Author: FELC Office

Sunday, December 5

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.

Wednesday, November 17 at 7 PM on Zoom

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

Informational Meeting Sunday, December 5 at 11:30 AM

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:

• Small group conversations
• Participation in worship rites from before Lent, to Easter Vigil, to Pentecost.
• Individual retreat
• Sponsor and staff support and guidance

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.

November 3, 10, & 17, 2021 at 7 PM

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 4^th quarter (December 31^st).

With gratitude,

Erin McCracken, FELC Treasurer

Beginning October 27, 2021

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:

• Each news story will be a separate post on our website. The most recent news will appear on our home page. All news posts will be available on our News page.
• News posts will be included automatically in our weekly email news, making newsletter creation easier. New posts will be shared in full in the weekly email. Older posts will have an excerpt with a link to read more on the website.
• If you ever can’t find the email weekly newsletter in your inbox, you can find all the information on our website quickly.
• Individuals can subsribe to our newsletter on the website.
• Individuals can manage their own subscription through a link in each email.

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.

Dialogue between Different Voices in Scripture and in Contemporary Culture

Moved to Wednesdays at 7 PM. November 3, 10, and 17, 2021

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.

The slides from the class are available here.

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!

The FELC community serves a meal to youth experiencing homelessness in the UT area.  You can be a part of this ministry, too, by preparing food, volunteering to serve the meal, and adding your prayers.  Our next time to serve is Sunday afternoon, October 24 at 4:30 pm.  Any level of participation is appreciated.  To find out more and to serve, contact Pastor Coffey pastor@felcaustin.org