A Monthly Newsletter of the Southwestern Washington Synod - ELCA

November 2024

Synod Staff

Find Synod Staff Contact Information HERE

Synod Events

Find Upcoming Events HERE

Transitions

Find Congregations in Transition HERE

On The Road With the Staff Archive

Find out what our staff has been doing throughout the year HERE

In This Month's Edition:


A Word from Bishop Rick Jaech


Storytelling - "This is everything the church should be" - Transitional Housing at Mount Cross in University Place


Ministry Voices - " First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament" - an article from our Native American Work Team


ELCA Churchwide - "God's Love Made Real" Town Hall with Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

A Word from the Bishop

Dear Friends in Christ,


I am writing this message on November 1, All Saints Day. Yesterday was Reformation Day. Next Tuesday is Election Day. By the time you read these words, the Election will have already taken place, although the results may be contested for some time.


The gifts of the Reformation are many, but as I write this newsletter, I find myself thinking about Luther’s perspective on government and being a citizen. I have written or spoken about this topic on many occasions, but it seems especially important to again use our Lutheran roots to center ourselves during this extremely unsettled time.


It’s important to notice that Luther’s views about being a citizen spring out of his then-revolutionary affirmation of “the priesthood of all believers”. In Luther’s day, society viewed people as having lives of meaning and worth only if they were “close” to God because of their righteous, spiritual work (nuns, priests and popes), or because they had high social ranking and power (princes, bankers and emperors.) In his reading of St. Paul and the Gospels, Luther re-discovered that we are all equally valued and cherished by God, not because of what we do or who we are socially, but because God unconditionally loves and prizes each one of us. Luther then went on to say that, just as we are all equally loved by God, so we are also given lives of equal meaning and purpose. From the first moment of our baptism, we all become priests, called and empowered to serve and care for others as God has cared for us.


The exact form of our priesthood depends on the context of our lives and what we are specifically called to do. Luther used the term “office” to describe the different vocations we take on. We might use the term “role”. We live out our priestly faith and love in the variety of offices and roles we play in our lives: parent, school-teacher, farmer, nurse, business worker, pastor. And, yes, the “office” of both citizen and government leader are among the roles that Luther identifies as part of God’s royal priesthood. 


Luther was still very much shaped by the sixteenth century society around him that was just emerging from feudalism. Therefore, he did not leap immediately into full-scale democracy. It’s important to confess that Luther did not always practice what he preached. He sided with wealthy land-owners when he denounced the Peasants movement that rose up in 1524 asking for fair treatment for farmers and farmworkers. He encouraged government leaders to treat the Jewish population in cruel and life-threatening ways. The Nazi’s later used his words to justify killing 6 million Jewish citizens. It is important to honestly explore our roots in order to see both the gifts and the failures, so that we learn from both.


 However, in his better moments, the rights and duties that Luther proposed for common people and their government leaders are quite stunning. As cities in Germany became “Lutheran”, they welcomed advice from Luther about how to re-form their government structures so that they would better reflect God’s equal, life-changing love. In response, and for the first time in Europe’s history, Luther mobilized local governments to: (1) Establish and financially support free schools open to all boys and girls. (2) Establish a social assistance program that would provide material help to people in crisis (widows, the ill, the unemployed.) This welfare program or “community chest” would be equally administered by a balanced leadership group of two nobles, two city council leaders, three town citizens and three peasant farmers.  Democracy was truly emerging out of Luther’s re-discovery of the priesthood of all believers. The office of “citizen” became a holy calling! (For much more information about this, see Dr. Torvend’s book listed below,)


 Like Luther, we live in a time of turmoil, change, and conflict. It is easy to feel cynical about the political process and the caustic campaigning that has taken place. Many of us wonder about the future health of our country.


In the face of that turmoil, it is important to see again how the office of being a citizen is part of our priesthood as God’s people. It’s true that American democracy is still an experiment in the process of being developed. We groan at its limits and imperfections. Growth is needed in all of us.


However, being an active citizen is a holy calling. In the same way that parents care for children, God is working through us as citizens to care for our nation and the world, and to bring grace, blessing, and justice to all.


The election of leaders is, of course, an important part of democracy. By their skill, values and vision, leaders are meant to guide and shape our nation, cities and states. Therefore, it’s good that we spend time debating and voting on who will lead us.


