Online-Only, for a Little Bit Longer

Friends,

To allow time for the COVID situation to improve, UCC worship and activities will be online a little while longer. The COVID Task Group has recommended that we plan to return to in-person for Ash Wednesday (March 2), and sooner if the numbers improve sufficiently. We are watching the local numbers closely and will update everyone accordingly.

In the meantime, feel free to reach out to any member of the Task Group if you have questions. Members are: Pastor Megan, Pastor Chelsea, Craig Bell, Bill Howland, Zach Kilborn, Ron Martin, and Suzanne Quenette.

God’s love is with us wherever we are, whether we are virtual-only, in-person, or a mix of both. Let’s continue to pray and act in ways that help show God’s care for the most vulnerable, full of faith that we are all held close to the heart of God.

Love,
Pastor Megan

Another Omicron Update

Friends,

Last week, we sent out notice that we were ramping up our COVID protocols in response to the omicron variant. Since then, cases have continued to soar. Statewide positivity rates are the highest they've been throughout the whole pandemic, and in Travis County, daily average cases have jumped by 261% compared to two weeks ago. The UCC COVID Task Group has determined that the best course of action in response to the current omicron surge is to shift to online-only worship for the next few Sundays, through January 16 (1/9/22 Edit: We will be online at least through January 30). We will reassess the situation closer to that date and proceed from there. We are seeking to be compassionate, caring, responsible, and thoughtful of the most vulnerable.

I know this is frustrating and disappointing. I, too, hoped that we wouldn't have to go back to online-only after we returned in November. But the healthcare systems are already showing signs of being overwhelmed, and the highly-contagious omicron variant is showing us that even vaccinated, boosted individuals are at significant risk of contracting and transmitting the virus.

For the next three Sundays, worship will be live streamed as it was this late summer/fall. Everyone participating will keep their masks on for the entirety of the time, including when they speak or sing.

UCC: your patience, determination, courage, and love through these last couple of years continue to show forth the Kingdom of God during what feels like an endless pandemic. Thank you for being you; it's an honor to walk alongside you through this challenging time. Please stay safe and well.

Love and peace to you,
Pastor Megan

Christmas Eve and the Omicron Variant

Friends,

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I'm looking forward to worshipping with you in person or online as we welcome the Christ child into the world. However, the Omicron variant is a concern as it is causing a significant and alarming surge in COVID-19 cases in Austin and beyond. As has been our church's practice from the beginning of the pandemic, we are taking steps to protect and care for one another and our neighbors.

We are still learning about this variant, but we do know that is spreading rapidly and that there are more breakthrough cases amongst vaccinated individuals. Hopefully infections will be mild and we will not see a dramatic rise in hospitalizations and deaths, but we must be continue to be cautious.

When we first returned to in-person worship, we implemented COVID safety protocols, including masking in the sanctuary, social distancing, widely available hand sanitizer, and pre-packaged communion. We added congregational and choral singing when we came back the second time in November. These practices will remain in place.

Starting on Christmas Eve, we are implementing some stricter protocols for the time being:

• Everyone will be masked at all times while in the building, including in Sunday School classes and other small groups

• All singers will remain masked at all times (rather than our previous practice allowing soloists and choir members to remove masks for the anthems and other special music)

• KN95s and N95s will be made available to anyone who doesn't yet have a higher-quality mask. Studies suggest that cloth masks and loose-fitting surgical masks are not sufficient, especially when it comes to Omicron.

In addition, we strongly recommend that anyone who is vulnerable, immunocompromised, unvaccinated, or more comfortable staying at home to join UCC for worship via live stream during this Omicron surge.

We are all ready to be done with this pandemic that feels never-ending, but it is so good to be in a community that places such an emphasis on taking care of each other, our neighbors, and the most vulnerable.

Christ is coming into the world, even amidst COVID variants, traffic problems, and whatever else brings frustration, worry, or grief. Tomorrow evening, no matter what, we will sing about the joy we know because of a vulnerable baby born in a manger (less-than-perfect conditions) who is Emmanuel, God-with-us, who is with us through it all.

Love and peace to you,
Pastor Megan

Here on Earth

Getting ready is one of my favorite things to do. Not getting ready in the morning, though; I'm talking about the planning and preparation for some fun/meaningful/exciting/happy thing in the future. Like a trip, for example. When Steve and I decide on a spot to visit for vacation, I shift into my role of travel agent -- researching the place, making lists, booking accommodations, plotting out an itinerary (a loose one...every vacation needs some flexibility!). Almost as much as the trip itself, I enjoy the prep work that comes before we ever leave. It has to do, I think, with the anticipation of it all, with looking forward to what's to come.

