Category: News

Greetings! We are grateful for the adopted Ministry Site Profile and are in the process of awaiting candidate names from the synod office. Once we receive candidate names, the Call Committee will read through each candidate’s Rostered Minister Profile (RMP) and begin scheduling interviews. As we remain transparent about our process, it is important to note that confidentiality about the candidates and the interviews will be maintained for everyone. During this time, however, if you have other questions about the process please send us a note: felctransitionministry@felcaustin-org. We pray for open hearts as we seek to do the work God would have us do. We welcome your prayers during this time.

The AC equipment that serves the sanctuary is back in working order! It’s been a long and winding road for sure.  Terry Porter met with various technicians over the course of several weeks as they worked to understand and diagnose the issues.  At the end of the day, the repairs were fairly straightforward, but one misstep caused a 3-week delay while we waited for a replacement part to arrive. That part, a breaker switch, was installed last Friday.  Tests were run, levels were checked and our equipment is back to operating as expected.

FELC volunteers will be providing and serving the meal at the Micah 6 Drop-In Center this Saturday, June 29. The Center provides services to young adults up to 30 years of age who are street-dependent or without a permanent home environment.  It is located just off campus in a building belonging to University Baptist Church and is open Saturday afternoons throughout the year.  Visitors can relax in a safe space with comfortable furniture and enjoy the use of  TV’s, games, computers & Wi-Fi, and laundry machines.

After sharing a tasty and nutritious home-cooked meal, clients can ‘shop’ the supply closet for small toiletries and clothing items. Donations of women’s and men’s short sleeved shirts, small women’s clothing and larger men’s clothing are needed at this time.  

First English has been an enthusiastic participant with this ministry for many years, and many young people have been touched by God’s love through appetizing and nutritious food, friendly smiles, and unconditional care.  

Our next scheduled date to serve is Saturday, August 3, 2-4 pm.  Any level of participation is welcome: prepare and / or serve food or simply offer your prayers.  To find out more, contact Heidi Goebel, heidigoebel@sbcglobal.net or Andy MacLaren, 512-947-4186, Andymaclaren@cs.com.

Last Sunday, Michele Hockett Cooper offered the first of a two-part series on Faith and Food. We explored comparative food practices among major world religions and Christian denominations, along with intersections with those practices and our understanding of current  nutrition/dietary needs.

Sunday, June 30,  Anne Wiebe will be leading Children’s Faith Formation, offering a Pride-themed session for Pride Sunday, 9 am  in the Fellowship Hall. We hope to see your children there!  No Adult Faith Formation is scheduled for June 30.

More information for July Faith Formation is coming soon. We are looking for a Faith Formation Leader for Sunday, July 7. Please contact Betsy Appleton, betsy.appleton@gmail.com, if you are willing and available to serve! 

FELC Members and Friends,

It is with gratitude and joy that the Call Committee shares with you the FELC Ministry Site Profile and Seven Reflections on Ministry and Context (MSP).

FELC Ministry Site Profile and Seven Reflections on Ministry and Context (MSP)

The above linked MSP is a redacted copy with personal contact information for individuals blacked out to preserve privacy. This is a revised and final version of the MSP which was unanimously accepted and adopted by the FELC Council on June 17, 2024. This MSP is the work of the entire congregation and will serve as a starting point for conversation and questions with pastor candidates. It is a spirit-led document intended to inspire and connect us with our right next pastor.

Our MSP has been transmitted into the ELCA system and has been approved for posting by the Southwestern Texas Synod. Our MSP will be available throughout the ELCA with the following intro summary description: 

“First English Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas (FELC) resides in an urban and university setting. We are a community of faith and love gathering for worship, relationship building, personal growth, and service with the world. FELC seeks to prayerfully call a Senior Pastor to our Ministry of Word and Sacrament, to lead with us as we strive to live more fully into our vision of “God loves. We love. Everyone!” 

At this point in the process, the Call Committee will be receiving names from the Synod staff and will begin interviewing pastor candidates. The Call Committee asks for your continued prayers as we enter the next phase of our pastoral transition journey.

