ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Pentecost
Hope
UBC Music Advent EP (Magnificat)
As Jamie mentioned on Sunday, UBC Music recorded an advent EP last year called the Magnificat. In this album includes song Jameson has written specifically with the advent themes and scriptures in mind. If you are new and would like to familiarize yourself with some of our advent songs you can do so by listening on all major platforms including Spotify.
Opportunities for Giving
Our friends at Cesar Chavez Middle School are hosting their “Make a Wish” program again this year, and they have asked for our help. Students write a short essay on what they would do with $100, and the faculty of CCMS help make some of those wishes come true. This year, instead of gifts being presented to our students, we are asking for gift cards in the amount of $25, $50, $75, & $100 along with Walmart and HEB food cards. You can bring your gifts to UBC, or just contact Toph to arrange a time to pick them up. If you have any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org
Also, our friends at Arrow Child and Family Ministries is hosting their annual Christmas Party at UBC, and collecting items for their kids. They have started getting donors to sponsor presents for the children in the homes. If anyone is interested in donating, there are two ways to donate. The first is to directly donate $30 and we will buy the present. People could also sign up and receive information and gift ideas. We ask the gifts to be a minimum of $30. Here is the link to sign up https://forms.office.com/r/hdt1KK6u2C
UBC Swag
We have ordered some UBC Swag for the holidays, and you can start picking them up this Sunday. We have two stickers ($1 each), and a limited edition UBC hat for $25. Contact toph@ubcwaco.org for more details. We have a limited number of hats, and if you don’t have cash for stickers, please feel free to pick up 1 or 2.
Study Hall
Are you a college student who would love a to study, but not at a Baylor University library, an overcrowded coffee house, or your apartment? Boy do we have a winning opportunity for you. On Thursday December 9th the UBC building and it’s eclectic design spaces will be available for studying pleasure. We will also provide unhealthy food products such as: candy, famous Amos cookies, Doritos and the like. So if this sounds like something you’d be interested in, please come on by.
Christmas Eve Service
Champion friends, great news. We will gather again on December 24th for a worship experience that celebrates the story of the birth of Jesus by having a children re-enact it. To that end, if you will be around and plan on worshiping with us that evening, would you let Taylor@ubcwaco.org know so that we can begin casting roles. If you’ve not been before, it’s very impromptu. No need to prepare ahead of time by memorizing lines or lyrics. More like a carol sing and telling of the nativity story. It’s one of my favorite nights of the year!
New Leaders Needed
Hello friends. With January right around the corner we are approaching that time of the church’s life cycle when we need to fill some roles on our teams. We are looking for two new finance team members and a college student representative for the leadership team. If you know someone who would be good for the finance team please email josh@ubcwaco.org. If you would like to nominate a student candidate for the leadership team you can do so here. Descriptions and requirements of those positions are posted below. Lastly, so we are clear, these are volunteer positions.
University Student Lead Team Member
Purpose. The Leadership Team shall be the primary decision-making bodyof UBC. The Leadership Team shall oversee the business and property of the church, and make final decisions regarding hiring and dismissal of staff as well as the acquisition and selling of assets that are beyond budgetary provisions.
Composition. The Leadership Team shall consist of nine members of the UBC community that are not staff, finance team, or human resources team. Two of the Leadership Team’s nine members shall be university level students.
Term. Members of Leadership Team may serve for a duration lasting up to three years. While they are encouraged to remain the full three years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time. Student members shall only commit to a year with the chance to renew up to three years.
Finance Team Member
Purpose. The Finance Team shall exist for the following purposes:
To serve as the primary advisory group for the Leadership Team in all budgetary and financial aspects of the church.
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.
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.
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.
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.
To advise the church body on all matters relating to stewardship, financial integrity, etc.
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.
Youth Update
I don't have a complete schedule for the New Year yet, but I did want to confirm a few things. First, we will begin Youth Group again sometime in the second half of January. As soon as I have finalised the schedule, I will send out new Living Calendars that will supply all the relevant dates, etc. The second thing is that we will be having a (mini) Midwinter Retreat on January 8th in Waco from 4pm-11pm, hosted by Lake Shore!
To cut a long story short (I am more than happy to supply all the details, if you're interested or curious, but just for the sake of this email I'm cutting it short!), the coalition of churches that we usually go on retreat with saw several personnel changes, most didn't have camps last January, and as such we all fell out of contact. We reconnected last month however, and we've decided to plan an in-town (Waco, that is!) afternoon/evening 1 day Midwinter retreat. We have a final planning meeting this Wednesday, after which I will send out it's own dedicated email, but the great news about all of this is that it is completely free to attend, and will also (very likely) include a free t-shirt to celebrate Midwinter! (for more info on this please see youth email. if you do not receive the youth email please email kieran@ubcwaco.org).
With all that out of the way, here are the events happening this week!
December 1st // Wednesday: All Grade Groups! Youth Group, UBC Building, 6pm-8pm.
December 5th // Sunday MORNING: All Grade Groups! Youth Group Sunday School - Attention Collection, UBC Building, 9:45am-10:30pm.
5th & 6th Graders Update
Hello friends!
I just wanted to send a quick reminder that we don't have 5th and 6th Grade group this week but we'll jump back in to finish off the year on the 5th and 12th of December! And then we'll pick back up on Wednesdays in January.
I hope you have a great evening and that getting back into the swing of things goes as well as possible!
Let me know if you have any questions or comments!
Grace and Peace,
Taylor C. Post
Parishioner of the Week
Dave Tran
Upcoming Events
Weekly Pints with Toph @ Pinewood on Wednesdays from 6-8 P.M.
Weekly coffee with Toph @ Pinewood on Thursdays from 8-10 A.M.
12/3-5 Family Retreat
12/9 Study Hall
12/24 Christmas Eve Service (kids pageant) @ 5:30 PM