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A Monthly Newsletter of the Southwestern Washington Synod - ELCA | | | | |
Synod Staff
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Synod Events
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Transitions
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On The Road With the Staff Archive
Find out what our staff has been doing throughout the year HERE
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In This Month's Edition:
A Word from Bishop Rick Jaech
On the Road with the Staff
Storytelling - "Congregations come together to REGROUP and RECOMMIT" - Pastor Rebecca Shjerven, SWWA Synod
Ministry Voices - Namibia Opportunities Coming -Rachel Pritchett, Bethany Lutheran, Bainbridge Island
ELCA Churchwide - Presiding Bishop Eaton Issues Response in Support of Jerusalem Patriarchs on Gaza
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Dear Friends in Christ,
I have said it to myself, and I have heard it said from many other people lately, “Lent and Easter are so late this year! What’s going on?!”
Often Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, arrives by mid-February. This year Ash Wednesday didn’t come until March 5. Three years ago, we celebrated Easter on March 27. This year Easter will be on April 20. Why is it so early some years and so late this year?
Most Christian festival days are fixed on specific dates, so we know exactly when they are going to happen each year. Christmas is on December 25. Reformation Day is on October 31. There’s no guessing and no surprises (at least not about the date.) Easter, however, changes from year to year. This is because the Christian church, from its earliest years, decided to set the date of Easter according to a lunar calendar, which measures time by the movement of the moon rather than the sun.
When the four Gospels tell us the story of Good Friday and Easter, they describe how Easter happened right after the Jewish festival of Passover. The Christian church decided to continue the calendar relationship between Passover and Easter. However, the traditional Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar and, therefore, the dates of Passover and Easter vary each year according to the phases of the moon.
The rule for setting the date of Easter is this: Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (the first day of Spring.) The vernal equinox, according to astronomers, actually slides between March 20 and March 22. However, in the traditional Christian church calendar, March 21 was picked as the yearly date of the vernal equinox. Therefore, Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 21.
That means that March 22 is the absolute earliest possible date for Easter in any year. The latest possible date is April 25. So, our date of Easter this year, April 20, is quite late in this range of possibilities. (It will fall on the very latest date possible, April 25, in 2038.)
Those are all calendar-keeping facts that I find interesting, but are there any spiritual truths that might come to us out of this? As I find myself meditating on our late-blooming, off-in-the-distance Easter this year, here are a few thoughts that come to mind.
- God’s gift of Easter (new life!) sometimes comes suddenly and sometimes must develop slowly in the hidden corners of our lives.
- Being forced to wait for a crucial event can help us to receive and open ourselves to it all the more.
- The full, springtime bloom that will be around us by April 20 will also be a sign of the life that God will help to “flower” in us through Easter.
- No matter where Easter is on the calendar, it will still surprise and disrupt our normal schedule!
- Easter is God’s lunar gift to us lunatic people!
- Thank goodness that, whether early or late, Easter’s resurrection power can never be stopped.
We are racing ahead of ourselves, of course. We are still in the reflective journey of Lent. Yet we are given strength for this journey by trusting that we are headed toward the Easter moment when our lives and our world are turned upside down.
Yours in Christ,
Bishop Rick Jaech
| | | On the Road with the Staff | | |
February 23
Pastor Melissa Anderson Trust preaching at Bethany Lutheran Church in Spanaway, where Pastor Jeff Gaustad serves as Interim Pastor.
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February 25 - March 1
Bishop Jaech attending the Spring Conference of Bishops meeting in Chicago. The group picture includes the 11 bishops who are retiring this year, including Bishop Jaech and our Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.
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March 2
Pastor Melissa Anderson Trust with her first cousin once removed, Rod Anderson. Pastor Melissa preached at Ocean Park Lutheran Church, where Rod is a member, on Transfiguration Sunday.
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March 9
Bishop Jaech preaching at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City while visiting their son, Nick. Holy Trinity is served by Pastor Tim Weisman, who did his internship at St. Paul Lutheran, Vancouver, in our Synod.
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Every month we feature a new story from and/or about one of our worshiping communities with the desire to inspire, inform and build community! Each story can be found on our website at https://swwasynod.org/home/news/stories-of-shalom/. Do you have a story to tell? Contact us at swwsynod@plu.edu.
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Congregations Come Together to REGROUP and RECOMMIT
· Why does RIC matter?
· If we already are welcoming, why is it important to be RIC?
· If we are already RIC, how do we steward this identity in life-giving ways?
On a rainy Saturday afternoon, thirty-five people from eleven congregations in the SWWA Synod gathered at Peace Lutheran Church in Puyallup to engage questions related to being or becoming a Reconciling in Christ congregation. RIC congregations commit to Welcome, Include, Celebrate and Advocate for LGBTQIA+ siblings in Christ and to live these values out loud.
