ESUMC News­let­ter

Dear friends in Christ, 

Greetings and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I pray that the summer season has started with blessings.

The last number of weeks have been busy and blessed here at ESUMC. In late May, we celebrated the dedication of our newly renovated worship space with a spirited Music Sunday service of worship. During the last days of May, we hosted the UMC in Austria Annual Conference (see photo and article below), which culminated on 1 June with a closing worship service in our sanctuary, with the sermon preached by Bishop Stefan Zürcher. 

This past month, we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost on Sunday 8 June, and in worship on Men's Sunday 15 June we were inspired by the faith witness and words of hope from ESUMC members Joe Mangan and John Kojo Ampia-Addison. Finally, on Sunday 22 June we gave thanks to Shelley Brauneis and our entire Sunday School team for their faithful ministry to our children, and offered congratulations and prayers for the recent graduates of our congregation: Amelie Haslinger and Keisha Lindinger-Asamoah (Matura), Nadie Nikulina (High School Diploma), and Aurora Van Rooy (High School Diploma in the U.S.).

It is such a joy to enter the summer season having been so richly blessed by the many contributions of our church members. For those of you who have served so faithfully over these last months, I give thanks to God for your ministry and faith witness, and I pray that you will enjoy a more relaxed season ahead.

While Sunday School is now on break for the summer, we wish to invite our children to participate in Vacation Bible School (VBS), to be hosted in church from Monday 21 July through Friday 25 July. VBS is offered for all children aged 5-12, and is free of charge. Please see the news article below to register online for VBS. If you have any questions, please be in touch with Shelley Brauneis or me. And as always, we would welcome parents to volunteer one or more days during the week to help make VBS a joyful success.

Finally, please also mark these dates on your calendar:

• Our congregational Barbecue and Hike in Grünbach will take place on Saturday 13 September.
• We shall gather for our annual Harvest Festival in the sanctuary on Sunday 19 October.

For more details, please see the news articles below.

We thank you for your support of the ministry of ESUMC! May God bless you and keep you in peace, as we pray for the peace of the world in these turbulent times.

Yours in Christ, Pastor John