needs to be bought this week. If you have any questions, please email toph@ubcwaco.org. Here's that link:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084eacae2aabff2-community
Learning Together - Understanding the Church’s Complicity in Racism
“What we need is a generation of Christians, who will intentionally and in a sustained way consciously fight against the racism that still pervades our society.” - Jemar Tisby
Starting in July, we will begin a six week series in which we read and discuss Jemar TIsby’s book: The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism. There are many ways you can access the book: you can buy it, you can download the audiobook, or you can watch the 12 part series on Amazon Prime. We will be reading/listening/watching two chapters a week, and we will meet every other week for discussion. If you would like to purchase the book but do not have the funds available, please let us know and we will get you a copy. We will begin reading/listening/watching on July 1, and our discussions will happen on July 15, July 29, August 12, and August 26th. Toph and Katie Valenzuela will be leading the discussion times, and we will be talking about 3 chapters each time. We will have two times for you to sign-up for, and those will be available on Sunday after the service. If you have any questions, email toph@ubcwaco.org
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