Some images from the Bishop's Convocation

Readers,

Above are some images from the Bishop's Convocation that took place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Seabeck Christian Conference Center. I'm writing now about what took place, and you can soon read that here and in the February newsletter, headed your way shortly.

Top to bottom, the Rev. Kim Latterell of Creator Lutheran Church of Bonney Lake and an unidentified woman brave the rain outside the Inn. Next, pastors begin gathering in the Meeting House to hear featured speaker the Rev. Dr. Terence Fretheim, professor of the Old Testament at Luther Seminary, profess that the church today is wandering in the wilderness. Then there's the Rev. Orv Jacobson, newly retired from First Community Church of Port Orchard, reading a copy of Bonhoeffer's "Life Together," during a break. And after that is the Rev. Mary Davison, retired from Resurrection Lutheran Church of Tacoma. I'm doing a piece about her because she's about to set some world records for distance walking in the mountains. And then that's Bishop Robert D. Hofstad delivering his annual Bishop's Report. If you'd like any of these images, let me know.

— Rachel Pritchett, rachelpritchett@msn.com

The deadline for the February

Moments for Mission is Wednesday, Jan. 25. — Rachel Pritchett, rachelpritchett@msn.com and (206) 498-0920.

No sorrow without joy first

By the Rev. Valinda Morse, assistant to the bishop

We had the boys for the week. Life is different with a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old in your house. We had two extra dogs for the week. The house seemed less roomy with four enormous dogs and two boys with their toys. It would be our 43rd wedding anniversary during the week. A romantic getaway — we went out for pizza. Quite an anniversary celebration with our kids' kids and dogs.

But, there was more. Our Gus, the gentle giant, our chocolate lab of nearly 14 years, was having trouble. He could hardly see. He could barely hear. He had lost his bark. His once strong back legs wouldn’t hold him anymore.The love of his life, retrieving, was a thing of the past. He had slowed down so gradually that it was hard to believe this athletic specimen was old and fragile. The lump on his shoulder appeared out of nowhere, but it grew quickly, and the dry cough was troublesome. It was metastasized cancer, attacking our Gus with a vengeance.

In the midst of the chaos of the week of kids and extra dogs we made our trip to the vet. There I was sitting on the floor with my high-school heart throb, the one who has been my constant partner for 43 years. There I was sitting on the floor with my beloved boys on my lap. There I was sitting on the floor with my arms around Gus. Of course there was the pup, our yellow lab Mali, in the room as well; she needed to know what was happening to her housemate. Arms around one another and around Gus we were a sad sight, all except Mali who was busy smelling.

It was one of those poignant moments of life, being so very grateful for 43 years with the finest of men, finding so much enjoyment from these two precocious boys, giving thanks for this amazing dog who had given us 14 years of the best he had to give, and crying because it had come to an end. And, of course, our busy little Mali. Life and death swirling around us. An old dog and a young dog. An old couple and two little boys. A future and a past. Joy and sorrow all mixed together.

There is no sorrow without joy first. There is no old without young first. There is no death without life first. Sometimes it is hard to embrace both, especially at the same time. It was a day to celebrate and a day to weep, and we did. How blessed we are that in the midst of the joys and sorrows of life a constant, gracious and loving God walks beside us, allowing us to experience what it means to be alive, and who laughs and cries with us.

Pilgrim cancels Wednesday events

Pilgrim Lutheran Church of Puyallup has canceled all Wednesday activities due to inclement weather.

Mountain View Wednesday activities canceled

Mountain View Lutheran Church of Edgewood has canceled its Wednesday Night Live activities due to predicted heavy weather.

A few tips on renewing congregations

By Rachel Pritchett, communicator

OLYMPIA — A juvenile-hall resident rips up his bed sheets to force a change in the dinner menu, the Rev. Doug Knutson-Keller recalls from his days ministering to troubled youth.

