Dear Friends,
October is here and we are ready to start celebrating, y’all! Bring on the pumpkin spice, cooler temps (Hello, highs in the 80's!), and fall colors (I know, Texas is either brown or green, but let’s pretend we have seasons here, ok?). Part of this time of Fabulous Fall is Halloween, and UCC has been hosting a Halloween event for a number of years now, which has brought neighbors and friends together for an evening of celebration, fellowship, fun activities, and, well, let’s face it…candy! Trunk or Treat is a favorite tradition that UCC Austin has hosted a few times over the years. It started with a humble pumpkin patch first, and as all truly great ideas are formed, someone said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun if we did a Trunk or Treat here?” Over the years it has looked many different ways. We have had pumpkin decorating, costume parades, story time in the patch, games, and more. In 2020, the event was off-site – families had an opportunity to drive around town and visit the homes of church members. That was how we adapted during that first year of COVID, and we called it "TREK or Treat!" But no matter how the event has looked, it has become a beloved event where we enjoy getting together with our neighbors and our church family, building connections, and just having fun! This year, on the last Sunday in October, we will once again have an opportunity to ignite our creative spirits, tap into our fun sides, and present an evening of Halloween celebration! On October 29th, from 5-7 p.m. at the church, we will host a TRUNK OR TREAT event! Join us with your trunk decorated, donate candy, dress in costume and come for some treats...or just come as you are! Families from the neighborhood are welcome to come trick-or-treat among the cars in a protected area of the parking lot. There are so many ways to participate and we hope you’ll make this an annual tradition for your family, too! With love, always, Emily :)
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Dear friends,
As we head into the fall and into a new month, we want to take a moment to recognize that more change is coming. We are beginning a new sermon series, looking at the church as universal. We'll start with World Communion Sunday on Oct. 1 and end with Día de los Muertos on Oct. 29. We are starting our Outdoor Worship back up this Sunday and soon we will reintroduce passing the plates in our indoor services. We are beginning our month-long participation in the Bethany Food Drive. And we are preparing to welcome our Interim Senior Minister, Rev. Janet Maykus, in two weeks! We are so grateful for the many ways this church continues to be a companion to one another through all of life’s changes. May we continue to travel together, sharing God’s love for all, with all. –Your UCC Staff __________________________________________ A Prayer “For Summer’s Ending” From Ash and Starlight: Prayers for the Grace and Chaos of Daily Life Near One, Thank you for all the ways you’ve companioned me this summer. You’ve traveled with me as I made road trips to visit scattered, special family, waited at airport gates thick with frustrating delays, buckled kids in the car for an adventure at the zoo, driven across town to eat crisp cold salads with a dear friend, folded clothes and packed the suitcase another time. You’ve traveled with me, Jesus, as I’ve sat in medical waiting rooms, as I’ve kissed loved ones goodbye while holding back tears, as I’ve lingered by the window with a cup of coffee, overcome with too many thoughts to name… You’ve made your presence known through tracked-in sand on the kitchen floor and the smell of fresh strawberries dumped on the counter. I’ve heard your voice in the joyful shrieks of children in sprinklers and the creak of the porch swing as dusk settled. You’ve held me through weeks that were stressful and weeks that evaporated in elation… weeks when I was complacent and selfish and weeks I was sacrificial and servant-hearted… weeks when I was honest and integrated and weeks I didn’t even recognize the person in the mirror…. You never failed to remind me how you loved me and still had good for me to do. Sometimes I caught your message… How I thank you, traveling and strengthening One, for going with me through these summer months… for offering reassurance as I enter the fall and all its change. I hold out my gratitude for what was and my quiet hopes for what’s to come. Amen. _____________________________________________________ Genesis 46:4 * Deuteronomy 31:8 * Psalm 139:7–10 * “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?… If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.” —Psalm 139:7, 9–10 Greetings Social Justice Team Members!
