Gigantic back-to-school event next Saturday at Mountain View

Again this year, Mountain View Lutheran Church of Edgewood will host its gigantic back-to-school event, where students in need will find all kinds of resources to set them up for the coming school year. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 25, at the Mountain View Community Center, 3505 122nd Ave. E. Get there early; the lines can be long. Volunteers are always needed. Contact Beth Ann Johnson at bethannj@mtviewcc.org.

VanBeek joins ALYVE board

By Rachel Pritchett, synod communicator

GIG HARBOR — With a deep passion for nurturing young people in service for Christ, Katie VanBeek has been named adviser to the synod's Associated Lutheran Youth in Various Endeavors board.

She replaces Justin Snider, and has been charged with helping the board pull off all that it does to encourage and empower youth.

VanBeek, 25, is the youth director at Peninsula Lutheran Church. She had just returned from a mission trip to the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation when she paused for an interview in August. Already, she was knee-deep preparing for an upcoming vacation Bible school week.

"I think it's one of the best jobs in the world," VanBeek said about being a youth director. 

Having earned a bachelor's degree in children, youth and family studies from Trinity Lutheran College in Everett, she became a youth director in a Mill Creek church before coming to Gig Harbor.

Unlike many other youth directors who go on to other things later in their careers, VanBeek thinks she's found her professional niche. But she said it's not for everyone and burnout is common.

In her profession, she's had the responsibility to teach young people about lifelong service to others in the name of Christ. Along the way, she's stood with them, even in tough times.

"Life crises don't always create crises of faith," she said, adding she's been able to help some in trouble turn to God.

As ALYVE board adviser, VanBeek hopes to increase the number of congregations that send young people to ALYVE events, such as its annual combined middle- and high-school camp at Black Lake.

She wants to connect with all congregations' youth.

"Otherwise, it's really easy to get stuck in your little place, your little bubble, especially in Gig Harbor," she said.

Also, VanBeek would like to reach out to other denominations besides Lutheranism to combine on projects.

And lastly, she'd like the ALYVE folks to begin supporting a national day of service with a service project.

When asked if she has time for fun, VanBeek holds up a typed piece of paper and points to the blank margins.

"I have my paper full, but I also have room.

She enjoys photography, painting and riding the ferries.

In her new role, VanBeek also will serve on the Synod Youth Committee.

Cudahy heading to Malaysia as Young Adult in Global Mission

By Rachel Pritchett, synod communicator

BREMERTON — Medical school will wait.

On Aug. 22, Patrick Cudahy of Bremerton leaves for Malaysia, where he will teach — and most likely learn from — poor and disenfranchised children.

"I hope to gain maturity and become more compassionate and appreciative of what I have," said Cudahy, 22, who is among 19 people selected to serve for a year in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Young Adults in Global Mission program. He is the only one from the Southwestern Washington Synod. "These kids have not had too much opportunity in their lives."

While in the predominately Islam country, he wants to inspire the children, "that this is what a good Christian looks like."

He has been assigned to teach English and other subjects at the Grace Centre, a Christian education facility in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia's sixth largest city, on the island of Borneo.

His students are from families who have illegally immigrated to Malaysia, probably to find work. Because the families are undocumented, the children have very little hope, except for this center, where they are educated and even have a chance to proceed on to college.

"It really gives them a leg up in society. Otherwise, they would be basically uneducated," Cudahy said.

Cudahy graduated this spring from California Lutheran University, where he majored in biology and minored in chemistry. But he needed a break. Mission work seemed a natural choice.

As a young teen, he'd built houses in Tijuana and Tecate, Mexico. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, he was among the first wave of helpers, ripping out molding house walls.

"Service has always been one of my favorite things to do," he said.

His mother, Sigi Helgeson, told him about the Young Adults in Global Mission program. He found time just before graduating from Cal Lutheran to take an online class in English as a second language.

Cudahy said he is not concerned about being in a country where Christians can be imprisoned for proselytizing and are ridiculed in the state-run media.

"I should be able to handle myself pretty well," said Cudahy, who is 6 feet 2 inches, 185 pounds, and muscular from working out and playing rugby,

As for setting an example of being a good Christian, Cudahy should be OK. Mom is the pastor at Family of God Lutheran Church of Bremerton. Dad is a pastor, as well.

