Here's a story about Poulsbo and lutefisk ...

They have a solid sense of humor in Poulsbo, which allowed me to write this piece for the Kitsap Sun, appearing today, Sunday:

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/oct/13/one-hundred-years-of-lutefisk/?partner=popular

Rachel Pritchett

Lutefisk, lutefisk, lutefisk

Here's an archival photo of the First Lutheran Church of Poulsbo's annual fall lutefisk dinner, biggest in the region. Left to right, Lenore Ley, LeAnn Mong and Pat Edgren serve Simon Simonsen in the 1960s when the church held the event in its old social hall. This year marks the 100th anniverary of event. It takes place Oct. 20 from 11:40 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $23 for adults, and $5 for children. Contact the church at 360-779-2622.

Jaech: Examining story behind church conflict can lead to resolution

By Rachel Pritchett

BREMERTON — Conflict isn't a failure in a congregation. 

Rather, it's a naturally occurring element that arises out the variety of viewpoints, talents and values that exist among congregation members. Given the tools to work through their conflicts, a congregation will grow and flourish to a new level. 

That comforting news was delivered by longtime conflict-resolution consultant Rick Jaech, pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Vancouver, who conducted the first of three workshops throughout the synod Oct. 6 in Bremerton. 

Jaech's message was meant both for pastors and church leaders entrusted to facilitate parties in a conflict to reach a satisfying outcome. He outlined the steps from his new book, "Transforming Church Conflict: A Guide for Pastors and Leaders."  Rather than let a conflict escalate or drive people apart, a key step is to bring people together to talk to each other with “respectful curiosity” about what has happened. 

 

Using a framework from the book “Crucial Conversations” by Kerry Patterson, Pastor Jaech outlined for the group of eight local pastors and leaders the four steps that often lead to misunderstanding and conflict: 1) We see or hear something done or said to us by another person; 2) We tell ourselves a story that interprets what we just witnessed; 3) We feel an emotion based on that story; and 4) We act on those feelings, often by withdrawing or attacking. 

He gave an example: Ron and Megan share a church classroom, she during the week for an art class, and he for Sunday school. One Sunday, he finds the room cluttered with drying paintings and art tools scattered across the tables. His class is 10 minutes late as he cleans up.  

Ron creates a story in his head: Megan is rude, self-centered and places her work above his. He feels frustration, anger and exasperation. He avoids her at coffee hour, with nothing more than a dismissive greeting. 

A successful resolution to a conflict usually means going back and examining the story Ron put in his mind and inviting respectful dialog.  "A lot of the time, we're telling the wrong story; it's not their true story," Jaech said. Megan may not have understood the demands on the room. She may have had to rush off for a family concern. 

This is where dialogue with “respectful curiosity” becomes crucial. Ron can say to Megan, "I'm curious about what happened. I'd really like to talk about it and hear your side of the story."  

Facilitators often will have to slow down the conversation, to help all sides go back and unfold the real story. Discovery on both sides takes place, unity is found and a bigger solution than either Ron or Megan thought of is arrived at. 

Jaech's book costs $15, and is available by contacting him at rick@rickjaech.com.  He also offers a blog site at transformingchurchconflict.com .

Jaech has two more workshops in the series. The next one is Oct. 13 at Lutheran Church of Christ the King of Tacoma, at 1710 85th St. E. The final workshop is Nov. 10 at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd of Olympia, 1601 North St. SE.  

Blessing of the Animals

 

"Whenever a fish was caught and Francis was nearby, he would return the fish to the water, warning it not to be caught again. On several occasions the fish would linger awhile near the boat, listening to Francis preach, until he gave them permission to leave. Then they would swim off. In every work of art, as St. Francis called all creation, he would praise the artist, our loving Creator."

— the Rev. Ray Sheldon, quoting John Bookster Feister in his writings about St. Francis of Assisi, during a Blessing of the Animals ceremony Oct. 7 at Faith Community Church. Faith is a new synodically authorized worshiping community in Kingston. The ceremony was one of many in our synod this Sunday recognizing the role animals play in our lives.

Pictured are Faith member Frank Toth with Buster the cat, top, and the Rev. Sheldon, with Sammy the dog.

Invitation to installation

Christ Lutheran Church of Belfair invites you to the Service of Installation for

The Reverend Julie A. Kanarr

Called to serve as pastor of

Christ Lutheran Church (ELCA)

3701 NE North Shore Road

Belfair, Washington

Saturday, November 3, 2012

3:00 p.m.

light buffet reception to follow

Clergy are invited to vest (color of the day is green)

Directions to the church are available on our website:

www.christlutheranbelfair.org

church office phone:  (360) 275-3354

People

Andrew Suhr is Messiah Lutheran Church of Vancouver's new pastoral intern. He will serve one year as part of his training at Luther Seminary. He comes with wife Patti.

Kim Clevenger is the new youth-and-family program coordinator at Holy Trinity of Port Angeles.

Kerri Greenaway, administrative manager at Peace Lutheran Church of Tacoma, has been selected as part of a "Plunge" group of young adults 18 to 29 that will experience the global faith community at the ecumenical cneters in Geneva, Switzerland, and Taize, France, next spring. The sojourn is sponsored by the Northeastern Iowa Synod of the ELCA and the ELCA's counterpart in Canada.

Youth: Mark your calendars for these upcoming events

Young people can mark their calendars for these fun and inspiring events coming up in 2013 sponsored by the synod's Youth Committee or ALYVE Board. By the way, if you don't know, ALYVE stands for Associated Lutheran Youth in Various Endeavors. — RP

Here's what's coming:

Jan. 25 to 28: ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza, Anaheim, Calif.; for adults who serve in children, youth and family ministry; theme is Faith Formation in a Missional Age; http://www.elcaymnet.org/Extravaganza; contact Paul Davis at pauldavis@pflc.org for scholarship information.

March 5 to 7: 21st Century Faith Formation Event led by John Roberto; for youth leaders; Red Lion Inn near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport; contact Paul Davis at pauldavis@pflc.org for more information, including scholarships.

March 15 to 17: Synod Youth Gathering; for youth in sixth to 12th grades; Camp Berachah of Auburn; $130; contact Katie VanBeek at k.vanbeek@plcplace.com.

April 12 to 13: Fool's Night Out Lock-Out; for youth in eighth to 12th grades in the Evergreen, Mount Rainier, Tacoma Narrows/Southwest and South Sound conferences; contact Ingelaurie Lisher at ingelaurie@smlutheran.org.

May 4: Synod Youth Service Day; for youth in sixth to 12th grades, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in three synod locations; $15; contact Ingelaurie Lisher at ingelaurie@smlutheran.org.
June 7: Youth Convocation; noon to 4 p.m., Hotel Murano Tacoma; contact Katie VanBeek at k.vanbeek@plcplace.com.

Pictured: Katie VanBeek, Member ALYVE Board and Synod Youth Committee