Lay leaders are needed to assist with the life and ministry of Faith Church. Please let Pastor Carla (pastorcarla@faithuccnb.org) or Pastoral Assistant, Janet Sherman (jcmsherman681@gmail.com) know if you are willing to participate in one of these areas of service:
Building and Grounds—improving visibility, maintenance, cleaning, improvements
Pastoral Care—notes/calls to those not able to get out, those ill, those grieving, & visitors
Education—virtually engaging children & youth; coordinating bible & book studies, & discussion groups
Tech/Social Media—promoting Faith on FB & other platforms, helping with virtual worship
Mission—supporting & coordinating work with Kiva, Family Promise, SOS Foodbank, & more
Worship—planning services, helping with music, preparing for special services, designing power point slides, & more
Outreach—anything as creative and crazy as we can imagine to let folks know there’s a different kinda church in town!!
We are only limited by our imagination and desire. Thankfully, God’s imagination is bigger than ours and God’s supply of energy and inspiration will never dwindle. Relying on God, let’s all work together to see exactly what God can do in and through Faith Church!
Faith Church has a long, proud history of being a 5 for 5 Congregation, meaning we donate to the 5 special missional offerings of the UCC. One Great Hour of Sharing® is one of those offerings received each year during Lent. This offering directly supports the disaster, refugee, and development ministries of the United Church of Christ within Wider Church Ministries.
To learn more about the impact of this offering, watch this brief video, “When Water Comes Interviews”, with villagers in Kenya describing the difference it made in their lives when clean water was provided, thanks to the support of OGHS https://youtu.be/Q9y_1U425cs
Please prayerfully consider your contribution to this special offering, which will be collected March 14th, in addition to your regular tithe to the work and ministry of Faith Church. You may donate via the Church website (https://www.faithuccnb.org/) with a message to designate the amount to the OGHS Offering or by mail to the church (970 Loop 337 New Braunfels, TX) with “OGHS Offering” in the memo line.
As most of you know, Faith Church has a close working relationship with our own UCC Slumber Falls Camp, right here in New Braunfels!
Children and youth have camped there and made lifelong friends and memories, congregations have held meaningful retreats on the grounds surrounded by the beauty of nature, clergy (including your own!), have gone there for quiet retreats to rest.
SFC relies on our support to remain a place of fun, learning, and connection with God and each other.
One way we offer support is by attending the regular Work Camp Weekends where we are invited to stay at the camp for free for a causal weekend of laughter and sharing while helping with work projects (primarily Saturday) around the property at 3610 River Road.
In the recent extreme weather of SNOVID 2021, the camp suffered significant plumbing damage and will rely on our support during this work camp, more than ever. Please make plans to attend. If you have special tools or expertise, please contact the camp office at 830-625-2212 for possible projects. To register, go to https://slumberfalls.org/events/sfc-fall-work-camp/
Our prayers go with former Music Director, Stephanie Phillips, for her two years of service to Faith Church. We wish her well as she continues to follow her passion for music and service. A Music Team is being gathering to provide music for our weekly worship and plans are under way to seek and hire a new minister of music. Stay tuned for more updates!
Mike Ziegler and Frank Dietz are heading up our Kiva micro-loan lending program and we want our children and youth to help us!
Some time after March 10th, these two men, along with Pastor Carla, will be hosting a Zoom session to introduce our young to Kiva, start selecting our next loan recipients together, and set up a rotation for which kiddos will help us out each month as we select new recipients.
Parents, please reach out to Mike Ziegler (mzieglertx@yahoo.com) by 3/10/21 if your children or teens are interested in helping out. It’s a great chance to learn about missions, the needs of others, good stewardship, and to engage with the adults of our congregation.
Somewhere it has ended with the gun, the knife, the fist.
Somewhere it has ended with the slammed door, the shattered hope.
Somewhere it has ended with the utter quiet that follows the news from the phone, the television, the hospital room.
Somewhere it has ended with a tenderness that will break your heart.
But, listen, this blessing means to be anything but morose. It has not come to cause despair.
It is simply here because there is nothing a blessing is better suited for than an ending, nothing that cries out more for a blessing than when a world is falling apart.
This blessing will not fix you, will not mend you, will not give you false comfort; it will not talk to you about one door opening when another one closes.
It will simply sit itself beside you among the shards and gently turn your face toward the direction from which the light will come, gathering itself about you as the world begins again.
We acknowledge that the United States has now experienced over 500,000 COVID-related deaths, that we know of, since the beginning of the pandemic.
