Synod office closed some days in December and January

Readers,

The synod office staff met this morning and hammered out the schedule for Christmas and New Year's.

Christmas falls on a Sunday, Dec. 25, this year. New Year's Day is the following Sunday.

The synod office will be closed on Friday, Dec, 23; Monday, Dec. 26; and Monday, Jan. 2.

Bishop Robert D. Hofstad will be working from home during the week between Christmas and New Year's, as will Office Manager Allison Ramsey. The Revs. Ron Hoyum and Valinda Morse, assistants to the bishop, will be off beginning Dec. 14. The Rev. Melanie Wallschlaeger, director for evangelical mission, will be off then, as well.

I have the week of Dec. 19 off from my day job in Bremerton, and am using some of it to do some synod stories that take a little more time. I'll be in Tacoma a couple of days and in Poulsbo, so far. This is a good week to invite me to your congregation.

Here's a photo of the gang I took in early November during a staff retreat at Rob's.

Rachel Pritchett, communicator (206) 498-0920 rachelpritchett@msn.com

What do they do in LaCenter? They make quilts.

Lutheran World Relief reports that this fall it received 725 quilts just from congregations in the southernmost part of the Southwestern Washington Synod. Producing the most was Highland Lutheran Church of LaCenter, with 155 quilts. St. Paul of Winlock was second, with 84 quilts. Reports from other areas of the synod were not immediately available.

Catechumenate training slated

“Go, Baptize, Make Disciples” is the theme of the annual catechumenate training taking place next summer in Spokane. Sponsored by the North American Association for the Catechumenate, the learning event centers on ways to equip believers to live lives of discipleship. Pastors, worship leaders and educators from congregations are invited to bring teams to the session taking place Aug. 3 at the Immaculate Heart Retreat Center. For further information, contact the Rev. Rick Rouse at rwrouse@comcast.net or (612) 710-7959. More information also is at www.catechumenate.org.

Rick Steves to headline FAN inaugural dinner

Travel expert, Edmonds resident and Lutheran Rick Steves is the keynoter for the inaugural Faith Action Network awards dinner, taking place Dec. 3 in Seattle. "Uniting for the Common Good" is the theme of the advocacy group's program that follows. The evening begins at 4: 30 p.m. in the Bloedel Hall of Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, 1245 10th Ave. E. Tickets at $70 apiece or $500 for a table may still be available by calling the FAN office at (206) 625-9790.

Courtesy photo: St. Mark's on Capitol Hill in Seattle

Tickets for PLU Christmas concerts still available

Pacific Lutheran University’s anticipated Christmas concerts return to Tacoma, Portland and Seattle this winter and again will feature the Choir of the West, the university’s chorale and members of its symphony orchestra. Three performances are slated for Tacoma at PLU’s Lagerquist Concert Hall. They take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3; 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4; and at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9.

In Portland, a concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. In Seattle, it will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, at Benaroya Hall. For tickets, visit www.plu.edu/christmas or call (253) 535-7787.

Look here for Black Friday unbeatable bargains ...

... Gifts of Hope is an alternative gifting program for Christmas available to churches in the Southwestern Washington Synod. Approximately 10 churches will participate this year. A catalog is available with 33 gifts that can be purchased. You receive a card that you send to the person you are gifting that explains the gift. There are gifts for food, clean water, shoes for children, a horse for a missionary, baby chicks for education of orphans in Ethiopia and many others. One-hundred percent of the money that purchases the gifts goes to the agencies, as all the work is done by volunteers. For more information call me at (253) 862-1050.

— Ann Miller

For the Romas, one house at a time

By Rachel Pritchett, synod communicator

TACOMA — Tom Geary of Fox Island recently returned from his fourth trip to Romania, where he has been building homes to replace substandard, crumbling ones thrown up during the Communist era.

"It was excruciatingly painful. We had to do all that from scratch," Geary said. His Habitat for Humanity team arrived in August to find no more than bare farmland at the building sites.

While the Northwest team had come at the invitation of the national Habitat Romania, there was no local affiliate to prepare the sites. No building materials or local labor were waiting for Geary's team. They had to search out every scrap of material and recruit helpers from a church in the village of Baltesti.

