August 2018 Glimpses of Faith Newsletter Faith UCC Church Phone 625-6761 970 N. Loop 337 www.faithuccnb.org New Braunfels, TX 78130 Rev. Scott B. Martin, Pastor Cell Phone 830-515-2866 Rev. Ray Bizer, Pastor Emeritus Pastoral Assistant, Janet Sherman L.M. +++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++ Some of you have asked about my experience at New Life Lutheran a couple of weeks ago. As I drove past the church sign a rabbit jumped out right beside the sign. I took this to be a "sign" I was in the right place! I haven't seen a rabbit in ages around here. I parked the car and saw a tent set up in a field. This wasn't were the worship service was to be though, it was only there in case of inclement weather. Instead the servicee was held under three large oak trees. The Genesis 13:18 passage came to mind where Abraham pitched his tents by the "oaks of Mamre" ". It is here, according to chapter 18, that he entertained "three angels" without even recognizing they were angels. I was early and one of the members greeted me, handed me a bulletin, showed me the box with the hymnals and told me about her church. She clearly loved be a member in this very mission minded church. Rev. Carmen Retzlaff greeted me before getting back to preparing for worship. There were picnic tables and benches under the oaks and some brought their own folding chairs. The service itself was a traditional ELCA Lutheran service out of the book of worship. What made it less traditional was the setting. As the service progressed butterflies flitted about and you could hear the birds singing in the nearby trees and shrubs. Children walked about and some gathereded at a picnic table off to one side with things for them to do. That Sunday they were coloring wine labels for the communion wine the churchh was making from their own wild grapes! The Old Testament lessons was about King David being so filled with joy that ark was coming back to Jerusalem that he danced naked before the Lord. I saw a little demonstration of this kind of joy in front of me as the passage was read. There were two mothers with babies in front of me. The oak branches hung down quite low where they were. They held their babies up and the babies felt the leaves. You should have seen the joy on those babies faces! David had nothing on them! When it came time for communion the congregation came forward. Before the service started I had walked over to seee the wild grape vines that the communion wine came from. It certainly added to the meaning knowing the wine came from the very land we weree worshipping on! I encourage you to visit New Life some Sunday. It is about an hour drive up Highway 12 out of Wimberly, past 290 a mile or so and turn left. Their service stats at 9 a.m. Here's a link to a youtube video on the church https://www.youtube.com/watch??v=trgt28jgpes&feature=youtu.be
LEAP Meeting on August 15th LEAP (Literacy Education for Adults Program) will meet on Wednesday, August 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the church. We will be making plans for the fall as well as having training for anyone interested in being a tutor. Questions? Contact Dan or Vicky Geisler at 817-925-3222 or geislerv@sbcglobal.net. Bunco Fellowship Night August 10th Join us for a night of fellowship with pizza and Bunco on Friday, August 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the church! Bunco is a fun, exciting game and easy to learn. No experience is required. Please bring your favorite pizza, salad, or dessert to share. Drinks will be provided. Each player should bring $5 for cash prizes for the winners. Please sign up in the narthex. For more information contact Dan or Vicky Geisler at 817-925-3222. Helen Boursier plans to attend the weeklong UCC Faithful Witness AT the Border August 26-30 at the Arizona-Mexico border. The event is co-sponsored by the UCC Southwest Conference and the Justice Witness Ministries Global Ministries. It includes visiting with local ministries which support immigrants and refugees seeking asylum, including Operation Streamline and the Samaritans. It also includes a humanitarian mission to the Mexican side of the border, touring the Comedor, shelters, and encampments, and a dessert experience. She would appreciate your help three ways: (1) Prayer (2) Financial support to cover travel and hotel expenses (approximately $850) (3) Donate supplies and funds to bring to support the UCC assistance with immigrants at the AZ-Mexico border. If you are able to contribute to help cover expenses, make your donation payable to Faith Church and put immigrant ministry in the memo. She will convert additional funds to Walmart gift cards for the UCC ministry in Arizona to purchase supplies locally. She also is collecting supplies from their list of specificc items needed (see below) which you can drop off at Faith Church by Friday, August 24 th. Supplies Needed at the US/Mexico Border: razors toothbrushes travel size toothpaste bath soap shampoo towels wash cloths feminine products coloring books and crayons for kids. Thank you for your prayers, financial support, and donations for the UCC ministry at the border!
