Shelly and I want to thank everyone at Bethany for making us feel right at home! We also appreciate allowing us to take off our second Sunday here so that we could head up to Eagle River, Alaska to help celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Joy Lutheran Church, the congregation I served for 21 years. As many of you know, both Shelly and I have Pacific Northwest roots, Shelly having grown up in Anchorage and I in the Seattle area, so coming to Bethany feels like a real homecoming, especially after serving the past six years in the Washington DC suburbs of Virginia.

To share some more background on us, Shelly and I met while we were students at Pacific Lutheran University and were married on August 6, 1983 at my home congregation, Mt View Lutheran in Puyallup. Our first anniversary was spent loading up a U-Haul as we headed to Dubuque, Iowa where I attended Wartburg Seminary. Shelly was the seminary receptionist and one of the secretaries to the President, so I often introduced myself there as “Shelly’s husband” because everyone knew who she was. Our son, Paul was born the summer before my Senior year in Anchorage, where we had gone to be with Shelly’s folks. Paul’s entrance to the world was also his grandpa’s birthday, so we got to wake him up at 4:00am to wish him a happy birthday as we headed to the hospital.

I graduated from Wartburg in 1988 and we began our first call that June at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran in Stevenson, Washington, a small logging town in the Columbia Gorge. While we were there, our daughter Katrina was born in The Dalles, Oregon. The hospital was about a quarter mile from Shelly’s grandmother’s house, so once again we were able to share the event with family present. We were in Stevenson almost six years, then took a call at Hope Lutheran in Enumclaw. Following our time there, we headed north to Alaska to be with the saints at Joy Lutheran. After over two decades together, however, I felt that it was probably a good time to try something new to spark renewed energy for both pastor and congregation. My next call was at Holy Cross Lutheran in Herndon, Virginia, a suburb of the Metro DC area. For the past year or so, I served as an Interim Pastor at a small but very vibrant congregation, River of Grace in Manassas, Virginia.

Our son, Paul is an ELCA pastor at Central Lutheran in Seattle and he and husband, Ryan live in White Center. Katrina works for the State of Alaska and lives in Anchorage with her daughter, Naomi who just turn 14(!) this month. 

As for me, I’ve been a Mariners fan since 1977 and am still not over their playoff loss (or the Malcom Butler interception in Super Bowl XLIX). I remember the Sounders of 1974 and root for the new team today. I love reading, hiking, some hunting, and music. I am a classically trained vocalist and have sung a bit of opera, oratorios, and other music. Verdi, Beethoven and Mahler are my favorite go-to guys to listen to as well as Classic Rock and Blues.

We have so appreciated the warmth and friendliness with which we have been welcomed and we look forward to learning your names better (please be patient!) and getting to know you more deeply in the coming days.

In Peace,

Pastor Martin

This year, the theme of our Lenten season is All We Need © and is inspired by a worship series offered by Barn Geese, an ELCA-based creative resource for pastors and congregations. Using the Revised Common Lectionary readings, we’ll explore what this season’s scripture selections reveal about our needs both personally and communally. The series will introduce us to a variety of topics like the need for sleep, change, and beauty for our contemplation. I hope you’ll join us on Sundays when our worship will be centered on the intricate tapestry of human needs–and the transformative power of Christ and community.

As in years past, an interactive prayer wall will be built along the north wall of the sanctuary for your use throughout Lent. There will be copies on the table in the Narthex of a Lenten devotional including scripture and reflective reading plus a prayer and a practice you can take up for the week. Although we will not have a mid-week Wednesday service this year, the sanctuary will be open throughout the week during office hours for quiet reflection and prayer. I hope you will find the devotional materials and quiet reflection time meaningful to your Lenten observance. 

The Lenten season will also begin to draw to a close my time with you as your Care Pastor. As you know, my contract at Bethany ended on January 31, and after discussion with the church council, we agreed to renew my contract until April 20, Easter Sunday. What that means is that I will continue to serve you, but on a half-time basis. My office hours have been reduced to two days per week and I will primarily focus on leading worship and bible study, youth activities, and pastoral care. It has been a real honor to walk with you during this season of transition at Bethany. It seems fitting that we can worship together Easter morning closing one chapter and celebrating new life to come!

In Christ,

Pastor Erin

Happy Thanksgiving! I pray that you enjoyed the day in community, whether that’s with family, friends, or neighbors. 