With gratitude,
The FELC Call Committee
Erin McCracken (chair)
Tim Atkinson
Randy Baden
Allen Jensen
Nikki Northcutt
Lillian Martinez-Rodriguez
Barbara Schutz

Faith Formation | 9 am

Worship in the Fellowship Hall | 10 am (onsite & online)

Hospitality in the Fellowship Hall | 11 am

Day of Repentance and Renewal/Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine

On June 17, 2015, Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Lee Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson were murdered by a self-professed white supremacist while they were gathered for Bible study and prayer at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church A resolution to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance for the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine was adopted by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on August 8, 2019. Congregations of the ELCA are encouraged to reaffirm their commitment to repenting of and eradicating racism, to venerate the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine, and to mark this day of renewal.

Presider: Pastor Bradley Fuerst serves the campus ministry of LuMin, the worship and service community at UT Austin. He is originally from Nebraska, a St. Olaf College and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary alum, a Methodist pastor’s spouse to Taylor (lead pastor at First United Methodist, Austin) and a father to Holden, Hadley, and Harper Lee. The Fuerst’s are members at FELC.  Pr. Fuerst has also served as Lutheran campus pastor to Rice University and the University of Houston. Before that, he taught high school English at Omaha North High School. Pr. Fuerst enjoys cycling, running, cooking, reading the New York Times, geeking out over liturgy, and baking bread. For more info on LuMin, an FELC Benevolence Partner, visit: http://lcmaustin.org/

Guest Preacher: Deacon Darcy Mittelstaedt serves in the Office of the Bishop of the Southwestern Texas Synod as the Bishop’s Associate for Leadership and Lifelong Faith Formation, which includes call, mobility, candidacy, and faith formation. She brings 24 years of ministry experience from Children, Youth, & Family Ministry to Leadership from Nebraska to Arizona and now Texas. Deacon Darcy is passionate about engaging others in serving and sharing the love of Christ. Her ministry has always been about equipping others with the Good News to go out to love, serve, and share the Gospel. 

Although much remains to be done, much progress has been made in racial justice in the past 60 years.  As we repent of our historic complicity in racial injustices, you are encouraged to read Martin Luther King, Junior’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” of April 16, 1963.  King and 55 others had been jailed for “parading without a permit” during a march against segregation.  They were charged with violating an injunction barring “racial protests” in the city.  His letter was in response to a joint letter several white ministers had published in the local press that decried the march and civil rights activists’ methods. King addresses comments to “white moderates” who are much more devoted to “order” than to justice, and to the “white church” who may be “blemished and scarred …through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.”  If there are ways that may still be true today, let us repent and commit to renewal. Click here to view a Racial Equity Fact Sheet.

Submitted by FELC Racial Justice Task Force: Barbara Schutz, Barbara Wiederaenders, Charlotte Gilman, Derek Bridges, Leigh Northcutt-Benson, Mari Ward, and Nancy & Randy Baden

Thank you to all the participants who provided excellent feedback and reflection on Faith Formation sessions that we have had so far this year and for all the suggestions that came from our dynamic and wide-ranging discussion! The enthusiasm for learning was inspiring. Pictures/doodles based on our reflections are posted adjacent to our Lenten caterpillar on the bulletin boards on the Fellowship Hall.

On Sunday, June 23, Michele Hockett Cooper will be opening her 2-session Adult Faith Formation series on Faith and Food with “Your Body is a Temple” at 9 am in the Parlor. Charlie Boas will be leading Children’s Faith Formation with the story of Joseph from Genesis at 9 am in the Fellowship Hall. On Sunday, June 30, Anne Wiebe will lead Children’s Faith Formation, continuing the story of Joseph.

We have openings through the summer for Faith Formation leaders. If you would like to be a Faith Formation leader or  know of someone who might be interested, check out Leading Children’s and Intergenerational Faith Formation FAQ and contact Betsy Appleton, betsy.appleton@gmail.com. 

Plan to join us Monday, June 24, 7-8:30 pm, if you are another adult’s caregiver—you may help from afar, in your own home, or in theirs.  You deserve support and a listening ear.  THANK YOU for offering this service which is an example of the love and grace that our faith encourages.  Contact Barbara Wiederanders, bwiederaenders@att.net, to receive the Zoom link or for more information.