the
UNIVERSITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Newsletter
2015
In This Issue
January Birthdays
page 2
Pastoral Transition UPdate
page 2
Welcome Our Newest Members
page 3
A Beautiful Anomaly
page 3
Epiphany: Celebrating God with Us
page 4
Come Thou Fount: Baptism of Our Lord
page 4
Ladies Shoes & the World’s Largest Pipe Organ page 5
Thank you from UPLIFT
page 5
YAM UPdate
page 6
Fellowship & Retreats
page 6
Youth UPdate
page 7
UKirk Invitation
page 8
Images from Christmas Eve
page 8
Session Highlights & Commendations
page 9
Honoring Dr. King
This year, UPC is joining with New
Covenant Fellowship, Innervisions
Gospel Choir and Bertha Sadler
Means Young Women’s Leadership
Academy to present a Community
Birthday Celebration in honor of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Please mark your calendar for 3:00
p.m. on Sunday, January 18. We’ll gather at New
Covenant Fellowship, 1507 Wilshire Boulevard (Genesis
Presbyterian Church campus). The program will include
tributes to Dr. King, musical numbers by the Innervisions
Choir and the UPC Chancel Choir, presentations by students
at the Bertha Sadler Means Academy and more, with a
reception to follow.
For more information, please contact Roscoe Overton or
Kathy Escandell.
On the Second Day of
Christmastide…
The wait is over! The rush has past! The gifts are
unwrapped. The somber purple of Advent has
changed to the gleaming white of Christmas. And
Valentine’s Day cards and chocolate Easter
bunnies are already on sale at a store near you!
Just as our society tries to rush us into Christmas
in mid-October, we feel hurried yet again to
bounce back from the craziness of the Christmas
and New Years holiday season and to turn our
attention (and our wallet) to the next big holiday.
Frankly, it’s all a little exhausting, isn’t it?
“Hold on!” says the church. “Give us a moment to
breathe, to wonder, to rest in the presence of this
newborn Christ!” After all, we’ve held off on our
celebrations and Christmas carols while everyone
else was holly and jolly. We’ve waited. We’ve
watched. We’ve anticipated. We’ve hoped. And
now that Christmas Day has come, it’s finally time
to celebrate.
For Christians around the world, Christmas is not
just a one-day blowout, but an entire season of
celebration! We celebrate the twelve-day feast of
Christmas, otherwise known as Christmastide, as
a way of digging deep into the meaning of
Christ’s birth. In the same way the celebration of
Eastertide gives us 50 days to celebrate and
reflect on the incredible story of Christ’s passion
and resurrection, we take these 12 days to
marvel and contemplate what it means that God
took on human flesh and dwelt among us. We
take these 12 days to give thanks that God loves
us so much that God sent his only Son, Jesus
Christ to this world. We will commemorate this 12
day feast of Christmastide until Epiphany,
January 6. So keep the tree up, the lights
twinkling, and the Christ candle burning!
Keep singing those carols! Keep the party going!
The story has just begun!
3 Kay Bryant
14 Hannah Maddox
22 Emily Reagan
3 Diane Haight
15 Kevin Berlin
23 Ricardo Medrano
3 Tommy McReynolds
17 Carol Keller
24 Elizabeth Cognetti
4 Kendal Gladish
17 Paul Elliott
25 Sherry D. Smith
6 Bob Shipman
18 Kathy Clark
25 Bob Drew
5 James Kern
18 Ann Winkle
25 Rachel Dodd
6 Bob Bridge
18 Ed Priest
26 Carey Doughty
7 Erin Adams
18 Bob Fulton
27 Martha Bauer
1 Vicki Fatheree
9 Byron French
19 Max Sherman
27 Amy Manning
1 Molly Ogorzaly
9 Mallory Pernell
20 Avery Gonzales
28 Ted Wardlaw
1 Inez Price
10 Seth Lott
20 Whitney Musitano
29 Harper Jean Norman
1 Lizzette Reynolds
11 Alice Risinger
20 William Bradford
30 Claire Baxter
1 Jan Roberts
11 Emily Horvath
21 Janis Reinken
30 Shane Webb
1 Kathy Fretwell
13 Diane Hutchins
21 Julian Williams
31 Mark Baxter
2 Clayton Maxwell
13 Martha Hopson
22 Linda Henderson
31 Amanda Utter
2 Anna Fierke
13 Katie Bass
22 Michael Dodd
Pastoral Transition Update — Congregational Meeting January 11
As you know, San has announced his retirement effective May 1, 2015. Over the next few months,
the Session, in consultation with our Presbytery liaison, will be making plans for this time of pastoral
transition. Phil Barnes, our Presbytery liaison, met with us for our December 17 session meeting to
discuss the process. On Sunday, January 11, a congregational meeting follows worship. We will
report progress to date and provide an opportunity for you to offer nominations for the transition
team. Those who serve on the transition team are also eligible to serve on the pastor nominating
committee. Any interested church member is welcome to attend the Session meeting, at 5:30 p.m.