We have a lot to be grateful for–and it’s not just for the “stuff” we have. Diana Butler Bass once wrote, “Gratitude is an emotional response to the surprise of our existence–to sensing that inner light and realizing the astonishing sacred, social, and scientific events that brought each one of us into being.” As we begin the Advent season, I hope we can carry forward gratitude for our very lives, and the abundant gifts of God’s grace sprinkled throughout. 

Beginning on Sunday, our Advent worship will be grounded in the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love which are the gifts of God that help us navigate the season of waiting. I’ve chosen a series entitled More Than Words © 2024 Barn Geese Worship to guide us. The “words” are the themes of the Advent candles we light each Sunday in anticipation of the birth of the Christ child and we’ll explore each in depth in our communal worship. You’ll also have an opportunity to reflect on the themes in your personal devotions during the week. 

Each Monday morning, you’ll receive a devotion in your email inbox. You can expect to see the Gospel lesson from the previous Sunday, a reflection based on the theme, a weekly prompt to guide your personal reflection (perhaps you’ll choose to journal throughout this contemplative season), words of wisdom in the form of poetry or song to inspire you, a prayer to add to your prayer practice, and scripture lessons to ground your Advent journey. You can be as creative or as quiet (or both!) as you like, using the material that speaks to you. 

Several special activities are planned for the season beginning with the Advent fair on Sunday after worship. Fun activities are planned for all ages and Advent calendars will be available to purchase from Divine Chocolates. Our annual caroling event to visit homebound friends will be held on Sunday, December 15. Cookies will be delivered and songs of cheer will be sung, making everyone–giver and receiver alike–feel a little warmer, no matter what the weather’s like! 

On Saturday, December 7 at 5:00pm, we’ll have a special Blue Christmas worship. Blue Christmas is also referred to as the Service of the Longest Night because it takes place on or near the winter solstice. The worship is a more solemn service offering an opportunity to express grief which sometimes gets papered over during the “jingle bell” season. Sarah Wildman, a New York Times columnist who writes about grief, said that as a culture, we don’t have “grief literacy” despite the fact that grieving is universal and needs tending to. As a congregation, we carry the burden of collective grief in wake of the losses we’ve experienced over the past year–and that’s in addition to our personal grief. I hope you’ll join me for this special service of honest reflection, hope, and healing. 

So let us begin. It’s a new church year, and it’s already filled beyond our wildest imaginations with the good gifts of God’s grace. As we wait, let us prepare, making space in our hearts, in our busy lives, and in our biggest dreams for the birth of the Christ child who is always making everything new. 

In Christ,

Pr. Erin

No matter where you fall on the emotional spectrum, we are a church family, bound by the Good News of God’s unfailing love, and that is something that will never change, even when we do. The next chapter of Bethany’s life will offer opportunities for exciting growth and transformation, but it won’t always be comfortable—or easy. Nonetheless, we can be sure that God walks with us.

Over my January break, I read a guest essay in the New York Times by Rabbi Sharon Brous, entitled, “Train Yourself to Always Show Up,” (Brous, S. 2024, January 19. Train Yourself to Always Show Up. The New York Times, digital edition.) in which she makes the case that no matter how we’re feeling—exhausted, energized, sorrowful, or joyful—we should train ourselves to always “show up” for each other. Sometimes we’re the givers of encouragement and the holders of pain; and other times, we’re the receivers of comfort and grace. The gift of our presence model’s God’s love, alive and well among us. Rabbi Brous calls this the “Amen effect.”

It’s my hope we learn to practice the Amen effect, even when our instinct is to withdraw, or to keep a safe distance, just to see what happens during this season of unknowns. Our faith community isn’t complete without each of us being fully present and engaged as we’re called to be. Our engagement in the life of the church will strengthen our community and our life of faith. Our presence in this moment will shape our future together.

No matter how we’re feeling right now, mixed emotions or not, the invitation to “just show up” is addressed to all of us. Together we can share our burdens, and likewise, share enthusiasm and hope as we dream together about Bethany’s next chapter. I trust that God is already here with us, and will always be. And that is truly something to be joyful about—no matter what!

I’m here for you, through it all. My office hours are (generally) Tuesdays from 9:30 am -3:00 pm; Wednesdays from 9:30 am -1:00 pm; and Thursdays from 9:30 am -1:30 pm. I work from home on Mondays, and take Fridays as my Sabbath. I tend to email and return phone calls during office hours, unless it’s a pastoral emergency. While I always welcome drop in visits, it’s best to make an appointment if possible. 

