Welcome, Readers! Supporting and Encouraging Ministries of Resource Centers for the Building Up of the Body of Christ

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1 Welcome, Readers! Supporting and Encouraging Ministries of s for the Building Up of the Body of Christ ASSOCIATION OF LUTHERAN RESOURCE CENTERS In this Issue.. 1 Partnering-Darlene Kalfahs 2-3 Interchange with Irene, Craig and Mim 4 ELCA...Support...Julie A. 5 What s Popular 6 Lent w/beth Lewis 7 Vests, Conference calls, Chicago Gathering From Mentoring to Partnering or Just Plain Partnering! By Darlene Kalfahs, ECSW Resoruce Center Back several years ago the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin approached me about the possibility of purchasing a membership to our East Central Synod of WI. Membership was a possibility, but I encouraged them to begin their own center, which they did. I was honored to be asked to be their mentor and even more honored to eventually become their partner in ministry. The Mentoring Program that we have initiated in the ALRC is so very important. For a synod in the beginning stages of developing a to have the guidance of a developed center helping them is vital. To have someone guiding them on the initial steps, connecting them with valuable ELCA, ALRC, AF contacts, sharing organizational charts, budgets, purchases, advising them on software and collection purchases and layout is so very important. I would highly recommend a start-up center to be involved in the ALRC Mentoring Program. I was fortunate though to be able to take the Mentoring process into a Partnership. I want to share this with all of you because Partnering can happen whether you have been involved with a Mentor or not. Connecting with another in your synod or a nearby synod can be become a valuable part of the ministry taking place for both centers. Greg Kaufmann and Bonnie Weber from the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin and Dolly Bilstad and myself, Darlene Kalfahs, from the East Central Synod of WI have discovered that the 4 hours of distance between our s does not limit the possibilities for joint ministry. We have discovered that we can accomplish a better workshop, more exciting planning, and give our congregations more opportunities for quality programs and ministry if we work together. For the past 4 years we have organized a Rotation Sunday School workshop for both of our synods. The location alternated between our synods, with the participants coming from both of our synods and beyond. This year we have organized a Regional Workshop called High Tech, High Touch: Tools For Meaningful Ministry. With the help of Augsburg Fortress personnel, Rev. Robert Driver-Bishop, professional lay people and congregations in our synods who use multi-media in their worship settings, leading us, we are looking forward to an exciting event. The collaboration and planning of these events could not have happened without our efforts to partner. So I encourage all of you to look beyond your walls, your synod, to other Resource Centers. Share your ideas for Assembly plans, educational events, search out opportunities to collaborate on upcoming workshops and your ideas, dreams and goals with others. This year my partnership spreads to Irene Flynn in The Florida-Bahamas Synod as I share Assembly plans for my display area and incorporate experiential Discovery Zones into my assembly space. To be able to share ideas with Irene and in turn her ideas with me, only helps us both to minister to our congregations more deeply. So reach out and discover what can happen when you step out of your comfort zones and share the ministry! LOAVES AND FISHES Page 1

2 Interchange with Irene Vice-President Board of Directors President Irene Flynn Florida-Bahamas Synod 3838 W Cypress St Tampa FL x229 Vice-President Karen Kaufman Northeastern Ohio Synod 1890 Bailey RD Cuyahoga Falls OH Secretary/Membership Carol Hughes Chambersburg 2700 Luther DR Chambersburg PA Treasurer Rev. Dr. Craig Boehlke Region 3 Church Computer 2481 Como Ave St. Paul MN x232 Events Coordinator Noreen Stevens Eastern Minnesota 2481 Como Avenue St Paul MN Loaves & Fishes Co-Editors: Diane Kaufmann & Bonnie Weber Northwest Synod of WI 1005 Oxford Ave Eau Claire WI Fax: bonnie_weber@ecunet.org Newsletter ed quarterly Irene Flynn, President of the ALRC It is such a treat to share this space with two important members and supporters of the ALRC who have been there since the beginning! Craig Boelke is currently our treasurer. His organizational abilities and guidance have been a real asset to the ALRC. Mim Woolbert is one of our ELCA connections and has been a great supporter and organizer for the organization since we began in 1996! It's fun to find out more about these two talented people who are doing so much for the ALRC. And so, take it away, Craig... Craig Boehlke is serving his second term as treasurer of the ALRC. Craig is a native of Ohio, attended Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary. He received his D.Min. from Princeton. Craig has served as Youth and Education pastor at Grace Lutheran, St. Paul, MN, Senior pastor of All Saints, Cottage Grove, MN and senior pastor of Christ The King Lutheran in Mankato, MN. For the past 12 years he has been the Region 3 Coordinator for the ELCA. Region 3 is comprised of the nine synods of the Dakotas and Minnesota. One of the services of Region 3 has been a Church Computer. The Center has church software samples on a demo machine and also does phone consultation and group seminars on computer usage for churches. The Eastern Minnesota, a full service center, also is located on the Luther Seminary campus with Region 3. Craig has also gathered with the center directors from Regions 3 and 5 in his role as regional coordinator. In he served as an advisor and wrote the initial grant for the founding board and first conference of the ALRC. Craig lives in St. Paul, MN. He and wife Georgia have a son, Benjamin, who is a senior at Sarah Lawrence College in NYC; a daughter, Melissa, who is completing her Bachelor's as a Paralegal in St. Paul, and became grandparents to Aaliyah Jade last May. Craig travels extensively for work and play, loves to fish, golf, and ski (former ski instructor of 20 years), and is continually in pursuit of the perfect communion wine! Page 2 LOAVES AND FISHES

