First English Lutheran Church | Austin, Texas
God Loves. We Love. Everyone!
Caregiving — it’s called loving our neighbors as ourselves. Our neighbors are family members and friends, near and far, who may need our support for the activities of daily living.. And FELC caregivers meet to support one another.
Join us 7-8:30pm on the 4th Monday of each month via Zoom.
Next meeting is Monday, April 22, 7pm. Come and be with us this Monday.
Email Barbara W at bwiederaenders@att.net to receive the link to the meeting.
Hello from the FELC Transition Team!
We are making final edits to a few of the Ministry Site Profile (MSP) questions and are also turning our focus to drafting answers to the “Seven Reflections on Ministry and Context” which is an optional component to the MSP that includes seven open-ended questions, allowing us to further describe our ministry site context.
We will be coordinating with the Council soon to present the MSP draft for discussion and review. Once accepted by the Council and finalized, the MSP will be submitted to the Synod. A copy of the MSP will also be shared with the congregation at that time. Please note that when the MSP is shared with the congregational community, it will be in its final form and accepting no further edits.
We will then await pastoral candidate matches from the Synod for discernment and interviews.
The Transition Team continues to be grateful for your support, patience, and prayers.
–Allen, Erin, Lillian, Nikki, Barbara, Randy, and Tim
Thank you to Gwen Flory for her session, Every Day Is Earth Day, for adult faith formation last Sunday. Thanks also goes to Leigh Northcutt-Benson for leading the first week in our children’s faith formation rotation on the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
On Sunday, April 14, children will gather in the library for an encore session on the Prodigal Son with Leigh Northcutt-Benson at 9am. Adults will convene in the parlor at 9am. LaRu Woody will lead a follow-up session to talk about some of the issues raised in Leigh Northcutt-Benson’s previous discussion of mass incarceration and the book, The New Jim Crow. In this session we will be exploring questions related to punishment in the criminal justice system. LaRu will give a “nuts and bolts” presentation of accountability in Texas criminal courts. Come prepared to talk about the theories of punishment, sentencing practices, Texas law and how would YOU decide?
Please mark your calendars for Sunday, April 21: Bailey Barlow will be leading children’s faith formation and Bob Brueck will conclude his sessions on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Metaphysics. The link to Bob’s handouts is here. Upcoming session will be announced soon.
Last week we said goodbye and gave our thanks to outgoing Church Office Administrator Randi Ladolcetta.
The Congregation Council offered Randi a gift and she returned her thanks: “I want to thank you for such a thoughtful gift. It was a wonderful surprise and left me speechless. It’s been a pleasure working with you all, and I’ll be praying for FELC during your time of transition.”
May God bless you, Randi- in your family, your health, and your next adventures!
: Cantor Bryan Rust, Randi Ladolcetta, CDC Director Dr. Paulette Clemons, and Assistant CDC Director Cat Holness.
As we move through this year of ministry transition, we have opportunities to reflect and engage transformation. In our worship each first Sunday of the month, we will receive a witness to the impact of generosity in our lives. This witness could be about a ministry our congregation is currently undertaking, a ministry that people in the congregation engage, or an initiative that is new to many of us.
In April we receive a witness on child abuse prevention from LaRu Woody. We invite you to read LaRu’s witness by clicking here.
The FELC Transition Team has answered all of the questions in the Ministry Site Profile (MSP) and is beginning to wrap up our editing phase. The team is currently finalizing the wording and cohesiveness of the MSP and also focusing on answers to the optional MSP component which is called “Seven Reflections on Ministry and Context.”
The team will be coordinating with the FELC Council to present the MSP draft for discussion and review. Once accepted by the Council and finalized, the MSP will be submitted to the Southwestern Texas Synod. A copy of the MSP will also be shared with the congregation at that time. Please note that when the MSP is shared with the FELC community, it will be in its final form and accepting no further edits. We will then await pastoral candidate matches from the Synod for discernment and interviews.