But was ripping up bedsheets the most effective way to bring about a change in the dinner menu, or was there something else the angry teen could have done, like talking to someone in charge?

"Church settings are no different," Knutson-Keller told a group of 35 that attended a workshop on renewing congregations Jan. 14 at Kuntson-Keller's church, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.

"What is it that you want, and what are you doing to get what you want?" he asked.

Knutson-Keller just finished some continuing education on renewing tired and ineffective congregations at the Alban Institute of Herden, Va. He said the first step toward renewal is for a congregation to discover its true identity. At the core of his own congregation was worship expressed through music.

"Music is an important piece of Gloria Dei's history," he said.

Once an honest and true identity is determined, all else that the congregation should do should support it. The church council has the hard job of saying no to good and honest proposals for activities that don't lift up the identity. At the same time, leadership should seek out things that can be lifted up and celebrated.

"It becomes the council's task to help focus," Knutson-Keller explained.

A similar synod-sponsored renewing-congregations workshop takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 4 at Silverdale Lutheran Church. There is no charge. For more information or to register, contact the synod office at (253) 535-8300 or swwsynod@plu.edu.

Some more tips in the meantime:

— Keep an eye on the size of decision-making groups in your congregations. Often the groups, including the council, are so big that not all voices can be heard. A decision-making group should have no more than seven members. If groups are too big, divide them up into subgroups that meet separately and report back. Let trust prevail.

— Don't let the myriad of decisions that it takes to run a church eclipse true leadership and visioning. Some of the ideas to keep "managing" in check so that "visioning" can flourish include 1) alternating council meetings so that they focus on either management or vision but not both; 2) creating a separate long-range strategic planning group; 3) having a retreat where nothing but visioning is on the agenda; or 4) beginning a consent agenda, where much of the management minutia can be approved without taking up the precious time of the bigger group.

Knutson-Keller suggested two books that may help congregations re-invent themselves. They include "Good to Great" by Jim Collins and "Inside the Large Congregation" by Susan Beaumont.

The Silverdale workshop will feature the Rev. Bill Crabtree and the Rev. Valinda Morse, assistant to the bishop as speakers.

Pictured: The Rev. Doug Knutson-Keller shares what he learned at the Alban Institute about renewing congregations. He suggests two books for background, "Good to Great" by Jim Collins and "Inside the Large Congregation" by Susan Beaumont.

Scholarships available for advocacy training

A limited number of partial scholarships are available for companion synod committee members to attend Ecumenical Advocacy Days, March 23-26, in Washington, D.C. This gathering of 1,000 Christian advocates promises to be a highlight in the overall interfaith effort to create a global economy and a national budget that seek to break the yokes of injustice, poverty, hunger and unemployment around the world. Although much of the focus will be on domestic issues, international tracks will also be offered linking these issues to advocacy in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

For more information, see www.elca.org/companionadvocating. Information about the Churches for Middle East Peace conference will also be posted there as it is available.

— Lanny Westphal, relationship director, Global Mission, ELCA

Nation's only female park ranger to be slain is eulogized

The Rev. Galen Gallimore says goodbye to one of his own.

By Rachel Pritchett, communicator

TACOMA, Wash. — The last time the Rev. Galen Gallimore saw her was at Christmas Eve worship.

On New Year's Day, Margaret Anderson, ranger at Mount Rainier National Park, was shot to death by a man fleeing authorities she had stopped at a checkpoint. Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, was being pursued in connection with a shooting earlier down the mountain. Barnes later was found drowned, half submerged in a creek.

Anderson, 34, was the only female ranger of the National Park Service to be killed in the line of duty. Nine rangers have been killed since the service began in 1916, none at Mount Rainier, one of the nation's most popular park destinations.