3 Irene s column continued... And, he-e-e-re s Mim.... Bonnie insists that it's my turn to turn in an autobiography -- "for Loaves & Fishes. Just what you were talking about in Dallas, when we were together one time..." Well, how can I possibly remember what I said in Dallas? Sometimes I tell people I'm a Lutheran "by accident," but that's not really true. My Baptist mother and Methodist father lived in Baltimore during WW II (Dad built "Liberty Ships") and, during the time of rationing of gas and food items, the Lutherans cared enough to outfit an old school bus as a Sunday school classroom and send it around to neighborhoods with small children. That was Mom's first experience of Lutheranism. Then, after the war we moved into a small formerly-farm community where the farmer donated his house and the land around it for a "community church." The pastor of the Lutheran church three miles away came on Sunday evenings to conduct worship, and that's how First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Gray Manor became Lutheran. I think only one of the charter members had any Lutheran background at all! So, see? Mission outreach programs do work! I guess church publications also work. It was reading my mother's Women's Missionary Magazine when I was seven that gave me the idea to become a doctor and go to New Guinea. Once expressed, that goal was fed by aunts and uncles who gave me books about missionaries for my birthdays and Christmases as well as life in the congregation, where my mother was the musician. Mom really did convert to Lutheranism; the idea that we are saved by grace instead of works was so freeing for her. She never bought into infant Baptism, though, so I was baptized, confirmed and had my first Communion all on the same day, 50 years ago! An indifferent (at best) student, I entered the parish work curriculum at Capital University in 1960, but left in 1962 to become a missionary. Remember the "I was a Teenage Werewolf" movies of the early '60s? Well, I was a teenage missionary to New Guinea for two years - the medical secretarial staff (kuskus) at Yagaum Hospital, outside Madang. After two years at Yagaum, I returned to the States and became a medical secretary, branching out into legal and general stuff as well, as I moved from hospital to hospital to secretarial service, moving from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. While there, I worked for five years for the ALC regional office for stewardship, youth, Christian education and American missions, then with American missions and other church body mission directors related to "new town" developments. Then, a few more years at hospitals and secretarial services. In 1977 I became the parish worker for an LCA congregation in New Jersey, then moved to the Lutheran Council in the USA in New York, working first in mission development and social ministry, finally in the library and archives, for a total of 10 years before the "New Lutheran Church" eliminated the need for a Lutheran Council. Thanks to Paul Edison-Swift's persistence and patience, I wound up in Chicago, the first employee at the 800 telephone number, in I didn't even know how to turn the computer on that first day, and there have been many technological challenges, but I honestly have to say that becoming "MisInformation" at the ELCA has really been my calling these last 19 years! I've used all the knowledge I've gained over the years in my very checkered history, and have been challenged to learn more and work harder than ever before in my life. I love it! I was attracted to resource center ministry from the beginning, and when the "marketing" position in our department was eliminated in 1990, started to get involved in support of the centers. In those days, there were a couple people supposedly distributing resources out of the trunks of their cars, and a bishop's wife who kept one center open on a volunteer basis. We've come a long way since then, but we still have a long way to go, and I hope y'all will keep putting up with me for as long as I can keep at it, because I not only love my job, I love you too! Mim, we love you, too. Thanks for sharing this great story! LOAVES AND FISHES Page 3

