Teresa’s Note: October 27, 2023

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Dear friends and members of University UMC: I’m excited about the Fall Festival this Sunday and hope to see you there! Jillian and others have been working hard to make Sunday’s festivities a fun time for children of all ages. This Sunday is also the time when we are invited to return our pledge cards and spend time in prayer for the ministries and mission of UUMC. Several of you have already returned your pledge card - 38 at the time of this writing! Thank you! Today I leave with you a couple of resources I referenced in worship last week. In the children’s sermon, I read part of a children’s book by Rachel Held Evans and Matthew Paul Turner entitled “What Is GOD Like?” The message in this book is gentle and theologically brilliant, reminding us that while we cannot know God fully and completely, there are many things we do know about the way God loves. One page is an image of children snuggled together in a fort and reads, “God is like a fort, strong and secure with walls that are mighty and safe. Inside, there are hidden places to hold you when you’re scared or need a quiet place to rest.” In the time with children Sunday, I reminded them that sometimes in life we get sad and that sometimes we might hear people talk about things that are scary. But even in times when we are sad or scared, God is with us. And in God’s love, we can find rest and feel safe. You can listen to our Children’s Director Jillian read the entire book here: In Sunday’s sermon, I also referenced the “community chest card” in the board game Monopoly. It was on Kate Bowler’s podcast that I learned the idea for this card originated from the United Way’s philosophy of the community chest. Angela Williams is the CEO of United Way and in this interview, she explains the origins of the community chest and also talks about the importance of community and relationship building. She has dedicated her life to advocating for others and you can hear her interview with Kate Bowler here. At a time when the news seems saturated with reports of violence, being in community with one another reminds us of the peace and hope that only Christ can give. Here at UUMC, when we share our thoughts and prayers, we strive to do so in ways that put words and convictions into action. And when our hearts are broken, we can find in one another the promise that the worst things are never the last things. For truly it is when we invest in one another that we discover a life of abundance. In times of war and in the news of another mass shooting, I often find words to ring hollow in the face of so much despair. But I stumbled across a poem by Ann Weems that spoke to me and I share it with you below. We are part of the miracle this poem prays. What a joy to be your pastor! Teresa We were created to be in community and in relationship. And so even when you…I always marvel, like if you go to a restaurant and you sit down and you look at everybody, how many people are at a table and they’re looking at their phones and not engaging in conversation. You see that around family dining room tables. We have to continue to work at connectivity and that, that even when Dr. Murphy, Tom Murphy talks about this loneliness, I’m concerned about that. That’s not healthy. That doesn’t lead to a healthy system. And systems could be a workplace environment. It could be your church or your synagogue or your mosque. It could be any other system in which we connect with. Yeah. - Angela Williams, CEO United Way Whenever you aren't sure what God is like, think about what makes you feel safe, what makes you feel brave, and what makes you feel loved. That's what God is like.” - from the children’s book “What is GOD like?” I No Longer Pray For Peace On the edge of war, one foot already in, I no longer pray for peace: I pray for miracles. I pray that stone hearts will turn to tenderheartedness, and evil intentions will turn to mercifulness, and all the soldiers already deployed will be snatched out of harm’s way, and the whole world will be astounded onto its knees. I pray that all the “God talk” will take bones, and stand up and shed its cloak of faithlessness, and walk again in its powerful truth. I pray that the whole world might sit down together and share its bread and its wine. Some say there is no hope, but then I’ve always applauded the holy fools who never seem to give up on the scandalousness of our faith: that we are loved by God…… that we can truly love one another. I no longer pray for peace: I pray for miracles. – Ann Weems 2409 Guadalupe Street Austin, Texas 78705 512-478-9387 Want to change how you receive emails from us? Click here to update your preferences or unsubscribe or unsubscribe from this list