The Transition Team continues to be grateful for your support, patience, and prayers. —
FELCTransitionMinistry@felcaustin.org
On Sunday, April 7th, FELC bid farewell and offered God’s continuing blessings to Pastor Timothy Lincoln, a member of our congregation. Tim and Laura Lincoln are moving to Eau Claire, Wisconsin this month as Tim retires this year. We’re grateful for Tim’s witness among us, thankful for his leadership as a supply preacher and presider over the years, and we give thanks to God for his faithful ministry in the ELCA.
For more photos and information, see the First English Lutheran Church-Austin, Texas Facebook page.
The Rev. Timothy Lincoln, PhD, is an ELCA minister of word and sacrament. After serving as pastor in Detroit Lakes, MN and as librarian at Maryknoll School of Theology in New York, Pastor Lincoln was called as the Director of the Stitt Library (Wright Learning & Information Center) at Austin Presbyterian Seminary in 1994, and then also as an Associate Dean. A graduate of Concordia College (MN), Yale Divinity School, Simmons College, and UT Austin, Dr. Lincoln has published in several journals, including Feminist Theology, Theological Education, and Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality. He’s also published a book on qualitative research methods. Tim served on the Council of the Southwestern Texas Synod. Tim and Laura Lincoln are parents to two adult children and grandparents to three granddaughters. Texas has blessed to be in life and ministry with the Lincoln’s for 30 years.
This is an unusual month – solar eclipse, all the hype surrounding the solar eclipse, special eclipse donuts. And now, to make April more unusual, Game Night is moving from April 20 to Saturday, April 27.
On April 20 the church is hosting the Austin Cantorum Sparks! of Genius concert (https://www.austincantorum.com/), so the space will be unavailable for Game Night entertainment. However, if you are a fan of Hildegard von Bingen, this is a chance to enjoy some of her music. But be forewarned – April 27 will not include a potluck.
By fortunate happenstance, or perhaps because it was pre-ordained, April 27 is the church’s annual Chicken BBQ! As always, everyone is welcome. And once we lick all the BBQ sauce from our fingers, we can play board games! Assuming we’re not all in a food coma by then…!
For more information, contact Kathleen Boas at kathleen@boasfamily.com.
Learning Ministry Update
Happy Easter! Faith Formation is reconvening after taking some time off for Holy Week festivities.
Children’s Faith Formation: Children will join Leigh Northcutt this Sunday, April 7 at 9am in the Library for our first week in our Parable of the Prodigal Son rotation. We currently do not have anyone signed up to lead on Sunday, April 14. Please contact Betsy Appleton if you are able to lead on April 14.
Adult Faith Formation: Adults will join Gwen Flory this Sunday, April 7 at 9am in the Parlor for her session, Every Day Is Earth Day: Actionable Ways Each Of Us Can Help Protect Our Planet. On April 14, LaRu Woody will lead a follow-up session to talk about some of the issues raised in Leigh Northcutt-Benson’s previous discussion of mass incarceration and the book The New Jim Crow. In this session we will be exploring questions related to punishment in the criminal justice system. This will be a “nuts and bolts” presentation of accountability in Texas criminal courts. Come prepared to talk about the theories of punishment, sentencing practices, Texas law and how would YOU decide?
FELC is volunteering at Lutheran Campus Ministry’s Tailgate Tuesday next Tuesday, April 9. LuMin is now feeding over 450 students each week. Thank you to everyone who has signed up for the 3pm to 5pm shift. Currently, no one is signed up to cook from 5pm to 7pm. This is a great opportunity to experience God’s work, Our hands. Please sign up to volunteer. Your time will be greatly appreciated. You may also come and offer support and presence – and you can give financially. Please click on this link https://tinyurl.com/2s46e45d to signup.
There is parking on the south side of 21st St. If you need a ride, we will meet at FELC at 2:45 and carpool to West Campus, or you can meet us there. If you have any questions, please contact Paul Barlow at tpaulbarlow@gmail.com.