Since mine is a three quarters time pastoral position, you’ll be hearing from other pastors and worship leaders one Sunday a month (with minor exceptions when I’ll be here for the entirety of the month). I’m so glad you’ll have the gift of hearing a variety of voices and learning new things—no doubt it will broaden our perspective and shape us as we grow. 

I am grateful to be walking with you during this season of transition. 

In Christ, 

Erin

PS: A copy of the essay I referenced is available on the table in the library.

By Pastor Paul Stumme-Diers

“Going to God means tuning out the constant tumult crowding our heads in order to tune our hearts to quieter voices revealing God’s holy intentions for this time.”

– Jim Wallis, Sojourners

A few of us Bethanians met and brainstormed further about Lent 2020, a conversation that led us to “recalculate” our Lenten plans for this year. It has seemed a particularly unsettling time with the political scene, the world climate concerns, as well as personal transitions and changes. (Meditations on transitions that have been submitted are being
posted on the bulletin board throughout Lent.) Thus, we embraced a theme calling us to enter more deeply into such considerations through the traditional disciplines of Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. What we have shaped is around the theme “Come Away Fast and Pray.”

Our Midweek meditations on Wednesdays will focus on one word each week in a service of prayer, candlelight, scripture, and silence.

- Noon – Simple soup supper
12:30 to 12:45 p.m. – “Come Away Fast and Pray”

- 6:15 p.m. – Simple soup supper
7-7:15 p.m. – “Come Away Fast and Pray”

During the season of Lent you will see subtle changes in our worship space, helping to focus our worship with new perspectives:

- Baptismal font at center of assembly.
- Communion rails in place.|- Placing the lectern in what will be shaped into a more accessible location.

WE ARE REQUESTING SILENCE IN THE SANCTUARY FOR THE FIVE MINUTES DURING THE PRELUDE FOR MEDITATION.

Lent also is about the “disciplines,” a word that for many has come into disfavor, but whose purpose is to allow us to listen to what Jesus speaks to the pain of the world. You are invited to enter into FASTING, PRAYER, and ALMSGIVING in meaningful and creative ways. Some prompting ideas:

FASTING (with thanks to Rachel Held Evans)
- Choose to make water you only beverage for 40 days.
- Do a 40-day purge of your stuff, removing one item a day from your home, donating the best of it to Goodwill or the Rotary Auction.
- Give up going out to eat and donate the money to Lutheran World Relief, Helpline House or North Kitsap Fishline.
- Fast by unplugging.
- Give up meat for 40 days, to be gentle on the earth (and body).
- Fast from cynicism.

PRAYER
- Join the Bethany community for midweek worship.
- Designate five times a day for prayer.
- Pray for “enemies” and “those who persecute you.”
- Pray for those who have asked for prayers; make a list.
- Pray for those for whom it is awkward to pray for.
- Pray for peace, in your heart and world

“Help us to pray for the things that break your heart.”

ALMSGIVING
- Give to the helpers of your choice.
- Find a way to share with the “undeserving.”
- Tie a quilt on Tuesdays with the Bethany quilters.
- Gather your change for a noisy offering.
- Share with your children the importance of almsgiving and generosity.

Welcome to Lent: “Come Away Fast and Pray”

By Pastor Paul Stumme-Diers

Dear Bethanians,

The church has an especially important role in the lives of people and communities in those times of transition. Certainly this is the case when it comes to birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage and death, but also in those other times of significant change. Just this week I am in contact with those hospitalized, moving from house to retirement community, moving from Bainbridge, undergoing surgery, taking on new employment,
entering hospice, and a new baby.

As we were getting an oil change the other day at the Subaru dealership, I was thinking of this, and trying to conjure up a good name for a theme for such transitions, recognizing how God is present with us in those times of change. I saw the new
Subaru model, a Crosstrek, and the names was appealing, suggesting the journey, the “trek” that is comprised of those transitions. But, to avoid copyright infringement and to broaden the theme, I landed on “crossover,” something perhaps more rooted in biblical imagery.

Think “crossing over” the River Jordan into the promised land:
- The Red Sea, from slavery in Egypt to freedom;
- Social barriers, with Jesus associating the lepers, tax collectors, Samaritans, women, Pharisees, children, etc.;
- As Jesus “set his face toward Jerusalem” (and the cross);
- From life into death;
- From death into life;
- From broken to whole;
- From enmity to reconciliation.

