Faith makes the newspaper

Readers,

Faith Community Church made the front page of today's Kitsap Sun. Of course, I recused myself from generating or writing this story, since I'm a member and on the Bishop's Committee of Faith.

Rachel Pritchett, communicator

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/nov/25/nk-congregations-worship-under-same-roof-in/

Celebrate Advent through the Psalms

All are invited to St. Andrew Lutheran Church of Vancouver, where "Psalmfest: Celebrating Advent through the Psalms," takes place from 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 1. Through singing, worship, workshops and presentations, the free event led by the Rev. Chris Nolte and others promises to bring the Psalms alive. Register at office@salcvan.org or 360-892-7160. The church is at 5607 NE Gher Road.

Advent calendars to help students' journey

The University Congregation at Pacific Lutheran University is selling fair trade chocolate Advent calendars to help students offset costs of traveling to Guatemala during the 2013 Holy Week. In Guatemala, the city of Antigua hosts an elaborate and beautiful celebration of Holy Week. Also, students will visit Otto, a student supported by the University Congregation, and his family. The calendars cost $15. Call 253-535-7464 to order.

Pictured: Elaborate artwork made of sawdust and flowers

FAN annual dinner Dec. 8 in Seattle

The 2012 Faith Action Network Annual Awards Dinner takes place Dec. 8 at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, at 1511 East Pike St. in Seattle. Some 400 faith leaders and advocates are expected at the dinner when the Advocating Congregation Award will be announced, along with the Lifetime Justice Award and Interfaith Award. The cost is $85 per person. Reservation information is at fanwa.org.

Trinity Lutheran College seeks scholarship nominations

Do you know someone who would make an exceptional leader in youth or children’s ministry, community social services, camping leadership or pastoral ministry? Trinity Lutheran College’s Children, Youth and Family Studies program is recruiting students through recommendations from church leaders and pastors. Referrals to the program serve as nominations for several scholarships worth as much as $56,000. Students are also eligible to participate in Trinity’s free January Term international travel program. For more information or to submit a referral, visit www.tlc.edu/next or contact Mark Jackson at 425-249-4721. 

Refrain from wasting at Christmastime

By Judy Blevens, synod Earthkeeping Committee
 
Instead of buying paper tablecloths, plates, napkins, etc., buy lasting items in a color that meets the theme of several seasons. Check the calendar and use your imagination.
 
For example, a gold-colored tablecloth can be embellished with candles of different colors along with items from the yard or seasonal foods. Fall colors can be used for decorating purposes from Labor Day through Thanksgiving. Reds continue into Christmas, through Valentine’s Day and again for the Fourth of July.

Gift bags are easier to reuse than gift paper, lessen the need for boxes and the time spent in wrapping them.
 
And when thinking of gifts, think beyond “things.” Financial gifts given in a loved one’s name to charities or nonprofits serving the needy can help provide for their future as well as grow the gift of giving in the recipient’s heart.

Be sure the organizations to which you donate direct the bulk of their donations to those they serve, keeping administration and marketing costs low. Check ratings of charities and nonprofits at www.charitynavigator.org. And for gift ideas that help others, see the ELCA Good Gifts catalog at www.elca.org.

Some PLU Christmas concert tickets remain

While all on-campus performances of Pacific Lutheran University's annual Christmas concert are sold out, tickets remain for performances in Seattle and Portland. The popular holiday concert takes place Monday, Dec. 3, at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. In Portland, it's Tuesday, Dec. 4, at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Both performances are at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 253-535-7787.

Cleaner, cheaper heat came from forest surrounding church

 

 

By Rachel Pritchett, communicator
 
STEVENSON — The big oil furnace at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church was 60 years old and at the end of its life.

For a replacement, members and friends of this tiny congregation in the Columbia River Gorge thought it might be time to look for a heat source that was carbon-neutral and less expensive.

This Thanksgiving, the community and church celebrated Shepherd of the Hills' new biofuel furnace, now fully installed and delivering heat that "absolutely gets in your bones," according to the Rev. Ron McClung. So far, the cost of running the furnace fueled by woody biomass pellets is about half what it cost to operate the old oil furnace.

Weaning themselves off oil didn't first come without a lot of research last spring by the congregation's furnace committee.

"A lot of them were skeptical," McClung said.

But in the end, it made sense to get heat from a forest products-based source produced by local people just a mile or two away. 

