Category: News

We are more than a day care: we are a Child Development Center.  The First English Lutheran Church Child Development Center is a nurturing place that will care for each child, ensure their happiness, and teach them to interact with others. The Center strives to create an atmosphere in which a child is respected as an individual. Our mission is to provide a quality experience that helps each child develop physically, socially, and emotionally. The Center is a Texas Rising Star 4-Star Provider. We have served the community as an outreach program of First English Lutheran Church since 1972 for children ages 18 months to 5 years. The Center is full-day and year-round. We are served by staff and also a board of directors comprised of parents of current students and also FELC members. Members include Sean Peterson (president), Nancy Baden (secretary), Michele Hockett Cooper, Monica Lund (treasurer), and Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Here’s a letter from our director:

April 7, 2022

Hi everyone, 

First English Lutheran Child Development Center is strong in 2022. Keeping our doors open since July 2020 has been no easy feat. We have been successful because of the amazing cooperation of our families and the hard work of our staff.

A main priority is to keep everyone safe. I’m incredibly proud to say we have had zero cases of community spread, and only needed to close a classroom one time. We continue to abide by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Austin Public Health guidelines. We wear a mask in the building which provides safety for all our children and staff. This is also important given the limited access for children to receive vaccines. Extra cleaning protocols also support our community health.

Our classrooms are at capacity. Though we continue to be down one classroom given significant issues with hiring, we look forward to strong enrollment in the fall. If you know of any candidates looking for roles in child development, please send them our way!

Our balance sheet is healthy going into next year. We’ve benefited from several community and government grants. We had a successful fundraiser by current and former FELCDC families. This year we hope to make improvements to the playground, HVAC, and work on other projects.  

After two years of this pandemic, we hope that the trend towards a semblance of normalcy continues! 

Thank you for all your support especially during this unprecedented time. I continue to have so much gratitude for the families and community that has been built around FELCDC!

Gratefully,

LaQuetha Ford

FELCDC Director

lford@firstenglishcdc.org

FELC Team Feeds on Sunday, June 19

On Sunday, April 3, the FELC team of Brian, Cassi, Anne, Meiling, and Sarah served folks at the Micah 6 ministry center.

The Micah 6 Street Youth program is a series of services supporting young adults 30 and younger who are street dependent. Housed in University Baptist Church (UBC) near the UT campus, there are drop-in times on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Computer labs, a hot, home cooked meal, snacks, basic clothing, TV, a laundry, and toiletries are provided.  Together, the Micah 6 partner churches, including First English, and additional individuals have served more than 10,000 meals in ten years.  A safe place out of the elements and some essential services (that most of us take for granted!) is a keystone of this ministry.

In addition to providing financial support to the Micah 6 ministries, First English is a consistent participant in the Sunday afternoon/evening meal provided to the young people.  

You can be a part of this ministry by preparing food or volunteering to serve the meal. The food need not be home-cooked; store-bought dishes are welcome. Any level of participation is appreciated. 

Meals are served on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 pm and are delivered in the circle drive at UBC. Someone will be there to take your dish or we can even meet you somewhere else if that’s more convenient.  Our next date will be Sunday, June 19 with head chef Anne Wiebe.  

Please contact Heidi Goebel Heidigoebel@sbcglobal.net or Merrily Porter msporter58@gmail.com if you can cook and/or serve or if you just want to discuss this ministry.  We’d be happy to talk about it or answer any questions.  Thank you for your continued advocacy and prayers on behalf of those in our neighborhood.    

Young adults at FELC met with the vicar and pastor for a great dinner at Hula Hut on April 4. In addition to getting to know each other, sharing stories of dumb things we have done, and enjoying a great dinner, we discussed ideas for service projects to do together. Plans are underway… more information is coming soon.

Masks Optional Beginning March 27, 2022

We are glad to be in Stage 2 for Covid risk in Travis County. While the current recommendations say that masks indoors are optional for vaccinated persons, we have waited until after spring break and SXSW to change our protocols at FELC.

Assuming the situation continues to remain stable or improve, masks will be optional at FELC beginning this Sunday, March 27. We continue to encourage vaccinations for all who are eligible. We will keep every other pew blocked off for now. We ask everyone to continue to respect each individual’s safety needs, especially children who cannot yet get vaccinated and anyone at high risk for Covid complications.

We offer outdoor hospitality with food and drink, masks optional.

We will continue monitoring the risk levels in Travis County weekly. We will adjust our safety protocols as needed.

Serving with Neighbors

Our congregation council has approved two organizations be named as the recipients of benevolence giving for the year 2022:  Micah 6 and Eagle Pass Frontera Ministries.