But in the end, the member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows and his team built 10 houses, many of them for the disadvantaged Roma population, for generations at the fringes of Romanian society.

Geary first saw the cramped and drab living quarters made of concrete in the early days of the post-Communist era, when he was stationed in Bucharest as a U.S. Air Force colonel. He learned the complex Romanian language as part of his work assisting the U.S. ambassador to Romania. On retiring years later, he felt called by God to return and use his special skills to help provide better housing.

"I feel like it's a calling. This is an opportunity for me to do something to help," Geary said.

It's been a roller-coaster of emotions for everyone during each of the four trips back.

During the first, in 2005, Geary saw the rows of substandard housing, much more deteriorated than when he was stationed here. Geary was able to easily communicate with the locals, but Roma occupants were skeptical when he told his Habitat team was there to build them new houses. Their government had let them down.

"I think they felt like this was just going to be another disappointment," Geary said. When they gained trust and saw the new homes that would replace the squalid surrounding they had endured, they cried with Geary.

At 63, the longtime local leader with the Tacoma-Pierce County Habitat for Humanity hopes he can return to Romania for a fifth time, even though the Habitat duty is double-tough there.

And overwhelming, too.

"One person might not be able to declare victory, but at least you're making an effort," he said.

Pictured top to bottom:

Tom Geary of St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows pauses with Emil Constantinescu, president of Romania from 1995 to 2000 and now board member of Habitat for Humanity International.

Geary hauls block in Baltesti, Romania, this past trip. He lost 22 pounds and "feels great."

Tom Geary relaxing on his return.

Pastor, family and friends reclaim site of suicide

BREMERTON — The Rev. Sigi Helgeson of Family of God Lutheran Church on Sunday, Nov. 20, joined with family and friends to reclaim a parking space outside the church in which a young man killed himself overnight on Oct. 2.

Melva Hill of Bremerton presented the congregation with an autumn gold ginkgo tree planted at the site, which also has a plaque remembering her son, Anthony J. Klocke, 28. Klocke mixed common household cleaning chemicals to produce toxic fumes, which he then breathed while parked at the church. Helgeson discovered him the next morning.

On Sunday, she said, "We remember him."

The ceremony was followed by a communitywide forum at the church on coping with suicide.

Pictured: An autumn gold ginkgo tree, flowers, plaque and Christ candle were at the site Sunday.

Synod Council takes up bishop election, more

By Rick Nelson, Synod Council member

DUMAS BAY CENTRE, FEDERAL WAY — Members of the Southwestern Washington Synod Council are proposing amendments to the synod constitution and changes in the process used to elect bishops.

The council acted on these and other issues when it met Oct. 28 and 29 in its annual retreat. Major items of interest follow:

— The council approved a recommendation for amendments to the constitution and bylaws to eliminate boards and committees that are mandated but aren't functioning; the proposals will be on the agenda of the May 2012 synod assembly. Some boards and committees required by the synod constitution haven't functioned for some time, and the council has concluded they aren't currently needed. The changes would give the synod council the authority to form committees as needed, and the council plans to re-form quickly those committees that are functioning well.

— The council brought a formal conclusion to its congregational visitation program; fewer than 10 congregations were not visited and efforts will continue to visit them. The council sent the reports to an analyst at ELCA churchwide to summarize the findings. The council would like to distribute the report to congregations next year. The council hopes the report will identify programs and processes which some congregations have found successful and can be shared with others.

— Our existing synodical focus is on new mission starts; Bishop Rob Hofstad is planning to add a focus on the renewal of struggling congregations. He proposed that synod council members take more active roles in synod affairs, including taking part in the support programs for congregational renewal, mentoring the new start congregations, and having active roles in the synod assemblies.

— The council voted to augment the way the synod elects a bishop. The synod has used a strict ecclesiastical ballot at synod assemblies. On the first ballot, any voting member can nominate any eligible candidate, and it often takes many ballots to determine the election. Moreover, few of the voting members were acquainted with the backgrounds of the nominees. Synod council members felt that everyone should have a list of potential candidates and summaries of their backgrounds before the start of a synod assembly.

