Our Money Story Worship Series

Throughout the month of October, we invite you to join us in worship to remember, release, reimagine, and restore your money stories so that we can write the one God is begging us to live into. Beyond worship, you can take additional steps to grow in your discipleship through a personal study guide and opportunities to discuss and engage in spiritual practices that open us to that transformation. Read more at fumcaustin.org/ourmoneystory.

On this World Communion Sunday, you are invited to share Communion together. Sign up to attend one of three brief Communion Services in the FUMC parking lot, where we have devised the safest possible way to share in this Sacrament together. Bread and juice will be individually bagged for each car and distributed when you arrive, and participants will be invited to park in every other spot, joining the service from your tailgate or camping chair behind your car. Join us! Please only register once per vehicle, and do not add additional family members to your registration. Only one registration is needed to reserve your parking spot! Printed copies of Our Money Story study guide are available for pickup.

October 4, 8:30 a.m., Register Here.

October 4, 9:00 a.m., Register Here.

October 4, 9:45 a.m., Register Here.

Children's Sunday School meets weekly on Zoom at 9:00 a.m. for Kindergarten through 5th Grades. Youth Sunday School meets bi-weekly (next meeting 10/04). Please check Sunday morning email for Zoom links. Adult Sunday School classes continue to meet weekly, all interested should reach out to class contacts for more information.

Our Money Story - Visio Divina

Join longtime member Caroline Jones in her exploration of Visio Divina over 3 classes. Visio Divina, Latin for “divine seeing,” is a method of meditation, reflection, and prayer through a process of intentional seeing, used here with original artwork and artist statements created as part of our generosity series, Our Money Story. Sunday School classes and individuals welcome for any or all weeks! Register Online.

We go live with a video worship service at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays accessible through our Zoom worship time, our YouTube Channel and on Facebook page. This traditional worship service lasts about 50 minutes. Our Interactive Worship service over Zoom begins at 10:50 a.m. and includes opportunities to connect with one another, share prayer concerns, and view our worship service. Check your Sunday morning email for Zoom link.

Lara Greene, Director of Children's Ministries, and Chloe Conner, Assistant Director of Children's Ministries, are hosting a socially distant, onsite manna bag assembly day. These bags will be given to church members on Commitment Sunday, October 25. Shifts are 20 minutes. Group sizes are limited to 10 people max, and we will either assemble outdoors on the playground or spread out in Wesley Hall (pending weather). Participants and guardians bringing children must wear face masks. We will have two Safe Gatherings certified adults supervising assembly. Families may sign up to serve together (one slot per person) or grownups may drop off and visit outside with other adults in the parking lot (bring camp chairs and sit six feet apart). Sign Up Here.

Join us as we work to be anti-racists. This group meets on first Sundays, 4:30-6:00 p.m., to discuss and learn more about racial oppression, issues of whiteness and racism, and other topics through videos, podcasts, and short articles. Our October topic will be voter suppression. While not required, we recommend watching the new documentary All In: The Fight For Democracy prior to the conversation. The Zoom link will be provided after registration. Please contact Pastor Cathy Stone at [email protected] for additional information. Register Here.

Our Money Story Study Guide

Through art, written reflections, poetry, text study prompts, and journaling prompts, a four-week Our Money Story study guide digs deep into eight scriptures to help us live more fully into God’s story. A digital version of the study guide can be found at this link.

Printed study guides are available for pickup on Sunday, October 4 during parking lot Communion and on Monday, October 5 and Thursday, October 8 from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. at the church office. Contact Dave Ballbach at [email protected] or 512-478-5684 ext. 202 with any questions regarding picking up your printed study guide.

Why This New Testament?

Though we often talk about the New Testament as a single work, it is actually a library of twenty-seven different texts with nearly as many authors. In fact, the collection of texts that we think of as the Bible wasn’t agreed upon until the fourth century. If you’d like to know more about what’s in your New Testament and how it got there, join Dr. Brad King for this four week series, meeting Wednesday nights from 5:00-6:00 p.m. Register Here.