Our afternoon began with coffee and the opportunity to connect with each other informally. We were grounded with prayer and song and then received the gift of people’s stories. Four individuals shared their personal stories about why RIC deeply matters to their sense of belonging in the Church. We were reminded of the harm that has been done in the name of Christ and the need for repentance and a commitment to a “more excellent way” of being the Body of Christ in the world.
After brainstorming a variety of topics of interest, we broke into small groups for discussion around each topic. Small group time provided the opportunity to learn a bit about others and where they are on the RIC journey. We were able to learn about resources and connect with those who share common interests and concerns. Seeds of relationship were planted.
To close the afternoon, we came back together to harvest the learning, the questions and the blessings of our time together.
Many thanks to Pastor Nate Sutton and the people of Peace Lutheran for their gracious hospitality. Thank you to the RIC Work Team for planning the afternoon, for those who bravely shared their stories and for all who showed up with open hearts and minds.
If you are interested in this type of event in your community, please contact the RIC Work Team through the Synod Office. Let’s keep the conversation going. . . !
~ by Bishop's Associate, Pastor Rebecca Shjerven
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Namibia opportunities coming
Diane Hanson and Rachel Pritchett of the synod’s Namibia Task Force have returned from Namibia, where they joined a large ELCA team that witnessed the installation of the country’s first female bishop, Hilja Nghaangulwa. Look for our report in an upcoming Living Lutheran magazine.
Meanwhile, we wanted to tell you that our companion-synod network is tentatively planning to bring her and other leaders of the Namibian Lutheran church to the United States this coming fall to greet our new synod bishop and the new ELCA presiding bishop. If you would like your congregation to host them, or if you’d like a presentation about Namibia, please contact Task Force Chair Hanson at djh431@hotmail.com or member Rachel Pritchett at rachelpritchett@msn.com.
Meanwhile, we want to report that our group found our partners well, but in need. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia is growing, and is looking forward to its new leadership with Nghaangulwa and Presiding Bishop Gideon Niitenge. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia continues to bear the burden of unpaid staff and dwindling contributions from parishes. Paulinum Seminary, despite great financial difficulties, continues to produce about 40 pastors annually. The German church has welcomed a new bishop, Bishop Frank Schutte. And, our team witnessed the installation of a bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Angola. That church wishes to join our companion relationship.
All in all, we can report that the level of engagement between our synod and our partners in Namibia has never been greater than now, and we expect great things in the future.
Photo by Diane Hanson
Hilja Nghaangulwa and Gideon Niitenge were installed as bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia on Feb. 16 in northern Namibia.
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Presiding Bishop Eaton Issues Response in Support of Jerusalem Patriarchs on Gaza
February 27, 2025
Dear church,
Recently, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem issued an urgent plea to the global church, “A Humanitarian Plea From the Churches of Jerusalem: Defending the Dignity and Presence of the People of Gaza.” I write to uplift the timely and crucial words of these beloved siblings in Christ in Jerusalem and to call on our church to respond in prayer, action and solidarity.
This humanitarian plea from ecumenical church leaders in Jerusalem, including our partner church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, comes in the wake of comments from the president of the United States that outline a plan to forcibly and permanently displace roughly 2 million Gazans, with the stated goal of clearing Gaza for future real estate development.
The words of our brothers in Christ are clear:
“Amid this anguish, we are compelled to speak against the grave threat of mass displacement, an injustice that strikes at the very heart of human dignity. The people of Gaza, families who have lived for generations in the land of their ancestors, must not be forced into exile. … As Christians, we cannot be indifferent to such suffering, for the Gospel commands us to uphold the dignity of every human being. The words of our Lord remind us: ‘Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed’ (Isaiah 10:1-2).”
Today our siblings in Gaza need our voices, our prayers and our actions more than ever.
Let us join in:
A Call to Prayer for recovery and restoration in Gaza, for the safe return of all its inhabitants, for those in power to recognize the humanity of Palestinians in their decision-making, for an end to the Israeli occupation and for a path, paved by justice, toward lasting peace in Palestine and Israel.
A Call to Action in voicing our opposition to mass displacement in the Gaza strip as outlined in President Trump’s proposal and in urging our elected representatives to adhere to international law, which prioritizes humanitarian aid and the return of all hostages.
A Call to Learning in which we, as U.S. Christians using our privilege and our faith, stand against oppression and injustice in the Holy Land and provoke tough conversations in our communities, furthering awareness and lifting up the voices of our Palestinian siblings.
A Call to Public Witness, using the resources of ELCA Sumud, the ELCA Middle East and North Africa Desk and ELCA Witness in Society, and joining with our ecumenical partners, as we offer faithful, direct witness to foreign policy.
As communion partners of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and as Lutherans concerned with the human rights, dignity and future of all the peoples of Palestine and Israel, we must use our voices, our resources and our power of prayer at this crucial time.
In Christ,
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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