Bishop Brauer-Rieke Speaks at the Lutheran Staff Association Conference at Holden Village

The 2008 Lutheran Staff Association Conference was held last week at Holden Village. Bishop David Brauer-Rieke was the guest speaker. The Lutheran Staff Associate is a pan-Lutheran group of non-clergy employees serving Lutheran congregations, agencies and in specialized settings. It promotes individual development for non-clergy staff.

Four members from the Oregon Synod, ELCA attended the Lutheran Staff Association retreat at Holden Village. Lisa Gray (Youth - Zoar, Canby), Cynthia Reynolds (Parish Administrator- St. James, Portland), Becky Smith (Parsih Secretary- Peace, Portland) and Sheryl Ann Waage (Administrative Assistant, Millwaukie Milwaukie).

This year's workshop leaders: Shelley Wickstrom, Mary Chamberlain, Karen Dicken, Lisa Gray, and Estelle Morley offered opportunities to share, learn and reaffirm. Bonds were strengthened through worship, communion and passing the peace. During times of singing, peer ministry groups and participating in the talent show participants were able to laugh, reflect, and rejoice together in being a part of The Church – the Body of Christ. Holden is a good place to go and be; explore and renew.

2009 Conference
March 8-11
Canon Beach, OR
Speaker: Susan Briehl

To learn more visit http://www.ewaidsynod.org/.

Around the Synod

Bear the Cross Together
On March 6, 2008, The Oregonian published the article "A cross for many to bear." It focused on Portland's Central Lutheran Church's need for community help in restoring an architectural jewel. Central has been told by the city that it must rebuild its historic Pietro Bellushi-designed bell tower, or face daily fines. The church must have building permits approved by June 30, 2008 or face fines of up to $1,000 daily. The estimated cost is $250,000, about $50,000 has been raised by Central thus far. Portland's architectural and religious communities were encouraged to rally to help a small, struggling Lutheran congregation get out of an unfortunate predicament bearing the cost to repair their church.

Helping to bear this cross, St. Luke, Portland, through their Social Concerns Committee recently made a $1,000 gift to the restoration. St. Luke invites the congregations of the Oregon Synod to join them by giving their own gift toward this restoration of the tower. You are encouraged to do so before the June 30th deadline. Please visit Central's website at http://www.centralportland.org/event.htm to learn how to give directly.



Pastor Michael Nel
On May 14, 2008, Pastor Michael Nel received his PhD of Theology from the University of South Africa with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa.


Christ the King, Tigard and St. Andrew, Beaverton were part of the donors and volunteers who made possible the repair and rehabilitation of 25 houses of low-income homeowners for the for the 14th Annual National Rebuilding Day of Rebuilding Together Washington County Christ a local affiliate of the leading national, non-profit volunteer low-income housing preservation organization that, in partnership with the community, repairs and rehabilitates the houses of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly, those with disabilities and families with dependent children, so that they may continue to live in warmth, safety and independence.

We Are So Blessed. What Are We Doing About It?

Submitted by Rev. Ron Nitz, Synod Stewardship Committee

Approximately sixty Lutherans from more than twelve congregations around the Oregon Synod gave up a Saturday morning recently to hear Michael Meier, Stewardship Specialist with the E.L.C.A., talk about “basic biblical behaviors” of good stewards – everyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ. Speaking April 12^th, at Creator Lutheran Church in Clackamas, Rev. Meier sketched in four basic behaviors common to all Christians:

1. Worshiping God;
2. Placing everything in God’s hands;
3. Managing God’s gifts; and
4. Giving generously in response.

The first two required little explanation, but more time was devoted to the last two.

In talking about the “management (or stewardship) of God’s gifts,” it was pointed out that most Christians need and appreciate guidance in the areas of giving, saving, spending, debt reduction, proper reception of gifts, and – in general – financial life management. This is a ministry most parents should be doing with their children at a very early age, but many come to adulthood without a clue of what is the “best behavior” for them in each of these areas. This is a genuine ministry need in the church!

In the area of “giving generously,” most people think that generous giving is an activity reserved for the world’s “wealthiest” people. Most Americans’ vision of what is “wealthy” is skewed by living in one of the wealthiest countries of the world to begin with. “Wealth” becomes relative! People who keep track of wealth worldwide have a different set of categories that they work with. The world’s “Poorest” are those who do not even have a place to die! These are the kind of people that Mother Theresa devoted her ministry to in Calcutta, and they make up a sizable minority among the world’s population. Nearly 70% of the world’s population would be classified as “Poor”. These are the people who have a place to live and work to do for the moment, but cannot count on having continued employment or income. Not even the poorest people in America on welfare fall into this category, because they still have some income they can count on.

When Rev. Meier identified the next highest class as “Wealthy”, there was some consternation as to what happened to what we call “the middle class”! But from the perspective of the distribution of wealth in the world, there is no such thing. Perhaps 10-15% of the world’s population fall into the category of “Wealthy,” because they have some sort of reasonable prospect of always being able to have a roof over their heads, clothes on their back, and food to eat – a privilege not enjoyed by the vast majority of people in the world today. Finally, the smallest group – the “Wealthiest” – are distinguished by being able to plan to retire some day, and not have to work to earn a living as long as they live! While that might seem to be in jeopardy in recent months, the truth is that the vast majority of people in America today fall into this class of “the world’s wealthiest”. When we see how we measure up against the vast majority of people in the rest of the world, it is clear that we are the people who are best prepared by God to give generously!

Before breaking for small group discussion, we were treated to an excellent short video on this subject entitled “Rich” (from Nooma films) in which Rob Bell took us on a tour of common items and ideas in our American life that make us “rich” in the eyes of the world. Proverbs 6:16-19 and Galatians 5:19-21 were cited as a couple of lists of “deadly sins” in the Bible, but the deadliest sin for all Christians is fear, because it keeps us from doing that which we know God has called us to do – it is nothing more than a lack of faith in God. Our small group discussions focused on our experiences with these four stewardship behaviors, and how we were molded into the kind of stewards we are today by our experiences growing up. But it also gave us each a chance to review where we were on our journey to be the kind of stewards we thought God wanted us to be, and to focus our efforts on areas where we still needed to grow.

As we closed for the day, it was pointed out that while we often encourage Christians to be “tithers” (those who give 10% of their income) in giving to God, in fact, giving among Lutherans is at about 2% - 2.5% on average, and a congregation where the giving is at 3.5% is considered to be “mission-minded.” Clearly, we have a long ways to go in developing and/or sharing our stewardship behaviors! Two books on this subject that were recommended for further reading were “Ask, Thank, Tell” by Charles “Chick” Lane, and “Giving to God” by Mark Allen Powell.