Many are familiar with the mission of Micah 6 and its service to those experiencing homelessness and/or poverty in the university area, especially young people.  As one of its founding congregations, our commitment to Micah 6, including the time and financial resources of individual members of our community, remains an important outreach of the First English Community.  Our commitment to Micah 6 is still strong and Micah 6 should remain as one of our benevolence partners. 

Eagle Pass Frontera Ministries is an initiative and ministry of the Southwestern Texas Synod of the ELCA.  Frontera ministers to migrants and asylum seekers, serving alongside a Methodist ministry, Mission Border Hope.  Approximately 300 people seek support each day as they cross the border into Texas.  Frontera is there in Eagle Pass to provide essential needs:   food, water, shoes, basic clothing, hygiene equipment, and other necessities to sustain life.   Other organizations, like Mission Border Hope, work with Frontera to provide housing and transportation beyond the border after initial and urgent needs have been addressed by Frontera.

Part of the FELC intentional outreach vision includes service to neighbors.  The people crossing the Texas border are our neighbors.  People cross the border for many reasons – to be with family, to access educational and job opportunities, to escape violence.  But all are neighbors in need of kindness and respite and the basics of life that come so easily to most of us.  Eagle Pass Frontera meets these folks where they are and provides those basics; this is “boots on the ground” work.  Along with our support of local organizations like Casa Marianella, supporting the work of Eagle Pass Frontera Ministries can be an expression of our love for our neighbors.  The desperate plight of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers all over the world, whether related to Ukraine or the southern border of Texas, shows us that the need for neighborly love and practical care will always be present and should always be a part of the mission of the church. 

Let’s do our part to support this necessary work in all the ways we are able and to share God’s grace in all the ways we can.  

Monday, April 4 at 6:30 PM

We’re inviting all young adults to join the pastor and vicar for a dinner gathering. We’ll connect, enjoy a great dinner together, and brainstorm ideas for the young adult group at FELC. Who counts as a young adult? Anyone from early to late 20’s/early 30’s is welcome. There will be no cost to attendees.

RSVP to Pastor Coffey (pastor@felcaustin.org) by Sunday, April 3.

We’re Working on It! And It’s Working

We have been having trouble with our livestream computer crashing during livestreams. We have been working on finding a solution but have not yet been able to fix it. This week we are getting assistance from Dell. We hope to have it resolved before this coming Sunday. Look here for more updates on the issue.

When the livestream does crash we try to resume the livestream as quickly as possible. This often takes several minutes, but if you keep lookint at our YouTube channel you should see the livestream return. Thank you for your patience.

After getting tech support for the laptop, it appears to be working better. There have been no crashes for the past two Sundays.

March 16, 23, and 30 at 7 PM on Zoom

The Bible includes many stories about people wandering: Abraham and Sarah, the liberated Israelites, the exiled community, Jesus in the wilderness, and more. This adult forum will help us explore our Lenten theme of wandering toward God by drawing us into these stories and reading poetry that explores similar themes. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own stories of wandering in life.

Join Pastor Coffey for this Lenten conversation over 3 Wednesday evenings on Zoom. The link for the FELC Community Zoom meeting is always at the end of our weekly emails. You can subscribe to our weekly emails on our website.

The slides from the class are available here.

Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as Women’s History Week. For more information, discussions, and events, visit: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/womens-history-month

Let us pray. Thank you for all the cherished women in our lives and in our histories: friends, siblings, mothers, and neighbors. God, may women across the globe continue to be empowered, and may we gladly receive the leadership and witness they offer, knowing your love for all. Amen.

Let us pray and move our prayers into action

The community of First English Lutheran Church will keep the people of Ukraine and the people of Russia in our prayers and light a candle (with the colors of Ukraine) in worship until there is peace. 

On February 24, Russian forces invaded Ukraine, launching land, sea and air attacks. Russia has launched air strikes across the country, including on the capital of Kyiv and other major cities. There are major humanitarian concerns for both internally displaced people and refugees. Many of these Ukrainians fleeing their homes need shelter and such basic necessities as food, water, and toiletries. Care for people also includes pastoral and psychological support to address the trauma they’ve endured.

Lutheran Disaster Response is accompanying our companions in Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well as such ecumenical partners as Lutheran World Federation and Church World Service, in their humanitarian responses to the crisis. These partners provide refugees with immediate support and supplies such as food, blankets, water and hygiene kits. As you are moved, please give, and directly, to Lutheran Disaster Response at: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org)

Let us pray. Almighty God, kindle in every heart the true love of peace, a peace without oppression and war. Guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in justice your love may increase until the earth is filled with your peace. Amen.