Incoming bishop brings breadth of experience

 

By Rachel Pritchett, synod communicator

VANCOUVER — Incoming Southwestern Washington Synod Bishop Rick Jaech
brings a breadth of experience in ecumenism and conflict resolution to the office.

A recent period of his 26-year ministry at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in
Vancouver was devoted to facilitating dialog between Christians, Jews and Muslims, an effort that left a lasting imprint of sensitivity on members of his flock.

“It was a great time of learning about each other’s faith traditions,” he said in a conversation in his office at the church, a quiet oasis located in an otherwise busy web of thoroughfares in East Vancouver. Jaech, pronounced Jake, is a member of the Greater Vancouver Interfaith Association.

Beyond that, the tall 63-year-old has served for the past four years as the bishop’s representative to the ELCA’s Lutheran Ecumenical Relations Network, a group devoted to Christian unity and inter-religious awareness. As bishop, he hopes to continue ecumenical work in the synod and at the churchwide level.

“I am thankful that the ELCA is very active in ecumenical and interfaith dialog,” he said.
 
His work earning a master’s degree in conflict mediation led to his writing the book “Transforming Church Conflict.” Many know Jaech best through his workshops on turning seemingly insurmountable conflicts into valued growth opportunities, another skill set he will be able to call on in the next six years.
 
Jaech said he is looking forward to getting to know the pastors and members of the synod’s 88 congregations and worshiping communities.

He plans to continue starting and supporting new mission starts.
“That will be a priority of mine,” he said.

And he hopes to work with congregations to discover ways they can collaborate on efforts instead of working alone, or “to help all congregations work cooperatively to build their ministries.”

Jaech grew up in West Seattle, the son of a Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod parish pastor, Emil Jaech, who himself served as the widely admired president, or bishop, of the Northwest District of the LC-MS between 1968 and 1980. The elder Jaech helped develop close working ties with other Lutherans and was a founder of Consultation to Clergy, the group that offers personal and professional support to pastors and other church leaders.

A graduate of West Seattle High School, the younger Jaech was among dissident students and faculty at Concordia Seminary of St. Louis, Mo., who walked out over a theological rift in the 1970s to form Concordia Seminary in Exile (Seminex). He actually received his master of divinity degree from Seminex at The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. More about that historic walkout from the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod seminary is at wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminex. Jaech was ordained as an LC-MS pastor in 1975, but a year later joined the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, which helped to form the ELCA.

His first call was to the Mission District of San Francisco, where he established a Spanish-speaking congregation of immigrants and imperiled refugees at St. Mary and St. Martha Lutheran Church. He had learned the language by immersing himself in study in Mexico. He served that congregation from 1975 to 1986, and during that time also worked to improve their living conditions as director of Lutheran Latino Ministries.

“Seeing the faith of the Latin American people really trusting in God even though their lives were turned upside down was very inspiring to me,” he remembered.
 
There is little doubt that Jaech will look wistfully over his shoulder at Beautiful Savior as he makes his way to Tacoma. He called members there “a wonderful gathering of people.” They help the homeless through Winter Hospitality Overflow and the local Y.W.C.A. They assist refugees through Lutheran Community Services Northwest, advocate with Faith Action Network in Olympia, and consider themselves acelebrating church in which all are welcome to Christ’s table.

The incoming bishop and wife Satya Lamparter Jaech, a psychotherapist and meditation instructor have one son. Nicholas, 20, is a political-science student at the University of Washington.The family has a long history of service at Holden Village.

As for his new calling, Jaech said, “I’m confident God has many blessing in store for us, and I very much welcome people’s prayers as we begins this ministry together.” All are invited to his installationat 3 p.m. Sept. 14 at Trinity Lutheran Church of Parkland. Jaech can be reached at rick@rickjaech.com.