4 ELCA Churchwide Support by Julie Aageson The light of God surrounds us, The love of God enfolds us, The power of God protects us, And the presence of God watches over us; Wherever we are, God is. Lenten greetings to all my resource center colleagues! At the beginning of another busy season, these words anchor us in the knowledge that we are surrounded and supported in ways we can t even imagine. This resource center circle of support and partnership is a prime example of God s presence and love. Evaluations from the Ecumenical Gathering in Dallas were really gratifying. The many ways this conference supports and affirms resource center ministry is clearly appreciated and valued. Planning these conferences is always a huge amount of work and planning committees agonize over the many things that make up such an event. We are in the middle of wrap-up now, reviewing what went well and what can be improved on. If you have input or ideas, please don t hesitate to call me. Your evaluations are extraordinarily helpful and give us a clear idea about what was valued and what made a difference. Attendance was down and that s one of the concerns that will be addressed by the planning committee. We are looking at a number of different options for our next gathering including the possibilities of joining an ecumenical educators event, holding ERCG at a conference center, and working with the National Training Center. I was in Richmond in February for the National Training Center s board meeting. As you know, director Jo Bales Gallagher will be retiring in the spring. We all are invited to her retirement party in Black Mountain, NC on April 21st. The board has been working the last year to make some organizational and financial decisions about how to continue the important work of the NTC. No denomination is able to provide the kind of continuing education that NTC has made possible. The board is wrestling with restructuring and reshaping the NTC to reflect ecumenical support and leadership that will undergird resource center ministry across the church. I n January, I was in Chicago for a Communication Services retreat. It s always good to connect with ELCA colleagues and to share the work of our resource centers. Thanks as always for your prayers and for the remarkable work each of you does! Warmly, Julie Julie Aageson, Coordinator, ELCA s From Sister Virginia in the New England Synod: I just couldn't keep from sharing this photo. The Janssen of the New England Synod has a wonderful new quilted sign hand-sewn by the woman who was Ruth Janssen s partner in Sacred Stitches, which produced beautiful hand-sewn stoles, made to order. The designer has incorporated the design of a stained glass sun Ruth created, which has become the symbol of the Janssen since Ruth s death. Blessings, Sister V. Thanks, Sister, for sharing this picture Page 4 LOAVES AND FISHES

5 Easter resources & Assembly ideas From Catherine Fink at the Heilig in Salisbury, North Carolina: Lent/Easter video series that make you think: Dateline: Jerusalem Tales from the Madhouse The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Meeting Jesus Popular Lent/Easter books or curricula: Hallelujah: The Bible and Handel's Messiah (curricula) Destination Easter! Gospel Dramas for Lent and the Easter Triduum Seasons to Celebrate: God's Children Celebrate the Church Year These are all series that I recommend folks use during Lent to prepare for Easter. Amazing resources! Assembly?? I have absolutely no idea!! I always have a display -- one 8 foot table -- and will most likely continue with that. I'll put an announcing sheet in the assembly packet telling about the display and about the resource center (in case they don't read it 'til they get home). Some years I provide a give-away of some sort, usually with the resource center phone number. I'll have to check my budget to see if that's a possibility this year. I guess for me, it's just going to be same ol', same ol'. Maybe I'll get ideas from others when I read the finished L&F!!! From Irene Flynn at the Florida-Bahamas in Tampa, Florida: "Before and After Easter: Activities and Ideas, Lent-Pentecost" by Debra Trafton O'Neal - Interesting activities and ideas for the weeks of Easter and the day of Pentecost. Planning for next year's assembly: Instead of my usual 12-table display of the newest items in the, I am planning several Discovery Centers where there will be an activity and related resources displayed next to it. So far, I will have a prayer labyrinth display using a small finger labyrinth with sand. Also, I plan to have a laptop with a set of websites like that people can go to and explore. I'm still coming up with 2-3 more. Darlene is helping me (thanks Darlene!) with the plans and resources. From Bonnie Weber at the Northwest Synod of WI : Seder books continue to be popular. People plan for a seder feast for confirmation students, parents and guests. Publications from Creative Communications have gone out. Some aren t so new, but are still good materials. I have started the Unit 6 - On a Mission - No Experience Necessary with the Adult Forum group at our church in Eau Claire. Folks are excited and anxious to get studying the book of Luke in this Lenten season! Planning for the Assembly: This year we will be electing a new bishop. Sadness at seeing our Bishop Bob retire; apprehension/excitement on electing someone new. We will have our 4-6 tables of resources, the ALRC display, and our annual supply of chocolate candy - snack size bars. People really enjoy the little pick-me-up while they are browsing. Other than that, we don t do anything extra. At some point, I hope Darlene Kalfahs will write up a story about what she does in her synod. It is amazing! LOAVES AND FISHES Page 5