January 21, in the Great Hall. Our congregation’s Annual Meeting, which is called for February 8,
2015, will be another opportunity to share the transition process with the congregation and invite
questions and comments.
Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you may have. Tyson Payne is chair of the Staff
Committee, and will respond to any inquiries. The Session will keep the congregation informed as
we move forward. Transitions are challenging times, but they can also be exciting times as the
congregation looks to the future with hope and expectation.
Return to table of contents
Please WELCOME Our Newest Members!
We are pleased to welcome Mark, Mary, and
Elizabeth Cognetti back to UPC! The Cognettis
are former members of UPC, having baptized
both children here. James, age 23, graduated
from Texas A&M in May, and now works as a
civil engineer in Houston. Elizabeth, age 19, is
currently a student at ACC.
Mary retired from teaching in AISD several
years ago, having taught music education.
Mark continues to work for DARS as a disability
examiner. They have lived in the Oak Hill area
for the last 28 years.
Mark, Mary, and Elizabeth Cognetti
A Beautiful Anomaly
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started my internship at UPC. Having only been to one 11:00 a.m. service and
one Taizé service, and not knowing more than a few people who go there, the church – your church – was very much
an unknown.
I had been told by a few seminarian friends that the majority of the congregation did not share some of my more
conservative positions. Nevertheless, they all said that they didn’t think that would be a problem. They thought that,
even considering our apparent differences, I would feel welcome and would have a good experience.
And I’m so glad to report that I did!
UPC, to me, is a beautiful anomaly. UPC is a lesson in not judging a book by its cover. One might feel slightly awed
by the formality of a service that includes a large choir, incredible organ pipes and a procession that follows a large
crucifix which opens up the service. But this apparent grandeur or formality is challenged by the presence and
beautiful noise of running and laughing children, of a passing of the peace that is animated, joyful and welcoming,
and by a grocery store shopping cart that lumbers towards the front of the church during the offering.
And here is a church that, instead of meeting over and over again to talk about what they might do or should do to
serve the needs of their community, is actually doing things. Here is a church that has taken their beautiful space and
has opened it up to the struggling, the homeless, the hungry on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, giving hope,
smiles, eye glasses, food, monetary help and love. In all my years visiting churches around the country, I don’t think
that I have ever seen a better example of living out the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is so much more to UPC than what I just mentioned, and I pray that there is even more beauty in your future.
Thank you all for challenging my perceptions, for inspiring me, and for welcoming me with open arms during
my internship.
— Charlie Drozdyk
Return to table of contents
Epiphany: Celebrating
God With Us
Ever wonder what
comes after the 12
drummers drumming
and a partridge in a
pear tree of
Christmastide?
I’m glad you asked! It’s
Epiphany!
The Church’s celebration of Epiphany first originated in
Egypt in the 3rd century and predates the celebration of
Christmas. Epiphany commemorates the manifestation
of God with us, Emmanuel, and what it means that God
makes God’s own self known to us in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we see the clearest picture of the
nature of God right in front of our eyes. In the Orthodox traditions, Epiphany is the third biggest
celebration of the Christian year, third only to Easter and Pentecost.