Such a large number can be hard to wrap our heads around and we can easily become numb in the face of so much suffering, including our own. This National Geographic article can help put that number into perspective.
Our prayers remain with those who have died and those who mourn, those who are ill and those who are recovering, those who are fear and those in denial.
As a people of justice, we also acknowledge the health, economic, and social disparities that have come even further to light with the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on our brothers and sisters of color.
From the article, “Deaths among Black Americans are 1.9 times higher than among non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics and Latinos 2.3 time higher, and Native Americans 2.4 times higher.”
Please pray for an awakening to the greater need for stewardship, individually and collectively, to ensure all God’s children are safe, cared for, and working to be good stewards of their neighbors’ safety. May we listen to and follow where God may be leading us to take part in co-creating a more just and healthy world for us all.
Folks are experiencing enough sacrifice these days, so instead of giving something up for Lent, I invite you to add a spiritual discipline. From Feb 17-April 3, engage in at least one gratitude practice a day. Use the notebook provided (available in the Ash Wednesday packets at the church), your own journal, or post on social media (tag us! @FaithUCCNewBraunfels). You can write down 5 things or something you’re grateful for:
*for each letter of the alphabet
*about yourself for each letter of your name
*about another person and consider sharing it with them
*in nature, in your house, your town, about your job or school, etc.
*every time your phone or computer dings with a call or message
*every time you hear yourself start to complain
Let’s also memorize Philippians 4:6-7 (NRSV) together as a reminder to turn to gratitude when anxiety starts to crowd our minds or we hear ourselves start to complain.
I hope you’ll join me in reminding ourselves of the good God is doing, even in the midst of struggles. Peace and blessings for your Lenten journey.
Grace and peace to you in the name of all that is truth and light and life and love, and in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I am excited to have begun life and ministry with you after receiving your call to serve as your Designated Term Pastor effective January 1st. I appreciate your trust in me, your gracious welcome, your participation in worship and service leadership as we seek to revitalize our outreach, and your patience and support with my learning curve as I get to know each of you and the systems and needs of Faith Church.
As I reviewed the reports for today’s meeting, one word was constant—challenge. Certainly, our world has seen unprecedented struggle that has impacted us all in many ways. Families, businesses, and non-profit organizations, including faith communities, across the world have sought ways to survive. I understand the struggles of Faith Church in 2020 came on top of other challenges that were present in 2019.
Many of you know that my most recent ministry has been in teaching professional (doctors, nurses, counselors, lawyers, leaders, etc.) and family caregivers about the emotional competencies of showing up well for ourselves so we can show up well for others in a healthy and helpful way.
Understandably, since last March, the presentation I have been asked to provide most is titled, “More Than Survival: Thriving Through Challenging Times”. It takes the last 3 decades of my studies, research, and experience to describe practical ways we can each build greater emotional intelligence and practice the resilience that allows us to grow during and after potentially traumatic events.
One of the key factors of resilience is this: the stories we choose to tell ourselves about our circumstances can either make or break us. We can tell stories of helplessness—fear, anxiety, scarcity, and threat—or stories of optimism—hope, community, creative action, and opportunity.
Language is important as it impacts the direction our stories take. Therefore, I invite us to take as our word and focus this year not “challenge” but “opportunity”. For example, I am asking the congregation to call what is commonly termed the budget a Statement of Faith, instead.
As a people of God, we are a people of resurrection, but we know that first requires a letting go of what once was to embrace the new life that God seeks to bring us to. We have a unique opportunity to follow God’s guidance in:
*re-envisioning a congregation without walls as we make use of social media and invite our young to help us there
*re-imagining our Christian Education not in months or a year from now, but even now in a virtual and even socially-distanced outdoor world
*finding creative ways to make use of our outdoor space at Faith Church to draw people together and equip them to engage in justice for all of God’s creation
*letting new residents in our community, the 2nd fastest growing city in the U.S., know there is a progressive church with an alternative Christian voice available in New Braunfels
*reaching, through outdoor gatherings in our community, those who might not otherwise walk through the doors of a church
*supporting those isolated from others, including our elders, those sick, our children, parents struggling to work remotely while caring for loved ones, and more
* harkening back to the true origins of Sunday School as a means of serving the local community with education that helped folks in their daily lives
*expanding our understanding of what inclusive and diverse community means as we look to margins perhaps never before considered at Faith
*being a place of refuge and healing for those who never knew the word “family” could be a good thing
*offering a word of hope to a traumatized, divided, and anxious world
*continuing to feed, nurture, equip, and inspire our members to bring their best selves to the world around them and to engage in leadership of Faith Church, no matter what their gifts, talents, age, or ability
There are many things we are powerless to change in our present circumstances, but we are not helpless to take action on our own behalf.