6 Lent ideas and beyond by Beth Lewis Help! I forgot to plan for Lent! While most congregations completed their Lenten plans a couple of months ago, there are always a few stragglers. So, who is on their "speed dial" when they are in a pinch and need help at the last minute? Their favorite resource center director, of course! Here are three new Lenten resources from Augsburg Fortress to keep handy for those last minute, frantic calls or s! After all, February 21 is just around the corner, so some of the procrastinators will be noticing that it's Ash Wednesday any minute now! Daily Devotions: Gail Ramshaw, and her husband Gordon Lathrop, are highly regarded teaching theologians, speakers, and authors. At AF, we are blessed to have both of them sharing their gifts of words and understanding of liturgy with us. Gail's newest publication, 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS: DEVOTIONAL FOR LENT will provide members of congregations with daily reflections on such varied topics as on ashes, treasure, mountain, outsider, clothing, and water. Each day's devotion includes a biblical citation, meditation, prayer, Bible reading, and hymn text. This 84 page paperback book is priced with quantity purchases in mind. When purchased through the AF website the prices are: $4.95 for 1-11 copies, $2.25 for copies, and $1.75 for 100+ copies, plus shipping. Lenten Dramas: Last May, I attended a pastors' conference and chatted with Pastor Steve Dornbusch (Calvary LC in Golden Valley, MN) about his congregation. In the course of our chat, he told me about the popular practice of having Wednesday night Lenten dramas as part of their worship practice. I asked him to share samples with our editors and, out of this has come a wonderful new, downloadable resource, BIBLE PEOPLE: MONOLOGUES FOR LENT. This resource includes six monologues as well as a "How To" guide for congregations just getting started with dramatic ministry and a study guide for each monologue. It is downloadable from the Augsburg Fortress website and there are two sample video clips on our site, as well. They are both good, but my favorite is Peter's mother-in-lawâš.it will only take a minute or two for you to look at it and it will give you a chuckle as well as giving you a good sense of what this resource can do for congregations in your synod. Bible Study While it isn't focused on a Lenten journey, per se, many congregations find that use of one of the units of NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY during Lent is a good way to "jump start" adult Bible study or small groups. All of us (and those in our congregations) have calendars that are too full. We resist adding one more item to our "to do" lists. But, Lent is a good time to take a deep breath and try something new for a set period of time. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY, with its focus on identifying and living out our various vocations provides this type of connection between church and daily life. Units 1-4 describe God's mission to love, bless, and save the world, and our call to be partners in this mission wherever we are. These units help participants explore purpose and meaning, as part of God's mission in the world. Throughout the series the "Right Here, Right Now" articles show a variety of people taking part in God's mission as they face real-life situations at home, work, and play. In addition, there are new resources on the NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY website, including a "Planning" tab for Bible study & small group leaders. For more Lent & Easter resources, be sure to check out our complete selection at All of us at your ministry of publishing wish you a blessed Lent and Easter in your offices, congregations & homes! Beth Lewis, President & CEO Augsburg Fortress beth.lewis@augsburgfortress.org Page 6 LOAVES AND FISHES

7 Vests are for sale. The ALRC vests were a BIG hit in Dallas. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of ALRC each member center and associate member was presented with a vest. We're now in the process of getting vests to those not in attendance. As we re-order vests, if your center would like to purchase additional vests for employees or volunteers, they are available for $25. Contact ALRC treasurer Craig Boehlke at craig.boehlke@ecunet.org. Be sure to specify the unisex size S, M, L, XL, or 2XL. The next conference call with Augsburg Fortress representatives will be held on Tuesday, March 27 at 10am Central Daylight Time. Be sure to join in. Codes to dial will be listed in the ALRC Membership site as the date nears. The NEXT call will be April 24 with Beth Lewis as our guest. It will also be at 10am CDT. You won t want to miss being part of these informative and energizing contacts with our ELCA publishers and mentors Augsburg Fortress Publishing House. Your ALRC Board has been planning for the ALRC gathering this coming November in Chicago. The dates are the first to the third. This is always a great time of sharing, touching base with old friends and looking forward to meeting new friends to the organization. New ideas, new resources, drawings, speakers, good food and fun is always the order of the event. Start juggling your time NOW for you and your staff to be there and be part of the gathering. LOAVES AND FISHES Page 7