The council will ask the Synod Nominating Committee to take on the task of developing a nominating process so that a "voters' guide" can be sent to congregations before the assembly. The process would start with a call for nominations from congregations and conferences. Those nominees would be contacted to see if they're interested, then their profiles would go into the guide. At the assembly, the first round would be a nominating round, and anyone could be nominated, but voting members would already know willing candidates because of the voters' guide. The election would follow the traditional ecclesiastical election process from that point; no constitutional amendment is required.

Bishop Hostad's current term expires in 2013, and the synod will again elect a bishop at the 2013 synod assembly.

Rick Nelson is publisher of the Wahkiakum County Eagle in Cathlamet, Wash.

Holden Village gifted with historic letter

By Mark Jackson, chair,
Family, Youth and Family Studies, Trinity Lutheran College, Everett

Trinity Lutheran College presented Holden Village with an historic letter during Holden’s 50th anniversary celebration, held Nov. 12 at Normanna Lodge in Everett. The letter, dated June 23, 1960, transferred Holden Village from Howe Sound Company, a mining company, to the Lutheran Bible Institute of Seattle (now Trinity). LBI began offering programs the following summer, in 1961, and later created a separate corporation to grow Holden’s mission as a center for work, study, and church renewal.

Photo courtesy Holden Village

Event to better understand suicide is Sunday

Family of God Lutheran Church of Bremerton, along with another local church, will host a workshop Sunday, Nov. 20, about responding to depression and the suicide of a loved one. Family of God Pastor the Rev. Sigi Helgeson discovered a man who had committed suicide in his pickup truck at the church in early October. He had used common household chemicals to create the deadly fumes.

The man's mother will present a tree in his memory prior to the event, which takes place between 2 and 4 p.m. Social worker Donald Moriarty of Kitsap Mental Health Services will lead the free workshop. More information is at (360) 692-7729. Family of God is at 7625 Central Valley Road

Deadlines comng

The deadline for the December Moments for Mission, the synod newsletter, is Nov. 25.

The deadline for the February synod insert in The Lutheran is Nov. 26.

I am at (206) 498-0920 and rachelpritchett@msn.com.

Rachel Pritchett, communicator

Send announcement of Christmas events, concerts by Nov. 22

If you'd like your congregation's Advent and Christmas event included in the December Moments for Mission, the synod newsletter and here, send them to me by around Nov. 22. Thanks, Rachel Pritchett, communicator, rachelpritchett@msn.com.

Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, Chorus in 'Messiah'

The Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and Chorus present "The Messiah" at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 7112 South 12th St., Tacoma. Geoffrey Boers, member of Mountain View Lutheran Church of Edgewood, is conductor.

Featured soloists include soprano Denise Lees, mezzo-soprano Melissa Plagemann, tenor James Brown, and baritone Benjamin Harris.

Others Messiah participants from the Southwestern Washington Synod include accompanist Amy Boers and altos Sara Hoffman and Diane Tyler from Mountain View; baritone Rich Nance of Mount Cross Lutheran Church of University Place; soprano Karen Irwin of St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows; alto Kerstin Shaffer of St. Mark Lutheran Church of Lacey; and soprano Jill Westwood of Pilgrim and Celebration Lutheran churches of Puyallup.

The concert is sponsored by Franciscan Health System. For tickets, $25, call (253) 272-7264 or visit www.tacomasymphony.org.

Paul Stumme-Diers joins Board of Pensions

This from the Board of Pensions today, about the Rev. Herman Diers' son.

The Rev. Paul W. Stumme-Diers of Bainbridge Island has joined the board of trustees of the Board of Pensions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Stumme-Diers began his term of service immediately following election by the ELCA Church Council at its November 2011 meeting. As a trustee, Stumme-Diers will help guide the Board of Pensions in its mission to provide retirement, health, disability and survivor benefits and related services for 50,000 active and retired ELCA pastors, rostered laypersons, lay employees and their families. He will serve on the board’s Corporate Social Responsibility, Finance and Products & Services Committees.

