Category: News

A small subset team of the First English Racial Justice Action Team was formed in January 2022 to do a focused evaluation of the whiteness of First English Lutheran Church and seek meaningful ways in which this church can strive for and embody both strategic and authentic diversity.

The FELC Diversity Development Taskforce shared its report with the Congregation Council at their August 15, 2022 meeting. Team members also offered report highlights in Sunday worship over the summer months. We share the report with the community now.

The report encompasses the call by the ELCA to exhibit authentic diversity–demographically matching the ethnic and racial composition of our context (Austin) and recognizes that First English Lutheran Church is overwhelmingly white. While we acknowledge that there isn’t a prescribed formula for achieving an authentically diverse community, we know there are direct actions to take, within our control, to relate to and live out the gospel message with a fuller expanse of God’s beloved community and creation. Our prayer is that this effort continues to unfold throughout the life of the whole church and in this church community of First English. 

The Diversity Development Taskforce members are: Nancy Baden, Erin McCracken, Cantor Bryan Rust, and Barbara Wiederaenders. If you would like to join in this work or have more questions, please feel free to contact Erin McCracken at: erin922@gmail.com.  

View the report at the link below:

FELC Diversity Report + “How Strategic and Authentic is Our Diversity: A Call for Reflection, Confession, and Healing Action” (ELCA, 2019)

The season of Lent begins with this solemn day of repentance and receiving ashes as a sign of mortality and humility. We are invited to begin the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, almsgiving – works of love. This year we will gather at 7:00 pm onsite and livestream on YouTube. The liturgy includes confession and absolution, imposition of ashes, holy communion, and special music. Returning to God’s mercy and grace, we make our way through Lent toward the joy of Easter.

The feast of the Transfiguration is a bridge between the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany cycle that comes to a close as the Lent-Easter cycle begins on Ash Wednesday. On a high mountain Jesus is revealed as God’s beloved Son. This vision of glory sustains us as Jesus faces his impending death in Jerusalem. Throughout worship we offer “alleluia” which means “God be praised.” This word of joy is “buried” during the season of Lent and will be sung again at Easter. May we be “transformed into the same image” by God’s Spirit.

Light shines in the darkness, the psalmist sings. The biblical prophet Isaiah declares that when we loose the bonds of injustice and share our bread with the hungry, the light breaks forth like the dawn. In another passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, the light of the world, calls his followers to let the light of their good works shine before others. We are sent into the world to shine with the light of Christ.

Who are the blessed ones of God? For the biblical prophet Micah, they are those who do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. For Jesus, they are the poor, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who mourn, and those who hunger for relationship with God and neighbor. In baptism, disciples of Jesus find our blessed identity and calling for living and serving.

St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, 606 W. 15th Street. Tickets are $40 and $10 for all students, available at stolaf.edu/tickets/choir or 800-363-5487. For more than a century, the St. Olaf Choir from Northfield, Minnesota, has set the gold standard for choral singing, performing for millions around the world. Composed of 75 mixed voices, the choir, from one of the ELCA colleges, is renowned for its artistry and beauty of sound.

On January 25 we remember the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., pastor, renewer of society, and martyr, born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta. An American prophet of justice among races and nations, Pastor King was an ordained minister in the Baptist tradition, a leader of the nonviolent resistance to race-segregated society, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Dr. King was assassinated April 4, 1968 in Memphis. In the Sunday liturgy, all the hymns and some of the music we offer Dr. King sang often. They are considered his “favorites” where he found the power and comfort of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The scripture texts we proclaim are appointed and amended for renewers of society. The primary color for this commemoration is red/scarlet, reminding us of the power of the Holy Spirit and the bloodshed of martyrs.

This Sunday’s gospel story opens with further reflection on Jesus’ baptism. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and the one anointed by the Spirit. In the liturgy we come and see Christ revealed among us in word and meal. We go and invite others to come and worship the Holy One and to receive the gifts of grace and peace. We serve with and for our neighbors as we are made into God’s healing justice in the world. This is how we shine with God’s love. 

What is the time after the Epiphany? The manifestation of Christ to the peoples of the earth. Second century followers of Jesus chose this season to celebrate the various manifestations, or “epiphanies,” of Jesus’ humanity and divinity. These showings included his birth, the coming of the Magi, his baptism, the Wedding at Cana where he miraculously changed water into wine, his appearances, and his transfiguration. We continue to celebrate on Sundays leading up to Ash Wednesday. In the waters of the Jordan River, Jesus is revealed as the beloved. Through this great epiphany, Jesus becomes the servant of God who will bring forth justice and be a light. At the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, God, who is rich in mercy and love, gives us a new birth into a living hope. We are united with all the baptized in the one body of Christ, anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and joined in God’s mission for the life of the world. Our baptismal mission is to proclaim the good news of God’s love to all. Shine!

The feast of Epiphany (“manifestation”), traditionally on January 6, concludes the twelve-day Christmas season. It is a celebration of God’s glory revealed in the person of Jesus. Like the light of the star that guided the magi to Jesus, the light of Christ reveals who we are: children of God who are claimed in love and called to witness to that love, invited to be beacons of God’s light.

Epiphany Day, January 6 (or another day during the season of Epiphany) offers an occasion for gathering with family, friends, and neighbors for a blessing of the home or dwelling with readings, prayer, and chalking above the entrance to the home for the year. As the magi visited the dwelling of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and brought gifts and blessings, we bless homes in the name of Christ. 

Would you like to bless your home? Access the 2026 Epiphany Blessing liturgy here.

“Let your grace be with us this whole year, and your peace upon all who enter here.”