FUMC News
Stay up-to-date on our latest news
Walking the Labyrinth
If you find yourself yearning for a space and a few minutes of time set apart to recenter yourself, our labyrinth is available to walk in Murchison Chapel. Labyrinth walking is an ancient practice used by many different faiths for spiritual centering, contemplation,...
October Mission Emphasis – Casa Marianella and World Communion Sunday
Together, we welcome and care for the poor, the stranger, the sojourner, the outcast. Together, we enable national and international graduate students to change the world. This October, our communion rail offering will be shared between Casa Marianella and World...
Time and Talents Survey
Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service, and Witness Upon uniting with this Christian community, we respond to the question: “As a member of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and...
Unmute Thyself: Talking Politics in Church
UNMUTE THYSELF: TALKING POLITICS IN CHURCH It’s taboo to talk about politics in church. God’s people are supposed to be united around our common love for God and desire to serve others, so churches avoid discussing the political issues that our communities are facing....
September Mission Emphasis – Global Mission Fellows
$30 buys a takeout meal — or $30 invested in the Global Mission Fellows program transforms a young adult’s life. Global Mission Fellows, ages 20-30, serve for two years in social justice ministries across the country or internationally. These young adults engage with...
Pledge to Vote
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 sign the pledge to vote on November 3! In light of COVID-19 safety, all eligible persons should apply to Vote by Mail....
Small Groups Forming
Are you craving meaningful connection along with the spiritual accountability that can accompany sharing your faith with an intimate group? While online groups may leave something to be desired, they CAN offer solace for those who deeply desire connection. This fall,...
First Word from Pastor Taylor – Black Lives Matter to God and to Us
Last week, we hung a banner on the Family Life Center that reads, “Black Lives Matter to God and to us.” The banner hangs at a time when fewer people are driving by our building than ever before, thanks to the Coronavirus. So why hang it? FUMC has been on a...
August Mission Emphasis – English as a Second Language (ESL) Ministry
English as a Second Language (ESL) classes are offered at no cost on Mondays and Thursdays. Guests can practice their English conversation skills and develop friendships to support them outside the classroom. Imagine you know a language only literally. What would you...
UMW Circle Up Receives Grant Funding
Circle Up, a subgroup of United Methodist Women at First United Methodist Church Austin, has received a Just and Resilient Communities Grant offered through the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church. Circle Up was formed in 2018 to focus...
First Steps Registration Form
We are so happy you have chosen to participate in First Steps to learn more about FUMC, our pastors, and the United Methodist Church. Please tell us some basic information about yourself and/or family. This information is confidential for church records....
The Joy Circle Welcomes You!
Our United Methodist Women (UMW) Joy Circle invites all interested ladies to join us as we discuss the UMW Mission Study, Finding Peace in An Anxious World, beginning this week. Please contact Elizabeth Lerner at earendlerner@yahoo.com or at (512) 589-6305 for more information or with questions.
Living the Parables
"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble." -Psalm 46:1Barnabas, The Encourager Meet Barnabas, the FUMC Staff Encourager. This “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36) lives to encourage people through challenging times. When Pastor Taylor mentioned a...
Transformation Beyond Our Walls
Stories from people building community and fulfilling the mission of the church in new ways during the COVID-19 pandemic.
July Mission Emphasis – Emergency Assistance Fund
Jesus said, "Which of these three...was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” [The man] said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” – Luke 10:25-37. This year’s July Mission Emphasis will support ministry...
A Strong Connection
My story begins with an introduction to Conneen Sanders, a homebound senior. I was delighted to meet her as she was one of the sweetest eighty-year old ladies I had ever encountered besides my own precious mother. She truly was a joy to visit. I always looked forward to knocking on her door and being greeted by her happy smile and little barking dog. She lived in a beautiful garden home and was self-sufficient in the beginning of our friendship. We would sit on her couch and share stories of growing up in Austin.
First Word from Pastor Taylor – Will we ever get there?
Will we ever get there? One part of traveling that I do not miss is the nearly-constant barrage of questions from the back seat, all centered around the same theme: Are we there yet? Children have a different sense of time--I’m not quite sure I’ll ever figure it out!...