However, we make a big mistake if we think that our leaders are going to figure everything out and fix everything by themselves. The world is way too complicated for any one leader to have all the answers and solve every dilemma. Democracy only succeeds when we citizens stay involved in discussions, planning, and actions as each new challenge is faced. Fair, collaborative decision-making is an on-going element of democracy that we are still learning to use. Leaders must be held accountable by citizens to make sure that fair laws and basic decency for all people guide our nation.


We also have an important ministry of healing and reconciliation to do. So much anger, bitterness and violence is evident throughout our country. Therefore, our ministry as citizens must include bringing all people together and rebuilding a sense of community, even as we make complicated decisions as a nation.


I urge you to engage in the gift of democracy and the office of citizen that God has granted to us. May God bless and guide us as we enter a new chapter in our journey together as a nation.


Sovereign God, your son Jesus lived within the structures of society even as he spoke truth to those in power and challenged systems of oppression. Empower us to be courageous disciples and responsible citizens. Grant that our life in the public realm be grounded in love for our neighbors, care for the most vulnerable in our midst, and respect for the common life we share, following the example of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. (All Creation Sings, page 50)


                                                                      Bishop Rick Jaech


P.S. Here are three books I recommend that connect our Lutheran tradition and citizenship: Samuel Torvend, Luther and the Hungry Poor: Gathered Fragments, (Fortress Press); Timothy Lull and Derek Nelson, Resilient Reformer: The Life and Thought of Martin Luther (Fortress Press); The Forgotten Luther: Reclaiming the Social-Economic Dimension of the Reformation (three volumes of articles by Lutheran University Press). 

On the Road with the Staff

Bishop Jaech preaching at Christ Lutheran, Belfair, and honoring Pastor Julie Kanarr as she retires.

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Ordination of Pastor Peter Mohr, Immanuel, Centralia.

Bishop Jaech's August camping in the redwood forests in Northern California with his family.

Bishop Jaech, participating in the Installation of Bishop Phil LaBelle, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, which includes all of Western Washington.

Bishop Jaech preaching at the Elbe Historical Evangelical Lutheran Church, which is getting ready for a new paint job.


Tradition says that the bishop always travels by bicycle to the Elbe church, which is near Mt. Rainier.

Bishop attending this year's First Call Theological Event for all Region 1 pastors and deacons who are in the first three years of their first call. Pictured are the pastors and deacons from our SWWA Synod (from left to right) Bergen Eickhoff, Linda Marousek, Charissa Carroll, Bishop Jaech, Marietta Nelson-Bittle, Chavaleh Forgey, and Bonnie Evans. (Karen Norton, not pictured, also attended)

Celebrating the Installation of Pastor Bri Merkle at St. Mark's by The Narrows Lutheran Church in Tacoma.

Storytelling

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.


“This is everything the church should be.” – Transitional Housing at Mount Cross in University Place.


When I had my second interview at Mount Cross in the spring of this year, there was something particular that caught my eye.  During the tour of the very interesting and, admittedly, a little bit rabbit-warrenish church, there were two doorways that had blue tape criss-crossing them, hung with Area 51 style signs that strictly warned, “Private! No access! Do not go past!”   


It was explained to me that those signs were because most of the time there was a family that needed transitional housing living there as they worked with them to go from homelessness to a stable place.  


The doors made sense, of course – but there was something unexpected about them.  I could imagine a church being protective, making sure residents didn’t go into sanctuary or fellowship hall spaces.  But these fiercely protective signs were not to be found on the side where our unhoused guests were living.  No – they were on the church’s side.  A strong reminder to our membership that we were serving Christ, and Christ in our guests deserved our utmost respect of their space, needs, and privacy.   As soon as I realized what side these warnings were on, I wanted to be at Mount Cross.  “This is everything the church should be,” I thought.  Four months later I was baptizing the teenage son of the next family as they celebrated their return to stable housing – and hugging the mom as she cried that they had to leave us.


Mount Cross began ministry with unhoused people through a program with Catholic Community Services Family Housing Network.  This was a program in which families were housed at a different church every week.  Mount Cross partnered with nearby United Church which provided the space and Mount Cross members would spend the night (a requirement of that ministry) and provide meals.  Eventually Mount Cross decided they could provide an additional space in their building, but there weren’t enough churches participating and this ministry ended.  


During the years of Covid, the preschool that had used part of Mount Cross’s education wing closed.  The outreach team thought that helping to fill the need for transitional housing in Pierce County would be a good use of underutilized space.  More partnerships developed – first with Associated Ministries, who refers families into a priority pool for housing and then Catholic Community Services whose caseworkers manage the families referred. Scouting groups helped to convert a preschool to a viable apartment.  Church members stepped up to coordinate with the fire department, local law enforcement, and insurance companies and did the groundwork to ensure safety and feasibility.  


