Right where it should be-- The first Sunday of the month! 11am.

FAITH + WORKS = ACTION By: Andrew Hogue, Editor at-large

Baptism is an outward sign of that willingness to follow our Lord. Not to say that Baptism will save you. But the scriptures are very clear about the process. "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that does not believe shall be damned." --Mark 16:16

A Short History of University EMC 2 of a 3-part story on the history of our church.

Roughly 100 dedicated Christians decided that the time had come to leave the United Methodist Church. In the late 1970’s, hearing reports that the Southern Methodist Church was interested in forming a church in Denton, they left the First United Methodist church of Denton on friendly terms. Under the teaching of Southern Methodist pastor Phillip Bashaw, those one hundred saints met at the Jack Schmitz funeral home chapel for worship services and Bible Study. Rapid growth, associated with a firm reliance on God’s Word, soon followed. Soon, they required a larger facility to handle the large crowd-- Perhaps a church building of their own to meet in.

Cumberland Presbyterian Church, whose membership exceeded 150 at the time, had vacated their old facility at the corner of Maple and Welch streets near what was then called North Texas State University (Now UNT). Pastor Bashaw, Mr. Bob Cole, and future pastor Charles Rodolico made an offer to acquire their former place of worship. Growth continued well into the following years.

As with many man-made organizations, The Southern Methodist Church of Denton experienced a split. The reason is unknown at this time, but it caused Bob Cole to start a new church organization with the title John Wesley Southern Methodist Church. They kept control of the property and the building. Charles Rodolico became interim pastor of First Southern Methodist (the original organization) and they proceeded to meet back at the Schmitz funeral home, where they continued to do the Lord’s work.

As John Wesley Southern Methodist grew, they decided to build a more modern facility, over on Bell Avenue (where Towne North Baptist Church meets today). Since a non-profit organization (such as a church) cannot "sell" a building per se, First Southern Methodist moved back into the Welch Street building. Meanwhile, John Wesley Southern Methodist grew to about 400 members over on Bell Avenue. For 18 years, the church lived. Since the two factions were still on good terms, Charles Rodolico later served as interim pastor when Bob Cole was no longer pastor there. Somewhere along the line, the church on Bell Avenue left the Southern Methodists and became independent, while still holding the Methodist title. The church began to feel "comfortable", as Rodolico stated, and growth ceased. As the members grew older with no one to succeed the officers, the church fizzled into a low membership, to the point where their board moved to close its operation. Members were advised to join other churches in town.

Around 1981, First Southern Methodist Church under the leadership of Lloyd Vance decided to re-direct its focus. The Southern Methodists, being ‘congregational’ refused any help in sending trained ministers. They proceeded to join the Evangelical Methodist Church movement, realizing that cooperation is necessary within the body of Christ and that each church doesn’t stand alone. A new church title was on the agenda at a following board meeting. John Vardy, remembered as a man of faith who loved the Lord, motioned to call the church "University Evangelical Methodist". Not only was this name fitting to their building’s location, but it also was an olive branch to a rapidly decaying college spiritual environment across the street. They were somewhat successful in attracting more students from nearby NTSU under this title.

Alas, as apathy grew in the 1980’s toward matters Godly and spiritual, University EMC experienced a drop in membership. Financial troubles followed. The church boards met to discuss what would be the best option in regard to where they should meet. A building on Bolivar Street, which formerly housed many successful churches in town, became available. It was decided that the church should acquire that facility and meet there. New Creation church moved into the Welch Street building as University EMC was moving out.

Charles Rodolico, pastor during this move after Lloyd Vance felt the call of God to minister elsewhere, was very efficient in reorganizing University EMC and ‘setting up camp’ in their new North Denton Location. The title was kept due to the building’s proximity to University Drive and to Texas Womans University.

The church had some identity problems during the following years. Some members were opposed to the evangelical outreach of the church, while others were concerned about the reclusiveness of other members. One woman, when asked to help out with Vacation Bible School is reported to have said, "Pastor, I would rather burn in hell than help with VBS". Such sentiments cannot possibly be healthy for any church focused on serving Christ. (Since the events described here are in recent memory, details of the problems surrounding this crisis are best left out of this publication and all sins committed should be forgiven.) It is necessary to record that Rodolico wanted to retire and stay on as pastor emeritus. Opposing factions and harsh feelings lead to a heated and argumentative board meeting that caused many of the members to leave. A meeting was held to decide if pastor Rodolico should remain. It was decided that he should not stay. From a motion made by Gerald Ferris (the man whom our fellowship hall is named), it was decided that the EMC Discipline would be followed. Rodolico left.

Dr. Charles Mulholland came in 1991 with a bold new vision for the church: Relying purely on the Word of God. Though he was yet to be fully credentialed with the EMC, the church liked him well enough to keep him on ‘honorarium’, and as a recurring guest speaker. During some reorganization of the church’s priorities, many of the older members left. It was motioned that the order of services be changed. Hand-shaking and the singing of ‘The Doxology’ were returned to the Worship service thanks to pastor Mulholland. A new emphasis was placed on prayer and Bible Study-- True to Methodist tradition. By the next Conference, ‘pastor Charlie’, as many like to call him was elected to become full-time pastor. In February 1992, Mrs. Betty Clampitt motioned that both boards meet together at the same time, as they continue to even today. The motion was passed, but the Trustees could still meet and elect their own chairman.