"Both of them being pastors, anything involved with the ELCA, they're definitely very pleased with that," he said.

Cudahy will return home in July 2013, and then attend medical school, like brother Ryan, 24. His dream school is the University of Washington, but any of the University of California schools would do, he said. He takes the Medical College Admission Test this Saturday.

Then again, a lot can happen in a year. Sometimes plans change.

"If that's the case, then so be it, I guess," he said. Cudahy will keep a blog, at
http://pcudahy.tumblr.com/.

To learn more about the ELCA's Young Adults in Global Mission program, visit
www.elca.org.

Pictured above: Cudahy at home July 30.

Upcoming StewardShops celebrate abundance

A series of upcoming stewardship workshops throughout the Southwestern Washington Synod will focus on celebrating abundance. Led by stewardship expert Marc Rieke, the free StewardShops will be based on conversations among participants. All are from 6 to 9 p.m. and include dinner. They are sponsored by the synod. Here's the schedule:

 

Aug. 21, First Lutheran Church of Poulsbo;

Aug. 22, Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Tacoma;

Aug. 27, First Lutheran Church of South Bend; and

Aug. 30, Immanuel Lutheran Church of Vancouver.

Rieke is president of The Enrichment Group of Tacoma, a consulting group serving Christians in stewardship-education efforts. He is a member of Mountain View Lutheran Church of Edgewood, and serves on the Synod Council. To register, contact Allison Ramsey in the Synod Office at swwsynod@plu.edu or 253-535-8300.

Summertime around the synod: Gardens a growing concern

On the coast, first came a food bank, then the garden

By Ann Gergens, Pacific County Press

SOUTH BEND — Last October, the empty field on Water Street was dusty or muddy, depending on the weather.

July 7 was different when the Growing Together Community Gardens (GTCG), begun by the Rev. Laurie Johnson of First Lutheran Church of South Bend and many others, held an open house to show off what a little water, some seeds, and working together can accomplish. The barren lot now is a flourishing green expanse of container gardens with tomatoes, cauliflower, Swiss chard, lettuce, broccoli, tiny bean sprouts and berries growing in lush profusion.

GTCG contributes produce to the Legacy Community Outreach Food Bank next to the garden. The food bank grew out of the church in years past, and now comes the garden to complement it.

But both are truly a community effort. South Bend Mayor Kirk Church listed the 67 organizations, businesses, individuals and volunteers who have so far contributed to its growing success, after which he cut the ribbon that made it official. Pictured above, the Growing Together Community Gardens

 

In the city, potato towers pack plenty into small space

By Allison Ramsey, Resurrection Lutheran church member
and synod office manager

TACOMA — Four years ago, Cindy Niemi, a member of Resurrection Lutheran
Church, got the idea to start a community garden in the back of the church in
the middle of what used to be blackberries, brush and horrible soil conditions.
After working with the men’s ministry and outreach committees, as well as with
local donors, the garden has grown in lots of ways.

This Community Garden has taken on the spirit of true victory gardens —
bringing people together to grow their own food, and also providing recreation,
education and beautification.

The garden provides produce for the New Jerusalem Food Bank in Tacoma. Last
year, the potato towers, under the leadership of Master Gardener Jennifer
Schroeder, produced 200 pounds of potatoes in four towers for the food bank.
Potato towers are square, high-sided wooden boxes that contain multiple potato
plants and are built higher by adding soil as the potatoes grow, making room
for more. Resurrection’s Facilities Committee has built a beautiful fence this
year around the garden, and enlarged the space by several plots. The garden
has been blessed with donations, too. Garden workers received compost from
a landscaping business. They also are active in Tacoma’s Community Garden
Program, from which they’ve received supplies.

This year, they’ve organized events around the gardening including classes,
a scarecrow contest, and “Happy Hour in the Garden” (non-alcoholic and
alcoholic drinks using fresh herbs and the fresh produce.)  

Pictured above left to right with a potato tower is Ramsey,
Tracy Johnson and Schroeder

Fehring, Dieckhoff use time away from school to teach English

By the Rev. Steve Ray, executive director, chinaconnect

This summer, three volunteer teachers, Joy Fehring, Linda Dieckhoff and Andrea Schatzman, are teaching oral English skills and American culture to youth in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China.