"We're surrounded by a forest here in Skamania County, yet we were using oil fuel," he said.

The Harmon Stoves furnace is about the size of an upright piano. Attached to the side is a small automatic feeder hopper for the pellets, which resemble pet kibbles. A bulk hopper that holds a ton of pellets is just a few feet away. To heat its small sanctuary and fellowship hall, Shepherd of the Hills goes through about a ton of pellets in five weeks.  The unit is so efficient that hardly any smoke comes from the chimney, just at start-up. Maintenance is low.

Members of the furnace committee were able to utilize the existing ductwork. They installed levers so that the heat could be targeted to specific spaces. They plan to move fans on the sanctuary's vaulted ceiling to circulate the warm air better. Among those at Shepherd of the Hills who helped plan and install the furnace were Tom Price, Norm Ward, Dave Hansen, Chuck Sweeney and Erich Geinert.

Total investment: $15,000, funded by a loan the congregation made to itself from its endowment fund. Total operational cost: about half of the $1,550 annually the church was spending to heat with oil.

"It my not seem like a big project to a lot of people, but to us it is huge," McClung said.

The people of Shepherd of the Hills feel good about using the locally produced pellets that help create jobs in a county where unemployment remains at 8.7 percent. And they feel even better about using waste byproducts from the surrounding forest for a fuel that's plentiful, completely clean and renewable. 

"It all came together," McClung concluded.

Pictured top to bottom: 

Norm Ward fine-tunes the gauges of the new furnace (Ron McClung)

Dave Hansen puts finishing touches on exterior modifications for the furnace. (Ron McClung)

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church is in the picturesque Columbia River Gorge. (Ron McClung)

Members opted for he PF100 Harmon Stoves furnace model. (Harmon Stoves)

Presiding bishop's Christmas message to appear in synod blog

Readers,

I will post ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson's Christmas message here when it is sent out in mid-December. — Rachel Pritchett, communicator

Until then, he writes this:

"In an unexpected arrival, God makes a home with us, full of grace and truth. With long-foretold mercy, God comes to save. We rejoice with you in the wonder of Jesus' birth."

Teen suicide forum slated for Brush Prairie, surrounding communities

Nancy Miller of Bethel Lutheran Church of Brush Prairie sends word that the Brush Prairie community as well as surrounding communities soon will gather for an open conversation concerning teen suicide. The conversation will be led by a mental-health specialist, and all are invited. Two area young people have taken their own lives. The conversation will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 28 at the former Lewisville Middle School, 406 NW Sixth Ave., Building C, Room 20.
 

They made a pilgrimage out of a trip

 

By Rachel Pritchett, synod communicator

TACOMA — This year's synod global-mission event took participants from Tanzania to Uruguay, and back home to the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains.

Along the way at the all-day event Nov. 10 at St. Mark's by The Narrows, they learned how to turn a trip into a pilgrimage.

The Rev. Dave Ellingson of Trinity Lutheran College of Everett recounted how he paddled 2,350 miles down the Mississippi this summer in his kayak to the ELCA Extravaganza for youth in New Orleans, La.

He concluded on his blog (paddlepilgrim.blogspot.com) that a pilgrimage never ends. "Like a river, there is always something or someone around the next bend. And even as the river flows into the sea, or in my case the Gulf of Mexico, there is now an ocean of paddling ahead."

Also speaking was Lori Sather, who served as an ELCA global Mission volunteer in Tanzania, where she served as a computer specialist at a medical center in Arusha.

For youth from Mountain View Lutheran Church who performed service in Appalachia this summer, a trip became a pilgrimage from the relationships they made.

ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission Erin Lee and Katy Keyes told how their lives were changed by a year spent in Uruguay. And the Rev. Jan Ruud of St. Mark's gave spiritual hints about getting much more from the trip.

Some 25 people attended the event organized by the synod's Global Missions committee, down from previous years due to the long Veterans Day weekend.

Pictured: Ellingson, top, addresses the global-mission gathering Saturday in Tacoma. Ellingson with the kayak he took going down the Mississippi River. "The hardest part was getting in and out," he said Saturday.

Tomorrow's the day for global-mission event

Readers,

Don't miss the synod's annual event celebrating our efforts in global mission. Taking place tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 10, is "Global Stories: From Trip to Pilgrimage," at St. Mark's by The Narrows Lutheran Church in Tacoma. Look a few stories down for more detail.