Similarly, Advent and Lent are both high on my rankings of seasons in the church year. There's something that sparkles about the time leading up to Christ's birth, and it's not just the Christmas lights that are everywhere. It's a holy, hope-filled season of preparing for the arrival of Emmanuel, God-with-us.

Together, through Advent, we're anticipating the Divine's in-breaking into the world that often isn't all that sparkly. It happens every day, though: there are God-moments in the midst of the ordinariness of our daily lives as well as in the holiest of days, in the mud and the muck as well as the pristine, in the mundane as well as the mountaintop experiences. What if we spent not only this season, but each day, anticipating, expecting, looking for the ways that God shows up and shakes things up?

That's what worship and the daily Advent devotionals will focus on this year: waiting for, expecting, and noticing how God shows up with us here on earth, through the holy and the humdrum. With eyes, hands, hearts, and minds that are open to God's world-changing presence, let us receive the One who makes heaven and nature sing.

Love and peace to you,
Pastor Megan

Gratitude and Gifts

Considering that later this month we will celebrate Thanksgiving -- perhaps, for many of us, in a fuller way than we were able to last year -- gratitude seems to be in the air.

There is so much to be grateful for! COVID numbers are improving greatly, which means it's safer to do "normal" things again, including gathering together in the sanctuary for worship, with congregational and choral singing this time! (Are you as excited about that as I am?) I've received notes from some of you expressing thankfulness for how UCC was able to nurture community and worship God throughout the trying time of the last 20+ months. Children ages 5-11 have now been approved for the COVID vaccine, and so many parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other caring adults are rejoicing. It feels good to be able to plan ahead and look forward to things in a less-tentative, more-hopeful fashion.

We are grateful, yes. And we are also simultaneously delighted by the slow emergence from the pandemic and exhausted from quite how slow that emergence has been. People are understandably tired heading into a season that is usually pretty jam-packed with events to attend, food to prepare (and devour), presents to buy, trips to take. There is a lot to do.

So, friends, even as we enjoy and celebrate, let's be gentle with ourselves and others. Let's tend to our empty spirits that might just need some quiet and renewal. Last month, my spiritual director and I spent some time talking about prayer and how easy it can be to skip over intentional time with God. In our conversation, she reminded me that God is generous and kind enough to meet us with what we need in the moment. So, may the peace of God wash over you just when you need it. May you receive opportunities to be refreshed and renewed as gifts, not as burdens. May you, even through the busy, full next few months, experience being held in Love.

Love and peace to you,
Pastor Megan

In-Person Worship Returns 11/7

Beloveds of God:

We will return to in-person worship on Sunday, November 7. The UCC COVID Task Group has closely watched the local trends. Earlier this week, Austin-Travis County shifted to Stage 3. The Task Group's recommendation is for us to worship via live stream for the next three Sundays to ensure that the downward trend continues, and then return to in-person worship on 11/7. 

It was frustrating, difficult, and sad to go back to online-only activities earlier this summer when the Delta wave hit, but I can't overstate how proud I am of our congregation for the patience and compassion UCC has shown during this period. Concern for the most vulnerable has guided our actions; we have followed Christ's call to tend his sheep. Good job, Church!

Many of the precautions we had in place over the summer will still be our practice when we return to in-person worship this time, too: checking in at the breezeway, individual communion packets, universal masking at all times while in the building, socially distanced seating, visiting in the courtyard immediately after the service, and asking anyone who feels sick or has been exposed to COVID to worship from home.

There is one major difference this time around: we will have congregational and choral singing once again! We are excited about this development and look forward to hearing everyone's voices. The congregation will still be masked during the hymns, but the fully-vaccinated choir will remove their masks during the anthem.

As always: if you aren’t comfortable with in-person worship, that is okay! We will continue to live stream worship services, and Sunday morning education will be shared via Zoom for those who aren't physically in the building. 

Please share your gratitude with the COVID Task Group which has taken their responsibility very seriously. It was no small task, and I am thankful to each of them for the diligent care they took to see us through this season. 

By the grace of God, UCC has actively lived out the love of Jesus Christ through thoughtful worship, compassionate service, and spiritual growth throughout the pandemic. And God is still calling us to that vital work within this life-giving community! I'm so eager to see you in worship on November 7. Until then, I hope to see you at Walnut Creek Park this Sunday, October 17, for our park gathering from 2-4 p.m., and on Zoom for the 10/21 book group discussion of Rachel Held Evans' book Inspired. Reach out to us at admin@ucc-austin.org for more ways you can worship, serve, and grow with University Christian Church.