Case management and help to move into permanent housing is done by people at Catholic Community Services, so Mount Cross’s job is hospitality.  Some families enter into the life of the church while they are here to varying degrees, and some keep to themselves.  They have use of the playground and the apartment has plenty of toys and games for the kids.  We have a whole room dedicated to linens, housewares, and kitchen items that families are invited to “go shopping” in for items they may not have when they move to their own place.  Mount Cross provides kindness and humanity, making sure that our “house guests” know that we value them and that they are an important part of our community.  


Of course this is the smallest drop in a bucket of housing need – but for the individuals we host, (currently on family 16 since this ministry started in 2020) there is important and life-changing impact.  Additionally, this ministry provides important and life-changing impact on the discipleship of those at Mount Cross.  Becky Hoffman, one of the main contact people for families, says, “there is appreciation that we have more in common than what we don’t – these are just families that want the best for their children like we do. We feel like this is the right thing and what we’re called to do – and it has brought unity to the church.”  


Becky observes that our guests have experienced significant trauma, and because of this, things are sometimes awkward and tricky and there is a lot of work for Mount Cross volunteers to do, but that it is necessary.  She concludes, “you always develop more compassion when you see how people are actually living – there is no way to see that unless you’re actually brushing up against it.”  


From my perspective, this translates as “when you rub shoulders with Jesus, you can’t help but start seeing things from his perspective.”  I’m very grateful to be part of this community.  


~ by Synod Storyteller Chavaleh Forgey

Ministry Voices

First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament


I treasure this version of the New Testament.


In my many years of studying the Bible for teaching and preaching, I had gotten to the place where when sections of scripture were quoted at length in a book, I would skim over those quotations, knowing that I knew those passages by heart. That knowing by heart response reduced my engagement and wonder. While I was still being “fed” by scripture, it was like absorbing a meal while watching the news, automatic and flavorless. 


The work I do on the Native American Work Team introduces me to new resources that come out of and speak to the experience of the faith by our Native American and Alaskan sisters and brothers in the faith we share. That brought me to this new book, published for the first time in 2021. From the moment I began reading, I found that the translation reawakened my faith imagination. The translation has a different word rhythm, and honors the meaning of names, and uses descriptive words with an ear to Native American storytelling and teaching styles. It is difficult to describe, so I share this short quote from Mark 2:14:

               

As he walked the shore, he saw a tribal tax collector named He Brings Together (Levi), the son of First to Change (Alphaeus) sitting at his tax booth.

               “Come,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to him, “and walk the road with me.”

               He Brings Together (Levi) got up from his tax booth, left that life behind him, and became a follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus).


Currently, for my devotions, I am slowly rereading the Gospel of Mark, comparing the NRSV, The First Nations Version, and The New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version. The conversation between the three translations is helping me to see deeper into the text. I must admit, the one that I find most helpful is the First Nations Version.


I would invite us all to add the First Nations Version into worship and Bible Study to help us all walk the road with Creator Sets Free in a way that is more sensitive to the faith paths that we walk here in place we live. For those of us who are the newcomers to the Pacific Northwest, we can learn a new way to hear the Gospel, for our Native sisters and brothers, it will be a translation that is more wise and welcoming to their ears.


You can get this online, or maybe you can go to your local independent bookseller and order it there. You can order this in time to have it available to introduce during November, when we celebrate Native American Peoples and Cultures in the ELCA.


The Rev. Pam Hunter

ELCA Churchwide

God’s Love Made Real Town Hall w/ Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

For All Synods of Region One, Hosted by Bp. Shelley Bryan Wee


November 7 at 12noon (Pacific)


God’s Love Made Real is a movement within the ELCA that encourages us to create a world experiencing the difference God’s grace and love in Christ make for all people and creation. The purpose of this conversation is for Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton to share with ELCA members in a personal way — through examples, stories and answers to their questions — why God’s Love Made Real is vital to her and this church. 

 

ELCA members in the Alaska, Northwest Washington, Southwestern Washington, Northwest Intermountain, Oregon, and Montana synods are invited. Whether you are active in a congregation, are a pastor in the ELCA, or haven’t been to church in months, your voice is valuable. This conversation seeks to activate every one of us so that more people might know the way of Jesus and discover community, justice, and love.


Registration: Encouraged here but not required



Join the Zoom session HERE