Last week I attended the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee, WI as a voting member from the Northwest Washington Synod. The assembly happens every 3 years and serves as the highest legislative-making body of our denomination. Over 900 voting members made the following decisions (as listed in the ELCA’s “summary of actions”):

• Reelected on the first ballot the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton to a six-year term as ELCA presiding bishop.

• Elected Deacon Sue Rothmeyer to a six-year term as ELCA secretary. Rothmeyer, currently serving as executive for administration with the Office of the Secretary, was installed during the assembly’s closing worship on Aug. 10 and will begin her term Nov. 1.

• Approved the social statement “Faith, Sexism and Justice: A Call to Action” and its implementing resolutions. The social statement, in part, names patriarchy and sexism as sins and calls the church to action on a […]
  

—Remodeling and construction efforts this year make the space more assailable, versatile, and allow for more room to host outreach programs.

Approaching the freshly painted building, with its lofty peaks and vast front entrance, you are welcomed into a side entrance and shown where you and your family will be taking reprieve for the week as part of Family Promise. On Sundays the room you are staying serves as a place for children to play and learn about God, but for the week this is your home. The newly constructed rooms are across from a brand-new pair of private bathrooms, outfitted with extra shelving and accessible layouts to better suit your needs. Your room is furnished with cots with freshly washed bedding, lamps, side tables, and other small things to make it feel like home.

Or perhaps you do approach that vast front entrance, with four doors and […]

Several weeks ago our Whatcom Lutheran clergy group began talking about how we could send a message of support for those in our community who have been ostracized and shunned because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We decided to march as a group in the Bellingham Pride Parade on Sunday, July 14.

Around the same time, I learned that a beloved member of our church had recently come out. This person is among several LGBTQ+ members and friends of our congregation. I am certain that each of us know, respect, and love someone from our church who is LGBTQ+, even if we are not aware of their sexuality or gender identity.

In my studies and prayerful discernment about the issues of sexuality and gender, and in seeking guidance from the ELCA Social Statement on Sexuality, I feel conscience-bound to support those who are LGBTQ+ and […]

Whenever a building is remodeled, you get to see the building stripped down and unadorned.  The walls are bare, the floors are bare concrete, and the building could be remade into anything:  a home, a school or a storage shelter.  Everything is clean and spotless, but it is empty.

Much thought has gone into where we are headed as a church as we have been remodeling.  We strive to fill the new space with grace. We may feel protective of “our” church, the one that we have invested our money and our work in.  We want to be sure that it is home to traditional, Lutheran-approved activity, nothing too different from what we’ve been doing before.

But it is clear that we can not keep the church empty.  A hollow […]

When Pr. Philip Reitz [with Mission Investment Fund] was here [at CLC], I asked him if he was related to Pastor Robert Reitz and Ted Reitz. They were his uncles. Pastor Robert Reitz was pastor at my hometown church, Emmanuel Lutheran in Reardon, WA. He confirmed me when I was a teenager. His brother, Ted, lived with him and was a science teacher in the high school. I had him for chemistry.

After Pastor Robert Reitz left, Pastor Ken Daugs came to Emmanuel. By this time I was college age and got married. Pastor Ken Daugs came to St. John’s in Bellingham. We became members there. He baptized three of my girls. In talking with Darryl [also a Lutheran pastor] and Gwen Daugs of Mission Builders, Ken is Darryl’s brother. Also, Darryl and Gwen were married in my hometown church, Emmanuel Lutheran.

In Pastor Ken Daugs retirement he […]

As you CLC folks probably know, a couple weeks ago I defended my doctoral dissertation at Seattle University and will graduate with my Doctor of Ministry degree on Sunday, June 16. You all have been incredibly gracious to offer me more continuing education resources to complete this degree. In fact, you are mentioned on one of the first pages of my dissertation: 

“I could never have completed this project and program without the generous gifts of continuing education time and monies from the members and friends of Christ Lutheran Church in Ferndale, Washington. They initially sent me on this journey, and I can only hope that what I have received can be returned to them in gratitude for their support.” 

I also dedicated my project to you and my family: 

DEDICATION 

To Christ Lutheran Church, […]

“For it is in giving that we receive” St. Francis of Assisi

Although these few words are written by the Stewardship Committee please do not interpret them as a request for donations. Our congregation has proven time upon time how generous it is, especially when generosity has been needed in the past.

We simply want to write about the joy of giving; about how good it feels to take responsibility and to give spontaneously; about the simple satisfaction we all feel when we give of the resources and abilities entrusted to us by our creator!

Our sense of commitment and giving are inextricably connected. When we give out of compassion to those who are in need, we instantly feel connected and committed to the needy.

Have you ever felt the deep satisfaction that we experience when giving? Here are some examples of how some of […]