Sunday, April 24
Preacher: Rev. Taylor Fuerst
Scripture: John 20:19-31
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9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. | Sanctuary
Worship is livestreamed at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday and is available online through our Zoom worship time, YouTube Channel, and Facebook page. Our Interactive Worship on Zoom includes opportunities to connect with one another, share prayer concerns, and view our video worship service together.
When Austin's community COVID level is low, masks are optional during worship at FUMC Austin. For more information about this community of faith's approach to masking, visit our website.
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Season of Celebration
As we continue to celebrate Easter—a season in the church that isn't only one day, but 50, though it is also paradoxically a single joyful feast—FUMC Austin will be hosting a time of fellowship and fun snacks in the Narthex and on the Front Porch immediately following the 11:00 a.m. worship service. Join us throughout this season of celebration!
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Love in Action Preteen Retreat Deadline Tomorrow
Friday, April 29-Saturday, April 30
Family Life Center
Drop Off: 6:30 p.m. Pick Up: 2:00 p.m.
Cost: $40
Calling all 4th-6th graders! Come reflect on and live out words from Micah 6:8, “...to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Spend the night at church having dinner together, participating in small groups, playing games, and preparing to serve and love our neighbors on Saturday morning. Drop-off and pick-up are both at the Family Life Center. Register by April 22. Questions? Contact Lara Greene.
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Feed My People Fourth Tuesday Breakfast
Tuesday, April 26, 5:15-7:00 a.m.
Family Life Center
The Feed My People Breakfast has moved back into the Family Life Center's Great Hall. April 26 is a fourth Tuesday, which means First UMC sponsors the meal and provides volunteers. There are still a few spot left for both inside and outside to help prepare and serve this meal that feeds 50 of our vulnerable neighbors. Volunteer shifts begin at 5:15 a.m. Clean up is finished by 7:00 a.m. Sign up for April 26 or check the link below for another date that suits your schedule and participate in this ministry of hospitality.
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FEAST: The Holy Stranger
Sunday, April 24, 7:30-9:00 p.m.
FLC Garrison Chapel
Join Pastor Brad King and the FEAST community (aged roughly 20–45) for our monthly FEAST gathering. Modeled on one of the earliest forms of Christian gathering, we meet once a month to share a meal and talk about the complexities of what it means to follow Jesus in today's world. This month, we're examining the history of holy strangers in Christian culture and tradition. Jesus himself was a stranger, a refugee, and an outcast at various points in his life, and he called us to love and welcome the holy strangers in our midst, wherever we might encounter them. Register by Friday, April 22, for this important discussion.
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Recognizing Graduates
Graduation is an exciting milestone at any age! We want to recognize all graduating seniors—high school, college, or graduate school—in the FUMC Weekly on May 15. Please provide a picture of the graduate, name, school graduated from, degree(s) received, and future plans. The deadline for submitting information to Devon Bailey i s May 1.
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The Truth in Our Stories Launch
Saturday, April 30 | 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary | 100 East 27th Street
Austin Region Justice for Our Neighbors, in partnership with Undocumented Stories and Dr. Jesse Esparza, invite you to celebrate the official launch of The Truth in Our Stories, a newly released anthology featuring 12 unapologetically honest testimonies to the lives of immigrants. Launch party tickets include a copy of The Truth in Our Stories, special music, storytellers, a short film and locally sourced drinks and appetizers.
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Archivers Work Day
Saturday, April 30
10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
SAN Room 210
Bring your curiosity, stories, and cell phone to this FUMC Archivers work day. Help sort, identify, catalogue, and digitize the holdings in the church archives. By preserving these artifacts together, we get to care for, hold, and share the whole story of this community of faith, which has been bolder than the state of Texas since 1840. For more information, contact Amy Wink.
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Worship 101
Sunday, May 1, 10:00-10:45 a.m.
Sanctuary
Have you ever wondered why we do certain things in worship? Join us for an interactive workshop to experience the different aspects of the service and to learn how everything works together from beginning to end! All ages are welcome! Children's Sunday School will take a break so that families can attend together. For more information, contact Amy Wink.
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Environmental Justice
Sunday, May 1, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
FLC Garrison/Zoom
We are committed to joining God in the work of justice as we learn, name, and work to eradicate injustice in our church, community, and world. This monthly gathering is an opportunity to discuss and learn more about racial oppression, issues of whiteness and racism, immigration, and other topics through videos, podcasts and short articles. In honor of Earth Day, our topic will be environmental justice. Zoom link will be sent with registration. Contact Pastor Cathy Stone with questions.
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Book Study: A Complicated Choice
Tuesdays | May 10-31
6:30-8:00 p.m. | Zoom
Please Note: the registration was incorrectly linked in the Enews and website last week.
A Complicated Choice goes beyond the falsely simplistic terms “pro-life” and “pro-choice” that define the public abortion debate and centers the experiences of real people making the decision to end a pregnancy in the context of their full lives and circumstances. Join Pastor Cathy Stone as we explore the complexity of our reproductive lives, examine judgments through the lenses of psychology, theology, and public policy, and participate in an act of sacred listening to those impacted by the decision to end a pregnancy. Zoom link will be sent with registration.