This Sunday, we look forward to adding some members to our Social Justice Team. How exciting to have our friends fully commit themselves to becoming a part of our UCC family! How so, you ask? You may not realize that all new and current members, and even all our guests, are part of our Social Justice Team! We all have a place on the Social Justice Team and we try to practice social justice from our youngest children to our most senior members. In fact, you are invited to participate in one of our favorite and most fun social justice events - The Period Party - after church this Sunday. This project will benefit Hope Medical Clinic, and possibly Out Youth, Casa Marianella, Safe Alliance, and some of our school partners. Hope Medical Clinic is a new recipient for our products and they offer free primary, compassionate, and high-quality healthcare to resettled refugees, immigrants and other underserved people. We will also be making a donation to Flo Code, our long time partner in this project. Flo Code has changed their operations since COVID, and they now supply unopened packages of period products to their partners which they can purchase with our donation. Many thanks to Katherine Griffin-Erickson for making this happen. It is not too late to purchase period products! And Dads, it’s not too late to introduce your sons to the feminine hygiene aisle of the grocery store. Bring anything you purchase on Sunday. And did you see the pictures of the youth from last Sunday making dog and cat toys for Williamson County Animal Shelter? Our youth have such a heart for helping - making lives better for people and animals. They did hard work in Appalachia this summer and will continue to do the hard work soon at Bethany Food Pantry by assembling, decorating, and filling Thanksgiving boxes for their clients. We are so excited and thankful that on October 1st, GECKO (God Encourages Caring Kindness and Outreach) will be starting for our 4th and 5th graders. Our older elementary students will meet once a month to practice what they have learned in our Children’s Ministry with a monthly service project. Thank you especially to Tracy Brown and our adult volunteers for heading up this effort. One of the improvements that came out of our legislature this season was that period products and baby care items, including diapers, are no longer being taxed at the cash register. If you want to continue to vote for people who reflect values like this, I will be available for the next three Sundays in Fellowship Hall to assist anyone who needs to register to vote, change their address, or change the name on their voter registration. The deadline for registering before the November Constitutional Election is October 10th. I am now able to assist those in both Travis and Williamson County. I also have mail in registrations for those who live in other counties. Watch for upcoming collections of canned goods for the Bethany Thanksgiving boxes and a special Advent project. With you in service and justice, Diane Baker Social Justice Team Lead “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
As someone who’s been thinking a lot about generosity lately, it seemed to me that there was a glaring omission on the Spirit’s list of fruits. Really? Generosity didn’t make the cut? I really wanted to know why generosity wasn't on the list, so I asked a resource I've come to appreciate in my research: ChatGPT. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot that uses natural language processing to create humanlike conversational dialogue. And it gave a surprisingly good answer. Let’s see what it said. While generosity isn’t explicitly listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit in this passage, it can be understood as closely related to several of the qualities mentioned.
As we seek to cultivate fruits of the Spirit in our lives, we may well find that acts of generosity naturally align with these virtues, reflecting the teaching and example of Jesus in our relationships with others. Join with us in seeking and sharing, Meredith Quick Stewardship Team Lead Dear Friends,
In case you don’t know me, or we haven’t met (yet!), I am the Worship Music Leader for UCC. I have the privilege of selecting the music to accompany each service, directing the UCC Choir, and I am a happy member of the UCC Bell Choir. As you probably have gathered by now, September’s theme is “Cultivating Generosity,” and this coming Sunday the 10th, I hope you will join us, either in-person or online, for our 10AM worship service. It will be full of music and love and stories of how your generosity has already benefited some of our staff and volunteers, specifically by sending them to programs where they can learn and enrich their lives and service to UCC. The generosity of this congregation continually floors me, between the time and work of our volunteers...to the care for one another...to the monetary donations! I am blessed to be part of this family of believers, and I hope y’all feel the same about me. In purely UCC-Music-News, World Communion Sunday is coming up on October 1, and the Pop-Up Choir is beginning rehearsals THIS Sunday at 12:30 (or whenever you can make it after the Second Sunday Social). Please let me know if you’re interested, and I can send you the music to practice! I am also looking forward to restarting the once-a-month early services in our beautiful outdoor chapel, and possibly holding more Sip-N-Sings, once the weather cools a bit. More to come on that in the near future… If we haven’t already met, I look forward to meeting each of you. If you have any questions, concerns, constructive criticism, or just want to say hi, please reach out to me in person at church, via email, or on Facebook. I value all opinions and hymn requests from each of you. Peace be with you, Julie Stiles julie@uccaustin.org Dear Church Family,
I have a slight nerdy bent so when preparing for this article, I decided to google the word stewardship to get a definition. Here’s what I found: noun: stewardship