Love,
Rev. Megan Peglar

August 2021 Worship Update: Online Only beginning 8/8

Beloved of God,

As you’ve likely heard by now, Austin is on the threshold of Stage 5 of Austin Public Health’s risk-based COVID guidelines. ICU beds are at a critical low, the highly contagious delta variant is spreading at a concerning rate, and APH is urging even vaccinated individuals to limit group size for gatherings. Due to all of these factors, the UCC COVID Task Group has recommended that our worship service shifts to online-only until the numbers improve, starting on August 8.

It has been a joyful thing to be together in person these last seven Sundays, and it is disappointing to have to pause that aspect of our congregational life. It is okay to sit with that sadness. But let us also give thanks for the technology that will allow us to continue to worship online and for the strong bonds that remind us that we are in this together, with God’s embrace enfolding us all.

Watch for more information to come as the numbers hopefully improve sooner than later. Please get vaccinated if you are able to and haven’t yet, and encourage your friends and family to get the vaccine, too. We will get through this as a community.

As I’ve written this update, the hymn Blest Be the Tie That Binds has been going through my head. I share it with you now as a blessing and a reminder that we will meet again.

Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love:
the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.

When we are called to part, it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.

Love in Christ,
Pastor Megan

Jerkiness and Jams

Dear UCC Family,

Starts and stops are tough. I'm remembering the jerky acceleration and quick braking from when I was a student driver (many moons ago) or being in the car with one (much more recently). I'm thinking of being stuck in traffic that's slowed down for no discernable reason (ARGH), which suddenly speeds up for a good little bit, only to come to a standstill a minute later (WHYYYYY???). You're annoyed with being stuck, happy to be on your way again, and then frustrated that you're back in the traffic jam it seemed had just let up.

So it goes lately with our pandemic experience. We'd stopped, for so long, our "normal" ways of doing things, when, relatively quickly, the world started to return to a safer place, as vaccinations became more readily available and more and more people were protected from COVID. It was joyfully disorienting! However, the last couple of weeks, as the delta variant has become more dominant and infection rates have risen exponentially, have felt a lot like that sudden traffic standstill after finally being on our way again.

Please know that we are continuing to take precautions to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable people. The COVID Task Group is keeping an eye on the numbers and will keep you apprised of any changes to our life together as a congregation. We are asking that masks are worn at all times while in the building, no matter vaccination status. Previously, we required masks primarily in the sanctuary. Everyone is also strongly encouraged to keep social distance (even while outside). Remember that we are live streaming worship, so anyone who hasn't been vaccinated or who is immunocompromised is strongly encouraged to worship online until the numbers improve. Also: please get vaccinated. Help your loved ones get vaccinated, too. It's an action that could help save lives.

The starts and stops get old, it's true. But God's mercies are new every morning. Through the jerkiness and the jams, and through smooth sailing, we are held close in God's embrace. That's the best place to be, whatever is going on around us.

Love and peace to you,

Pastor Megan

July Minister's Letter

UCC Family,

How glorious it has been to gather together in person (and online!)! I'm looking forward to many, many more Sundays learning, worshipping, hugging, and feasting together at Christ's table in our sanctuary. I'm sharing below again the poem I read near the beginning of the service on June 20 because it was simply so wonderful to breathe together once again (and for the first time, for some of us). A blessing we cannot speak by ourselves, indeed.

When We Breathe Together by Jan Richardson

When the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place.
– Acts 2:1

This is the blessing we cannot speak by ourselves.

This is the blessing we cannot summon by our own devices,
cannot shape to our own purposes,
cannot bend to our own will.

This is the blessing that comes
when we leave behind our aloneness,
when we gather together,
when we turn toward one another.

This is the blessing that blazes among us
when we speak the words strange to our ears,

when we finally listen into the chaos,

when we breathe together at last.

© Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com

Love and peace to you,
Pastor Megan

June Minister's Letter

UCC Family,

Are you as excited as I am about our congregation resuming in-person worship on June 20? This has been a long time coming, and it's going to be so wonderful...and also, likely, a bit strange. Worship will be somewhat different than it was last time we were physically together. We will be masked; we will not sing congregationally quite yet; we will have spaces in between occupied pews; we will partake of pre-packaged communion. But, we will be in our gorgeous sanctuary; we will see each other off of a screen; we will get to gather outside (without masks, for those who are vaccinated and comfortable) after worship in the courtyard for post-service coffee.

Read the article later in this issue of the Caller for more details, or you can click here to see our recent announcement and video about our return to in-person worship.

