BLOG POST FOR CHURCH EMAIL
Audience: Parents of Children
Goal: Informing Parents about Kids Ministry and Inviting them to the Informational Fair
University United Methodist Church’s Kids Ministry has a long history of providing families with resources to help guide children in their faith. Kids Ministry provides children ages 2 months to 5th grade with age-level programming to teach them in ways they will learn best. We strive to have an impactful model to teach and form the children who walk through our doors.
As we welcome old and new families into our church halls, we wanted to give families a chance to learn more about all that our Kids Ministry at University has to offer. You are invited to join us on August 6 after worship in the Atrium for an Informational Fair. This is the Sunday before Promotion Sunday when all our children will be “promoted” to their new age-level classes. We hope this event will leave families feeling confident that their child will be cared for and taught in a meaningful and impactful setting whenever parents leave them with the Kids Ministry staff and volunteers.
Every week, we offer Sunday School classes and Wednesday Night programming. These two days allow Kids Ministry the time to pour into your children regularly. During our Informational Fair, you will be able to meet the people who will be teaching your kids during these gatherings. But now we would like to give you a quick introduction to what you will learn:
On Sundays and Wednesdays, we provide childcare in our Nursery to children 2 months to 2 years. Staff will place your child into the proper room with caregivers based on their development.
On Sunday mornings, we offer two options for your older child(ren), Sunday School classes from 9:30-10:30 a.m. or First Worship from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on South Campus. Our Sunday School classes are facilitated by two volunteer teachers, who will guide age-level classes for children 2 years to 5th grade in lessons that will help them learn how to enter into a life-long relationship with Jesus. We will have a Methodist-based curriculum that parents can learn about when attending this fair. First Worship classes are designed specifically for children 2 years to kinder so that they can learn about what University believes and practices in a way that they will understand.
On Wednesdays, during our church-wide Wednesday Night Dinner & Programming, we split our children into specific classes to learn about the Word using tools that fit each group. The programming will run from 6:30-7:45 p.m. on South Campus. All 3, 4 & pre-kinder 5-year-olds will join us for Wednesday Night Kids Preschool, where they play games, learn Bible stories, and be introduced to the tools to encourage them to connect within the church community. Our Kinder to 2nd graders will attend Wednesday Night Kids Jr., a time when they will engage in tactile activities, games, Bible stories, and scripture. And finally, Wednesday Night Kids for our 3rd to 5th graders. This age group can look forward to playing organized games, memorizing scripture, hearing a Bible lesson in a large group setting, and then they break into smaller group discussions.
Our annual, quarterly, and monthly events are just as important as our weekly ones. Our first annual event is just around the corner with our 3rd Grade Bibles. This is an important Sunday for 3rd graders, as they will receive their Bibles that they will use regularly. Some other annual events include Family Movie Night, Chaotic Christmas Eve, and Vacation Bible School. These events exist as ways to get our greater community involved with our church. We also have our quarterly event called Serve & Play, in which your kids will serve at a local organization and then enjoy time in fellowship as they play after. Parent’s Night Out is a monthly event where parents can drop their children off knowing that they will be taken care of in a safe, Christian environment. We invite you to always be on the lookout for these events on social media, in worship or on the website at UniversitySATX.Org/Events.
We hope that this has allowed you to learn about what you can look forward to throughout the week and year with Kids Ministry. While there is still much to teach, we are so happy that we will be able to do it with you and your family. Please be ready and excited to meet those who will be teaching your child over the next year. If you have any questions or want more information in the meantime, please email Info@UniversitySATX.Org. We cannot wait to see you!
STORY POSTED ON CHURCH WEBSITE
Ed & Ellie’s Story
It was a surprise for Ed and Ellie Herbold when they walked into a celebration that honored them. But it was a celebration that was well deserved by a couple that has put many years into University’s Music Ministry. Ed and Ellie responded with a big “THANK YOU” and we would like to say it right back to them.
After the Air Force brought them to San Antonio in 1982, they found a home here at University. So much so that even when they were stationed in our nation’s capital from 1987-1992, Ed and Ellie still considered this church their home. During their first time in San Antonio, from 1984-1987, before tours took them elsewhere, the couple was on the Sanctuary Building and Organ Selections committees, forever impacting the way our Sanctuary looks today. After a few years in D.C., they returned to San Antonio and picked up where they had left off, by serving the church that would become their forever home. In the late 90’s, they even had the blessing of being a part of the Children’s and Music Ministry building committees.
