Author: FELC Office

“I cannot start to find all the words to say the thank you for what you were able to do with this young man in a year’s time.”

On Sunday, October 9 we joyfully welcomed Pastor Alex LaChapelle, the 46th vicar of FELC, as our guest preacher and presiding minister in worship. We shared an internship with Pastor Alex from 2012-2013 when he was in his third year of seminary at The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Alex is currently serving as pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Harvey, Michigan.

It was a blessing to receive the word of God proclaimed, and to hear Pastor Alex’s reflections on our time together. To view his sermon on our YouTube channel, click here.

For continued connection:

The Rev. Alex LaChapelle

623 Northland Drive

Marquette, MI 49855

lachappy@gmail.com

Pastor Merle Franke was FELC’s third pastor, serving from 1963 to 1983. During his ministry he wrote books of stories and poetry. Merle and his writing were beloved by many. Merle’s daughter, Gwen Flory, has copies of his books available. If you’re interested, you can contact Gwen at gwenflory@gmail.com.

What Does It Mean for Your Faith?

This past Sunday we met for our monthly Sunday Symposium. The topic was Theology of Generosity. We had a thoughtful, engaging conversation about how we understand God as generous toward us in creation and in Christ. We shared how meaningful it is when others have been unexpectedly generous toward us, and how profound a gift it is to be able to be generous toward others.

Near the end of the conversation we discussed how the church can be a place where we learn and model generosity for each other. Who inspires you to be generous? Who have you inspired? How can we continue to build a culture of generosity in our congregation and celebrate our faith in a God who is excessively generous toward us and all people?

I hope you will ponder these questions and how your faith is meaningfully lived out through generosity. We all agreed on Sunday that generosity is about more than what we give financially. It’s about our time, our love, our forgiveness, our offering of our whole selves to others.

If you’d like to review the slides from the presentation you can find them here. At the end we viewed a powerful video about how generosity benefits our lives. You can view that video here.

Grace and peace.

–Pastor Michael Coffey

October 16 at 11:30 AM in the Parlor

What does generosity mean to you? How does your faith in God shape your generosity? When is it hard to know how to be generous? Join us for the next Sunday Symposium as we have a conversation on the theme Theology of Generosity.

Sunday Symposium is a once-a-month gathering on a wide variety of topics. We gather after hospitality in the parlor on the third Sunday of each month for presentations, conversations, and explorations on everything from social issues and theological questions to spirituality and faith. Participants will be encouraged to join in the conversation as they wish. We will emphasize respectful, open dialogue that welcomes a diversity of viewpoints. We will be open to how we might change our own views.

Join us as we learn from each other.

Lutheran Disaster Response shares God’s hope, healing and renewal with people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. When the dust settles and the headlines change, we stay to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. 

While the first months of the hurricane season were relatively quiet, September brought damaging storms including hurricanes Fiona and Ian. Hurricane Fiona inundated Puerto Rico with rain, reminding people of the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017.Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida on Sept. 28 with near Category 5-strength winds and rain, causing catastrophic flooding. With two months of hurricane season remaining, we can support those in need, even in anticipation of more storms in the weeks ahead.  

Visit here for more information and to give directly to Lutheran Disaster Response.

On the second Sunday of each month we will offer Healing Prayer. This is an ancient and powerful ritual of the church. It is a deeply personal encounter with our need for healing in body, mind, and spirit, and our turning to God for healing, grace, and mercy. Children and adults who desire healing prayer, which may include laying on of hands and anointing with oil, are invited to come to the Chapel of the Saints during the communion distribution. You may wait in one of the chairs until the healing prayer station is available and stand or kneel for prayer.

Sunday, October 23

The FELC young adults group will be cooking and serving dinner for the residents of Casa Marianella, the east Austin organization that provides shelter and services to immigrants and refugees.

The group will meet at the FELC kitchen at 3 PM to cook dinner, then head over to Casa to serve dinner and meet residents and staff.

All young adults are invited to join us. Contact Pastor Coffey (pastor@felcaustin.org) if you’re interested, and if you’d like to be added to the young adult email list.

Saturday, October 15 at 7:30 PM at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church
a concert featuring the Chorus Austin Chamber Ensemble
Artistic Director Ryan Heller, conducting

For this concert, the inspiration comes from music inspired by violence: be it war, interpersonal conflict, mass shootings, or any number of atrocities. It is our hope that the program will be thought-provoking, that the seemingly endless cycle of violence could possibly be broken… in that we are the answer to the questions and prayers, and that the work of creating peace is an active choice and endeavor. To buy tickets please visit here.

Some of the pieces include:
A Curse Upon Iron, Veljo Tormis (performed in English)
A Hive of Frightened Bees, Andrea Ramsey
Down By The Riverside, arr. Stacey V. Gibbs
Why do we love our guns? Karen Siegel
Da Pacem Domine, Arvo Pärt

Rev. Barry Smith, Executive Director of Micah 6 of Austin

Micah 6 of Austin is a ministry serving the needs of persons in our community needing assistance with food and other services. FELC was a founding member of Micah 6 in 2004, and we continue to make it one of our main ministries for benevolence and volunteering.

We are glad to welcome as our guest preacher the executive director of Micah 6 of Austin, Rev. Barry Smith, on Sunday, October 16. Rev. Smith will preach on the theme of generosity, and share a temple talk on what’s happening at Micah 6 and how you can continue to support the good work they are doing.

For more information about Micah 6 of Austin you can visit their web site here.

Friday, October 21

The Mariposa Family Learning Center annual fundraiser dinner will be on Friday, October 21^st, 2022 at 6:00 PM at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. Information and registration can be found here. Donations can also be made at this website.

Mariposa provides exceptional affordable childcare and support for parents and families in southeast Austin. It is a ministry of Austin City Lutherans.