Quilt blessed, knowledge shared at global gathering

TACOMA — Some 70 persons took part in the synod's annual global-mission event, "Global Stories — Transforming Lives," on Nov. 12 at St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows. Among the highlights was the blessing of a colorful and inspiring new quilt that holds the signatures of missionaries with ties to the Southwestern Washington Synod. Diane Armbrust, co-chair of the synod's Global Mission Committee, gathered the signatures, which those who had given service wrote on plain muslim. Each signature then was framed with fabric representing the country where they visited. Carol Fossum sewed everything together.

Speakers
Pack light when you go on mission trips, advised Dianne Johnson of the Northwest Washington Synod. That was only one piece of advice the seasoned sojourner gave to pull off successful visitations. Next, get out of the mindset that the trip is about a "project" to "fix" something, and rather seek relationship with the people you meet. "It's all about relationship," she said, adding that extreme poverty isn't something visitors can fix, since the problems are much bigger and sometimes global in nature.

Other tips:
— Know a little of the language. Just "hello" and "thank you" speak volumes to hosts.
— Research how hosts worship so you can fully take part.
— Bond as a mission-trip team by doing a few things beforehand, even activities that could create a little stress, like living in rustic cabins for a day or two. Work out conflict-resolution strategies.
— Share the work during a trip, with one person doing finances, another rooming arrangements, and on.
— Be polite with the cameras, and consider having one designated person per day. Hosts recoil when a dozen people pull out their cameras at once. Keep flashes and beeps off.
— Try to avoid depression when returning home brought on by the disparities you see. Take a safari or some other activity that is fun and decompressing.

Northwest author and former ELCA global-missions leader Anne Bayse introduced talked about going "glocal," which encourages us to think more globally about local issues, like water and food. "Our choices do connect us to the world," she said.

Workshops
— The Revs. Mike and Rowena Wang, among workshop presenters, shared how as mission developers they began two Lutheran worshiping communities in South King County where none existed before. "God's opened the door," the Rev. Rowena Wang said. She is pastor of the Federal Way Chinese Fellowship, and he leads the Chinese Lutheran Church of South King County in Renton. The couple have been doing quite of bit of outreach into the fast-growing Chinese American community in South King County, and consider their worshiping communities to be in the perfect place, near both Green River Community College and also Highline Community College, home to many Chinese visitors studying English as a second language. The couple routinely take their young worshipers to visit the Microsoft campus in Redmond, and also to destinations in Seattle and to Green Lake for fun.

Photo cutlines follow, top to bottom

Diane Armbrust, left, co-chair of the Global Mission Committee of the Southwestern Washington Synod, and Carol Fossum stand at a just-completed quilt that holds the names of missionaries with ties to the synod. The signatures of the global travelers are inscribed on simple muslin, and then framed with fabric that represents where they were.

Dianne Johnson of the Northwest Washington Synod gives advice on pulling off a successful mission trip.

Left to right, the Rev. Rowena Wang, synod Communicator Rachel Pritchett and friend Alex Pincus, and the Rev. Mike Wang after a workshop presented by the Wangs.

Global sailboaters the Martin family of Lacey presented a workshop about how they spread the Word across oceans. Left to right, Benjamin Martin, 11; Carrie Martin; and Lisha Martin, 9.

Bishop Wold and Elisabeth relocate to West Seattle

PARKLAND — After more than 24 years residing in Parkland, Bishop David C. Wold and wife Elisabeth are moving to West Seattle.

Wold, who served as bishop of the Southwestern Washington Synod from 1987 to 2001, said the move will allow himself and Elisabeth to live close to two of their four daughters. The retirement community is secure and the Wolds only have to cross the street to get to shopping.

"And someone else takes care of yard and garden," Bishop Wold observed.

The congregation and friends of Trinity Lutheran Church of Parkland wished him well and gave him thanks during a special celebration Nov. 6.