Also, congregations interested in sponsoring a missionary now can get a colorful new guide and covenant for ELCA missionary sponsorship. Thet are available at ELCA.org/missionarysponsorship or by calling 800-638-3522, Ext. 2657. I have copies, too. Email me, and I'll shoot you them.

— Rachel Pritchett, synod communicator

Posting: Office manager

Office manager: Peninsula Lutheran Church of Gig Harbor seeks an office manager, at 35 hours a week. Interested persons can submit a résume to Kris Bernard at krisbernard@aol.com. For more information, call Bernard at 253-238-0809.The church is at 6509 38th Ave. NW.

Inclusiveness training takes place in Olympia

By Rick Nelson

Thirty-two persons from Lutheran, Episcopal and other denominations from as far away as Salt Lake City, Utah, gathered at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd on Nov. 3 for a workshop and training to build more inclusive congregations.

Participants learned techniques for telling stories and engaging people in conversations, and they explored issues about relations between congregations and Christians with alternative sexual identities and orientations.

A similar workshop will be held May 4, 2013, at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Vancouver.

Date changed for advocates-against-hunger training

A training session for  congregational hunger advocates tentatively scheduled for Nov. 18 and been rescheduled for Dec. 8 in Vancouver.

Members of the Southwestern Washington Synod Hunger Committee soon will hold training workshops for congregational hunger advocates as part of the committee’s work to implement a synod assembly resolution to increase awareness of and participation in the ELCA’s World Hunger Program.

The committee has been recruiting people to be hunger-program advocates in congregations. Advocates’ activities would include prayer, speaking with pastors and leaders about hunger issues, and using ELCA Hunger Packets to promote hunger related activities in congregations. Hunger committee members will hold training workshops in their regions to review available materials and to present a slide program about the hunger program.

The first training is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 18 in at Messiah Lutheran Church. Another training is being planned for a Pacific County church on Jan. 12, and one will be scheduled in early February in Longview. — Rick Nelson, ernelson@teleport.com

Westphal to host ELCA missionary gathering this coming Sunday

The Rev. Lanny Westphal of the ELCA Global Mission will host a gathering for ELCA missionary sponsors from 3 to 4 p.m. Nov. 4 at Redeemer Lutheran Church of Fircrest. Participants will see how ELCA missionaries are making a difference around the world, and learn of new developments in missionary sponsorship. The church is at 1001 Princeton Avenue.

Discover what turns a trip into a pilgrimage

What turns a trip into a pilgrimage? Presenters will take up that topic at the all-day event “Global Stories: From Trip to Pilgrimage,” taking place Nov. 10 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church by The Narrows in Tacoma.

The Rev. Dave Ellingson, professor of children, youth and family studies at Trinity Lutheran College, will tell about the friendships he made during his 2,350-mile paddle down the Mississippi River last summer to the ELCA Youth Extravaganza in New Orleans.
The Rev. Jan Ruud of St. Mark’s will share what he discovered through pilgrimages in Europe. 

Lyle Morse, chair of the Namibia Task Force, will give a presentation on Namibia. And, youth from Mountain View Lutheran Church of Edgewood will share about the relationships they forged during work in Appalachia in July.

The event, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. also will include worship, time for fellowship and lunch. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The suggested donation of $10 will be split equally between support for the ELCA’s campaign to battle malaria and Namibia. The church is at 6730 North 17th St. No advance registration is necessary. The synod’s Global Mission Committee is sponsor. Contact Ed or Diane Armbrust at dparmbrust@hotmail.com for more information. 

Pictured: The Rev. Dave Ellingson paddles the Mississippi to the ELCA Youth Extravanganza last summer in New Orleans.

Klavano's send latest family member into mission field

By Rachel Pritchett, communicator

PUYALLUP — Bob and Byrna Klavano of Pilgrim Lutheran Church recently said good-bye to Bob's sister, the Rev. Ann Klavano of Wisconson, as she departed for Papua, New Guinea. She will serve as an ELCA missionary at a seminary there for the next four years.

"Living and serving overseas is a special kind of calling, and I think people need a sense of adventure, because it certainly isn't going to be what you're used to," Bob said.

He ought to know; he and Byrna's families have grown missionaries for generations.

Bob sister Ruth, a teacher from the Vancouver, Wash., area, taught in Tanzania and China with the ELCA. She was preparing for work in Namibia when she died in 2008 at age 58. 

