Category: News

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February 2022 Council Meeting Highlights

The church council met on Zoom this month. Here are a few key highlights:

  • We discovered that some donations made in December of 2021 had not transferred over to the 2021 financial statement. This resulted in an additional $2,050 in surplus for 2021. Our budget is structured so that all surplus goes toward benevolence and toward rebuilding our savings. The council approved distributing the $2,050 using the same formula as our benevolence: 50% for Synod/ELCA, 25% split between Micah 6 and Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center, and 25% for rebuilding savings. These funds will be distributed this month and are in addition to any benevolence given based on 2022 income.
  • The council appointed Andy Maclaren as our 2nd synod assembly voting member.
  • Allen Jensen was re-elected council president.
  • Nancy Neuse was elected vice-president.
  • Andrew Koepp was elected secretary.
  • Gwen Flory was previously elected as financial secretary for 2022.
  • Erin McCracken was elected as interim treasurer until a new treasurer can be found. Erin has served us faithfully and will take a break from this form of service. We are grateful for Erin’s excellent work as treasurer.
  • Pastor Coffey shared worship participation data for January: average live participation (in-person and livestream): 61. average total participation (in-person and livestream 3 day unique viewers): 86
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2022 Annual Meeting Summary

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.

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Carl Jung and Christian Spirituality

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.

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Annual Meeting

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.

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Adult Forum Survey Results

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.

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He’s Baaaaaaack!

Bryan Rust Returns from Sabbatical

Sunday, January 9 we welcome home to FELC Bryan Rust, our director of music. Bryan has been on sabbatical since October 18, 2021. Gather for worship at 10:00 am this Sunday, share in Bryan’s musical leadership as we sing together, and, following a special postlude, greet Bryan during hospitality time after worship. Bryan also resumes his role as FELC office administrator this week. Hope to see you in person or online this Sunday morning.
A note: Bryan has returned to nearly 2,000 emails. If you communicated with Bryan by email during his sabbatical, and you want him to know about it, please email him again. Thanks for your understanding.