Join Pastor Cathy Stone as we read and discuss White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones. Drawing on history, public opinion surveys, and personal experience, Jones delivers a provocative examination of the unholy relationship between American Christianity and white supremacy, and issues an urgent call for white Christians to reckon with this legacy for the sake of themselves and the nation. Please register below and a Zoom invitation will be sent. Contact Pastor Cathy at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesdays, October 13, 20, 27, 6:30–8:00 p.m., Register Here.

Thursdays, October 15, 22, 29, 1:00-2:30 p.m., Register Here.

In lieu of our usual Middle School Retreat, all 6th through 8th grade youth are invited to a weekend of fun around town! On October 16 & 17, we will plan a series of events to safely get outside, have some dang fun, and be together. This is not an overnight event. We’ll have an activity Friday evening on the 16, and have activities the afternoon of the 17. More details to follow. Cost is $60. October weather can be tricky, given our desire to be safe outdoors, weather could impact our plans. We will communicate as quickly as possible should anything change. Any questions or concerns? Email [email protected]. Register Here.

All are welcome to attend and participate in discussion. Board members have voting rights. Please register to attend using the link below if you are interested, but not a member of the board. The Zoom link will be emailed prior to the meeting. Register Here.

Parents of Third Graders, Third Grade is a special year when the church presents your child with the gift of a student Bible. We will be doing this year’s presentation of your child’s Bible during a safe, outdoor, in-person event, separated in two groupings. We are planning some fun activities to make the presentation extra special and the whole family is invited to participate! You should have received an email from Lara Greene with details on how to choose a time for your third grader to receive their Bible and to provide their name as you would like for it to be written in their Bible. If you need more information, email [email protected].

Confirmation for 8th-10th graders begins Tuesday, October 20, 2020 and will run weekly through April 2021. This is for youth interested in deepening their faith, learning more about the Methodist and Christian traditions/beliefs, and becoming a member of the Methodist Church. Baptism is required for Confirmation but not for participation in the Confirmation course. For more information about Methodist Confirmation, click here. Register Here.

The Paramount Theatre presents Art Heist. Become a detective on a downtown Austin walking search for a criminal mastermind in the all-new interactive theater show Art Heist. Registration with $10 cost covers admission. No ticket purchase necessary. To view a full description, go to Art Heist at the Paramount. The Cheers Ministry is a community for those young-at-heart who are recently retired, semi-retired, or thinking about setting a date to retire. Register Here.

FUMC is a co-sponsor with Texas Impact for the Texas Faith Votes. We are being challenged with other congregations to show our pledge to vote. Please pledge to vote on November 3. In light of COVID-19 safety, all eligible persons should apply to Vote by Mail. Applications for the 2020 presidential election are due by October 23 (mail to arrive before that date). You may go to www.votetravis.com and find out if your vote by mail application has been received, if your ballot has been mailed to you, and if your ballot has been received. Then when the ballot is received (mailings are expected to begin September 30), return by mail OR for security, you may submit your vote-by-mail ballot in person. Drop off locations for mail-in ballots will be available by October 1 (bring your photo ID). Follow all instructions. For more info, or if you need any help voting, please contact Jan Ashmos ([email protected], 512-771-3422) or Terri Sohn Purdy ([email protected], 512-680-4694), FUMC Vote-by-Mail Captains. To Pledge to Vote online, go to fumcaustin.org/pledgetovote.

As a resource to the congregation, an archive of recordings from previous studies can be found online in our Discipleship Archive. For privacy purposes, the archive is password protected so you will need to type in "gather@grow" to access the archive. The video from the Reimagining Policing and Healthcare Conversations can be found in the archive. Please email Emily Buchanan, Director of Discipleship, at [email protected] with any questions.

We are seeking assembled Manna Bags to hand out to our hungry neighbors on the street. Officer Shelly, our officer from the Feed My People Breakfast, is helping distribute the Manna Bags where they are needed the most. Completed manna bags may be dropped off at the Family Life Center. Please email Pastor Cathy at [email protected] with any questions about items to include and for her phone number to coordinate drop-off. She will unlock the FLC front door remotely. Manna Bag items could include: tuna or chicken lunch kit, peanut butter or cheese cracker sandwiches, Nutri Grain fruit bar, raisins, juice box, socks, and an encouraging message such as "God loves you."