Our next Holy Moly story is Sarah and Abraham. Children (through 5th grade) are invited to join Pastor Coffey in the library on Sunday morning as we hear and explore this central story of the Bible. Each week children watch a video, wonder about the story, use an activity leaflet, and receive a coloring sheet and a take-home family page.
Parents were sent a link to the materials online so they can use them to review the story with their children, or share the video, lesson, coloring sheet, and family page with them if they are not present on Sunday. Please contact Pastor Coffey if you need the link.
The first Holy Moly story we will hear this year is Abraham. Children (through 5th grade) are invited to join Pastor Coffey in the library on Sunday morning as we hear and explore this central story of the Bible. Each week children watch a video, wonder about the story, use an activity leaflet, and receive a coloring sheet and a take-home family page.
Parents will receive a link to the materials online so they can use them to review the story with their children, or share the video, lesson, coloring sheet, and family page with them if they are not present on Sunday.
Our first Sunday Symposium will use the ELCA’s Social Message on Government and Civic Engagement to explore how we understand ourselves as people of faith living in a democracy. The social message document can be found here. Printed copies will be available.
Sunday Symposium is a once-a-month gathering on a wide variety of topics. We’ll gather after hospitality in the parlor on the third Sunday 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. We may have occasional guest speakers.
Join us for this new opportunity for learning, growth, and community.
We are living in an increasingly divided society. It often seems impossible to have conversations about important issues with people we disagree with. We may find it particularly challenging to have difficult conversations with family, co-workers, neighbors, and friends with beliefs that are very different from our own.
What is our mission as the church in such a divided time? Is it to argue and win in conversations with those we disagree with? Or is it to find a way to have conversations that create relationships and foster reconciliation rooted in mutual respect? What is difficult conversation like if we don’t have to win and don’t have to agree, and why bother? How do we communicate in ways that lead to deeper trust and understanding? How does the church help heal our divided world by standing in the gap of our current deep divisions?
Pastor Coffey leads us in an adult class on Zoom exploring biblical texts that speak to standing in the gap and practicing techniques that create new possibilities when faced with difficult conversations. To join in the class, use the FELC Community Zoom information shared at the bottom of each weekly email news.
On Sunday, September 11 we were not able to livestream our worship service. We provide the links below for use in your reflections this week. The bulletin includes the scripture readings and the church community announcements. We also link the prayers of intercession and the sermon. The sermon was offered by FELC member and guest pastor, Timothy Lincoln.
Young adults at FELC are invited to join Pastor Coffey for a dinner gathering at Matt’s El Rancho on South Lamar. We’ll catch up with each other and make plans for a future service project and other events.
The cost of the meal will be covered by the FELC young adult ministry grant. RSVP to Pastor Coffey by Wednesday, September 14. Let him know if you need a ride from central Austin.
Kelsey Kresse returned to FELC last weekend as our guest preacher. It was a wonderful time together giving thanks for Kelsey’s ministry among us, and rejoicing in her current call. Kelsey served as the 49th vicar of FELC from August 2019 to June 2020. Pastor Kresse is called as associate pastor of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church in Burke, VA, In addition to regular pastoral life, she focuses on youth and college age ministries. She is a 2021 graduate of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and was ordained by Bishop Leila Ortiz (ELCA Metro DC Synod) on October 9, 2021.
Pastor Kelsey writes:
“Dearly Beloved FELC Members and Friends,
It was my joy and honor to be with you last weekend! It was such a special thing to be in your midst again, to sing with you, and to reflect on our time together two years ago. I cannot thank you enough for this homecoming and for the indelible mark you have left on me and my ministry. My experience at FELC was a special one from the moment I arrived until I left, always planning to be back. The relationships I built, the incredible leadership I witnessed and was welcomed into, and the space to grow that was made for me will always be something I treasure for myself and tell others about. You welcomed me in and then sent me out as prepared as one could possibly be for the journey ahead. You are a community that educates leaders, it is part of your DNA, and you’re really good at it. So, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I love you.
In 2012 we turned the south transept of our sanctuary into the Chapel of the Saints. As part of this transformation, we added the columbarium — a place to inter cremated remains. The columbarium consists of separate niches that can hold up to two urns each. Names are engraved on the stone tile in front of the niche. This option for interment is available to all FELC members and family. For more information, speak with Pastor Coffey.
When we gather in the Chapel of the Saints, we gather as the baptized saints of God in prayer, worship, and community. We gather with the saints of the past that we remember in various ways: the names engraved on the columbarium, the Cloud of Witnesses saints mobile containing the names of all who have died at FELC since 1936, and the saints icons displayed on the walls that remind us of faithful people who inspire our faith today.
Beloved member Claudine Schoen, who died in 2020, made a bequest in her will of $10,000 to FELC. We have now received this gift. To honor Claudine’s memory, the church council has dedicated part of the gift to support Stephen Ministry at FELC. Claudine was a long-time part of Stephen Ministry and it was dear to her heart.
Claudine’s son, Wayne, hand delivered the check from the estate with the following note written as words from Claudine herself:
To the Congregation of First English Lutheran —
You have provided your constant love, support, strength and spiritual guidance to the Bruno and Claudine Schoen family since the early 1950’s. Thank you for all you do and for the lives you touch. May God continue to bless each of you with peace, love and joy.
My love always to you, Claudine Schoen
Bequests are a wonderful way to honor, give thanks for, and support your congregation. Please consider how you might bless FELC in the future through your estate planning.
This fall we offer a new opportunity for adult learning and growth. Sunday Symposium is a once-a-month gathering on a wide variety of topics. We’ll gather after Sunday hospitality in the parlor 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. We may have occasional guest speakers.
Join us for learning, growth, and community.
Topics for Fall 2022:
September 18
Discipleship in a Democracy: ELCA Social Message on Government and Civic Engagement in the United States
October 16
Theology of Generosity
November 20
Coffee, Sweets, and the Other: Hospitality in the New Testament
December 18
The Body of Christ and Mental Illness: ELCA Social Message