People often use scripture verses to foster stewardship and encourage giving. “God loves a cheerful giver.” “Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly.” “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not man.” My favorite verse about stewardship is from the Old Testament: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” That sounds more like the joy of taking care of something. Adam wasn’t put in the garden to earn a profit and rely on that profit to feed his kids, protect him from a drought or flood, prepare for retirement, and still use some of that profit to be generous to others. He was supposed to take care of the garden. Give it what it needed. Take what it provided. How do we think of stewardship differently if we think of UCC as our garden? Do we think, “The children's ministry really needs a lot of water.” Or, “The apple tree should just give apples because that’s its job. We shouldn’t have to give it sunlight.” Of course not! Imagine sitting in a peaceful, fragrant, colorful garden. Each plant was given what it needed in time, energy, and resources. And each provides joy, in its unique and perfect way. Keeping a garden alive in Central Texas is not easy. (We tried it at UCC! We now have a Gaga Ball pit instead.) But keeping the garden that is UCC blooming is possible. We give the garden what it needs in the form of money, time, energy, and care. We are rewarded with its beauty: children’s programs, paid utility bills, mission trips, community, and connection. We don’t give because we are supposed to. We give because we are one of the required resources for the garden. And because we are each one of the beautiful flowers that bloom. Meredith Quick 2023 Stewardship Team Lead August 25, 2023
Small groups, youth group, children’s programming, birthday cards, prayer lists, spreadsheets and databases… What do all of these things have in common? Answer: Relational Ministry. “Relational Ministry” focuses on genuine, caring connections between people that help build a community that serves a higher purpose. But how do we do that at UCC? Through spreadsheets and databases, of course! Or is it through small group discussions, VBS activities, middle school lock-ins, and high school camp-outs? Or is it Elder visits and phone calls with homebound members or simply a birthday card in the mail? Maybe it’s all of the above? Over the last year, we’ve been firsthand witnesses to how strong Relational Ministry is at UCC. We’ve supported one another through the expected and unexpected highs and lows of life. Our prayer and care list is active and life-changing. We’ve seen people step into roles -- both as staff and church members -- that have allowed our community to continue to blossom and thrive. And we want to keep it going. Through multiple meetings this past year, lovingly dubbed “Membership Mania!!”, we cross-checked the various software programs that keep our addresses, prayer lists, and email lists, but there’s still work to do. As we enter the new school year and kick off fall activities…as we look to Stewardship month in September…and as we look ahead to our time with Intentional Interim Minister Rev. Janet Maykus…we want to build on what we’ve been doing here at UCC and help it grow. The staff and Council members are working hard to gather information, update Bylaws and handbooks, keep us organized, and plan amazing experiences and activities for all ages. In order to make sure we are reaching the correct people and offering the appropriate opportunities and connection points, you may be asked to confirm or update your household information. Please know that your household information will be handled in a secure manner and only used for appropriate church business. We may ask you for birthdays or allergies or if you want to be on the In-house Facebook page. We’ll ask if you want to join a small group and to pledge to our ministries in 2024. In short, we’ll ask you to be in Relational Ministry with us! Thank you for giving us information to fill out spreadsheets and databases, but more importantly, thank you for giving of your time, talents, and love in building up the relationships at this church for the greater mission of God in this world. Meghan Pastor of Pastoral Care Kelley Church Administrator Dearest Church Family,
As some of you know, I have been providing leadership support to our office staff during this year’s time of pastoral transition. What a gift it has been! There have been times of laughter and times of tears. We have shared both joyous certainty and the concerning unknown. I will always look back at this time as an opportunity to be a servant leader to a group of talented, artistic, knowledgeable, thoughtful, collaborative, and loving people. When I shared the exciting news about our church’s Interim Senior Minister with Emily, Julie, Kelley, and Meghan, we discussed Rev. Janet’s outstanding qualifications. We talked about how her experience will serve our congregation, what kind of staff leader she seems to be, and how we will start preparing for her arrival. What a relief! We have an Interim on the way! And then, as that news sinks in, we start to wonder. Is it okay to be both excited and nervous? Can we look forward to having healthy leadership stability in our church, but also regret losing the tapestry of diverse voices we’ve had over the past many months? Can we trust in the future and celebrate progress, at the same time that we are still feeling hurt by our collective past? Can we hold feelings that seem in conflict with each other? We had a beautiful conversation in this week’s staff meeting. We acknowledged our complex feelings. We talked about the upcoming ministerial transition, the changes we are experiencing in our lives, and the dichotomy of our emotions. The start of a new school year is most certainly a time of significant transition and many mixed emotions. Sunday is our Blessing of the Backpacks, where we will recognize this momentous transition for all our students, educators, and school staff and administrators. We will share a collective blessing that they may be sustained and know that the love and care of this congregation surrounds them each school day. This wonderful church gives us a place to celebrate, mourn, contemplate, and process feelings together. It’s a safe and loving space where others are ready to listen as we share our excitement and anxiousness and prayers in this journey forward with each other and with God. Blessings, Milena Thompson Personnel Committee Chair On your mark…get set…GO!