Byrna's father, a physician, worked in Tanzania. Her brother, also a doctor, plans to work in Tanzania when he retires.

Bob's grandparents were Methodist missionaries in China when the communists seized power. 

"I think it kind of goes in families. Once it starts, it tends to repeat," Bob said.
Ann, 56, spent a career in library work before receiving seminary training at Wartburg Seminary of Debuque, Iowa. She won't be alone while continuing her library work in New Guinea.

"I think that there's kind of a special bond that develops among overseas missionaries, that they are able to support each other pretty well," Bob said.

The pull of grandchildren are keeping Bob and Byrna grounded in Puyallup. But Bob, who just retired from teaching middle school, serves on the synod's Namibia Task Force.

Fosum voted women's leader

OLYMPIA — Carol Fossum of Puyallup was voted president of the Southwestern Washington Synodical Women’s Organization at its annual convention in October at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. Also taking office were Vice President Mary Ann Nelson, Secretary Kathy Ifft and Treasurer Shirley Hines. Linnea Glover, Beth Lindell, Janean Moriarty, Kathy Newton, Dorothy Reed, Lori Schmidt and Sue Anna Tucker will be board members.

Some 110 women attended the event with the theme “Sunday People in a Monday World.”
 
Past presidents were honored during the organization’s 25th Anniversary Celebration banquet. They included B. Nancy Lynch, Nancy Jo Armstrong, Kay Ronde, Sue Ferber Goodspeed, Kathy Jacobson, Elaine Rodning, Georganne Robertson and Anita Christian. Offerings collected helped support the Living Stones Prison Congregation of Shelton and others.

Hunger-advocate training to be scheduled

By Rick Nelson, member of the synod's Hunger Committee

 

Members of the Southwestern Washington Synod Hunger Committee soon will hold training workshops for congregational hunger advocates. The training is part of the committee’s work to implement a synod assembly resolution to increase awareness of and participation in the ELCA’s World Hunger Program. 

The committee has been recruiting people to be hunger-program advocates in congregations.

Advocates’ activities would include prayer, speaking with pastors and leaders about hunger issues, and using ELCA Hunger Packets to promote hunger related activities in congregations. 

Hunger committee members will hold training workshops in their regions to review available materials and to present a slide program about the hunger program.

A training is tentatively scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 18 in Vancouver; watch the synod blog for details once the site is confirmed. Another training is being planned for a Pacific County church on Jan. 12, and one will be scheduled in early February in Longview.

In other committee news, members met Sept. 22 to review applications for ELCA Hunger Grants. Eight congregations applied for grants totaling $41,000. The committee evaluated the applications and forwarded the recommendations to the churchwide hunger office, which will make final awards, to be announced next spring.

Media is a power too; use it to advantage

 By Rachel Pritchett, synod communicator 

Years ago before we had security, the Rev. George Larson burst into the Kitsap Sun office, where I was and remain a reporter. The van from Spirit of Life Lutheran Church of Olalla had been stolen. What were we going to do about it?

I don’t remember, but I never forgot Larson. Since then, I’ve watched him grasp the media's attention before leading countless moments of blessings, cross walks, blessings of the animals and responses to tragedies. Each time within hours, Larson and his words of salvation were splashed across Page 1 and on the websites of local media. Once again he had successfully harnessed the power of the media to deliver his message to thousands more than he ever could have reached in
Olalla. Larson is unusually gifted, but you can and must use the media to advance your mission. Here are some first steps: 

It starts with regular notices: Most news outlets reserve Saturdays for church news. They consider submissions about congregational events with larger community connection news. Examples are homeless meals, Advent suppers, the bishop coming, vacation Bible school, Bible-study series, or a pastor’s arrival, installation or retirement. In addition, most outlets have portals on their websites for submitting self-written notices. Both are free.

It continues with relationship: Every news outlet has a journalist who fields the religion news. Find out who that is in your town. Cultivate the relationship and occasionally invite a reporter to your biggest events.

Turn routine church happenings into community events: Rather than having a blessing of the animals in your sanctuary, get a few congregations together, have it in a park, and invite the media. If you’re having a block party, notify the news outlet, tell why you are doing it, and invite a reporter. That goes for church anniversaries, as well as for special services at Christmas and Easter, including the bigger children’s plays.

Be novel: Moments of blessings, animal blessings and 100^th anniversaries invite media attention. But their novelty is wearing out. The Episcopalians for the last couple of years have shown up at transit hubs on Ash Wednesday to spread ashes on the foreheads of commuters. We are lapping it up.

