Reflections )On A Long And Blessed Life No.46: Pastor-Principal Relationship

 Anyone who has been active in Lutheran elementary schools knows that the relationship between the principal of the school and the pastor of the sponsoring congregation is vital for the school’s success. And this was even more important in the 1950:s when the relationship between the school and the congregation was more mutually dependent than it is now.

My first pastor was someone I will simply designate as Pr. RB. He entered the pastoral ministry later in life, leaving a successful business as a mechanic. There was a crisis in his life and he promised God that if God got him out of the crisis he would become a pastor. I am glad the crisis was resolved and I wish he had remained a mechanic. He was better qualified for that than for serving as a parish pastor.

He was a good man. He had a special heart for the poor, especially also the homeless. He never turned down a beggar who showed up at his door. He often found some small task or assignment for the needy but then he helped.

He was very supportive of the school and was, in fact, the founding pastor of the school. His wife taught in the school. H e was kind to me. But there was a major issue. He was (I am firmly convinced) an alcoholic. He denied this. His wife was an enabler. He kept liquor right next to him in his office desk.

The situation became very public more than once, but especially at a Lenten worship service. As he began to lead the service it was obvious to all that he “was under the influence”. After the initial reading I hurried to the closed area behind the altar and met him there while the next hymn was being sung. I told him ,”Pastor, it looks like you are not well. I do not think you can continue with the sermon. Just let me go out and explain that you are not well. I will give a brief message.” He resisted me. When I insisted it almost became physical so I let him continue. By the next morning  the word was buzzing throughout the town of Tracy. “Last night the pastor of The Lutheran Church showed up to preach-and he was drunk.”

We attempted interventions with the District (Synod). Unfortunately they just transferred the problem. He served one parish after another with the same “issue” making him ineffective. Seven years later we had a dinner appointment with him. When we got to his home his wife said “I am sorry. R. cannot be with us. He is not well. He cannot speak to or be with you.”

--> As I reflect on this whole experience I recall that I may have been a threat to him. I was young and eager and creative. I had the full support of the school and congregation. People were coming to me with their “pastoral problems.” I wish I had been more supportive and more confrontive. May he rest in peace.

Reflections On A Long And Blessed Life: No. 45: The Walther League

 The Walther League played a significant role in my life. Begun in 1893 and named after C.F. W. Walther the first president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod the League was the official youth organization of that denomination. One became eligible for membership after the ritual of confirmation, usually at the 7^th or 8^th grade level. It was an important rite of passage to be accepted as a member. I vividly remember that I was confirmed on Palm Sunday in 1940 and it was a big deal that the following Sunday I was allowed for the first time to participate in the League-sponsored Easter egg hunt.

My father was the counselor for the Zion Lutheran Walther League of which I was a member. We met almost every Sunday evening. Every meeting was required to have three components: Christian Growth, which meant we had an hour or so of Bible study, which we always called Topic Discussion. Then there was time to plan a Christian Service project such as cleaning church property, raising money for national projects et sim. And the third important function was Christian Fellowship which meant games, hay rides, scavenger hunts, wink-um et sim. It was at Walther League that many of my contemporaries courted, fell in love with and pursued their first spouse. I can still sing the Walther League song, ”Walther Leaguers, Walther Leaguers, One and all are we: Serving Jesus Christ, our Savior who has made us free; Walther Leaguers, Walther Leaguers, where-so-ere we roam; Working and praying for our church and home.”

Part of my first official work assignment was to be Youth Director. I worked hard at it with our little Walther League group in Tracy. We faithfully focused on the three aspects mentioned above. We stayed involved at the “zone level” which took us to neighboring churches in Stockton, Modesto, and Turlock. And we got involved with our District Summer Camps at beautiful Asilomar. A little remembrance of League Summer  Camp: Our pastor’s son joined us. He “enjoyed” his freedom from his parents so much that after the second year he was banned from attending.

The Walther League no longer exists. The denomination leaders got unhappy with some of the way too liberal activities of the League with the breaking point coming when the League invited Pete Seeger to attend and sing at one of their national conventions.

The League continued to impact me in a variety of ways through much of my career. When I was in Hong Kong it was the Walther League (and Wheat Ridge) that sponsored Haven of Hope T.B Sanitarium that was a place of healing and hope for many. Years later I was a counselor for a tour group that took me to clinics all over Southern India, the result of work begun by the Walther League and continued by Wheat Ridge Ministries. In my retirement I served as a part time field rep for that same organization. These on-going connections were helpful in getting start-up grants for two recent organizations, which are sill important to me: RESOUNDING JOY and Survivors of Torture, Inc.