Fehring grew up at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd of Olympia where her parents Dorothy and Carl still attend. Dieckhoff is a member of St. Mark’s by The Narrows Lutheran Church of Tacoma, and Schatzman is from Minnesota. Febring specializes in teaching autistic students in the St. Paul School District. Dieckhoff is a counselor in the Tacoma School District. Chinaconnect recently established a relationship the Nanchang Institute of Technology to develop opportunities for volunteers to serve Chinese society through short- and long-term English language training, short-term youth service teams and semester-abroad college students. Later on this summer, I will meet with Nanchang leaders to see where we can work together to serve the most needy in Nanchang. This summer, volunteer English teachers will visit the new chinaconnect HomeAlone Kids Care Project. Chinaconnect works with local government officials in this nationwide program to support kids whose parents are working in other provinces. To keep abreast with our summer activities, go to www.chinaconnectonline.org. Questions? Contact me at sray@chinaconnectonline.org. 

Pictured: Nanchang 

Spanaway marks 50 years of proclaiming Gospel

By Karen Whitmore, Spanaway Lutheran Church

In his covenant word, the Torah, God taught his people about Sabbath and gave his people this gift of time. The Sabbath time is for resting playing, singing, feasting, praying, storytelling, and time for savoring friendship with God and others and nature. The Sabbath would be honored in three ways: the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath year, the seventh year which is the Sabbath year, and the fiftieth year, the Grand Sabbath year.

This year Spanaway Lutheran Church is celebrating its Grand Sabbath or Jubilee year. For 50 years, Spanaway Lutheran Christians gather for worship, and live as God’s people proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Spanaway community and throughout the world. Spanaway Lutheran is consecrated as a uniquely Jubilee congregation as proclaimed by the cross in our sanctuary. Carved on the cross are the words from Isaiah 61 which Jesus read proclaiming his ministry as recorded in Luke 4. By these words we also proclaim and live our ministry to the world.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me
 to proclaim good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives 
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
 to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — 
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, 
the oil of joy instead of mourning, 
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
 They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord
 for the display of his splendor.

We are released from the activity of this world of acquisition to participate in this joyful Year of Jubilation. In January 2012 we began a year long celebration commemorating a year of celebration; remembering and reaching out.

Monthly projects involve the congregation members and community. We have chosen these projects which support church members, Base children, food bank, the military, individuals who are released from incarceration, and our community as a way of sharing our abundance with others. A target goal of 50 of each item was proposed in honor of our Jubilee and congregational members have surpassed that goal. Favorite hymns are chosen and sung through out the Jubilee year. People are enjoying pictures and posters in the Fellowship Hall which recount our history. Many members of the congregation share their faith by means of a written Lenten devotional booklet available in booklet form or online at the SLC webpage. T-shirts and sweatshirts with the church logo remind us of our connectedness. A summer church picnic on July 1 at Spanaway Park reaffirmed our enjoyment of each other and God’s creation of nature.

We will continue our Jubilee projects throughout the fall in ministries as we collect coats to help others prepare for winter; as we appreciate God’s gift of creation and resurrection by planting bulbs in the churchyard. In spring when the bulbs bloom, we will recall our year of Jubilee and celebration for our years of ministry. We joyously show our thankfulness for God’s abundance by supplying funds to purchase Turkey breasts for the food bank for Thanksgiving.

This Jubilee year, many joyful activities are occurring at Spanaway, a sharing of ourselves that identify us as a covenant people. We pray that in our hearts we continue to live a Jubilee life, seeking and savoring our friendship with God and each other, seeking ways to further the kingdom by sharing love and hospitality and resources with those less fortunate. And thanking and praising God for his grace, good gifts and mercy.

Our Jubilee year of Celebration culminates in a festive gathering of the current congregation and many who have left to become members in other bodies. We will savor our history and former relationships and recount our blessings from God on the weekend of October 6th and 7th. A special Saturdy evening event and Sunday worship service is being planned with the inclusion of festive activities. We invite all to come and enjoy and celebrate with us this Jubilee. Call the church office: 253-531-7000 for additional information.

For a brief history of God’s unfolding promise to mend the entire universe please read "Manna and Mercy" by Dan Erlander.