We made the best of it; we pivoted to fully-online church -- worship, fellowship, board meetings, ministry meetings, staff meetings (so. many. Zooms!) -- prayed for the world; loved our neighbors and made sacrifices to reduce transmission of COVID; all with the help, strength, and love of God. It wasn't easy. We were, in the words of Diana Butler Bass, dislocated: temporally, historically, physically, and relationally. She writes that "religious communities need to be about the work of relocation -- finding what has been lost, repairing what has been broken, and re-grounding people into their own lives and communities."

What a JOYFUL thing it's been to get to hug friends and family again, as vaccinations rise. It's heart-filling and a little overwhelming. As I sat down a couple of weeks ago on patios with family and friends I hadn't seen since August (and even then, we didn't get to hug), I was brought to tears at just how sweet it was. As loved ones finally reunite, we are finding each other once again and relocating ourselves in the world. Church, we are in this together, with God as our protector, friend, and guide. Be gentle with yourselves and with others as we continue taking steps into a world that's changed and in need of the healing and renewing love of Christ.

Love and peace to you,

Pastor Megan

University Christian Church Returns to In-Person Worship June 20

Grace and peace to you, University Christian Church! I’m so happy to share the news that we will return to in-person worship on Sunday, June 20. It’s been a profoundly difficult year. Last March, our congregation moved to online ministry so that we could love our neighbors and ourselves well during a global pandemic that soon raged out of control. We didn’t think we would be physically separated for so long. We stayed at home, socially distanced, and lived with a huge amount of uncertainty. We grieve the nearly 3.5 million people worldwide who have died from COVID, as well as all of the other losses that we have experienced over these past fourteen months.

At the same time, we celebrate the many ways we were able to stay connected as a congregation, to keep serving God’s people, and to continue to grow in love even through this challenging time. We give thanks that we are now at the point where we can return to worshipping together, face-to-face, as more and more people are vaccinated and the world becomes ever-safer. We give thanks for the scientists, public health experts, healthcare providers, and essential workers who have made it possible for us to get to this point. Let us also give thanks to UCC’s COVID Task Group for their diligent work in discerning and preparing for our return to in-person ministry: Craig Bell, Dr. Bill Howland, Zach Kilborn, Ron Martin, Rev. Chelsea McCutchin, and Suzanne Quenette.

The pandemic isn’t over yet. To help protect the most vulnerable in our communities, we still need to be careful and take precautions, get vaccinated, and encourage the people around us to get vaccinated. However, we can more safely worship together in person, and so we will do that beginning on June 20. Thanks be to God!

There are some aspects of our return to the sanctuary we would like to make you aware of:

• When you arrive, please come to the breezeway to check in and to pick up your bulletin and prepackaged communion. 

• We ask that everyone continue to mask, even if you’re vaccinated, so that we can be as welcoming and inclusive as possible to those who aren’t yet able to be vaccinated. Masks will be available for you if you forget yours at home.

• An usher will guide you to an open pew, as we will keep some pews closed for social distancing.

• Worship will look a little different. For now, one singer will sing the hymns, and the congregation will be invited to prayerfully listen.

• After the service, you’re invited to go to the courtyard to visit with each other outside. Ushers will dismiss the congregation by rows, so we will avoid bottlenecks. 

• If you feel sick, have any COVID symptoms, or have been recently exposed to COVID, please worship from home.

There will be some other slight adjustments that you notice once you’re at UCC. If you’d like to help volunteer on Sunday mornings at the check-in table or as an usher, please let us know.

If you aren’t quite ready to return to in-person worship, that is okay! Please be gentle with yourselves as we take steps back into physical spaces together, remembering that not everyone is at the same comfort level of being in-person or with physical touch. We will continue to live stream worship services and are setting up Sunday School classes to have the technology to include Zoom participants. We know more than ever after this year that online participation is real and meaningful, so we will keep facilitating that way of being church together, too.

Church, what a year it has been. Through it all, God has been with us, and UCC has kept on actively living out the love of Jesus Christ through thoughtful worship, compassionate service, and spiritual growth. I can’t wait to be able to do that with you together in person, by the grace of God. We’ll see you soon, and until then, remember that you are being prayed for and that you are loved immeasurably by the One who indeed creates, redeems, and sustains.

In peace,

Rev. Megan Peglar

May Minister's Letter

Happy Easter, UCC family!