With any program starting out, growing an inventory of music was a must and Ed and Ellie had a very strong presence in creating University’s music library. Throughout their time in Music Ministry and especially at the start, the couple spent many hours salvaging, recovering and restoring many envelopes of choral music. Some of these envelopes were much easier to take care of with only a few copies of music in them while others had up to 30 copies of precious choir music in them. But, no matter how big or how small, each envelope was treated with as much care and respect as the other.
Ed and Ellie share their gratitude to University’s music director, Mary McKay, as she made a great impact on their personal service to the music ministry. Ed said that it was Mary and many others who, “guided us to learn about the proper repair and storage of the octavos and we cherished the hours spent in creating and organized choir library.” It was during the early times of working that Mary that the original database for music storage was initiated. It was one of the old Apple 2E computers with a dot matrix printer that helped with the start of this database. As technology has grown, so has the database. Now, there are over 1800 choir titles and 1000 orchestra titles, many of those with over 100 copies per title.
As we entered into a new century, the Music Ministry was fortunate enough to gain Karen Pressler as a University staff member. While Karen was here, Ed and Ellie still felt the call to work alongside her as volunteers and put in many hours of work for this precious library. Upon her retirement, the Herbold’s made sure that the music library was still well taken care of and they took on all of the responsibilities and duties that Karen had held. To this day you will still see Ed maintaining the music library on a weekly basis and even when we have our Big Music Sundays. He comes in at least twice a week for about 4 hours to make sure that the music that was played the previous Sunday is all accounted for and gets the new pieces ready for the upcoming week.
So, just as Karen walked through the music library, many others have and Ed and Ellie see the importance of this. Ed says that throughout their involvement with this ministry, “we have had many choir members step forward to support our wonderful music library. These individuals have been so valuable in maintaining our wonderful inventory, especially during cleanup after the busy Christmas and Easter seasons.”
In total, Ed and Ellie have spent over 30 years and countless of hours serving the music library which lead our choir officers feeling a call to acknowledge the couple's faithfulness and love with a celebration for them. To honor them, there is now a plaque outside of the music library entrance. Surrounded by the pastors, their family and their fellow choir members, the music library was justly named after this dedicated couple.
It is no secret that University has a strong and beautiful Music Ministry. As Ed and Ellie have said, they are blessed, but in the same respect they have blessed the members of University. From the busy times to the downtimes, the music members do all that they can to respect the great music scores that are assigned and used by them. From Ed and Ellie to their fellow music members, “thank you for your dedication in support of our passion to manage and protect or incredible music library and support to the Music Ministry department.”
BLOG POST INFORMING CHURCH ABOUT CLOSURE
Audience: Church Members
Goal: Informing Members About Church Closure and Reason
Church Family,
If you have been on South Campus over the last day or two, you will notice that the parking lot is looking a little torn up. We have started a resurfacing project on our South Campus Parking Lot. Over the next few days and next week, we will need your help so that this project will run smoothly.
For the remainder of this week, the South Parking Lot and South Campus will be open. This week in the South Parking Lot, they will be working on small areas in the parking lot that are marked off in pink. If you park in the South Campus Parking Lot through Friday (March 11), we ask that you get a tag from inside the front office to place inside of the windshield. On this, we will ask for your information, including your phone number, so that if need be, the workers can call you if they need your vehicle moved.
This evening, for Dinner and Programming, you can park in the South Campus parking lot. Saturday and Sunday, you will have access to both parking lots. You will not need to get a tag to put in your car, but, please be aware of construction areas around the parking lot.
Next week, March 14 - 19, the resurfacing project will continue. As a result, the South Campus and its parking lot will be closed all week. Any events that were scheduled on campus for that week have been canceled or rescheduled. Please reach out to your event leader to get any other information you may need.
In addition, to alleviate possible parking conflicts, we have made the decision to combine our March 20th worship services. We will offer only Modern Worship services at 9:30 & 11am in the Worship Center on the North Campus. We will not have any Traditional services in the Sanctuary on March 20th.
Please note that while we will not be having a service in the Sanctuary, the decision was made to open the South Campus on March 20 for Kids Ministry and Sunday School Classes. However, you will ONLY have access to South Campus by walking the Skybridge. Since the South Parking Lot will be closed, you will only be able to park in the North Campus parking lot and enter the buildings on North Campus.
Please be in contact with your class/study leaders about possible location changes. Thank you for your understanding and willingness to adapt while we make these changes for the week and Sunday morning. We look forward to seeing you soon!