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Baby Brunch
Sunday, May 22 | 10:00-10:45 a.m.
Lower Playground
Babies and toddlers, this is your time! Bring your grown-ups to the Baby Brunch, a casual outdoor playdate between worship services. Children, ages 0-3 years, can play on the playground while their adults get a chance to talk with others who are in the same silly, amazing, exhausting stage of life! Hosted by the Children's Ministry Team, there will be refreshments, fellowship, playtime, and a quick devotional. Contact children@fumcaustin.org with questions.
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Civil Rights Pilgrimage
Info Session: Sunday, May 22
10:00 a.m. | Murchison Chapel
Pilgrimage: October 9-15, 2022
Experience the history, horror, and hope of the Civil Rights Movement with stops in Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma, and Memphis on this seven-day driving pilgrimage. Interested in this modern spiritual journey to the sacred sites of the struggle for civil rights in this country? Join Pastor Cathy Stone for an info session with more details about the trip and register your interest here. For more information, contact Pastor Cathy Stone.
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Good Grief: a Mercy & Justice Fifth Sunday Presentation
Sunday, May 29 | 10:00-10:45 a.m.
Sanctuary
Loss and grief are part of our human lives together. All of us grieve in our own way, in our own time. How can we hold grief well? Whether we have lost a loved one, a job, a dream, a marriage—Nancy McCranie, Director of Volunteer and Bereavement Services with Hospice Austin, will be with us to talk about our own grief and ways to help others in their grief. Nancy is a Presbyterian pastor and has been with Hospice Austin for 21 years. Contact Pastor Cathy with questions.
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Dear Church,
New Life. This is the promise asylum seekers cling to as they first navigate foreign terrain and later foreign languages, laws, and systems of power on the journey to legal status in the United States. "No one leaves home/unless home is the mouth of a shark," writes British Somali poet Warsan Shire in the opening line of her poem "Home." Her words describe the stark reality— the risk of death that asylum seekers take just for the slim chance at new life, a risk outweighed only by the risk of staying home.
Still, in the U.S., the burden of proof lies with asylum seekers to demonstrate evidence of that threat. Without legal representation, only 1 in 10 will get the protection they seek. Those with legal counsel are three times more likely to win the right to remain in the U.S., while thousands of credible asylum seekers are returned to their home countries every year.
New Life. This is also the Easter promise, the gift at the very heart of God's work of redeeming love in Jesus' death and resurrection.
This year, we cling to that promise with anxiety and hope as this faith community walks beside an asylum seeker, who is also in the legal care of our partners at Austin Region Justice for Our Neighbors (ARJFON). ARJFON welcomes refugees and immigrants by providing free, high-quality legal services, education, and advocacy. They focus on asylum and unaccompanied minor cases, some of the most critical and complicated in immigration law.
Last year, ARJFON represented 160 clients and their families in their pursuit of justice and did this with only one staff attorney. ARJFON’s goal is to hire a second attorney as soon as possible.
Our Easter Offering could help finally achieve that goal. With additional gifts totaling $20,000, ARJFON will be able to double the legal team and multiply the organization's impact by helping more vulnerable immigrants, like the asylum seeker in our community, find a permanent home in the U.S. and, with that, a safe, stable future. Our city and this community of faith are made richer by those that ARJFON serves. At Easter, we come face to face with the risen Christ. Let us meet that outpouring of love with this act of generosity so that others may also find new life.
Your gifts, marked “Easter Offering,” may be brought to worship, mailed or brought to the church office, or made online by selecting “Easter & Christmas” from the drop-down menu on the giving page of the website.
With Easter Hope,
Pastor Taylor
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Submit a prayer request online.
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Within Our Congregation
Carol Brady, the Drazic Family, Pat Freeman, Marcia Houston, Cindy Gunderson, Dory Livingston, Sallie Novinger, Andrew Pyle, and Dan Wood.
Condolences to Anna Holland on the death of her grandmother.
Condolences to Regan Bulambo on the death of his father.
Beyond Our Congregation
Jo Rene Altenberg, sister of Fay Brown; Joanne Crawford, friend of Judy Kostura; Cy Cushenberry, friend of Fred McMillen; Carly Faulkner and Colton Reeves, friends of Cindy Reidland; Jack Haney, friend of Larry Peters; Catherine Hicks and Mike Regan, friends of Peggy Davis; Glen Holt, brother of Robbie Ausley; Johnnie Houston, mother of Marcia Houston; Debbie Kocian, sister of Crispin Ruiz; Tory Livingston, wife of Dori Livingston; Susan M, friend of Cindy Gunderson; Elissa Marek, friend of Curt Ashmos; Robert Mayberry, friend of Jon and Shannon Sullivan; Doug Miller, friend of Mack Hicks; Sandra Mills, mother of Kelly Mills; Misty, friend of Judy Kostura; Guyla Pittman, grandmother of Ellis Pittman; Lauren Stafford, niece of Cheryl Bias; Tonya Basler Stout, sister of Grady Basler; Kamila Turabi, friend of Mardi Nott; and Dr. Robert Wootton, friend of George Gaston.
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Contact Us
First United Methodist Church
1201 Lavaca St. Austin, TX 78701
(512) 478-5684
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