Category: News

In her Christmas message, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton calls our attention to the word “joy” in the angel’s proclamation to the shepherds. Watch the video here.

Book Club will meet at the home of Anne Wiebe and Vincent Hill, 1:00 pm on Sunday, January 12. We will share a potluck lunch and discuss A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears), by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling. Copies are available at  Austin Public Library, Amazon, and Bookfinder.

Summary: A group of libertarians launch the Free Town Project, a plan to take over an American town and eliminate its government. When they descended on Grafton NH, public funding for services went away and state and federal laws became meek suggestions, scarcely heard in the town’s thick wilderness. The anything-goes atmosphere soon caught the attention of Grafton’s neighbors: the bears. Freedom-loving citizens built a tent city in an effort to get off the grid and ignored hunting laws and regulations on food disposal. The bears smelled food and opportunity. A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying tale of what happens when a government disappears into the woods.

On Sunday afternoon, December 15, about a dozen enthusiastic carolers from First English spread joy and love to our beloved, some of whom are homebound. Fa la la la la, la la la la!

Join Austin Cantorum for a relaxing and intimate holiday performance at “Living Room Carols,” on Saturday, December 21, First English Lutheran Church. Through delicate chamber works, stately choral anthems, and everything in between, this concert and carol-sing will feel like a cozy gathering of friends and family sharing musical gifts together. Featuring special guests Harpist Anna Blauw, Trumpeter Kenken Gorder, and Pianist Benjamin Dia. Free cookies and hot cocoa! Free admission with suggested donation of $25. For more info, visit: https://www.austincantorum.com/performances

FELC encourages you to support arts and music organizations in Austin, including the upcoming holiday concerts of Conspirare, and Austin Symphony Orchestra.

First English and the community provide year-round support for the Micah 6 Food Pantry and Street Youth Drop-in Center. Check out these important updates and a current list of critical needs.

Micah 6 Board Report

Year-end Donation Opportunity

Current Critical needs for the Micah 6 Food Pantry and Youth Drop-in Center:

• Winter clothing: hospital socks, coats, thermal underwear, sweaters, mittens, gloves, winter caps, scarves, jackets, sweatpants

• 15 oz. Canned Vegetables, including Green Beans, Corn, Spinach/greens, Pinto or Black Beans

• 15 oz. Canned Fruit, any variety

• 15 oz. Canned Meat, including Chicken and Tuna

• Luncheon meat

• Dry Goods

• Rice, 1 to 2 lb. bags

• Dried beans, 1 to 2 lb. bags

• Skillet dinners (hamburger helper or other boxed meals)

• Side dishes (Rice a Roni, Mac n Cheese, or other side item)

• 18 oz. Peanut butter

Please do not send large containers or bulk products that have to be divided prior to distribution.

Thank you for supporting Micah 6 ministries!!!!

Join Texas Lutheran University for “When All is Still: Christmas Vespers 2024” at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church on Sunday, December 15 at 4 pm. No tickets are required at St. Martin’s. For more information, visit: https://www.tlu.edu/news/when-all-is-still-christmas-vespers-2024.

Gaudete Sunday provides a break in a season of waiting, showing the nearness of the Lord’s coming. This day for the third Sunday of Advent takes its name from the scriptures and the Latin word Gaudete (“Rejoice”), the first word of the ancient opening song from 476 CE.

The spirit of the liturgy throughout Advent is one of reflection and preparation for the coming of Christ. Call it pink — or, more fittingly, rose — a traditional color on this Gaudete Sunday shows a glimpse of the joy that awaits us. The reflective nature in Advent is somewhat suspended on Gaudete Sunday to emphasize the gladness in the promised coming of the Holy One.

Join Repertory Chorus in a collection of holiday music on Monday, December 9, 8:00 pm at First English Lutheran Church. Repertory Chorus is the newest addition to the choral area at UT’s Butler School of Music. This new choir serves as a laboratory chorus for the master’s and doctoral students in choral conducting at UT, along with some upper division undergraduate students majoring in music education.

A big thank-you to Leigh Northcutt-Benson and Erin McCracken for their session on DEI and Racial Justice Ministries at FELC, and to LaRu Woody for a session on a Good Ruler for Children’s Faith Formation. The slides from last week’s Adult Faith Formation session are available here.

Join us Sunday, December 8, for Adult Faith Formation.  Dr. Kristin Mondy will be providing a session on climate change and tropical diseases, 9:00 am in the Parlor. LaRu Woody will be leading Children’s Faith Formation with a a session on Zachariah, 9:00 am in the Library.

On Sunday, December 15, Oliver Rajamani will lead Adult Faith Formation with a session on the Romani (Gypsy) culture, music and history and the work he does in this field. Children’s Faith Formation will include a lesson on John the Baptist. 

Thank you, thank you to those who showed up in spades to both sponsor and serve 400 hungry Longhorns for this week’s LuMin Austin Tailgate Tuesday, December 3!