It’s August…activities are gearing up…we’re starting the school year and we’re hitting the ground running. :) Thank you to all who wrote notes of encouragement and support to teachers after church last Sunday. As a former teacher (and spouse of a current one!), I can tell you we’re grateful for that support and love. Thank you also to those who have already picked an apple from our School Supply Tree. There are more apples on the tree, so if you’d still like to pick one, they’ll be available again on this coming Sunday, August 6. These supplies are going to be delivered to Dessau Middle School, so please bring any donations by next Sunday, August 13. If you’d like to help with the School Supply Drive, but are unable to be in person, this newsletter has links to the lists included below. Several teachers have Amazon wish lists that they need help fulfilling. And speaking of August 13, we have an opportunity to encourage and bless our students, teachers, and staff as they prepare for the upcoming school year. Starting a new school year is so exciting, but it can also be challenging and often brings up feelings of worry. We set aside this Sunday as a meaningful way to lift up those feelings to God, share them with our church family, and pray for blessings on a beautiful new year. We hope you’ll join us for this year's Blessing of the Backpacks Sunday. We’ll start our morning with Pastries on the Playground at 9 a.m. – a time of fellowship, snacks, and playtime! Our 10 a.m. Worship Service will include this time of celebration and blessing for our students, teachers, and staff. All are invited to bring a backpack, briefcase, school bag, laptop, etc. for a blessing. And following the service, we’ll bless all of the school supplies collected before they get delivered! I’m looking forward to so many activities in August, but mostly, I’m looking forward to seeing all of you. With love, always, Emily Guerrero :) July 28, 2023 Following last year’s successful school supply drive, we connected with a school social worker who lives in our neighborhood and works at Dessau Middle School, a Title 1 school about 20 minutes from our church. The school was incredibly grateful for our donations. As our plan to host a school supply drive approached this year, we decided to connect with DMS again. For this year’s drive, we are collecting items specified by faculty at the school, and sending the supplies over to the school along with the handcrafted cards we’ll create this Sunday after worship. So, from now through August 12, stop by our School Supply Giving Tree in the Fellowship Hall to participate in this year's drive. Grab an apple (or many!) from the tree and shop for what's written on it. The last name of the teacher is on the back of the paper apple, so please bring back your donations with the apple taped to it for easiest sorting. Drive donations are due back on Sunday, August 13. If you’d like to participate but are not able to grab apples at this time, please contact the church office and we can send over some apples or connect you with an Amazon wishlist. And this Sunday, July 30, stick around after church to design and decorate encouragement cards for the 90-member staff of the school: teachers, administrators, coaches, counselors, janitorial staff, everyone! One of the teachers at Dessau even requested “unlimited prayers” on her wishlist - a request we will prayerfully honor. School staffs work incredibly hard to provide safe, caring education for our students, and we are honored to send them back to school with school supplies, support cards, and a whole lot of love! See you soon, The UCC Social Justice Team |
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Worship at 10am each Sunday In-Person and Online
We are proudly affiliated with both the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
3500 West Parmer Lane, Austin TX 78727
512-218-8110
We are proudly affiliated with both the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
3500 West Parmer Lane, Austin TX 78727
512-218-8110