Econnection: October 17, 2024

Featured Events Fall Festival October 20 | 12 - 2:30 pm Join us for our annual Fall Festival in the Courtyard and Fellowship Hall! We have fun planned for everyone. There will be games, photo booth, and all kinds of yummy food! Wear your costume to church and then head to the Fellowship Hall for Stewardship lunch. Looking forward to celebrating the Fall season with you! Lunch & Learn: Faith and Politics October 27 | 12 pm In this chaotic and polarizing presidential election season, it can be hard to discern a way forward. Rhetoric escalates into shouting. Disagreements degenerate into fights. Sometimes Christian voices in these disputes seem to be not very Christian. How does our faith have an impact on our voice and vote? Should it have an impact? This Lunch and Learn, led by Dr. David Jensen, will focus on the variety of ways Christians can engage in politics and suggest some ways of navigating disagreements in our broader society. Learn More about Dr. David Jensen All Saints’ Sunday featuring Brahms Requiem November 3 | 11 am We will observe All Saints Sunday on November 3 at 11am in the sanctuary with a special worship service. The Congregational Church of Austin will join us for a worship service including a lighting of candles for All Saints’ Sunday and the Brahms Requiem. The Brahms’ Requiem is a renowned work, composed by Johannes Brahms during a time of personal grief to provide comfort and peace to others experiencing grief and loss. Because of the length of the Requiem, we anticipate the service will last between 90 minutes to 2 hours. Learn More about the Requiem Election Connection November 5 | 11 am - 8 pm This come-and-go day of community building is an opportunity for us to connect, lean on one another, enjoy some fun and to remind one another that God is with us as we await election results. See the Schedule Service of Worship Sunday | 11 am Scripture: Matthew 19:23-30; Ephesians 3:20-21 Join us for worship as we celebrate Commitment to Giving Sunday. This is always a special Sunday in the life of our congregation as Stewardship Season concludes and  members of the congregation offer their pledge card for the 2025 year. The Wesley choir will sing “There is More Love Somewhere”, a Traditional Spiritual, and the Sanctuary Choir will sing “For Everyone Born” by Shirley Erena Murray and Brian Mann. The scripture lessons come from Ephesians 3:20-21 and Matthew 19:23-30 and Pastor Teresa will be preaching. Our Stewardship Speaker is John Bridges. John serves as Finance Chair and is an active member of the Sanctuary Choir. Following the sermon we will also hear a word of inspiration from one of our youth, Eliza Hawley. Make plans to stay after worship for the annual Fall Festival with fun and food for all ages. Stewardship Stewardship Campaign sets goal for 2025 Our stewardship campaign for 2025 culminates Oct. 20 with Commitment to Giving Sunday, and I am confident our congregation will respond positively to the updates our Finance Committee has been sharing this year. We’ve set a goal of $810,000 in stewardship commitments for 2025 — a 14% increase. This will allow us to meet rising costs for property insurance, utilities and apportionments, to keep our outreach, educational and worship ministries going strong and to continue to dream of what might be next.  Our stewardship theme, “People of Possibility,” speaks to this aspiration. But we will not budget to spend more than we expect to receive in the year ahead. To do all that is possible in 2025, we need to make commitments now. We hope you will prayerfully review your commitment to UUMC or consider making a commitment for the first time. We are grateful for every gift and for all the ways that you sustain our church. — John Bridges, finance chair P.S. If you can’t be in church on Oct. 20, you can mail or hand in a commitment card to the church office or contact finance director Cindy Reeves at finance@uumc.org. You’re Invited: Stewardship Lunch October 20 | 12 pm Fellowship Hall We’ll conclude our Stewardship season on October 20 by giving thanks for the life of UUMC and our ministries during worship. After worship, all are invited to a Stewardship Lunch catered by various microloan recipients “food truck” style lunch – we’ll have Sonoran Hotdogs, Tamales of multiple flavors, cakes and more. Everyone’s invited! Thank You from AV and Megan More Stewardship Videos A Video Message from John Bridges Annual Stewardship Cartoon News UUMC Votes This past Monday our ministry, UUMC Votes, wrapped up their effort of registering students to vote. They have been on the corner of 24th and Guadalupe almost every day for the past 2 weeks helping students find polling places, change addresses, and register for the first time. This is a bipartisan effort to help our UT neighbors exercise their fundamental right this election season, and we couldn’t be more proud of the work they are doing. In total they registered 467 students!    Stolen Lives Art Display UUMC is currently working with Texas Impact on a state-wide installation campaign called “Vidas Robadas” or “Stolen Lives.” Every year lives are lost to gun violence through homicide and suicide. Vidas Robadas seeks to raise awareness by representing the names of those lost on a shirt that will be displayed here at the church. To learn more about this initiative and the work Texas Impact is doing visit their website here. Around the Community Fun Run for UM Higher Education Each year, Southwestern University in Georgetown—one of two institutions of higher education with Methodist roots in Central Texas—holds the Jameson 5k Fun Run/1k Campus Mosey benefitting the Jaysn Jameson Memorial Scholarship Fund. Founded in memory of SU graduate Jaysn Jameson, the fund supports an annual scholarship for an in-need biology, chemistry or physics student.  The chip-timed race is run each year during Homecoming on SU’s famed cross-country track. Your $30 registration fee includes a commemorative t-shirt while supplies last. Student/senior discounts are available, as are virtual options for those who can’t attend in-person. Stick around after the race for snacks and see if you’ve won one of dozens of fabulous door prizes, too! For more about how your donation helps fund science education at Southwestern and to register, please visit their website Upcoming Events October UUMC Poetry Club 10/17 | 7 pm Learn More Fall Festival 10/20 | 12 pm Learn More Lunch & Learn: Faith & Politics 10/27 | 12 pm Learn More November PNO 11/2 | 5 pm Learn More All Saints Sunday 11/3 | 11 am Learn More Brahms Requiem 11/3 | 11 am Learn More MYF & Tween Time: Backyard Olympics 11/3 | 1 pm Learn More Election Connection 11/5 | 11 am Learn More Youth Parent Backyard Hang 11/9 | 7:30 pm Learn More Power of Planning 11/10 | 9:45 am Learn More Caregivers Support Group 11/12 | 6:30 pm Learn More Get Connected Children’s Ministry If you have kiddos that you’d like to get involved in our children’s ministry, or just to learn more, reach out to Jillian. jillian@uumc.org Youth Ministry If you have youth that you’d like to get involved in our youth ministry, or just to learn more, reach out to Natasha. natasha@uumc.org College & Young Adult College Students and Young Adults, we have programs for you too! Contact Megan to get involved. motto@uumc.org Music Ministry UUMC is proud of its rich tradition of outstanding music. We offer opportunities for anyone, of any age or skill level. To get involved, contact AV. alicia@uumc.org Continuing Adult Education UUMC provides a variety of Sunday School groups, classes, and mission and justice ministries. Contact Pastor Earl to learn more. pastorearl@uumc.org Worship & Administration There are a lot of moving parts to operate this wonderful place. If you'd like to learn more or potentially volunteer, contact Pastor Teresa. pastorteresa@uumc.org 2409 Guadalupe Street Austin, Texas 78705 512-478-9387 Want to change how you receive emails from us? Click here to update your preferences or unsubscribe or unsubscribe from this list