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Yet, in a strange way what I seem to remember most is that Sunday after Sunday my assignment was “go to the Walther League meeting”.  Jane will tell you that now on more Sundays than not, as we drive home from Sunday morning worship, I announce, “Thank God I do not have Walther League tonight!

Reflections On A Long and Blessed Life, No. 44:Paradigm SHifts

 ParadigmShifts. 1950 is so long ago I think no one was even using the now over-used term “paradigm shifts”. But for Lutheran schools the early 50’s was indeed a time for great shifts in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod school model. The traditional model was as old as the Synod itself. LCMS congregations were expected to operate elementary schools. This was such an essential element for parish life that it was even written into the Synod’s constitution that every congregation was expected to operate its own school.

Elements of that model included the following. The congregation would operate the school. It would employ exclusively teachers (almost always males) who had been trained in the LCMS teacher training system and the Synod had established two teachers colleges (one in River Forest, IL and one in Seward NB to ensure a steady supply of teachers. Teachers were to be “called”-not contracted. They were considered “ministers of religion” by both church and state. They had life tenure and could be dismissed for only three reasons: teaching false doctrine, gross neglect of duties or immoral public display of behavior. They were to be provided housing by the calling congregation, usually in a congregation owned home called a “teacherage”. These teachers had special responsibilities in the congregation for which they received no special income. Most of them were church organists and choir directors and/or youth directors for the official youth group called The Walther League.

All congregation members were expected to send their children to the Lutheran school. I remember discussion when I was growing up as to whether or not a couple could be excommunicated from the church for sending their children to the public school rather than to the parochial one. Enrolling children who were not baptized members of the congregation was rare.

Financing was completely through the congregation budget-by the regular offerings of congregation members. Tuition was not considered an option.  Receiving state or federal funds was not on any Lutheran school’s agenda.

The role of the principal was to the best of my knowledge not a full-time position in any Lutheran elementary school in 1950.All of this was changing in the 1940’s and early 50”s especially on the East Coast in New York and on the West Coast in California. And that was also happening at St. Paul  Lutheran School in Tracy to which I was assigned. I did have the traditional “call”. I was teacher of grades 4-8 and was the principal. I was the Youth Director responsible for meetings with the youth every single Sunday night. (Note: Today in retirement I often say to my wife Jane as we drive home from church on Sunday morning, “Thank God, I do not have Walther League tonight!”) I was responsible for the Sunday School’s teacher training meetings twice a month. I was not the organist (for which everyone was thankful) but I did play the organ while the organist went to communion. Later the organist was my wife Jane, more about that in a later Blog. Of course, it was my responsibility to organize and run an annual Vacation Bible School.

But changes were coming fast. At least half of the children in my school were non-members. They paid tuition, though I think it was only $10.00 a month. My first year we had a non-Synodically-trained woman teacher in grades 1-3. It was important to know who the “non-member” children were. It was important to NOT have the reputation that the Lutheran school was somehow there for kids who could nor make it in the public school. In Tracy it was significant that both the small city’s top medical doctor and the top dentist sent their children to “the Lutheran school.” I am grateful to say that I embraced the “new paradigm” fully. I recruited from the entire neighborhood and was pleased that after 3 years we were over capacity in enrollment. I was also grateful that more women teachers were available and I utilized interns and graduates from both River Forest and Seward. The role of the principal was expanding and I was very pleased to attend a semi-annual principals conference with my area colleagues. Fund raising was a new and critical responsibility. It took a great deal of my time and I did not do an excellent job.

I was at Tracy for 4 years. It was a very different Lutheran school from the one I attended in Walburg, Texas but it was Lutheran, had member and non-member children, was supported by congregation and tuition, and was well respected by the neighborhood.  It was challenging and rewarding and it prepared me for challenges and opportunities in my future career.

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Reflections On A Long and Blessed Life, No. 43: The Paulsons

My life and work in my first post-graduation life was greatly enriched through the friendship of John and Margaret Paulson. They were the parents of 2 boys and 2 girls and were major Central California growers. At one point they had over a section (640 acres) of land under irrigation and production. They raised tons of tomatoes, loads of melons, bushels of almonds. All irrigated by Central California water lines. All of it picked by hand by migrant Mexican laborers and hauled to the tomato and other plants in massive trucks.