Anderson, park ranger husband Eric and their two small daughters had been coming to Gallimore's ELCA church, Bethany Lutheran Church of Spanaway, for about a year. Spanaway is the last stop before the road narrows and winds up the 14,410-foot mountain. Gallimore called her "a woman of light, joy and beauty" at a public memorial Jan. 10 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma attended by 3,700 people. Thousands more listened at a nearby church, and Northwest media outlets ran the service live.

Gallimore's words fell gently across a community still deeply scarred by the 2009 shooting deaths of four police officers in nearby Lakewood.

"I wish I had known Margaret better. I wish I had known more of this faith," said Gallimore, who just days earlier had been quickly called on to conduct a community candlelight vigil for the beloved ranger, and to represent the faith community as media from throughout the United States and beyond asked how this could have happened.

Anderson's father, the Rev. Paul Kritsch, had some of the answer and at the service said, "Taking up the cross to follow Him was one of the main reasons Margaret went into law enforcement. Loving others in Christ's name led her to put herself between evil coming up the mountain and people at the top who needed protecting." Kirtsch is pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church of Westfield, N.J., a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Raised in the faith, Anderson loved the outdoors from childhood, and put the two together in her studies at Kansas State University, where she was active at Luther House. Before Mount Rainier, she was a ranger at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, where she met her husband.

Throngs of people who never knew Anderson lined the streets of Tacoma as her white hearse slowly made its way to Trinity Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation next to PLU. There, Anderson's family privately said their final goodbye to their beloved wife, mother, daughter and sister before the cortege continued on to PLU.

Jon Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, grieved as his lost employee's casket rested beneath a flag before him. "Dozens of people were innocently enjoying that snowy morning. Ranger Anderson was doing what she did best — keeping the visitors safe," he said. "National Park Ranger Anderson is a hero."

Ken Salazar, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, asked how many eyes Anderson had opened to the majesty of God's creation at Mount Rainier. "We know that we cannot count the flowers in Rainier's Paradise Valley on a summer's day," he said. Anderson's showshoes, hat and small evergreen trees filled the stage as bagpipes squeezed their mournful tones and a host of law-enforcement members stood guard.

Gallimore and Kritsch spoke of the beginning and the end of Anderson's brief life. Gallimore recalled her baptism. "In that day of her baptism, God said, 'Marilyn, you are Mine.' "

Kritsch asked, "So were was Jesus last Sunday morning on New Year's Day?" He quoted part of Matthew 28: "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

"She would want you to know Jesus is with you always."

Photo cutlines
KOMO-TV, used with permission
Slain ranger Margaret Anderson is eulogized by her pastor, the Rev. Galen Gallimore of Bethany Lutheran Church of Spanaway, an ELCA congregation, at a public memorial Jan. 10 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma that was attended by 3,700 people.

KOMO-TV, used with permission
Anderson's father, the Rev. Paul Kritsch, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church of Westfield, N.J., said Jesus' directive to love one another prompted his daughter to become a park ranger.

KOMO-TV, used with permission
Margaret Anderson's flag-draped coffin is overlooked by law-enforcement members at a public memorial service Jan. 10 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash.

Slain park ranger Margaret Anderson was assigned to Mount Rainier National Park, one of the nation's most popular park destinations.

Margaret Anderson

Gone until February

Readers,

I won't be posting here until early February, when I return from my working/fun vacation in Chicago. I'll first be hanging with the Deaconess Community of the ELCA in Hyde Park for study and also to prepare an article about the Community for consideration by The Lutheran. Then I'm spending a Sunday with the students and some old friends at University Lutheran Church at Northwestern University in Evanston. How fun is that? If you need something posted here, contact anyone in the synod office. Here's a photo of University Lutheran Church, which I attended in my teens and 20's.