In later centuries, the tradition of blessing the homes of the faithful evolved as a way of recognizing
Christ’s presence with us everywhere, including our daily lives. The inscription: 20 + C + M + B + 15
can be marked upon the doorframe of a house in chalk and left there until Pentecost. The letters
CMB are bordered by the year numerals and separated by signs of the cross. The letters CMB serve
two purposes. The first as the initials of the traditional names of the three magi: Caspar, Melchior,
and Balthasar. The second as the first letters of the Epiphany blessing “Christus Mansionem
Benedict,” which means “May Christ Bless this House.” This simple daily reminder allows us to
remember that Christ watches over all our lives, our comings in and goings out. If you are interested
in celebrating Epiphany at home this year, there will be chalk and house blessing instruction cards
available at UPC on Sunday, January 4.
Come Thou Fount: Baptism of Our Lord Sunday
Every year it seems like January is a whirlwind of special
Sundays and celebrations. After the 12 days of Christmastide and
the celebration of Epiphany, we turn to the waters of the Jordan
River and commemorate Baptism of Our Lord Sunday on January
11. On this special day, we remember Jesus’ own baptism by John
the Baptist and the institution of baptism as a Christian sacrament.
On this special Sunday, we will remember our own baptisms with
joy and thanksgiving!
Return to table of contents
Ladies Shoes and the World’s Largest Pipe Organ
While ladies footwear and the world’s largest pipe organ are a
combination one would not usually associate together, at a
shopping mecca in Philadelphia the union is a natural one.
Located in the 7 story courtyard, and accessed through the
women’s shoe department, is a musical instrument containing
over 28,500 pipes. Built in 1904 for the St. Louis World’s Fair
by a company that went bankrupt
from such an endeavor, the
Wanamaker organ was
purchased in 1909 to be installed
in a department store (now Macys). Only the fourth organist in the last
103 years, Grand Court Organist Peter Richard Conte plays two daily
concerts Monday through Saturday on the mammoth beast lovingly
nicknamed “Baby.”
Thanks to the generosity of Max and Gene Sherman, Mr. Conte will come
to Austin for the first time to play a concert celebrating the recent additions
to the UPC pipe organ. The extravaganza will be Sunday, February 8, 2015
at 3:00 p.m. A workshop about the Wanamaker pipe organ will be held
Saturday, February 7, 2015, 10:00 am to noon. Both events are free
and open to the public. Free parking will
also be available in the Co-Op parking
garage across the street.
Chairperson of the renovation committee in 2000 that oversaw the
rebuilding of the sanctuary and pipe organ, Gene Alice Sherman was
herself an organist for many years in Amarillo, Texas. The Austin pipe
organ built in 2000 by Dan Garland of Fort Worth, Texas, was designed
to include future additions. In 2004, an informal committee of Mrs.
Sherman, Ara Carapetyan, Scott McNulty, and Mr. Garland, came up
with a plan that would complete the already magnificent UPC organ.
Nearly ten years later, the Shermans announced their plans to make
this dream a reality, giving a generous donation to add 15 more ranks
(sounds). The completed UPC pipe organ now has 62 ranks and nearly
4000 pipes, and is considered the best instrument in Central Texas.
A record/playback machine gives an organist the ability to hear the
instrument from the congregations’ vantage point. Used weekly in
worship, regularly for lessons, Halloween concerts, demonstrations,
and with choirs and other instruments for special events, the pipe organ at UPC is well loved. For this
we thank God for blessing us with the gift of music and the for generosity of the Shermans and many
other saints.
Thank You from UPLift!
Dear Members and Friends of UPC:
Thanks to your generous contributions to the annual UPLift Christmas Party, we were able to give close
to 100 guests a delicious and nourishing meal, a $10 H-E-B gift card, and the opportunity to shop for
toys and books for children. None of this could have happened without your gifts and thoughtfulness.
On behalf of UPLift guests and volunteers, may you all have a very blessed 2015!