"We have contemplated this type of move for some time, so when the opportunity presented itself we decided to move when it was our decision and not an emergency. All four daughters are ecstatic with this decision and three of them have been in the apartment and helped us with the move. Without their support and encouragement we might have stalled beyond the point of being able to make the choice for ourselves," Bishop Wold said.

The Wold's new mailing address is 2615 SW Barton St., 1-207, Seattle, WA 98126. Their hone phone is (206) 466-1671, and the email remains dandewold@comcast.net.

Concluded Wold, "We feel honored, blessed and humbled to have had the privilege to serve and walk with all of you for nearly a decade and a half. We pray for your continued faithfulness to God's call and leading into an exciting and challenging future."

Photo, Ann Miller

Please join us at 'Global Stories — Transforming Lives'

‘Global Stories — Transforming Lives’
A special synod global-mission event
on Saturday, Nov. 12, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.,
St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows,
6730 N 17th St., Tacoma
$10 donation, lunch included,
registration at 8:30 a.m. or at globalstoriesmissions@gmail.com

All are invited to “Global Stories — Transforming Lives,” the synod's annual event where mission abroad is lifted high, bringing renewed inspiration and expanded knowledge. The day will feature stories and opportunities in global mission, including how to carry off a meaningful mission trip of your own. Keynoter Anne Bayse, pictured, will speak on living simply. Tanzania missionary Barbara Robertson will share, as will the Revs. Mike and Rowena Wang, Chinese mission developers in South King County growing the church in new directions. Young people from Silverdale Lutheran will recount their experiences in Nanchang, China, and a Lacey family that sailed around the world spreading the Word will be on hand. Come join in a special day.

Satterlee to lead Byberg Preaching Workshop

The Rev. Craig Satterlee, homiletics professor at Lutheran School of Theology of Chicago, is the featured speaker at the Byberg Preaching Workshop from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 in Issaquah. Details and registration are at www.bybergpreaching.org for the event at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 745 Front St. The Rev. Susan Briehl is the workshop's chaplain. Satterlee, who is legally blind, was the keynoter at the 2011 Southwestern Washington Synod Assembly.

A letter from the Rev. Orv Jacobson on Living Stones Prison Congregation

November 4, 2011

Dear Friends of Living Stones Prison Congregation,

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! I am Pastor Orv Jacobson and I serve on the Outside Church Council of Living Stones Prison Congregation. On behalf of the Outside Church Council, I want to talk to you about our synod's churches' support of the ongoing ministry of Living Stones and suggest how you can support Living Stones Prison Congregation.

Our synod's prison congregation worships 50 to 70 guys on a Saturday night with 5 to 10 volunteers from the churches of our synod joining them in worship. Many of the people in our congregations have been just as renewed and strengthened as the men of Living Stones through their participation in the ministry of Living Stones. Living Stones would not be able to do ministry at the Washington Corrections Center without your support in prayers, participation and financial gifts.

We on the board have the calling to keep Living Stones as visible in the synod as possible. In order to do so we write to ask you to designate the 3rd Sunday in November as Living Stones Sunday. This year that Sunday is November 20. Here are a few ideas on how you can honor "Living Stones Sunday."

— Have someone from your church who has been to Living Stones give a testimony about their visit.

— Show the Living Stones video highlighted on the video "Go and Make Disciples" provided to your congregation at the 2011 Synod Assembly.

— Remember Living Stones in the prayers of the church.

— Invite an Outside Board member to speak to you congregation or preach by contacting Gerry Preus at gdpreus@msn.com.

— Take a special offering to support Living Stones.

We give thanks for all the ways you already participate, support and remember Living Stones. We look forward to the ways we will partner in the future.

In Christ,

Pastor Orv Jacobson

Coming Sunday at Trinity of Parkland

Friends of former Southwestern Washington Synod Bishop David Wold will gather at Trinity Lutheran Church of Parkland on Sunday around noon after worship to say good-bye to him as he and Elisabeth relocate to West Seattle.

All are invited.

In the November issue of The Lutheran ...

... is a brief about the Legacy Community Outreach food bank in part operated by First Lutheran Church of South Bend. It started out as a story, but had a lot of competing copy this month. — Rachel Pritchett