Newsletter 8-26-2025

JAMIE’S POST

Greetings. If you didn’t know, I have returned from sabbatical. My time away was restful and meaningful and gloriously uneventful. I wanted to take a minute to highlight a few things from my time away:

  1. Released a new record. Peregrine is my way of accepting some phases of my faith journey I sometimes wish were otherwise. I think of these songs as an exercise in gratitude that God turned out to be more than the sum of the most anxiety or shame-inducing messages I internalized as a child. For those of you who also grew up in evangelicalism, I hope these songs might be meaningful for you as well.

  2. Wrote about the church calendar. I’m working on a collection of resources and readings for the whole of the church calendar for our community. While I was away, I got *most* of the principle writing done on that. I hope to be able to share that sometime soon.

  3. Read about revenge. More or less on a whim, I read a new book called The Science of Revenge. Long story short, this book talks about the way that revenge activates the addiction circuits of the brain, cascading into extreme insatiable feelings of grievance, and how forgiveness can offer a cure for this. I’m most of the way through crafting a Liturgy of Forgiveness (offering it to others, that is)  in light of what I read.

I am grateful for the time away, and excited to be back!

p.s. Special thanks to Nathanael, Andy, and Colton for covering music while I was away!

THIS WEEK

Youth Group is back on Wednesday nights!

*Pints at Pinewood - Wednesday, Pinewood Public House, 6pm

Town Hall- August 31st, Immediately Following Service
Get the skinny on all things UBC at Town Hall.  We will re-gather after the liturgy in the sanctuary.

GIVING

UBC survives on the generosity of our congregation. Your financial contributions allow us to continue to create a space that is welcoming to all, embraces beauty, and seeks to live life to the fullest.

You can give, as you’re able, on Sunday mornings or set up a single or recurring online gift here.

If you ever have trouble with giving online or have a question about how to give, feel free to email administrator@ubcwaco.org.

CHURCH NEEDS

Support our Educators:
Rath Loeung
“I teach high school 3D animation, and we’re moving into a brand-new campus—it’s like starting in a fresh Minecraft world: flat terrain, no builds, just possibilities. Every item on this wishlist helps me turn our lab into a place where students feel motivated to learn, create, and bring their ideas to life (no wood-punching required). Thanks for your support!”

Rebeca Cuellar
“This year, I am embracing my native language and jumping into the bilingual classroom. I'm excited to serve my hispanic community and continue to help my students grow in 2 languages. It's my first year in the bilingual classroom, and I know amazing things will happen.”

Kasey Neimeier
“I'm filled with gratitude and excitement to share that my husband Kasey has been blessed with his first teaching position! He'll be teaching 7th grade Texas History at a Title 1 school, where he'll have the opportunity to serve 150+ students who come from low-income families.”

Are you an educator? Would you like us to drop your wishlist and a tidbit about your classroom here? Email the info to Nicole@ubcwaco.org

Meal Train
Help Welcome Baby Henry to the world and provide a meal for the Macdonald family!
MacDonald Meal Train

Go Fund Me for Carolina to keep the family together
Go Fund Me

UBC New Baby Team

ALERT. We’ve got a veritable gaggle of babies on the way this year, and are in search of a group of volunteers who will help support the new families and little nUBCers by organizing meal trains, postpartum support, etc! Email nicole@ubcwaco.org if you're interested on serving on this team.

Are you one of our soon-to-be baby having families? Take a moment to fill out this form so we can prepare to support you and your nUBCer!

Kid’s Volunteers

SIgn up to help with ubckids! Do it for the future! You can sign up here.

Tech Volunteers

Want to help keep the wheels from falling off on Sunday mornings? We are in need of volunteers to run lights, slides, and our livestream in the tech booth. No prior experience required--we will train you on whichever station you would like to help with. Email jamie@ubcwaco.org for more info.

UPCOMING EVENTS

UbcKids Volunteer Meeting (Come and Go)- September 7th, 9:45am-10:45am
If you are interested in volunteering with our kids, stop by the Red Room for a breakfast taco and to learn more/sign up!

Pack of Hope Food Drive- September 7th-28th

McLennan County Pack of Hope attempts to erase child hunger in McLennan County by supplying eligible students of participating school districts with bags of nutritious food from Friday through Sunday, while they are not receiving meals in school. We are doing a food drive to support their efforts. You can drop any of the following off in Nicole’s office: Microwaveable meals (Chef Boyardee & Mac and Cheese), breakfast bars, granola bars, crackers, fruit gummies, cereal, fruit cups, pudding, pop-tarts, cookies, juice, SlimJims, etc.

College Kickoff Pool Party- September 8th, 6-8pm
Contact hannah@ubcwaco.org for address and details!

Coffee Hour w/ Nicole- September 10th, 10-11am
Join Nicole at Common Grounds on Franklin for coffee and connection! Space for kids to play, caregivers to chat with each other and connect with Nicole!

nUBCers Coffee Hour- September 14th, 9:45am
If you’re new to Ubc in the past 6 months or so, join us in the Red Room for coffee and breakfast tacos to hear more about our community.

Derek Webb Survival Songs Tour (Ticketed)- September 21st, 8-9:30pm

Derek Webb is bringing the Survival Songs House Show Tour to Ubc.

“As an artist, citizen, and dad of teens, let me tell you what I see when I look at the world today: queer people, especially queer kids, are in imminent danger and desperately need a soundtrack to comfort, encourage, and empower them. Over the past month, I’ve written and recorded an entire album that seeks to do just that. It’s called Survival Songs and I can't wait to share it with you live.”

New songs, and lively discussion. Limited seating.

LGBTQ+ teens (18 and under) can attend any show on the Survival Songs tour for FREE. Just select “LGBTQ+ Teen Ticket” at checkout to get your ticket(s). These tickets run on the honor system, please don’t abuse it.

You can purchase tickets here.

The Book Club @ Ubc- September 30th, 7-8pm
Join us as we discuss the book “The Thursday Murder Club”. Tea and sweet treats provided. Bring your own beverage or snack to share if you’d like! Childcare provided for babies-5 years old.

Find more details and our full calendar of events on our website. This calendar is updated frequently, so check back often! 

PREACHING SCHEDULE

Andie (for the next several weeks)

CONTACT INFO

Pastoral Staff

Andie Pellicer, Lead Pastor
(andie@ubcwaco.org)
Jameson McGregor, Worship & Arts Pastor (jamie@ubcwaco.org)
Nicole Dizdar, Kids Pastor
(nicole@ubcwaco.org)

Leadership Team (leadershipteam@ubcwaco.org)

Britt Duke
Andy Clark
Aleigh Ascherl
Marcus Franklin
Katie Robinson
Margo Shanks

Staff Support Team (staffsupport@ubcwaco.org)

Kyle Howerton
Jim Wren
Betsy Bracken

Finance Team (finance@ubcwaco.org)

Brandon Glover
Jonathan Hill
Ben Rose