Return to table of contents
UPC Young Adult Ministry (YAM!)
Happy New Year! We're looking forward to some fun, new
activities in 2015. Please contact Sarah French
at sbradbur@alum.trinity.edu with any questions.
YOUNG ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL: We will finish up the Animate
curriculum this month, so please join us every Sunday in January
at 9:30 a.m. in Room 1 on the bottom floor. Byron French is
leading us through a study of spiritual practices using a series
called Animate!
HAPPY HOUR January 12 at 6:00 p.m. at Red’s Porch: Let's kick
off the new year with some beer and fellowship.
The UPC Needleworkers
meet the first Thursday of
every month at 7:00 p.m. in
the Library for mission and
fellowship. ANYONE with an
interest in stitching, be it needlepoint,
cross stitch, knitting, crocheting, tatting
or embroidery, or some variation thereof,
is welcome to join us AT ANY POINT.
We are currently working on Scarves for
Heroes, a mission project to knit or
crochet scarves for soldiers serving
abroad, and we have ongoing prayer
shawl and baby blanket projects for the
congregation. (It’s also perfectly fine for
people to work on their own stitching
projects.) Contact Liz Wright at
elisabethw2013@gmail.com for more
information.
Save the Dates: Retreats
Men’s Retreat will be at John Knox Ranch
January 30 through February 1.
Women’s Retreat will be at Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary February 13
through 15.
More information and sign up opportunities
coming soon!
Return to table of contents
BOOK STUDY January 26 at 6:00 p.m. at The Flying Saucer.
In addition to Sunday School, we’ll be starting a new education
opportunity: a monthly Book Club. Please be on the lookout for
more information and an Evite in January.
December Presbyterian Women
Circle MEETINGS
RUTH DORCAS CIRCLE
DATE: Tuesday, January 13
10-11:30 (coffee/lesson)
Place: Westminster Manor
STUDY: Lesson 5
QUESTIONS?
Call Dottie Penn at 512-451-1963
MARTHA CIRCLE
DATE: Saturday, January 10, 11:30-1:30 (lunch/lesson)
Place: Betsy Boyt’s Home
STUDY: Lesson 5
QUESTIONS? Call Karen Grice 512-442 -2304
Books & More meets Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m.
in Room 1, lower level. All are welcome.
Contact Jennie Elliott, jlelliott@austin.rr.com, for
more information.
All Church
Retreat @
Mo-Ranch
April 10-12, 2015
The All Church Retreat
is a fun, family friendly
weekend in the beautiful
Texas Hill Country. There will be programming for children and
youth of all ages, intergenerational activities, a worship service at
the Chapel on the Hill, and plenty of free time to relax, play, and
Calling All Parents
of UPC Youth!
Our spring 2015 kick off meeting will
be held after church on January 11th
from 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. in the youth
room. While we are going over the
spring and summer calendar, the
mission trips, and a few other topics,
your youth will be helping out at
University United Methodist for an
IHN Move In. Lunch will be provided.
Please be sure not to miss this
important informational meeting!
UPC Youth Christmas Party!
Muchas Gracias!
The UPC Youth Ministries would like to thank
everyone who supported Heifer International at the
Alternative Gift Market! You helped us raise over
$2,800 to provide food, jobs, health, and dignity to
people around the world through the gift of
livestock, education, and clean water. The middle
school youth who went to Heifer Ranch in
Perryville, Arkansas last year got to see first hand
how gifts of cows, water buffalo, goats, and
chickens can make a huge difference in
developing countries. Thank you so much for your
support of this amazing mission!
Thanks also for the phenominal response to our poinsettia sale fundraiser. Your purchase of 100
poinsettias benefitted both Down Home Ranch and will provide scholarships for youth retreats and
mission projects. The sanctuary looked beautiful for Advent and Christmas Eve. Thank you; we’re
looking forward to caring for your poinsettias in 2015!
january
11 — Spring Kickoff, 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.,
Parents, Youth Room
Senior High IHN at UUMC
18 — 3:00 p.m. MLK Event,
New Covenant Fellowship
Find UPC Youth Ministries
on Facebook!