Every one of us, empowered and equipped by the Spirit of God that exists within each of us, can take part in the opportunity we have to embrace the new things our Still-Speaking God wants to do in our midst, as we find creative ways to thrive and to BE the Church in this coming year.
What opportunities do you feel God calling you to in this year of innovation and growth? As we put our hands to the plow and do not turn back, we will face this year of opportunity with faith in God, ourselves, and each other, knowing we do not come to this task alone.
God is already in our future and waits patiently to meet us there. I am excited to see where the journey together leads us in 2021, and it is an honor to face each step with you.
What an incredibly insane time we have faced this past year and in the first several weeks of 2021!! As I shared in my Pastor’s Letter to the Congregation at our Annual Meeting 1/24/21 (see letter, here), our faith calls us to see such times as opportunities—to deepen our trust in God, to grow in our love for each other, and to learn even more effective ways to BE the church.
Faithful Friends,
Faith Church has a long history of doing exactly that and, in this season, that will not change. Our methods may look different. Our format and places of service may not be the same as we get creative about ways to continue our Mission. Our heart for justice and unity in spirit, however, faithfully remain:
*We continue to have volunteers serve at the SOS Food Bank and we continue to pray for our friends at Family Promise until that mission can safely resume on a broader scale.
*I’m working to connect us with a couple of community coalitions in New Braunfels to work together on issues of hunger, solutions to homelessness, and other needs (stay tuned!)
*We continue to provide KIVA loans and, with the support of Mike Ziegler and Frank Dietz, will be engaging our young to meet monthly via Zoom to help decide how we will make those loans.
*We have a new Pastoral Care Team, currently led by Pastoral Assistant, Janet Sherman (NOTE: we need a congregant willing to help organize and lead that team) sending notes and making calls to those more shut in than others, those grieving, and those who are ill who are connected to our Faith family.
*We are adding members to our Tech Team, currently led by Joe, Mikki, and Sam Ward, and extending the reach of our unique message of God’s inclusive love through our recorded services via the website and social media, and will soon broadcast them on FaceBook Live.
*We are forming a Social Media Team to work with our Tech Team to increase our presence via uplifting, educational, and advocacy-oriented Facebook posts, Instagram and Pinterest memes, and tweets on Twitter (kids, youth, young adults, and ALL, we need your help…who’s in?)
*The COVID team is meeting to help guide us through safe outdoor gatherings, disaster response, and mission support.
*We are adopting a spiritual practice of Gratitude and giving up worry for this 40-day season of Lent.
*We are hosting a virtual Lenten Book Study of Karen Armstrong’s “Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life” for 6 weeks Wednesdays at 7pm with myself and Beth Bizer.
*With the help of Sam Ward and David Reed, we are updating the website to respond to needs, share information, let the community know who we are and what we do, and to help us gather information from our Virtual Worship Service visitors so we can follow up with them.
*We are working to create virtual experiences of worship to engage our members and new friends around the country and our young ones are helping lead by being liturgists each week, along with our adult scripture readers.
*We’re engaging our young ‘uns in safe ways during a Time for Children each week and also sharing our Joys and Concerns together via Zoom once the recorded portion of our service is complete.
*We are organizing music for our services that lifts us up, shares our message of advocacy and inclusion, and prepares us for the week ahead.
*We’re planning in-person, socially-distanced, outdoor social gatherings at the church for both Theology on Tap (bring your own beverage and talk theology with the pastor) and Faith Family Time (10 chairs 6-feet apart around each fire pit to visit safely).
And soooo much more!!
Thank you for your patience with me as I’ve been getting up to speed with the processes and needs of this congregation. My apologies for not getting a newsletter out to you for January and February.
If we missed a birthday or anniversary, please let us know. We’ll be asking for your help in updating the directory in the coming weeks to make sure we have those special dates and current contact info for our Faith family.
Moving forward, content for the newsletter is due to me by the 23rd of each month. Many thanks to David Reed and Sam Ward, who will help get Glimpses of Faith out to you the first Tuesday of each month.
As we recover from the tragic weather of recent weeks, look ahead to increasing unity in our country, and pray for extensive vaccination of our world, there is much reason to hope and to be excited about what God is doing and will continue to do in us and in our world.
We will not sit back and wait for the world to re-open in order to be about the business of God’s work. We will seek diligently to follow our Still-Speaking here and now, and to find opportunities in the midst of challenges to revitalize ourselves, our ministry, and, by the grace of God, the world around us.
