Rio Texas Methodist Federation for Social Action

Austin Area Interreligious Ministries has announced its premiere event, the Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration, bringing together over 1000 people to share gratitude for the gifts and blessings of our world. This is a longstanding tradition in Austin and has been going on for the past 24 years.

AAIM’s 25th Annual Interfaith Celebration will be held on Sunday, November 22, 2009, at First Baptist Church, located at 901 Trinity St. in downtown Austin.  The Service will begin at 3:30 pm, and a Reception will follow at 5:00 pm.  Participating congregations are encouraged to bring food dishes that can be shared by all and include an ingredients list.

Our theme this year is COURAGE.

At our upcoming MFSA chapter meeting, we will discuss whether we want to host an information table for MFSA at the reception.

The Southwest Texas Conference Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action will meet at Saint John’s on Thursday, November 12 to continue our series on addressing poverty issues.  Our speaker will be Rev. Paul DuBois of University UMC, who works with the “Open Door” ministries which feed and clothe many of Austin’s homeless.  University UMC feeds an average of 300 people per week through the program.  Rev. DuBois will discuss the Open Door ministry, as well as aiding us in our examination of the root causes of poverty.  Originally from Louisiana, Rev. DuBois is a student at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and leads University UMC’s alternate Chapel Worship service.  The MFSA meeting begins at 6:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall with light snacks, and the program begins at 7:00 pm.  Join us!

Monday Evenings  6:30 PM – 8:30 PM, begins September 14th
Sunday Mornings, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM, begins September 20th

2140 Allandale Road, Austin, TX 78756
(512) 452-5737

This fall Saint Johns UMC is offering Eclipsing Empire from Living the Questions.  This 12-part DVD-based study features world-renown New Testament scholars Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan as they follow in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul throughout Turkey, Greece, and Italy.   Along the journey, these scholars show how Paul and Jesus’ message peace through justice directly challenged Roman Imperial authority and its theology of peace through (violent) victory. Read the rest of this entry »

Sara Hickman sings and plays guitar during the vigil for the 200th execution under Governor Perry.

Our next planning meeting will be Thursday, August 20 for 6 to 8 PM at St. John’s UMC in Austin.

The following executions in Texas are scheduled for the remainder of 2009:

Aug 20 – David Wood
Sep 16 – Stephen Moody
Sep 22 – Christopher Coleman
Sep 24 – Kenneth Mosley
Sep 30 – John Balentine
Oct 27 – Reginald Blanton
Nov 5 – Khristian Oliver
Nov 19 – Robert Thompson

These executions are all scheduled for 6:00 PM. Protesters gather at the south steps of the Capitol on 11th street beginning at 5:30 PM and stay until about 6:30 PM. Please join us if you would like to see the death penalty abolished. The more people we have in attendance the better. You may bring your own sign if you would like to.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is having their annual spring fundraiser:

• Thursday, June 11, 2009
• First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover Ave
• 7:00pm silent auction
• 8:00pm the play “Trying”, presented by Austin’s Paradox Players.  “Trying” is the story of the violent but warm relationship between Francis Biddle who had been the Attorney General under Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a judge at the post-World War II Nuremberg Trials, and his young, spunky personal secretary.
• Refreshments will be served.
• All proceeds from the evening benefit TCADP.
• Tickets $20 available in advance (recommended) at austin@tcadp.org, or at the door.  Seating is limited.  Anne Mund (343-0803) has tickets to sell.