January 2026 Newsletter
Hello Church Family,
As usual, December was packed with ministry activity. We started the month by honoring Cathy Ashman’s passing with a Celebration of Life service. I was glad to see so many UBC members at the service to support Randy and his whole family. We were able to fit the service in right before we had the big snowstorm come through, so I’m thankful that God was able to hold the snow back until after the service was over. After Cathy’s service, most of December was spent focused on Advent and preparing for the Christmas Eve service. I am pleased with how the Advent candle lighting and Christmas Eve service went well. Our short study through Isaiah made a very clear impression on my mind that our church will never succeed if we solely try to rely on our own strength. We have to rely on the love of God, the grace of Christ, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
I also had a few opportunities to meet with fellow ministers in December. I grabbed lunch with Josh Ortega, who serves as lead pastor for H2O Church on Wright State’s campus. He gave me a lot of good insights into college ministry and ways we might get started with our own college ministry in the future. I also grabbed coffee with Jonathan Newman, the former lead pastor of Koinos Community Church. I had a good time recapping the year with him and talking about ways we could work with Koinos on projects in the future. Finally, I had the unforeseen opportunity to grab coffee with a couple Latter Day Saint missionaries. We were unable to convince each other of our positions, but the conversation was insightful for both parties and we came away with greater respect for each other. You can be praying for them both to hear the true gospel though!
As I look forward to next year, I am excited about the new opportunities we have on the horizon. We have several new members being added to different committees: Mark Deal and Ron Niswonger as deacons; Nathan Deal, Josh Deal, and Charles Marrs as trustees; Karen Pemberton as deaconess; and Merry Seipel on the Board of Education. God has brought them into these roles for such a time as this, so I’m looking forward to working with them. We also have a big opportunity to work with the LifeWise Academy at Miami East. They will be using our fellowship hall to educate Miami East students about the Bible. They teach from a modified version of the Gospel Project curriculum, which is what we already use with our kids ministry, so if any students start coming to UBC through the program it should be a seamless transition for them. The program will need teachers and volunteers, so I hope you took the opportunity to speak with Director Allison Trowbridge after the service this morning. If you did not get the chance to speak with her, we will be hosting a community Q&A meeting on January 7th from 7-8pm. I also want to invite everyone to the evangelism and discipleship training event on January 10th. I think this will be a very important gathering for our church and members of other churches who might attend. I want to make sure that each one of us is capable of sharing the gospel when we get the chance to do so. I know that those types of conversations can be intimidating, so this training should help you feel more confident and equipped to talk with non-Christians. The training is from 10:00am-2:00pm, so please mark your calendar!
Thank you for a great first year as your pastor. I look forward to what our Father has in store for us in year 2!
Pastor Nathan Justice
As usual, December was packed with ministry activity. We started the month by honoring Cathy Ashman’s passing with a Celebration of Life service. I was glad to see so many UBC members at the service to support Randy and his whole family. We were able to fit the service in right before we had the big snowstorm come through, so I’m thankful that God was able to hold the snow back until after the service was over. After Cathy’s service, most of December was spent focused on Advent and preparing for the Christmas Eve service. I am pleased with how the Advent candle lighting and Christmas Eve service went well. Our short study through Isaiah made a very clear impression on my mind that our church will never succeed if we solely try to rely on our own strength. We have to rely on the love of God, the grace of Christ, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
I also had a few opportunities to meet with fellow ministers in December. I grabbed lunch with Josh Ortega, who serves as lead pastor for H2O Church on Wright State’s campus. He gave me a lot of good insights into college ministry and ways we might get started with our own college ministry in the future. I also grabbed coffee with Jonathan Newman, the former lead pastor of Koinos Community Church. I had a good time recapping the year with him and talking about ways we could work with Koinos on projects in the future. Finally, I had the unforeseen opportunity to grab coffee with a couple Latter Day Saint missionaries. We were unable to convince each other of our positions, but the conversation was insightful for both parties and we came away with greater respect for each other. You can be praying for them both to hear the true gospel though!
As I look forward to next year, I am excited about the new opportunities we have on the horizon. We have several new members being added to different committees: Mark Deal and Ron Niswonger as deacons; Nathan Deal, Josh Deal, and Charles Marrs as trustees; Karen Pemberton as deaconess; and Merry Seipel on the Board of Education. God has brought them into these roles for such a time as this, so I’m looking forward to working with them. We also have a big opportunity to work with the LifeWise Academy at Miami East. They will be using our fellowship hall to educate Miami East students about the Bible. They teach from a modified version of the Gospel Project curriculum, which is what we already use with our kids ministry, so if any students start coming to UBC through the program it should be a seamless transition for them. The program will need teachers and volunteers, so I hope you took the opportunity to speak with Director Allison Trowbridge after the service this morning. If you did not get the chance to speak with her, we will be hosting a community Q&A meeting on January 7th from 7-8pm. I also want to invite everyone to the evangelism and discipleship training event on January 10th. I think this will be a very important gathering for our church and members of other churches who might attend. I want to make sure that each one of us is capable of sharing the gospel when we get the chance to do so. I know that those types of conversations can be intimidating, so this training should help you feel more confident and equipped to talk with non-Christians. The training is from 10:00am-2:00pm, so please mark your calendar!
Thank you for a great first year as your pastor. I look forward to what our Father has in store for us in year 2!
Pastor Nathan Justice
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