Category: News

Transfiguration of Our Lord: February 27

Transfiguration Sunday is a bridge between the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany cycle that comes to a close this Sunday and the Lent-Easter cycle that begins on Ash Wednesday, March 2. 

We reflect on the scripture story from Luke 9:28-36. Witnesses to the glory of God in the face of Jesus reflect that glory in the world. It was true for Moses. It was doubtless true for Peter, James, and John. We pray that it will be true of all of us who experience God’s glory and who are being “transformed into the same image” by God’s Spirit.

Throughout the liturgy we offer our “alleluia” which expresses resurrection in a variety of ways. Hallelujah is from a Hebrew word meaning “God be praised.” This word of joy is omitted during the season of Lent and will be sung again at Easter.

Lent began on Ash Wednesday, March 2, and continues for five weeks and Holy Week. We are inviting everyone to contemplate the theme Wandering Toward God. We often use the theme of a journey to describe life, but that journey is not usually a clear and straight road. Like the Israelites we wander the wilderness. Sometimes we wander away from God, and sometimes we move closer to God. The heart of the Lenten season is to contemplate how God moves close to us and wanders with us in Christ no matter which way we wander.

One way to focus on how we wander toward God is through engaging with one of the core Lenten spiritual practices: giving to the poor. ELCA World hunger has created a 40 Days of Giving calendar, and a Lent study booklet called A Way in the Wilderness. These printed resources are available at the church for you to use at home throughout the Lenten season.

You can learn more about ELCA World Hunger ministries here: https://www.elca.org/hunger

If you are moved to give financially, please donate directly to the ELCA World Hunger. Information is found at the link above.

Even the Pancakes Are Upset!

Travis County is still in Stage 5 Covid-19 restrictions, so we will not have the annual Fastnacht event this year. We will have Ash Wednesday evening worship on March 2 at 7 PM.

The annual meeting of the congregation was held on Sunday, January 30, 2022 at 12:30 PM on Zoom. Thirty-five voting members were in attendance, meeting the quorum requirement of 19.

Highlights of the presentations and actions taken include:

• We reviewed Pastor Coffey’s annual report, which included a video slideshow of FELC in 2021. The video is available now on our website and YouTube channel.

• We reviewed the Outreach Vision 2020 strategic plan to restart our plans after pandemic put them on hold.

• We adopted the 2022 budget as presented by the church council.

• We elected five new church council members: JD Aguirre, Derek Bridges (filling a vacant position for 2 years), Andrew Koepp, Nancy Neuse, and Elizabeth Zimmermann.

• We elected one voting member of the 2022 Southwestern Texas Synod assembly: Michelle Lingo.

All documents relating to the annual meeting are available here.

During the annual meeting we enjoyed a video slideshow of highlights for 2021. The video is available on our YouTube channel here:

February Adult Forum

Carl Jung was the pioneer of analytical psychology. He diverged from some of Freud’s assumptions about the human psyche and focused on archetypes, religion, aspirations, the unconscious, dreams, the shadow self, and seeking wholeness. Much of Jung’s work has been influential in Christian spirituality in the past century.

Pastor Coffey presented on numerous aspects of analytical psychology and Christian spirituality. Participants explored how Jung’s work may be helpful in understanding one’s own faith, experience, and history.

The PDF of the presentation is here.

The 3M half marathon returns to Austin this week. Access to the church is only restricted from 45th Street north and from Duval Street east. You can easily get to FELC by exiting MoPac at Westover or 38th Street, and by taking Lamar or Guadalupe beginning south of 11th Street.

More informatoin about the race course can be found here: https://downhilltodowntown.com/course-elevation/

January 30, 2022

The congregation council has set the annual meeting of First English Lutheran Church for Sunday, January 30, 2022 at 12:30 PM. Due to increased Covid-19 precautions the annual meeting will be on Zoom only using the FELC Community Zoom meeting. We will worship together at 10:00 AM. The meeting will begin at 12:30 PM to allow time for those attending Sunday worship in person to return home and join on Zoom.

We look forward to gathering together.

Documents for the annual meeting can be found here.

The FELC Community Zoom meeting link is available at the end of each weekly email news.

The recent adult forum survey results are in. Out of 13 responses, 3 favored Sunday morning and the rest favored weekday evenings. Out of the weekday evening choices, Wednesday was the most popular. Results showed a broad interest in types of topics. Thank you to everyone who responded.

Given the preference for Wednesday evenings, and the current surge in Covid-19 infections, we will continue to have adult forums on Wednesday evenings at 7 PM on Zoom only for the time being. Join Pastor Coffey for his next adult forum topic, Carl Jung and Christian Spirituality, beginning Wednesday, January 19 at 7 PM.