I am very happy to be able to write to you and bring official greetings during Eastertide! As Pastor Megan reminded us all during worship in April, Easter is not just one day, but a period of 50 days of full celebration in the Church! But, you may be wondering, why? In the early Church, Lent was intended as a period of solemn reflection before Baptism on Easter Sunday. This was the time that congregants went through what we now call "The Pastor's Class," and learned about the Church, and their role in it before they formally responded to the call that God placed on their life through Baptism. After these brand new Christians were Baptized, Eastertide was their first 50 days officially "in" the faith. For the next 50 days, they were encouraged not only to celebrate the Resurrection, but also to discern the ways in which they were called to use their gifts for the purpose of the kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven."

In the same way as some of our earliest siblings in faith, we too are facing a period of discernment and celebration. Spring has mostly sprung (although in Central Texas, that often means that our temperature vacillates between winter-ish and dead-heat), and we are approaching a new reality as Covid shifts and changes the ways in which we are able to be gathered together. We will have an opportunity to be gathered virtually for some discernment time by using the ancient practice of Lectio Divinia, where we will together meditate on Scripture (please join us Sundays at 5 p.m. on Zoom!). We will also have opportunities for outdoor, small, masked, socially distanced gatherings on some member's yards.

These past 15 months have contained challenges that we could have never, ever anticipated, they have also provided us with lots of joy (our new settled senior minister! The ability to be gathered with our Sunday school classes no matter where we are!) and even more importantly, opportunities for new ways to "be" Church. I encourage all of us to continue our discernment, both personal and collective, as to how God is calling us into continual new life as the Body of Christ in Austin, Texas.

Each of you, by merit of your very creation, are beloved and gifted and called into the ministry of sharing the Good News. I am, as always, overjoyed to be able to walk alongside you.

Love and blessings,

Pastor Chelsea

Practice Resurrection

How was your Lent? Mine was...Lent-y. Lent-y in the way that I was reminded over and over that God is God and I am not. That I need God the Comforter and Healer. That sometimes a journey, even a holy journey like the one toward the cross and resurrection, feels like a bit of a slog. Plodding, step after step. Winter storm. One-year anniversary of the pandemic. More people grieving loved ones lost to the coronavirus and mass shootings. It's not been an easy Lent.

But God was there with us, every step of the way in the wilderness. We were blessed by the all-church Sunday School study of Amy-Jill Levine's Short Stories by Jesus; we grew closer to Christ and to one another. Our twice-weekly prayer times on Zoom and Facebook helped us to keep with a rhythm of prayer. Volunteers reached out to help those most affected by the freeze. Worship in Lent was beautiful and holy. We definitely had many companions in the wilderness.

And now, it's almost Easter. It was a joy to see so many faces during the virtual Palm Sunday "processional," especially those of our youngest UCC-ers. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday will see us through sacred moments in the mystery of these holy days. And then, Easter morning! Easter worship will be so special -- we'll have a choral anthem (a new one!), an organ duet, and a real celebration that death doesn't win -- Love does.

The season of Eastertide, I suspect, won't feel like a slog, because there is hope and possibility pretty much everywhere you look! More people are getting the vaccine, trees and flowers are blooming, we are inching toward some sort of return to "normal." That doesn't mean it will all be easy; we will surely have some stumbles and false starts as we figure out life together in this new world. However, we know more than ever that God's with us all along the way. I'm reminded of the line from a Wendell Berry poem that says Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.

If you take a look at our April calendar, it looks less crowded than usual. That's because we're gearing up for some exciting things, including a new Lectio Divina group on Zoom and some safe, small, outdoor in-person gatherings. Look farther down in this issue of the Caller for more information. We'll also be in touch this month about our annual pledge campaign, focused on Psalm 23:5-6: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

As always, you all are in my daily prayers. If you need help getting a vaccine appointment, let me or Pastor Chelsea know. I hope to see you on Zoom or for a porch/park visit sometime soon.

Love and peace to you,

Megan

Lenten Gifts

Lent got off to a bit of a rocky start last month when our city and state found ourselves in the middle of a winter storm crisis. Even if you didn't mark yourself with ashes this year, we all find ourselves pretty dusty a year into pandemic life. Over and over, though, we see reminders that God is steadfast and faithful, and relatively soon, we will get to worship together and serve alongside one another again. More and more people (including so many of you!) are getting the vaccine -- thanks be to God.

As our communities have supported each other through these difficult last few weeks, we've witnessed God's steadfast love: neighbors opening their homes to people in need of warmth and/or water; city governments, non-profits, and restaurants mobilizing with great speed to get food and essential needs to people who were hungry and hurting; folks who don't know each other volunteering side-by-side at warming shelters or at distribution events. This was love in action. This was God at work. It has been heartening to watch it all unfold!