Want to stay connected to
what our amazing youth are
up to, as well as see pictures and
updates on our adventures? Then search “UPC Youth
Ministries” on Facebook and click the “Like” button!
Return to table of contents
Getting Involved with Campus Ministry
I love my job. Getting to talk with and interact with some of the best and
brightest students from the University of Texas and St. Ed’s has been such
a joy for the past couple of years. The support of this congregation for
UPC’s UKirk Campus Ministry has been fantastic, especially when it comes
to our favorite thing to gather around: FOOD!
On Sunday evenings, we have had different ministry teams come in and
cook a meal for our students and offer them a little glimpse into the life of UPC through a 5-minute
presentation on the area of ministry that they are involved with. It was a wonderful idea, and we had
a full list of people cooking for our students this semester.
We hope you will again consider cooking one meal for us for the spring semester. This is one of the
most important outreach ministries that UPC does for this faith community, and I want to make sure
that the college students get the full benefit of experiencing UPC as the warm and welcoming
congregation that we are. Sitting and talking with the students about their lives makes a huge
difference. As we invest in the future of the Presbyterian Church, let’s get started right here in our
own backyard. So, come on Sunday night, bring some food, talk with a student or two, and invest
in the life of this congregation in a new way. And thank you in advance for another great semester
of UKirk.
-Krystal Leedy
Christmas Eve: Preparing Us for a New Year in Christ
Return to table of contents
SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

Approved Congregational meeting for January 11, to invite people to suggest names for the Transition Team.
The Staff Oversight Committee will make recommendations to the session.

Approved UKirk as a Designated Associate Pastor position.

Approved a joint Campus and Adult border mission trip to Reynosa during Spring Break, March 2015 and authorized
the committee to raise funds for the trip.

Approved Communion to be served at the wedding of Katie Harris on December 22.
SESSION COMMENDATIONS

Jenny Whitten (coordinator) and the following volunteers for their work with the Interfaith Hospitality Network the
week of December 7-13:
Janice Brown, Kathy Escandell, Suzi Parker, John Parker, Rosemary Moore, Bill Moore, Randal Whittington,
Betsy Brown, Doug Brown, Tim Trickey, Craig Deats, Scott Jenkins, Bobbie Sanders, Gretchen Stone, Hailey
Malcolm and Austin Weaver and the UPC high-school youth.

Kathleen Turpin (coordinator) and others who helped with the Alternative Gift Market on December 7, including
(but not necessarily limited to)
Jenny Whitten & Tim Tricky, John & Suzi Parker, Fred & Cathy Morgan, Les & Winnie Gage, Kathy Escandell, Elley
(Kathy's daughter), John & Suzanna Caballero, Sandie McGee, Betsy Brown, Mary & Rachael Dodd, & Jan Hames.
Change in your contact info? Please email the church
office at upc@upcaustin.org with your email address so
that you may receive the link to the newsletter, weekly
updates and other important information from the church.
May the Lord bless and keep you all in this year of
transition and may we richly bless our community as we
have been richly blessed. Thank you for a wonderful 2014!
UPC Mission Statement
Empowered by God’s Spirit,
we will follow Jesus Christ
as disciples and apostles
- Your pastors and staff
UPC Pastors and Staff
San Williams, Senior Pastor
Keith Wright, Parish Associate
Kathy Escandell, Associate Pastor for Christian Formation
John Leedy, Associate Pastor of Youth and Family Ministries
who are equipped and sent
Krystal Leedy, Director of UKirk Campus Ministry
to represent God’s reign in
Mary Ann Parker, Director of Sound of Angels
the world through worship,
service, and community.
Ara Carapetyan, Director of Music
Lisa Perrone, Assistant Director of Sound of Angels
Meg McReynolds, Director of Joyful Noise Handbells
Scott McNulty, Organist
Jan Hames, Office Manager
Sandie McGee, Financial Manager
Danny Dennis, Facilities Manager
WEBSITE: www.upcaustin.org
Return to table of contents