Star Party Come join us on Saturday August fourth at 8:30 PM at the Seguin Outdoor Learning Center for a Star Party! Bring your friends and family for an interpretive tour of the night sky, from identifying celestial objects with the naked eye, taking a closer look with binoculars, and getting up close and personal with four planets aligned in four predominant summer sky constellations with Joe Ward and other volunteer astronomers and their incredible telescopes! See Mars in Capricornus, Saturn in Sagittarius, Jupiter in Libra, and Venus in Virgo. Our own David Myer, a retired Physics Professor will be giving a presentation on "Origins of the Solar System", and there will be an Interpretive Constellation Story Telling program. This event is free for SOLC Members, and just $10 per vehicle for Non- Members. This will be a dark night sky experience, so please, no flashlights! We will have nonintrusive red lighting to mark paths and exploration stations. Light refreshments will be served. The Seguin Outdoor Learning Center is located just a couple of miles east of downtown Seguin, TX on the banks of Geronimo Creek. 1865 US Highway 90 East, Seguin, Texas 78155 Phone: 830-379-7652 Fax: 830-379-7214 Email: info@seguinolc.org From New Braunfels: Take Hwy 46 south to IH 10 in Seguin. Go east (left) onto IH 10. Take exit #610 (Hwy 123 Bypass) and go south (right). Drive south on Hwy 123 until you reach the stoplight at Hwy 90 E (Kingsbury Street). Turn east (left) onto Hwy 90; drive 1/2 mile. Immediately after crossing the Geronimo Creek bridge, you will see the entrance to the SOLC on the right. Turn into our driveway and follow it to the parking area. From San Antonio: Take IH 10 east to Seguin. Take exit #610 (Hwy 123 Bypass) and go south (right). Drive south on Hwy 123 until you reach the stoplight at Hwy 90 E (Kingsbury Street). Turn east (left) on Hwy 90 and drive 1/2 mile. Immediately after crossing the Geronimo Creek bridge, you will see the entrance to the SOLC on the right. Turn into our driveway and follow it to the parking area.
Family Promise Thanks You's Well we finished up our summer two weeks of hosting Family Promise Families. We started with two families and towards the end had a third family join us. Over the two weeks hundreds of volunteer hours were put in by Faith UCC and Friedens UCC members; meals were provided, laundry done, refrigerator stocked, gift cards provided, trailer unpacked and packed, etc. A special thanks to Michelle Perry and Karen Dietz for their leadership and organizing! Another special thanks to Joe and Mikki Ward for loaning their trailer for volunteers to sleep in. "Thank you cards were received from the three families that were with us for all of the two weeks. Here they are: Thanks for give us food, bed and chat. My children love to chat with you! I have a great time with you!" From: Branca, Larry, DeVon, Mia and Anthony "A1" "Thank you so much for helping our family along these couple of weeks. I appreciate the good laughs, food and allowing us to be ourselves. God bless you all." Thank You, Porshe & Lorette Hey, ya'll. Thank you so much for hosting us this past two weeks "101". The food was amazing as well as meeting all of you ya'll. Stay blessed Emily and Adriel August Birthdays 8-1 Joshua Coble 8-2 Jan Ziegler 8-7 Donna Myer 8-14 Karen Dietz 8-19 David Lamensky 8-19 Reed Hoke 8-23 Nora Compton 8-25 Grace Perry-Clark 8-25 Peter Bauer 8-30 Kenneth Triesch
Heart of Texas Association News How can you and your church still contribute in a hands on way to the Hurricane Harvey recovery? At our South Central Conference Annual Meeting in early June, I learned how we can do that during one of the meeting workshops. The UCC does long term recovery work as a specialty in its disaster recovery work, meaning that we are there for the long haul work often needed for several years. Our Harvey volunteer work site is in Port Arthur, an area which has had less access to recovery resources than the Houston area. The UCC church there, Plymouth Congregational UCC, has made available housing for up to 12 volunteers at a time to do work using volunteers of