First Word from Pastor Taylor – The Wounds of Racism
Dear Church, Part of the nature of providing virtual worship is that everything is completed several days in advance, in order to allow time for post-production editing and uploading to the platforms where you can view and participate in the worship service....
First Word from Pastor Taylor – New Video Worship Service
"...Let us go to the House of the Lord." -Psalm 122 Dear Church, Things are moving and shaking around FUMC! We are gearing up for our summer worship series, summer Bible and book studies, summer programs for children and youth, and a new website (coming soon)...wow!...
June Mission Emphasis – Justice for Our Neighbors
This offering supports the peace and justice work of Austin Region Justice for Our Neighbors (ARJFON), a United Methodist-affiliated immigration ministry that welcomes refugees and immigrants into our communities by providing free, high-quality immigration legal...
Bolder than the State of Texas: Stories and Conversations on Living Faith
In 2018, FUMC launched a community autobiography project, Bolder than The State of Texas: Stories and Conversations on Living Faith. Drawing on our congregational value of Storytelling, this project gathers narratives of the people of First United Methodist Church. We want to hear your story.
First Word from Pastor Taylor – Spiritual Practice of Worship
Fasting. Service. Giving. Now, worship. At times in this series on the spiritual disciplines, I worry that I am just nagging you, trying to get you to do the things that you “should” do. Perhaps the better approach is that these practices are the windows of your spiritual life. Opening them creates an opportunity for the fresh wind of God’s spirit to blow through your life, and opening more than one creates a cross-breeze that can even change the temperature of the house.
Alternative Gifts for Father’s Day
Order Deadline: June 15 Fathers can be the hardest to shop for when gift time comes around. This Father’s Day, we are encouraging gifts to be used by fathers across the globe as an alternative to the usual standby tie or some other gift item you might purchase. An...
First Word from Pastor Taylor – Reopening
Dear Church, I want to share with you that our leadership is hard at work developing guidelines and protocols that will govern our approach to reopening the FUMC building in the future. Our approach is cautious; we are taking very seriously the call to “Do no...
Conference Safety Training
As part of the Rio Texas Conference Child, Youth, and Vulnerable Adult Safety Policy, all clergy, staff, and volunteers in ministry with these populations must be certified every two years by following these three steps: TRUSTed con Confianza...
3rd Grade Bible Presentation
Children's Ministry "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me..." Studying Scripture is one of the most important ways we learn about God. FUMC presents personal Bibles to each third grade student as a statement of their growing faith...
Grief Groups Now Forming
We are living in such an unprecedented time that almost everyone is struggling with grief and loss, whether it's the loss of health and safety, the loss of a job, the loss of community, or the loss of normalcy or a daily schedule. Add to that the grief that you may...
First Word from Pastor Taylor – Spiritual Practice of Service
I’ll be honest. When deciding which of the spiritual disciplines to lift up in this Eastertide series of sermons, we intentionally decided not to do a sermon on Service. Truth is, service is an area in which First Church excels; when others ask me about our church, I am always quick to note that this is a church where we don’t just write checks—we get our hands dirty in the actual work of serving others. It’s one part of our “personality” that I appreciate the most. I’d like to lift up a distinction that may be helpful for us in consideration of service, and that is the distinction between service carried out as an act of love and care for another and service taken on as a spiritual discipline. These aren’t mutually exclusive—hopefully all service is done with a measure of love for others, and really any service can help us to grow spiritually, but I invite you to consider what might be different about a practice of serving for the purpose of training your spirit.
May Mission Emphasis – Mobile Loaves & Fishes
The Mobile Loaves & Fishes downtown Austin truck (based at FUMC) is still serving meals to the homeless and working poor in our community - even during the pandemic - and we are needed now more than ever! Last year our MLF truck provided over 26,000 hearty...
First Word from Pastor Taylor – Spiritual Practice of Solitude
We’ve set out to explore the Spiritual habits and disciplines that can help strengthen us during times of trial. With a six-week worship series, we are unable to cover all of the many spiritual disciplines practiced by Christians over these thousands of years, so I’ll use these messages for the next several weeks to reflect on some of the practices we will miss in the worship series. Perhaps the strangest one to talk about right now is the Spiritual Discipline of solitude.