Tell us a people story: Tell the media about people in your congregation who are doing something extraordinary.

Invest in a regularly appearing ad, particularly a web ad, inviting people to worship services: This is especially true in transient, military communities. It beats telepathy every time.

Write a column, guest editorial or letter to the editor: For a long time, the Rev. Kim Latterell of Creator Lutheran Church of Bonney Lake has written a column for his local weekly. I'm guessing more people recognize him by that than anything else. Rotate the task with other clergy or lay people.

There’ve been some wonderful media moments in our synod. For a few days after last year’s shooting of a Mount Rainier ranger, unshaking words from the Rev. Galen Gallimore of Spanaway Lutheran Church were heard by millions coast to coast. We’ll never know how many people received the message for the first time. On a smaller scale several years ago, the Rev. Chris Ode, then of Chinook Lutheran Church, was intent on generating interest in his church, and so sat alongside a highway for an entire summer fielding questions from curious passers-by. He got noticed. Brilliant.

Fight for coverage your congregation deserves and needs to carry out its mission. Contact me if I can help set you up with a plan. — Rachel, 206-498-0920 or rachelpritchett@msn.com

Gifts of Hope catalog offers alternative gifts, local and global

Once again this Christmas, volunteers throughout the synod have put together and are offering the “Gifts of Hope” catalog, the one-and-only source for alternative gifting that’s local and global. Gift opportunities range from supporting your community’s food banks or youth and health programs all the way to helping a Namibia garden that will feed AIDS orphans. Since 2005 when it began, Gifts of Hope has raised $87,000. Obtain a Gifts of Hope brochure from the following synod churches: 
 

Spanaway Lutheran Church

St. Mark’s by The Narrows Lutheran Church of Tacoma

Trinity Lutheran Church of Parkland

Creator Lutheran Church of Bonney Lake

Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd of Olympia

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church of Olympia

St. John’s Lutheran Church of Chehalis

Trinity Lutheran Church of Vancouver

Upcoming events

Lutefisk, bazaar all in one in Sumner

Christ the King Lutheran Church of Sumner invites all to its annual lutefisk dinner, from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10. A complete lutefisk dinner is a bargain at $20. An even better bargain is a complete meatball dinner with no lutefisk at $15, with kids 10 and younger at $10 for both. Further enticement is the congregation’s annual bazaar, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the same day. For more, phone the church at 253-863-1142. Christ the King Lutheran Church is at 245 Valley Ave.

Discernment workshop scheduled

Pastors and professional church workers seeking deeper discernment into their ministries are invited to an upcoming Crossroads vocational-discernment seminar in Seattle. It takes place Nov. 15 to 17 at the University of Washington. Contact Consultation to Clergy at 206-623-8193.

Gregoire to headline FAN annual event

Outgoing Gov. Chris Gregoire will be the keynote speaker at Faith Action Network’s 2012 Annual Awards Dinner in Seattle. It takes place from 6 to 7 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Temple De Hirsch Sinai, 1511 East Pike St., Seattle. To learn more or to register, go to www.fanwa.org.

Byberg Preaching Workshop in Oregon

The Rev. Dr. Terence Fretheim of Luther Seminary will be the presenter at the 2013 Byberg Preaching Workshop, to take place Jan. 14 to 16 at Cannon Beach, Ore. Fretheim will address “Preaching and the God of the Old Testament.” Joining him will be the Rev. Rick Jaech of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church of Vancouver, Wash., who will talk on “Preaching in a Context of Conflict.” See Page 3. Worship, learning, connections, good food and long walks on the beach are included. For more information, visit www.bybergpreaching.org.

Youth events start with Point Defiance beach cleanup

 

Youth can mark their calendars for these cool and inspiring events brought to you by the synod’s Youth Committee and ALYVE Board. ALYVE stands for Associated Lutheran Youth in Various Endeavors. 

Nov. 17: Middle- and high-school youth from Peninsula of Gig Harbor and St. Mark’s by The Narrows of Tacoma will clear debris from the beach at Point Defiance Park on Nov. 17. Fun and food is planned for afterward. The cost is $10. Those interested in learning more can contact Katie VanBeek, Peninsula’s director of youth and education, at k.vanbeek@plcplace.com.  

Jan. 25 to 28: ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza, Anaheim, Calif.; pauldavis@pflc.org.