Although the church didn’t grow as quickly as anticipated in the 1990’s, God has blessed University EMC with many answered prayers, wonderful new members, and Spirit-lead preaching.

It is clear, surveying the history of our local church, that the path has been rather rocky. This may be why information is so hard to come by regarding the history of our church. But this author felt that the time had come to chronicle where we came from and how we developed as a church. As indicated in the last newsletter regarding the history of the Methodist Movement, the forces of darkness will attempt to dis- assemble and confuse any genuine move of God’s people. Everyone in my memory who has left this church has come out a stronger Holy Spirit-filled believer than they were when they first came to worship with us. The term "University" may signify a different meaning than originally intended: In many ways, we are indeed a ‘university’ for educating God’s people!

At any rate, people who have been associated with this church in the past tell me repeatedly that God has something great in store for our small band of believers. I agree. This church has so much to offer, that I just know in my heart the Lord will use us to do greater things (than what we’ve already done) for this community to spread His Word. But, we must obey His Word at all costs and keep in constant prayer. If we slip even in the slightest degree, Satan will use that sliver of sin to send us into disarray and try to split our church again. Learn from history: Remain strong in the Word, while being watchful for the devil’s pitfalls that lie ahead, and we will be impenetrable-- Protected by God’s own holy and perfect will. We will once again be a powerful assembly of His royal priesthood, ready and willing to serve from Denton and to the ends the earth!

*NOTES: Please pray for former pastor Lloyd Vance. He has had a serious operation and at this time is unable to speak. He is recovering, however. A thank-you is in order to Charles Rodolico for helping us with some of the earlier details of the church. A correction must be made in regard to issue 2. The church has not been around for nearly a century. The Editor was told that the church (meaning, BUILDING, according to the one asked) over on Maple has been around for a long time. Sorry for the misinformation.

BAPTISM at the LAKE...

A PROPER ENGLISH TEA...

MARK and DEANNA

THANK YOU MARK, AMY, JAMES, JULI, DANIEL...

Mark Guyer, our interim minister during Charlie’s 3-month leave, has done a wonderful job keeping us sharp on the Bible and the various views surrounding the church. His in-depth sermons and exhaustive Bible studies were memorable, to say the least. Mark and family live in Irving, and they drove up here, not just on Sunday, but also on Wednesday and whenever else to help us. May God bless their willingness to serve. Thank you pastor Mark! Amy, Mark’s wife, was a constant source of praise and prayer for our church. Thank you Amy for keeping us abreast on events surrounding those persecuted for their faith in other countries. James, their oldest son, provided us with some excellent accompaniment, and a great special recital on his last Sunday with us. Their daughter Juli’s witty comments kept discussion lively during lunch. It was good to get to know their son Daniel. It’s rare to meet a teenager with such a good attitude and a sense of humor. We’re going to miss you all in church. We hope you will come back to visit often. James, Juli, Daniel, sorry we didn’t have a youth group for you. Thanks for supporting your father and mother by coming to worship with us, anyway. Would love to see you all come back.

SUNDAY SCHOOL: PHASE I

Do You Know Your Bible?

a.) a cheerful winner

b.) a cheerful looser

c.) a cheerful giver

d.) a choosy mom

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Hello folks! Lovely to be back in the fold. I was upset to hear and see Carol in the hospital. Extremely upset to hear Gail has to be moving from us. Barbara is looking good and like she’s feeling better. It was nice to see her mum Myrtle at the Tea. I was surprised to see PJ back! So pleased to know she is settling in a health care position. Deanna and Mark are a welcome sight. The English Tea was hard work, but us Brits are up to it! Enjoying Amy, Mark and family. Pleased that Charlie and Dorothy are in touch with us. Wonderful that Frank and Karen are still in contact with us. Nice to see Randy ‘between’ Trey and Andy in their discussions!

Cheerio,

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An elderly couple died and were received into heaven. Words alone could not describe their happiness. A little reproachfully, the husband said to his wife, "If you hadn’t come up with all those health food recipes, we could have been here years ago!"

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Number of years with UEMC: Real time, 4 years. Quality time, 9 months

Occupation: Radio Guy

Education, Awards, Important positions, Church responsibility, etc: Almost a B.A. n History. CR: Jump in where needed.

Hobbies: Reading, writing, war/adventure gaming, movies, music, working out, armchair philosophizing, wool-gathering.

Favorite Books of Bible: John, Song of Songs, Exodus.

Favorite Hymn: "It Is Well With My Soul"

Favorite TV Show: Highlander, Babylon 5

Favorite Movie: Bladerunner

Favorite Color: Blue, especially Royal.

Favorite Food: Mexican, Chinese

Bad Habits: Procrastination, Self-Doubt

Pet Peeve: Impatience, Hypocrisy

If you were President of the United States for one day, what would you try to accomplish and why?

"Re-establish Blue Laws. Materialism and crass commercialism has become the bane of our culture. One day that forbids work and commerce, both government and private sector, except essential services of course, would do wonders for us."

11:00am Morning Worship

6:00pm Evening Worship/

Interactive Discussion

Tuesday:

8:00am Men’s Breakfast

6:30pm Powerhouse of Prayer

7:00pm Exploring Exodus