UCC, too, has been God's hands and feet in the midst and in the aftermath of the storm. Our people stepped up to check in on each other, to offer what they had to those of us who were without, and to extend our care beyond our membership. The Stewardship Ministry designated outreach funds to go to Lifeworks and Micah 6 -- $2,500 each -- to help with the urgent needs brought about by the crisis. We also were able to give a Week of Compassion Community Solidarity Grant to Micah 6 -- an additional $1,500 to help restock their severely depleted food pantry. As you saw on the front page, UCC members also gave of their time to volunteer at the Millennium Youth Center to get food and other essential items to those in need.

We're inching closer to Easter, and I suspect we all are more than ready for resurrection. But we aren't there yet. Let's try to settle into where we find ourselves -- because surely there are gifts here for us. Gifts here in the middle of Lent. Even gifts here in the pandemic year.

One gift came during the Friday morning prayer time. We read this quote by Theophilus of Antioch: God has given to the earth the breath that feeds it. God’s breath vibrates in yours, in your voice. It is the breath of God that you breathe. We asked ourselves: How will God breathe through me this day? That's a good question for us each day, and especially through this season.

You're in my prayers every day, UCC family. Reach out if you'd like to talk, and I hope to see you on Zoom sometime soon.

Love and peace to you,

Megan

February Minister Letter

How are you all doing, beloveds of God? Tired? Hopeful? Lonely? Heartened? A mixture of all of the above? We are about one month into 2021, and it already feels like it's been a longer year than that, largely thanks to the various events in the life of our nation. There is light at the end of the tunnel regarding COVID thanks to the vaccine, but the rollout has been slow, so we have to keep on being careful and staying home. (I do rejoice that so many of you have received at least the first dose!) We are approaching one year of being in this strange time of pandemic living; last February was our last "normal" month.

I don't know about you, but all of that contributes to time being extra-strange lately. Days go by somewhat quickly, and so do most weeks, but they all add up to seem much longer than they actually are.

Soon, we will enter a season of holy time: Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 17. Having been in a wilderness of sorts for nearly a year, entering the wilderness of Lent sounds a bit extra. What if our Lenten practices this year focused on taking on rather than subtracting/giving up/fasting, as a way of honoring how much we've already given up this past year? Will you take on an intentional prayer practice, or perhaps extra charitable giving or volunteering, or maybe start to regularly make phone calls those who are particularly isolated? Or, you might choose to read some new books by Black authors as a way to observe Black History Month and to practice seeing the Imago Dei in each person (here are some options from Chalice Press!). Maybe you could take on a practice of baking (there will be a couple of recipes in your Lent/Easter bag...more info about these later in this issue!) and leaving it on the porches of your friends and neighbors as a way of brightening their (and your) days.

In worship this Lenten season, our theme is Community of Jesus | Community of Love. As we experience Lent together, we'll recognize that even now, we are not alone. Although we are in the wilderness, we are there with one another and with God. As we travel through this holy time toward the cross, we'll do so alongside loved ones and strangers who show us Christ's face each step of the way.

I hope to see you all at one of our Ash Wednesday services, All-Church Sunday School, and Wednesday and/or Friday morning prayer. There are many opportunities to grow closer to God and to one another ahead of us. And, as always, reach out to me or to Pastor Chelsea if you just need someone to talk to (even just for fun). We really do want to hear how you're doing.

Love and peace to you,

Megan

January Minister Letter

As we enter into 2021, I'm focusing on gratitude. Gratitude for you, such a deeply loving congregation; a collaborative and creative staff; dedicated leaders who give so much time and talent to make UCC a vibrant presence even through the pandemic. After all of our special Advent and Christmas services and activities, I'm especially grateful for the extra work put in by Rev. Chelsea McCutchin, Morgan Kramer, Dr. Melanie Randall, the choral scholars, Amy Low, the Community Ministry, the elders, and Ron Martin. It was a meaningful, grace-filled season, and each of you blessed us with your gifts. Thank you.

Speaking of the difficult year: although there are vaccines that are being administered (hallelujah!), we are not yet done with this period of staying at home to protect our loved ones and strangers. UCC has chosen the prudent, loving, and faithful approach of worshipping online and connecting via Zoom, phone calls, and mailed notes to reduce COVID-19 transmission. We will continue this way of being church until it is safe enough for us to gradually gather again. As we are currently in the most restrictive city-county stage, we do not expect to be back in person very soon, but it is still helpful to have a set of guidelines, a roadmap, so that we are ready and prepared as the world becomes safer and safer.

