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Dear youth and parents,

I mentioned last week that I'm in San Antonio for my annual 2-week block of Army Reserve training and will return next Friday, September 21.  At the end of today I will be halfway through the Combat Medical Ministry Course at Fort Sam Houston, an intensive program for chaplains that trains us in ministry for traumatic events in medical settings.  The course has already been physically and emotionally exhausting, with a 14-hour overnight shift as the duty chaplain at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), the destination for many of our wounded warriors from overseas and a trauma center for the San Antonio area.  The training really is phenomenal, and everything I'm learning and doing is directly applicable to my ministry at UCC.  I'll look forward to sharing more after I finish the course.

Read on for an update on our TCU football parking fundraising and reminders about great ways to keep up with opportunities for youth at UCC.

Grace and Peace,
Russ 

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Football season is here again, and youth and parents have the opportunity to raise money by parking cars in the church lots for TCU football games. Part of the money raised goes into youth reserve funds, and part goes into the individual accounts of those who work each game to use for camps, retreats, trips, and other church events. This year, each hour is worth $50 per family member who works, and each person can volunteer up to two hours per game.  There are lots of changes this year, with two sold-out "season parking" lots and pre-sold parking for the TCU band.  So, whether you're new to this fundraiser or a seasoned veteran, if you are interested in parking cars to earn money I strongly encourage you to click here for a great explanation of how things will work this year from Mike Morton (the primary architect of our new parking system).

Additionally, here's an important update from Mike after our first game: 

Parking went very well last Saturday and we sold out almost 2 hours before the game. We had a few glitches with the band program, but that is to be expected with something new and will be worked out before the next game.

But we need more volunteers to help with this effort - both youth and adults. Several people worked for 4+ hours last game out of necessity. So, here's a heads up for the next home game - Sept. 22 against Virginia. It is an 11 a.m. kickoff and we will need about 10 people there at 7 a.m. and another 8-10 between 8 and 9 a.m. But we particularly need 3-4 people (at least 2 adults) who will get there at 9:30 or 10 and commit to stay until 30 minutes after kickoff. This is critical to ensure our reserved lots successful.  If you have additional questions about this fundraiser, please email me at m_morton@sbcglobal.net .