March 5 to 7: 21st Century Faith Formation Event for youth leaders; Seattle; pauldavis@pflc.org.

March 15 to 17: Synod Youth Gathering; 6th to 12th grades; Auburn; k.vanbeek@plcplace.com.

April 12 to 13: Fool’s Night Out Lock-Out; 8^th to 12th grades; ingelaurie@smlutheran.org.

May 4: Synod Youth Service Day; 6^th to 12th grades; three synod locations; ingelaurie@smlutheran.org.

June 8: Youth Convocation; Hotel Murano Tacoma; k.vanbeek@plcplace.com.

Items from around the synod ...

95 Reeses: The Rev. Suzanne Appelo and friends at Gull Harbor Lutheran Church of Olympia thought that reading the monthly newsletter for members was about as exciting as reading the tide tables. For October, they instead came up with “Gull Harbor Lutheran Church’s 95 Reeses,” a spinoff of Martin Luther’s theses. Printed on oversized parchments, events of the months made up some of the list of 95. Truisms like “You might be Lutheran if you only serve Jell-O in the proper liturgical color for the season” were spread among the church's schedule of events and birthdays. Gull Harbor then wrapped the large documents around a Reese’s peanut-butter cup and sent them on to readers, who this time got all the way to No. 95. To see how they did it, email rachelpritchett@msn.com.

Mission-site moves: Messiah Lutheran Church of Vancouver's North County Site has a new home at the Tri-Mountain Golf Course in Ridgefield. The synodically authorized worshiping community formerly met in a Ridgefield office building. The move followed lease talks. In Kingston, Faith Community Church, the synod’s second federated Episcopal/Lutheran congregation, soon will leave its home in a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The flood-prone building will be torn down. Faith is expected to move to nearby Redeemer United Methodist Church.

Coming in the mail

Assembly planner the Rev. Don Fossum says congregations and rostered staff in November will be emailed information about the 2013 Synod Assembly, to take place June 7 and 8 in Tacoma. The information will include:

Official notice of assembly dates;
Registration information;
Requests for displays;
Requests for ideas for workshops; andNotices to rostered clergy and associates in ministry regarding voting privileges and retirement, disability, and on leave from call.

Synod calendar of events

Readers,

I didn't have room for this in the newsletter, so I'll post it here. You can get more detail about some of these events in Moments for Mission. — RP

Nov. 4: Fall back an hour
Nov. 4: Missionary support event, Redeemer, Tacoma
Nov. 10: “Global Stories: From Trip to Pilgrimage,” Tacoma
Nov. 10: Church-conflict resolution workshop, Olympia
Nov. 15 to 17: Pastoral discernment session, Seattle
Nov. 28: Thanksgiving
Dec. 1: PLU Christmas concert, Tacoma
Dec. 2: PLU Christmas concert, Tacoma
Dec. 3: PLU Christmas concert, Seattle
Dec. 4: PLU Christmas concert, Portland
Dec. 7: PLU Christmas concert, Tacoma, see Page
Dec. 8: Faith Action Network annual awards dinner, Seattle
Dec. 28: Christmas
Jan. 1: New Year's Day
Jan. 20 to 22: Prayer Retreat preceding Bishop’s Convocation, Seabeck
Jan. 22 to 23: Bishop’s Convocation, Seabeck
March 16: Southwestern Washington Women of the ELCA Olympic Cluster spring celebration, Silverdale Lutheran, carolfossum@comcast.net
April 19 to 21: Southwestern Washington Women of the ELCA spiritual retreat, "Fully Rely on God" with the Rev. Mary Sanders, Dumas Bay Centre, Federal Way, carolfossum@comcast.net
June 7 to 8: Assembly of the Southwestern Washington Synod, Hotel Murano Tacoma
June 21 to 23: Region 1 gathering including Southwestern Washington Women of the ELCA, featuring author Jane Kirkpatrick and Bishop Kay Ward, Heathman Lodge, Vancouver, Wash., carolfossum@comcast.net

New posting

 

Organist/pianist: Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church of Bremerton seeks a part-time pianist and organist, to begin prior to the Christmas season. For more information, contact the church at 360-479-6374.

Pictured: A rebuilt pipe organ was installed in 2009 by Steven Cheyne-Cook at Our Saviour's Lutheran after a out-of-control truck rammed through the sanctuary, causing major damage. (Kitsap Sun)