Toward the end of September 2020, I convened a COVID-19 Task Group to come up with a set of guidelines for us to follow as we continue to live through the pandemic and eventually emerge from it. Members of that group are: Craig Bell, Dr. Bill Howland, Zach Kilborn, Ron Martin, Rev. Chelsea McCutchin, Suzanne Quenette, and myself. After a series of meetings, e-mails, and prayerful work (aided in part by the plan that Round Rock Christian Church generously shared with other Capital Cluster pastors), the Task Group presented the guidelines at the December 1 board meeting.

Click here to see the guidelines. You'll notice a few things:

• There are no dates associated with various phases. Our phases are based upon the data-driven Austin-Travis County Risk-Based Guidelines. By being data-driven rather than date-driven, we will follow best practices determined by the scientific community and public health professionals.

• Lots of flexibility and fluidity. We will move between phases as called for by the scientific data. The guidelines are subject to change as needed, too. The guidelines are not exhaustive for every possible scenario, so there is room for creativity as we envision safe ways to gather together in the future.

• It's conservative and cautious. Moving into safe phases, we will purposefully lag at least two weeks behind any stage changes Austin-Travis County make, and even in Phase 2, we will have many precautions in place to help protect the most vulnerable, which is of utmost concern.

UCC, I am so proud of you for how well you love and for how you've kept on being salt and light during this incredibly challenging period. As members of the Body of Christ, we are doing our best to live like Jesus. We grieve with the families of all who have lost a loved one to this virulent disease (over 332,000 in the United States alone as I write this). We comfort the lonely. We look for ways to lift up those in need and share what we have. We give thanks for the ways God guides and loves us, and are confident that Jesus meant it when he said "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Love and peace to you,

Megan

Holy Waiting

Tidings of hope, peace joy, and love! In a year dominated by what some have so cleverly coined "COVID-tide," it is truly gladdening to be in this holy season of getting ready for the good news of Christmas. It feels like we need the breaking in of the kin-dom of God into our hurting world this year more than ever.

I'm tired of waiting, tired of staying home, tired of not getting to see you in real life and not just on a screen, tired of a lack of clear public health messaging. So, while I'm excited about Advent and the trappings that come with it, I'm also not totally on board with a season that's all about waiting. Isn't that what we've been doing, endlessly? I feel like yelling out: More waiting? Aren't we pros at that already after this year? We need Emmanuel, God-with-us, NOW.

Maybe the gift of this particular Advent season is the chance to wait differently, with more deep patience. The chance to reframe waiting as holy. To recognize it as something blessed. As something that has within it the possibility of honoring God, ourselves, and our neighbors.

Author and Duke professor Kate Bowler wrote this in her 2020 Advent devotional introduction:

Advent is the season of almost. Almost Christmas. Almost a vaccine. Almost. As we learn to sit in the faint glow of a long Advent, we need gentle ways to find hope and beauty and love. (Sign up here for her Advent devotional - this may be the year to engage with MULTIPLE devotionals!)

Advent is the season of almost. We're close, but still far-ish. There's light at the end of the tunnel, but we still have the tunnel to get through. What might help us to make that trek -- a trek that's actually just one of waiting around -- holy? What are some "gentle ways to find hope and beauty and love?"

Perhaps it's praying every day with the Those Who Dream devotional, and sharing some reflections in the devotional groups. Or carving out 10 minutes every Friday for midday prayer on Zoom together. It could be inviting a friend to worship with you online this season, or driving around to look at Christmas lights, or listening to your favorite Christmas albums (mine are by Over the Rhine, James Taylor, and Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis). Maybe it's or sending Christmas cards to people who might feel lonely, giving some extra time or money to Micah 6, or looking at each other's faces during the Christmas Eve Zoom worship. There are so many possibilities for hope, peace, joy, and love - even at a time like this - because God is good.

Dear ones, I wish desperately we could have Christmas parties, worship in the sanctuary, and hug each other. But the waiting is holy, despite how ready we are to not be waiting anymore. We wait to gather because it's how we love our neighbor during a pandemic. The waiting is holy, indeed. As we wait, dream, and hope together, know that you are in my prayers throughout this "season of almost."

Again, Kate Bowler blesses us with her words: ...as we anticipate Christ’s birth together, may we experience the stubborn hope of Christmas, joy in the midst of sorrow, a love that knows no bounds, and a transcendent peace amid a world on fire. Jesus can’t be born soon enough.

Peace,

Megan

Blessed Are

When this edition of the Caller is sent, it will be just a handful of days away from Election Day 2020. Hopes and fears related to the election have been coursing through our private lives and in broader public life, providing energy and anxiety alike. Families and friends have found themselves at odds with one another. Many of us have unfollowed or unfriended people on social media platforms, and some have more formally ceased being in relationship or in conversation with folks who have expressed opposition (sometimes hostile opposition) to all who hold certain views.