But more important than the crops they cultivated was the people they raised, people, including me. They lived too far out in the country to send their children to my Lutheran school but they were amazingly open to this single guy and later to Jane, then to our son David and eventually to our whole family of seven.

I had barely arrived when they had me out to their beautiful home sitting among their vast acreage. Since I had no car of my own they picked me up for meals and then returned me. They served wonderful food and introduced me to the whole concept of farming with irrigated water (something I had not seen in the Texas farms of my youth). They were by far the most generous contributors of the congregation and when money was short (as it seemed to always be) they would come through and eventually I would get my salary.

When our first son, David, was born naturally Margaret was a sponsor (godparent). Later when our first daughter was born we named her Margaret.

Their children were models of good behavior and commitment. Their eldest became a Lutheran pastor, the next eldest a Commissioned Lutheran teacher who later married a pastor. The next daughter was/is my goddaughter and still is a successful California famer. The youngest son was/is a community leader.

But there is also sadness. One year John borrowed a lot of money (as he did every year) to plant and irrigate his crops that in this particular year focused upon acres and acres of melons of various kinds. Just when the harvest season arrived rains came-and they kept coming and kept coming. They prevented the fields from being harvested. Not a single melon was ever picked and delivered. So there was not only no profit, there was no money to repay the short-term loan. The lending bank was merciless. It moved in, took John and Margaret’s land leaving them only their home. This was devastating. But they remained steadfast, continued to work as tenant farmers and eventually retired. After John’s death his son told me, “You know dad scrimped and worked and saved and he eventually paid back ever penny of that debt that they owed, but never got their farm back.”

Meanwhile their friendship with us endured. They wonderfully took Jane and me to San Francisco on the night before we left for our first term of service in Hong Kong. They rook us to the famous Mark Hopkins Hotel. There they treated us to a dinner in an environment the likes of which we had never experienced before. They sent us gifts while we were in Hong Kong. When my wife Jane was flown home due to a medical emergency and we had to spend a night in San Francisco between airplane flights they heard about our situation. They came to he airport, picked up our five kids, took them for the night and returned them the next morning with every single one of them decked out in a completely new suit of clothes.

Later they suffered deep disappointment at St. Paul’s church. The new pastor decided that “contemporary worship” was the only way to go. The Paulsons’ (and other’s) preference for the traditional liturgies were ignored. (They were finally offered a Saturday morning worship opportunity.) The Paulsons left St. Paul’s and when we, a few years ago, went to their burials and memorials these were not held at St. Paul’s. Nevertheless the memory of them is forever etched into my memory and into my heart. They were critical in helping me (and Jane) get off to a wonderful start in our careers and ministry.

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Reflections On A Long and Blessed Life No.42

As mentioned earlier: When I graduated from college I was “assigned” to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School in Tracy California. My job assignment was to teach grades 4-8, serve as principal, and be the congregation’s Director of Youth and Christian Education. I was single. Upon arrival I was informed about my plan for living arrangements. I was to live with the family of Lydia and Arnold Zielske and their three children. I was assigned a bedroom and a shared bath. It was just a block off Main Street and 4 blocks from the school. Lydia provided all my meals including packed sandwiches for lunch .I think the cost was $85.00 a month. It was good deal in every way.

The Zielskes treated me with respect and then affection. Lydia introduced me to foods like lasagna which I had never eaten in Texas. And she had a brother in Lodi CA 70 miles away whom we visited together. He was the master wine maker at a well-known winery and introduced me to the wonderful variety of wines. Prior to that I only drank what I now remember as terrible: Manischewitz, a very sweet red wine!

Arnold was a devoted father and husband. He knew that his intelligence was not a match for Lydia’s and he accepted that. He had a job as a radio repairperson and he did that well. The situation got a little complicated because I had the eldest daughter as a student in my classroom. She was a sweet but underperforming student who tragically died of cancer at a young age.

The Zielslke’s had a most interesting and unique travel habit. As mentioned above we often visited some of the Zielski family in Lodi. We would arrive home well after midnight. Arnie would drive the car into the garage and close the door behind him. Then, at his suggestion, we all stayed in the car and just slept there for about 30 minutes, then picked up ourselves and the sleeping kids and went into our beds in the house and slept there till morning.

The family stayed in touch with me through the years. Some 20 years later they came to visit me in St. Louis. One little interesting detail of that visit is that Arnie asked me to assist him in purchasing the full multi-volume set of all the writings of Martin Luther. I doubt that he ever got through that virtual library! But I am eternally grateful to the Zielske’s for helping me get off well in my professional career.

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