all skill levels. The construction work is overseen and sponsored by the Southeast Texas Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit founded by Plymouth, with substantial continuing involvement from its pastors, Revs. Matt and Rhonda Hopson, and church members. Rev. Joshua Lawrence and Amarlee Collins are the UCC Co-Coordinators of the work. This effort is unusual in that it helps to restore low income rental housing, an enormous need that is not usually funded and addressed by recovery grants. There are many openings for groups to come, and your work will be welcomed and needed. For more information, see http://www.ucc.org/disaster_hurricane_harvey_recovery_port_arthur and http://www.ucc.org/news_volunteers_hosts_at_ucc_s_new_harvey_recovery_site_share_skills_ hugs_prayers_03122018. Although the website indicates volunteer groups come during the week, Joshua has told me they will work with groups that want to come but cannot spend an entire week or perhaps need to work on the weekend. I encourage you and your church to become involved with this effort that provides ongoing and needed help. Rev. Ron Trimmer has asked me to spread the word that the New and Renewing Churches Committee of the South Central Conference is providing funds to train, equip, and support our church planters. In order to make funds go further, the committee has developed a shared or covenantal funding formula/request, providing one third of the money for this effort from New and Renewing Church funds, asking the church planter s Association to provide one third funding, and asking the planter and their congregation to pay one third. Ron notes that the amount of funding requested from our Association and/or from a sponsoring church would depend on the request, but would usually be $200-$500. The current church planter in our Association is Ryan Hart at Open Cathedral in Leander. Ron notes that a great way to support Ryan s work and the church s work is to send letters of encouragement, and I am sure they would appreciate donations, too! For those who would want to do any of these things, the church s mailing address is Ryan Hart, Open Cathedral, 1433 Freer Cove, Leander, TX 78641. Also, Ron adds, As always, I am available for comments and questions. You can reach me by email at revtrimmer@gmail.com or by cell at 512-876-9097. Finally, set aside the date. Our Heart of Texas Association Fall Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 20th at 11am at United Christian Church in Austin. The meeting this time is in the Austin Heart of Texas group of churches. We hope many of you will plan to be there. Blessings in Christ, Liz Nash, Association Minister
August/September Worship Assistants 8-5 Liturgist: Sandy Ludwig Acolyte & Council Rep: Jason Chapel Greeter: Joe Ward Hospitality: Simpson Family AV: Quinn Perry Ushers: Jason Chapel; Joe & Mikki Ward; Kai Perry 8-12 Liturgist: Julia Allison Acolyte & Council Rep: Kyle Kramm Greeter: Karen Kramm Hospitality: Mary Jean Own AV: Mikki Ward Ushers: Kyle Kramm; Julia Allison; Karen Kramm; Joe Ward 8-19 Liturgist: Jason Chapel Acolyte & Council Rep: Valerie Oates Greeter: Mike Ziegler Hospitality: Jan Ziegler AV: Quinn Perry Ushers: Valerie Oates; Jim Gossett; Will Gossett; Jason Chapel 8-26 Liturgist: Nicolle Clark Acolyte & Council Rep: Dan Geisler Greeter: Joe Ward Hospitality: Vicky Geisler AV: Tim Marlow Ushers: Dan & Vicky Geisler; Nicolle Clark; Devyn Perry 9-2 Liturgist: Karen Dietz Acolyte & Council Rep: Kim Beauchamp Greeter: Elly Beauchamp Hospitality: Mikki Ward AV: Joe Ward Ushers: Kim Beauchamp; Sofia Beauchamp; Frank & Karen Dietz 9-9 Liturgist: Jennifer Marlow Acolyte & Council Rep: Carol Sisco-Martinez Greeter: Tim Marlow Hospitality: Julia Allison AV: Cassidy Sisco-Martinez Ushers: Carol Sisco-Martinez; Robynee Sisco-Martinez; Tim & Jennifer Marlow If you cannot serve on the date(s) shown, please try to find a sub. If that is not possible, please leave a message at the church (830-625-6761) as soon as possible. If you would like to be added or removed from all or part of the Worship Assistant List, please contact the church office.