Don’t get me wrong: some of this boundary-creating and holding is healthy, to be sure. It’s an appropriate self-protective measure when there is someone calling into question or deriding core parts of who you (or loved ones) are as a beloved child of God. Blessed are the healthy boundary keepers.

Occasionally, though, folks from all political parties are too quick to write someone off or to cast them aside. To sacrifice relationship so that we can “correct” them. To believe every email or meme, no matter how skewed and inflammatory. And this election season especially, we’ve all witnessed folks calling others “monsters,” “animals,” and much worse. This sort of behavior – name-calling, assuming the worst about our neighbors, and taking on a dehumanizing perspective of individuals and groups – is not the Christian way. It’s not Jesus’ way. Jesus’ way is the way of seeing the imago Dei - image of God - in each and every person. Jesus' way is the way of compassion, forgiveness, and grace.

It’s the way of lifting up the lowly. It’s the way of doing justice and loving mercy. It’s the way he preaches about in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, which is one of the lectionary readings for All Saints Day (that happens to fall on the Sunday before the election this year). Jesus tells us: blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful and pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers.

Heading toward the election, let’s remember the best of what our beloved saints taught us about walking in the way of Christ. Let's pray for peace, for reconciliation, for fears to be allayed, for this world that God so loves to be healed and to be made whole. Let’s pray for our neighbors who don’t vote the same way we do. And let’s keep up those prayers after the election, too, no matter what happens in any of the races. Every single day, the same things are true: God loves you; God loves each person on this earth; and God redeems and sustains it all.

Peace,

Megan

October Minister Letter

It’s hard to believe it’s October already. Soon, it will be time for the election, and holidays will come barreling on shortly after that. Like everything else this year, the next few months will look different from what we’re used to. But despite it all, God is still with us – offering strength, patience, and peace that passes understanding (and Heaven knows that’s just the kind of peace we need these days!). There’s so much to pray for, so much justice to seek, so much kindness to love, so much walking humbly with God to do. Let’s keep these things in mind as we vote and as we find ways to celebrate Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas safely.

We’re still figuring out the road as we walk it, and that includes putting together a plan for when and how to return to the church building. The new COVID-19 Planning Task Group has started their work to determine the myriad decisions we have in front of us to keep people healthy and safe. The members of the task group are: Craig Barnes, Bill Howland, Zach Kilborn, Ron Martin, Chelsea McCutchin, Suzanne Quenette, and myself. Stay tuned for more information as soon as we have it to share.

Meanwhile, another group of us are already looking toward Advent and Christmas. As you can expect, this year won’t be like other years, but I can tell you that it will still be special and meaningful. I’m excited about the creative ways our church will wait hopefully and then celebrate joyfully the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-us.

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Speaking of Christmas, look at what I found when I was packing up our house in Fort Worth! Even though I’m a bit of a pack rat and shouldn’t have been surprised that I kept this, I was taken by surprise when I stumbled across the UCC bulletin from Christmas Eve 2011. My mom was living in Round Rock at the time, and I was just about to start a pastorate in Fort Worth the next month. I knew Chuck and Mary Lu a bit, so we decided to come to UCC’s service. It was beautiful – beautiful enough that I’ve kept the bulletin all these years! What a joy it is to be here now with you all and to continue in the tradition of UCC of making beautiful things with and for God and God’s people.

One more thing: thank you to all of you who signed up for a Zoom chat and also for everyone who was able to come to the car parade – what fun! With the weather getting to be cooler, I’d love to visit with you on your porches, at a park, or in the UCC courtyard at a safe and social distance (and masked up). If you feel comfortable with that, I’ll be happy to spend some time with you in person. If you’re not quite ready for that, let’s set up a phone chat. Send me an email and we will make it happen.

Peace,

Megan

Anxious to Talk About It Book Study

Honoring University Christian Church’s board resolution to become an anti-racist, pro-reconciliation church, you are invited to join a discussion of the book Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully about Racism by Rev. Dr. Carolyn B. Helsel. We will meet on Zoom each Thursday night at 7:00 pm from October 1-November 12. The author will join us for discussion on November 12. 

All are truly welcome to this study, whether you’re a member of our congregation, another congregation, or no congregation. This is an opportunity for us to develop new language around racism, whiteness, and Christianity.

For more information, check out the book trailer here.  

You may find your copy of the book here or here. 

If purchasing a book is cost-prohibitive for you, please reach out to Pastor Chelsea at cmccutchin@ucc-austin.org and she will be sure you get one.

Please register here.