PUBLICATIONS AROUND DENOMINATIONAL DISCERNMENT
Audience: Full Members of University United Methodist Church
Informational Videos
Pastor Ben has recorded videos on the topics of how University is navigating discernment within the UMC. Please visit our Denominational Discernment page on the website at UniversitySATX.Org/Discernment to learn more.
Discernment Devotionals
As we continue to walk together through this discernment period, we invite you to take part in our Discernment Devotionals each day through May 27. Each devotional has a passage of Scripture, a short meditation, and a closing prayer. Devotionals for an entire week will be sent out each Monday, with a separate link for each day. We hope these will help you open your heart and prepare for God to speak His truth and peace to your soul. If you have not subscribed to the email list, but would still like to use these devotionals as a resource, visit UniversitySATX.Org/Discernment-Devotional.
Discernment Town Halls
May 3 | 6:30 p.m. | Zoom Webinar & John Wesley Rm.
May 7 | 3 p.m. | John Wesley Rm.
Church members are invited to join us for a Town Hall gathering. Pastor Ben will be discussing how University is navigating discernment within the UMC. There will be a time to break into smaller round-table conversations with our Leadership Counsel and Discernment team to answer questions you may have. These conversations will have the same information as the gathering that was held on April 16, you only need to attend one gathering. Childcare will be available on South Campus.
For those who are home-bound and wish to attend the Zoom webinar, please visit UniversitySATX.Org/Events to register for the webinar.
Voting & Membership
University's vote regarding our denominational affiliation will take place on Sunday, May 21, 2023, from 1-6 p.m. on North Campus. You can participate in early voting on Monday, May 15, 2023, from 4-6 p.m. on North Campus. To vote, you need to be a Full Member of University United Methodist Church. The deadline for membership, to vote, is Sunday, May 14, 2023. A photo ID will be required and verified against membership rolls. If you are unsure of your status or want to confirm that you are in Full Membership with University, please reach out to our database manager Sarah Westmoreland at Westmoreland@UniversitySATX.Org.
EVENT WRITE UPS FOR WEEKLY EMAIL
Audience: Subscribers to University United Methodist Church’s weekly emails
Woodhill Apartment Summer Camp | Volunteers
Ongoing Through August 11
This summer we will be running a Summer Camp for the kids at the Woodhill Apartments. During this camp, the team will feed the kids breakfast and lunch, making crafts, reading, and playing games. We need members to sign up to be Mentors of Fun by playing with the kids and helping them with crafts, reading, and games. More information can be found on our Events page.
Contact Taylor at TMooney@UniversitySATX.Org
Combined Worship
July 2 | 11am | Sanctuary
We will only have Traditional services which will be held in the Sanctuary at 8:15, 9:30 & 11am. There will be no 11am Modern service or 12:15pm Believer's Garden service. If you usually worship in Modern or Believer's Garden, please make plans to join us on the South Campus in the Sanctuary.
Contact University at Info@UniversitySATX.Org
Buildings Closed
July 3 & 4 | North & South Campuses
Please be aware that our church buildings will be closed Monday, July 3 & Tuesday, July 4 for the Fourth of July holiday. Please contact your ministry or event leader with any questions. We hope you have a fun and safe July 4th holiday!
Contact University at Info@UniversitySATX.Org
Serve & Play: Summer Edition
July 7 & 8 | Off-site
All completed 1st-5th graders are invited to join our Kids Ministry as they go out into our community to serve at Texas Diaper Bank. They will finish the day with some time to play at Chuck E Cheese. There is an overnight option available for all ages. Registration on our Events page closes July 3.
Contact Jordan at JJernigan@UniversitySATX.Org
Summer Sing & Serve
July 10-14 | 9am-12pm | South Campus
All kids in current/completed 1st-5th grade (2022-2023) are invited to join us for this special week of music. The kids will have a presentation at the end of camp on Friday for parents, friends and family to come watch and listen to what the kids have learned. Head over to our Events page to register.
Contact Joseph at JHerron@UniversitySATX.Org
The Course
July 17-19 | 9am-3pm | The Loft
Join this week focused on intentional discipleship that includes teachings from Pastor Ben, with time for quiet reflection and time for small group discussions. This week will bring more depth, meaning and purpose to your life and in turn bring more impact to the ministry you can offer the world. Registration closes on Monday, 7/10 on our Event page on the website.
Contact Melissa at MSupak@UniversitySATX.Org