Suzanne Castle
As we enter this season of gracious gift-giving and love,
 I have a personal plea to make before you: give a monetary gift to University Christian Church/The Search. Each year we run a campaign that allows us to plan for ministry endeavors, but without an accurate view of what we can expect, it is hard to plan for such missional experiences like The Search.
To date, we are significantly below last year's campaign total:
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2011 Total
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2012 To-Date
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Pledges Received
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695
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648
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Pledged Amounts
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$2,269,764
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$2,066,491
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And so now it is crunch time. Due to increases in operating costs, if we don't come up with $275,000 of pledge committments by December 20th, the leadership of this church will be forced to make drastic changes to what we know. And these decisions will focus on programming and personnel, and that will ultimately greatly affect our worshiping experience at The Search.
Please consider making a first time pledge on what you can estimate your offerings to be in the coming year. If you have pledged, please consider increasing that pledge as you are able. Either way, be in prayer about this endeavor. As you know in Advent we are Unwrapping our Fear, so that we can be beacons of hope in the world. It is my fervent hope that we will continue to be a fresh worship expression that reaches out as we welcome all of God's people to the table of life. Join me as together we seek the Sacred.
Eric Hoffer said, "Fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything."
Rev. Dr. Suzanne Castle
Search Minister Chica
Bill McCoy
Stewardship Chair
Rev. Larry Thomas
Senior Minister
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Do You Hear What I Hear?
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." - Author unknown, attributed to a 7-year-old named Bobby It seems that we don't stop to listen this season. There's the list of to-do's made ever longer by the presents and parties and perfection that we seek as we share this Christmas season. And so we fill our ears with the maniacal melee that we have been led to believe is the way to get through. Just get through! But as we do our to-do's I'm wondering what we are listening to. I cannot tell you how much each Advent that I yearn to be one of the shepherds on the hillsides in the Gospel of Luke. I wonder what they heard. Was it the beating of angels' wings? Was it the sound of the zooming of light into their horizon? Was it the deep and reverent silence of sheep stopping their bleating in awe and wonder? What did they listen to before THE NEWS came? And so I'm interested in what you are listening to during our sharing of Advent. At The Search we are looking at Unwrapping Our Fear and how our fear keeps us from truly being filled with the Glory of God in the Highest, so to speak. To that end, I'd like for us to start some sharing of what we listen to to prepare our hearts for the arrival of Emmanuel. Tweet it if you like with the #seekingsacred. Share it on the wall of the group of our worshipers here. Or share it face to face. Check out the sidebar to see what your Search staff is listening to as we look for Love in our rooms this season Rev. Dr. Suzanne Castle Search Minister Chica |
Adam's Take on Christmas Music
So  when you say Christmas music I think of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" it is absolutely the quintessential holiday song. Big tree, little kids, snow, and great singing; what more could you ask for? Maybe I like it so much because it never snows in Fort Worth on Christmas, or maybe because I am a sucker for nostalgic films and wish the world was a happier simple place.  | | Bing Crosby - White Christmas |
But followed closely behind my friend Bing is Judy Garland's "Have yourself a merry little Christmas"  | | Judy Garland - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas |
It is sad and hopeful all at the same time. I think Christmas is that to many people. Mostly I don't like new Christmas music! I just don't think of Clay Aiken or Destiny's Child as Christmas. I will continue to channel my inner curmudgeon even while I wish all of you a Merry Christmas.
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Friday, December 9, 2011 at 10:34AM 
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