Category: News

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.

September 29 – Feast of St. Michael & All Angels

Saint Michael the archangel, captain of the heavenly hosts, is remembered on this day along with the other angels and archangels. The word “angel” means messenger, and in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, these beings have a fully spiritual nature and no physical body.

Prayer of the Day

Everlasting God, you have wonderfully established the ministries of angels and mortals. Mercifully grant that as Michael and the angels contend against the cosmic forces of evil, so by your direction they may help and defend us here, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God whom we worship and praise with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, now and forever. Amen.

Scripture Readings

Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3

All who are dead shall arise on the day of the Lord.

Psalm 103:1-5, 20-22

Bless the Lord, you angels, all you hosts of God.

Revelation 12:7-12

Michael defeats Satan in a cosmic battle.

Luke 10:17-20

Jesus gives his followers authority over the enemy.

Theological Reflections

Lutheran seminary professor Rev. Barbara Rossing, ThD, puts apocalyptic literature like Revelation in context, showing the way it provided hope for its first readers but functions very differently in contemporary North America. Her book is The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation (New York: Basic Books, 2004); you can find summaries, reviews, and videos of her teaching online, including (click here) a lecture given at Trinity Church Wall Street.

“Forget the vain pursuit of halo and harp. Enough of those larger than life, militant seraphim who support our propensity for war. Put aside the hierarchical, patriarchal imagery. Angels have something important to teach us about ourselves and God. Angels remind us that our material world is influenced by the world of the spirit, and that we are intrinsically capable of inhabiting both worlds with equal ease. Humanity may rank a little lower than the angels because we are flesh as well as spirit, yet through Jesus who is God’s own Word made flesh, we can rise above the angels to share in the very life of God. Observe closely, and you may experience that angels reveal God’s ways, guard and protect the vulnerable, are witness to miracles, are called to unending praise. Today we celebrate not only their achievements, but also that potential in ourselves to be and do the same.”—Miriam Therese Winter, SCMM

[Miriam Therese Winter, SCMM, in Homilies for the Christian People, 567.]

[The Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy]

Your Racial Justice Taskforce invites you to join us for a trip to Montgomery, Alabama, to visit “The Legacy Museum:  From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration” and “The National Memorial for Peace and Justice” sponsored by The Equal Justice Initiative. This is how the sites are described:

“The Legacy Museum provides a comprehensive history of the United States with a focus on the legacy of slavery. From the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its impact on the North and coastal communities across America through the Domestic Slave Trade and Reconstruction, the museum provides detailed interactive content and compelling narratives. Lynching, codified racial segregation, and the emergence of over-incarceration in the 20th century are examined in depth and brought to life through film, images, and first-person narratives. 
 

Situated on a site where enslaved Black people were forced to labor in bondage, the Legacy Museum offers an immersive experience with cutting-edge technology, world-class art, and critically important scholarship about American history.  

Along with the critically acclaimed National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the museum presents a unique opportunity for visitors to reckon with challenging aspects of our past. A Transatlantic Slave Trade wing includes more than 200 sculptures and original animated short films narrated by award-winning artists Lupita Nyong’o, Don Cheadle, and Wendell Pierce.”

Please learn more about them here.

View an interview with activist and author Bryan Stevenson here.

ARE YOU INTERESTED?  Please email Barbara Wiederaenders immediately at bwiederaenders@att.net with your questions and to learn more. 

All who are interested in having a part in planning the how and when of such a trip are invited to a no-obligation Trip Development Meeting on Sunday, October 2 at 11:30 AM in the parlor. We hope you’ll join us.  It promises to be a transformational experience.

September 25, 2022 at 9 AM

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.

September 18 at 9 AM

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.

September 18 at 11:30 AM

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.

Tuesdays at 7 PM on FELC Community Zoom

September 27 — October 25

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.

The presentation can be found here.

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.

The worship bulletin from Sunday, September 11 is here.

The prayers of intercession from Sunday, September 11 are here.

The sermon from Sunday, September 11 is here.

If you have an interest in learning about or joining our livestream ministry team, or know someone who might, let Pastor Coffey know.