First English Lutheran Church | Austin, Texas
God Loves. We Love. Everyone!
The renewed Cloud of Witnesses mobile is now hanging in the Chapel of the Saints. It contains the names of all who have died at FELC from 1936 – 2021. Each year on All Saints Sunday new names will be added.
The Cloud of Witnesses mobile reminds us that when we gather together in the name of Christ we are gathered with all who have gone before us in faith — one great communion of saints.
We are moving our livestream ministry from Facebook to YouTube. Some people prefer not to use it, so Facebook has limited who can watch and participate in our livestreams. Also, there are concerns about how Facebook operates and its impact on individuals and society.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, will give us a broader audience and make our livestream videos appear in search results. Anyone with a Google account (Gmail, Docs, Calendar, etc.) can sign into YouTube to view and comment. Those without an account can view the videos without being signed in. YouTube Live videos will also be viewable on our website Livestream page.
We want to be sure that everyone is ready for this switch before December 5. Pastor Coffey will conduct a brief test livestream on YouTube on Wednesday, December 1` at 7 PM. Join in for a few minutes to see how it works and try out the comments.
If anyone needs additional assistance in finding and viewing our YouTube livestream videos, please contact Pastor Coffey.
Our YouTube channel can be found here (or search on YouTube for FELCAustin): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj9B6jWh3PqO7ojn9-tHHRQ . If you subscribe to our channel you will receive notifications when we go live. Click on the bell symbol and select “All” to make sure you always get notified of our live and new videos.
Austin City Lutherans “Homelessness Initiative – Summit Meeting #2” will be held on Wednesday, November 17 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Linked here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3419099479 Meeting ID: 341 909 9479. This meeting is scheduled to last one hour. The audio phone-in number is 1-346-248-7799.
Special guests include leaders in homelessness ministries in Austin: Pastor Mark Hilbelink of Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center, Haleh Kersten of LINC-Austin, and former ECHO Executive Director and St. Martin’s Lutheran member Ann Howard.
ACL has a new website and video on homelessness, linked here: https://breadforall-atx.org/homelessness/
Please join us for this important next step in ACL ministries. As with Bread For All Food Pantry and Mariposa FLC, we are able to do “more, better, together” in Christ’s name and in his compassion.
— Pastor Tim Anderson, ACL Director tca.blueocotillo@gmail.com
Pastor Coffey is planning a new RE: Renewal at Easter group beginning in late January, 2022. What is RE:? It is a small group spiritual formation process to discover anew what Christian faith means for you. It is based on the ancient church practice of spiritual formation called the catechumenate. It is story based, experiential, conversational, and filled with profound rituals. Components of the program include:
Anyone who is interested in exploring the Christian faith and finding renewal, whether a long-time believer or a newcomer filled with questions, is invited to attend. Pastor Coffey will hold an informational meeting on RE: on Sunday, December 5 at 11:30 in the parlor and on Zoom (FELC Community Zoom meeting info is found at the end of each weekly email news). Contact him if you have questions.
From Pastor Coffey: I am moving the adult forum from Sunday mornings to Wednesday evenings in November. We currently have several different musicians coming to play for our worship services, and each one is new to our liturgy. Because I need more time on Sunday mornings to prepare them for worship, I will have little time left to lead the adult forum.
Join me on Wednesday evenings on Zoom using the FELC Community Zoom link (look at the bottom of the weekly email for the details).
Note: There will not be an adult forum this Sunday, October 31. The new adult forum “The Endless Conversation” will begin on November 3.
Here is a snapshot of the church’s finances as of September 30, 2021 / Q3:
| In the Month of September | Actual Year-to-date | Budgeted Year-to-date | |
| Total Operating Income | $22,856.07 | $233,582.46 | $253,125.00 |
| Total Non-Contingent Operating Expenses | $28,592.04 | $232,880.90 | $247,266.00 |
| Total Contingent Operating Expenses (Synod, Benevolence, Savings) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $5,895.00 |
| Net Income (Loss) | $-(5,735.97) | $701.56 | $-(36.00) |
Monthly Giving Income*
| Jan | Feb | Mar (Q1) | Apr | May | Jun (Q2) | |
| Unified, Current, & Benevolent Income (Giving income)* | $16,547.41 | $26,668.38 | $28,220.38 | $22,508.38 | $27,110.38 | 23,913.38 |
| July | August | Sept (Q3) | Oct | Nov | Dec (Q4) | |
| $24,989.69 | $37,042.38 | $21,855.38 |
*Our monthly budget for giving in come is $26,250
Operating Income fell short of Operating Expenses by $5,736 for the month of September (see Net (Loss) above). As of the end of September / Q3, the church maintains a year-to-date surplus of $701.56.
Per our 2021 budget structure, here is how the Q3 year-to-date surplus of $701.56 will be allocated:
| Southwestern Texas Synod (50%) | $350.78 |
| Transfer to Savings (25%) | $175.39 |
| Benevolence Pool (25%–split between Micah 6 and Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center): | $175.39 |
| Micah 6 | $87.70 |
| Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center | $87.69 |
We will next assess our ability to make benevolence payments and a transfer to savings at the end of 4th quarter (December 31st).
With gratitude,
Erin McCracken, FELC Treasurer
We will begin using a new service to send our weekly email newsletter and other church communications. We are switching from iContact to MailPoet, which will be integrated with our website. Some of the great features of this new service include:
The integration of our newsletter with our website will increase visibility for our church online by adding more search results. And best of all: this service is free.
Everyone who was already subscribed to our newsletter mailing list will be subscribed on our new service. You don’t need to do anything to begin receiving the newsletter on October 27. Look for emails sent from “info@felcaustin.org.” You may want to add this email address to your address book to help prevent emails being sent to your spam folder.
If you have any questions, or think you aren’t receiving the newsletter from the new service, contact Pastor Coffey.
It often seems like we are deeply divided in the church and society in how we view things. Some people tend toward conservative understandings, some toward liberal. Some are concerned with preserving what is, others with transforming what is. At times it feels like the two are in separate universes.
Pastor Coffey will lead this adult forum so we can explore together how to engage faithfully in dialogue with different voices. Based on an understanding of Scripture as an unresolved, endless conversation between different voices, we will consider how we can better live in the tension of difference rather than listen only to those who agree with us.
The forum will meet on Zoom using our FELC Community Zoom meeting. See the bottom of the weekly email news for Zoom information.
We are re-forming our ministry teams. Everyone is welcome; you do not need to be a member of First English to participate. Consider what area you want to return to, or what ministry is something new for you to try.
The main areas at this time include:
Altar Care, Usher, Worship Ministers, Communion Ministers, Lectors, Hospitality Ministry, Learning Ministry, Property and Building Care Ministry
This is not a comprehensive list of FELC ministry areas.
Please fill out the form even if you have served in an area before.
Here is the link:
https://www.felcaustin.org/re-gathering-and-re-forming-ministry-teams
Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and for an abundance of caution, we have canceled the FELC Oktoberfest for 2021. We look forward to gathering in 2022!