Rachel Pritchett, communicator

Rev. Gallimore of Spanaway's Bethany conducts prayer vigil

Readers: You might have seen the Rev. Galen Gallimore of Bethany Lutheran Church of Spanaway on last night's television news and in any one of a number of newspapers/sites today, Tuesday. Last night, he conducted a prayer vigil for slain Mount Rainier National Park ranger Margaret Anderson, pictured, at Bethany. Below is the link to the most comprehensive news story, from the Trib. — Rachel

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/01/03/v-lite/1967232/everybody-was-friends-with-victim.html

Willamette University choir to make synod stop

The Willamette University choirs under the direction of Wallace Long will perform at 7 p.m. Jan. 8 at First Lutheran Church of Poulsbo. Choirs from nearby North Kitsap High School under the direction of Sylvia Cauter will join in. All are invited to the free performance that will feature classical, jazz, sacred and secular music.

Talks underway for new Lutheran/Episcopal group

By Rachel Pritchett, communicator

KINGSTON — Talks are underway that could lead to the establishment of a new Lutheran/Episcopal worship group in Kingston possibly by spring. Located on the north tip of the Kitsap Peninsula, the maritime city is expected to grow. Lutheran leaders have been frustrated for a long time that there’s no Evangelical Lutheran Church in America presence there.

ELCA Lutherans in Kingston now have to travel 11 miles to Poulsbo to attend First Lutheran Church; 19 miles to Silverdale Lutheran Church; or 20 miles to Peace Lutheran Fellowship of Port Ludlow — long distances, by any measure.

Discussion among area Lutheran and Episcopal pastors has centered on folding an ELCA presence into the existing Faith Episcopal Church of Kingston. Nothing’s set in stone yet, but organizers meeting Dec. 1 in Poulsbo contemplated starting the new group around Easter of 2012.

“Whatever this is, we’re still figuring this out,” the Rev. Kent Shane of First of Poulsbo said.

About 30 members of Faith Episcopal Church now worship at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. They are led by the Rev. Ray Sheldon, and the group is a mission of the Diocese of Olympia, part of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

“The objective of this effort is to leverage the strengths of each organization such that the result from working together is greater than would be the case if they worked independently,” Father Sheldon said.

A lot remains to work out. Recent flooding at the VFW hall caused Sheldon and his leaders to wonder whether the current location was adequate. Transferring worship to a downtown Kingston movie theater is under discussion.

It would be the second federated congregation in the Southwestern Washington Synod. St. Christopher’s Community Church of Olympia is the first.

Besides First, synod congregations taking part in the talks to start the new federated church in Kingston include First Lutheran Community Church of Port Orchard; Our Saviour’s and Family of God Lutheran churches of Bremerton; Silverdale Lutheran Church; and Vinland Lutheran Church of Poulsbo.

“The consensus is, ‘This is a go-forward,’ ” Sheldon said.

Pictured: A group of pastors meets Dec. 1 in Poulsbo to discuss a new federated worshiping group in Kingston.

Updates from synod workers

From the Hunger Committee: Members evaluated and prioritized applications for ELCA Hunger Grants when they met Dec. 3. We also heard a financial report on the effects of the Great Recession. Through Oct. 31, 45 churches had contributed $67,734.20 to World Hunger. The total includes gifts that passed through the synod office. It doesn’t include gifts that churches made directly to the ELCA churchwide office or to local programs. The committee spent about four hours evaluating 10 hunger grant applications and prioritizing them for the churchwide office, which will announce the grant awards next spring. In no particular order, criteria for grant applications include:
■ Does the program address the root cause of hunger?
■ Is the program a ministry of an ELCA congregation?
■ Is it unique or are there others like it in the community?
■ Does it involve collaboration between a congregation and the community?
■ Does the program include education and/or advocacy?
■ Does the program provide other benefits such as a visiting doctor, library access, clothing, quilts or similar items, or access to social service program case workers? Committee members will meet at 10 a.m. Jan. 7, in the Synod office to continue work on expanding hunger programs in local congregations and supporting the ELCA’s malaria and HIV/AIDS initiatives.
— Rick Nelson, Hunger Committee member

From the Fiscal Board: Members of the Synod’s Fiscal Board recommended in December that, in order to reduce costs of the annual synod assembly, the Synod Council consider containing the gathering to one day most years, and asking local families to host visitors.