“Crossover,” according to Wikipedia, is:

1) A point or place of crossing from one side to another; or
2) The process of achieving success in a different field or style, such as music.

This, for me, creatively speaks to the transitions we experience, the “crossover” moments, those times of movement from one place to another, from one experience to another. It also, corresponding to definition #2, is finding a new stride (success”) in new circumstances.

In all this, as people of faith, we ponder the question, we discern perhaps in retrospect, how God is present, how God accompanies us, how God is at work in the crossovers of our lives. This is our theme of reflection and discovery, of celebration and perhaps lament in the upcoming season of Lent (Ash Wednesday is Feb. 26.).

Here is a less than exhaustive list of “crossover” (transition) times we might recognize:

Death
Retirement
Birth of a child
Death of a parent
Wedding
Divorce
Cancer diagnosis
Employment
Unemployment
Graduation
Change of domiciles
Hospice
Refugees
Sexual discovery

Here, also, is a short list of those “crossover” moments in the lives of children:

Change of schools
First lost tooth
Driver’s license
First day of school
Potty trained
Starting to play an instrument
“I can read”

To aid us in this “crossover” season, I am inviting/soliciting/begging for individuals to submit their brief reflection on their crossover experiences, addressing the question, “How did you feel God’s presence in this time of transition/crossover?” We will share these reflections via social media, bulletin boards, and in hard copy so that we can consider them in the season of Lent

Yours on the Journey,

Pastor Paul

By Pastor Paul Stumme-Diers

Dear Bethanians,

On Sunday, Dec. 8, Bethany Lutheran Church sent out two groups of carolers following worship. The first, a delegation of some of Bethany’s finest voices, went to Bethany’s “at home” members in Poulsbo. The report back was that of a delightful
time together, with voices singing in tune, in
harmony, and in the spirit of the story of God’s love
made known in the baby Jesus.

The other group of carolers, in contrast, were led not by fine voices but by yours truly. We ventured to Madison House to sing in a less-polished performance, but what we lacked in musicality we more than made up for in enthusiasm and volume
… we had a number of children with us, after all.

Halfway through our caroling, a woman found her way, via her walker, to the piano next to us. There she sat down, and began to accompany us, without music, without missing a beat, but with  wonderful musical flourishes that made us sound good. With her accompaniment, all the Madison House residents joined in. Her name is Martha, and she is 103 years old.

With her accompaniment, all the Madison House residents joined in. Her name is Martha, and she is 103 years old.

My humble guess is that Martha thought we might benefit from some help, in our notes, in our keys, in our pitch. In further reflection I also realize that she understood that she was welcome to join us, to be a part of the song and its message, she felt comfortable contributing her gifts. There was a place for her, a space for her, a need for Martha.

Therein I see a parable for the church, for the community of faith. Parables rarely benefit from explanation, so I will leave it at that, with Martha at the piano, accompanying an off-key pastor.

A Blessed 202 to each of you.

Bethanians,

Every morning I get multiple e-mail reminders from the Wellness Program of our health-insurance provider with the heading “You Have Journeys to Complete.” These are immensely irritating, especially when received in bunches – reminders of things left undone. They also can be helpful, in the way intended, to inspire me to be more attentive to the faith journey I am on.

Although I am usually one who more favors the journey than the destination, achieving goals along the way can be a helpful approach.

But “You Have Journeys to Complete” comes to mind with the many people connected with the Bethany community who have or are completing their earthly journeys. Jess Browning directly comes to mind, someone who “completed his journey well,” but also so many, too many to name, who are connected as family and friends in the Bethany congregation. These serve as reminders that we are each on a journey, the completion of which is the eternal embrace of God. In their memory, “You Have a Journey to complete” takes on a prayerful quality.

Advent is in itself a journey, and often with all the activities, obligations, and short duration it can feel like a program to “complete.” The destination: Christmas. The goal: To survive. But perhaps this year it can assume the spirit of a journey, an “Advent-sure,” a being “on the way.” Instead of a “Journey to Bethlehem,” perhaps a daily, renewed focus on prayer, on walking, on thankfulness, on hungering for justice. We are not accumulating points for completion (like the wellness program), but daily renewing our vigor for the journey. For the journey leads not to an end, but to the “Nativity of our Lord;” it culminates not in conclusion, but rather in the surprise of Immanuel, God with us.

Bless you on your Advent Journey.