We've clarified the mission, and gone a long way to carry it out

By Jim Hushagen, synod vice president

It began in 2003 with a phone call from the bishop. “Jim, would you be willing to serve as synod vice president?”

“What’s a synod vice president?” I naively asked. With that inauspicious start, I began a very rewarding journey of nearly nine years that will end this May when the Synod Assembly elects a new vice president.

When the Synod Council appointed me, I decided to learn something about this Synod I was to serve. The first thing I learned was that the Synod had no mission statement. This was odd: the church has at least two clearly articulated biblical missions – the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. I also learned that, while the Synod Council met regularly, none of the meetings were in a retreat setting where it could discuss mission, vision and values.

So, one of my first official acts was leading a Council retreat dedicated to discerning this Synod’s mission. After three days of hard, prayerful work, the Council crafted the Synod’s mission: “to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ by empowering congregations and church leaders to grow in worship, education, stewardship and other ministries.” This statement brought some clarity to our task as a Synod: (1) we “spread the Good News of Jesus Christ” and we do it by (2) “empowering congregations . . . to grow.”

Clarifying our mission yielded immediate positive results. The most significant were the Synod’s two strategic priorities: pastoral care and mission starts. To grow, pastors and congregations need a high level of care. And, what could be more empowering than the planting of new congregations where there previously were none? The Council also relied regularly on the mission statement in making the hard financial decisions required by declining revenues during the recession and following the 2009 sexuality decisions.

So, how has the Synod done in living out its mission? In some areas, we’ve done very well. After having NO mission starts since 1993, the Synod now has SIX new mission congregations underway, thanks in large part to Pastor Melanie Wallschlaeger, director of evangelical mission. It is hard to quantify successful pastoral care, but we believe most of the Synod’s pastors and many of its congregations are more effective than ever, thanks in large part to Bishop Hofstad and his assistants, Pastors Ron Hoyum and Valinda Morse. And, we now have a very strong Synod Council that is focused on carrying out the mission in even more significant ways.

Yet, not all has been rosy. I grieve to see that we have lost as many congregations to the sexuality fallout as we have gained through mission starts. And, the “perfect storm” of worldwide recession plus disagreement with the sexuality decision has reduced congregational mission support to the Synod, requiring some painful financial decisions.

Still, I remain very hopeful about the Synod’s future. Before I leave office next May, I hope the Assembly will enact the recommended constitutional changes to give a “shot in the arm” to the Synod’s boards and committees, making them more effective at pursuing our mission. And, we have already started a process of improving how we will elect our bishop at the 2013 Assembly.

I am very glad I took the Bishop’s phone call more than eight years ago. Service as synod vice president has been one of the high points of my life – an opportunity to serve Christ and His church in a unique way. I have gained much more from this job than I have given to it. I wish for the Synod continued growth in faithfulness to the mission of “spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Syond housekeeping notes

Everyone wins with health assessment: Fifteen minutes is all it takes for ELCA primary plan members and spouses to take the MayoHealth Assessment, earning you $150 for your wellness account and potentially saving the synod and congregations 2 percent on medical costs. Consider taking the assessment Jan. 1 or after at elcaforwellness.org.

At the gym: The Synod and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans have joined with LA Fitness to support personal wellness of rostered leaders, church staff and families. Through June, scholarships that include a $104 initiation fee waier and a reduced monthly fee of $30 are available. To find out more, call Charles Jeffries at (253) 353-9057.

Pre-retirement event at Dumas Bay: The ELCA Board of Pensions presents a pre-retirement seminar for rostered persons within 15 years of retirement from 1 to 8 p.m. Feb. 9 and from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 10 at the Dumas Bay Centre in Federal Way. For more, contact the synod office.