Luther Memorial
Fall 2011 Vol. 1 | No. 1
Weathering the storm: Meeting challenges in the face of adversity Amazing ministry:
Appalachia Service Project
The columbarium: A gift to and from our church family
Volunteer spotlight:
The Uphoff family
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Luther Memorial
Fall 2011 Vol. 1 | No. 1
Departments 1
Letter from the pastor The Rev. Franklin Wilson
Features 2 The columbarium: A gift to and from our church family Petra Ressler
7 Music
3 Volunteer spotlight: The Uphoff family Kathy Seifert
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4 Weathering the storm: Meeting challenges in the face of adversity Douglas Swiggum
Bruce Bengtson
Fact or folklore Walt Miner
8 Snapshots
6 A Taste of Luther Memorial cookbook Suelyn Swiggum 8 Poetry: “Noteworthy” The Rev. Brent Christianson 9 Amazing ministry: Appalachia Service Project Mary Powell
Luther Memorial Church 1021 University Avenue . Madison, Wisconsin 53715 608.258.3160 Senior Pastor The Rev. Franklin Wilson Associate Pastor The Rev. Brad Pohlman Editor The Rev. Franklin Wilson Managing Editor Robin Wagner Administrator Kim O’Leary Photographers Suelyn Swiggum, Robin Wagner
Luther Memorial magazine is online at www.luthermem.org. To subscribe: 1021 University Avenue . Madison, WI 53715 www.luthermem.org/subscribe . magazine@luthermem.org . 608.258.3160 To submit articles: Email to magazine@luthermem.org by January 13, 2012, for publication in the next issue, Winter 2012. Luther Memorial magazine (USPS 588-600) is published by Luther Memorial Church. Periodicals postage paid at Madison, WI. Known office of publication: 1021 University Avenue, Madison, WI. 53715-1041. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Avenue, Madison, WI. 53715-1041.
LETTER FROM THE PASTOR
Challenges reveal Christ’s mercy Welcome to Luther Memorial magazine. As the cover photo and feature article suggest, this inaugural issue’s theme is “challenges” — things that call forth our identity, who and what Luther Memorial Church is, the why and how, who and what, of all we do. The cover image of workers laboring precariously beneath the cross proclaims the church’s life and work. We, too, labor beneath the cross. Our lives are also precarious as we serve a crucified and risen Lord amid the gravitational tugs and pulls of uncertain times, financial stress and strain, and the changing landscape of a campus community, itself struggling to stay aloft amid the crosswinds of political and economic shift. As workers are challenged to reach out and support one another, so too the church is challenged to reach out in service of Christ and neighbor. Luther Memorial Church reaches out through all manner of people and ministries — yourself included! I hope that through the words and images of this magazine you, too, will feel inspired to see yourself as a servant-worker extending yourself in service of Christ, his church and the world. Luther Memorial’s ministry is a shared ministry — our mutual life of service in liturgy, learning, song, prayer and daily work. Not all buildings soar like Luther Memorial Church. Not all uplift. Not all invite and inspire. But Christ can and does use even the most humble structure to protect, comfort and nurture. Members and friends of Luther Memorial learned and relearned these things this past July in Kentucky serving in the Appalachian Service Project. Among humble people in marginal homes, we were reminded not only of our relative material wealth, but also of Christ’s unlimited mercy: he is home, building and shelter amid life’s challenges. Every challenge teaches anew that Christ continues to support and inspire the ministry and mission of Luther Memorial Church. Welcome! In Christ,
The Rev. Franklin Wilson Senior Pastor
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WITHIN THESE WALLS
A gift to and from our church family Claude Taylor served as a board member when the Luther Memorial columbarium was created. When Claude died, his widow, Irma, and their children changed their minds about his final resting place. They decided to have Claude’s body buried at Madison’s Forest Hill Cemetery. They then returned their columbarium niche as a gift to the church to be used by someone unable to purchase a resting place of their own. Indeed Claude knew my parents, Theodore H. and Alice Schutt Ressler, who donated seed money for our columbarium. When my parents relocated here from the East Coast, they brought with them the idea of a columbarium. My father was a retired pastor (ULCA, LCA and ELCA) and my mother was a retired New York City elementary school teacher. Like the Taylors, they, too, had changed their minds about the final disposition of their earthly remains. Instead of a New Jersey church yard, they hoped for the creation of an interior burial space here at Luther Memorial Church. My parents’ ashes now rest inurned in Luther Memorial’s columbarium, their names and dates carved in stone. If you visit the columbarium you can read about them in the memory book. Each page is devoted to the life of someone inurned in the columbarium. A recent entry recalls longtime member Barbara Ann Hennings. Barb had wanted her ashes to rest at Luther Memorial but she couldn’t afford a niche. The Taylor family’s gift 2
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realized Barb’s hope, and her ashes now reside in the columbarium. Just before she died, Barb learned of Irma Taylor’s generosity. Barb was overjoyed that the Luther Memorial columbarium would receive her cremated remains. Baptismal water is thicker than blood. In Christ Jesus, church relatives are closer than blood relations. Irma and her family acted in Christian solidarity by providing generous assistance to Barbara, who had been left without family related by blood. As the columbarium’s baptismal font declares, through baptism the church became Barb’s family. Irma told me that Claude would also have been pleased to know their gift was used in this way. They had both known Barb over many years at Luther Memorial. The columbarium celebrates the gift of our shared life in Christ. With all the saints, including Claude and Irma Taylor, Barbara Hennings, Alice and Ted Ressler and countless others, we share the gift of new life in Christ. This gift is seldom clearer than on All Saints Sunday, celebrated this year on November 6. Be sure to be here for Holy Communion as we remember all who died since All Saints Sunday last year. As each person is named, a bell will chime and baptismal water will be poured in proclamation of Christ’s death and resurrection, his gift of new life to us.
PETRA RESSLER is a board member of the Luther Memorial Church columbarium.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
The Uphoff family Have you wondered who has provided the delicious pork for the Taste of LM Ministry Fair & Pig Roast, and how the huge Christmas trees get to Luther Memorial each December? We are blessed with one family that owns a big truck: Bob Uphoff, his wife Julia, and sons Chris and Brian, who own and work the huge Uphoff Ham and Bacon Farm in Madison. The Uphoffs have been recognized nationally for their stewardship of the land and environment. With 800 acres of crops and a daily inventory of over a thousand animals, the family is always busy. Last year the Uphoffs invited the Luther Memorial Youth Group to tour the farm, giving the group a flavor of modern farming and a better understanding of the commitment farmers make to provide food security to a growing world population. Bob feels blessed to be able to operate this family farm that has been in the Uphoff family since 1866. Bob’s grandparents, Fred and Flora Uphoff, joined Luther Memorial early in the life of the church. Bob’s father, Fred Jr., was 12 years old in 1923 when he and his parents took part in the procession down University Avenue, when the congregation moved from its original location at 626 University Avenue (currently the Church Key Pub & Grill) to its current site. Fred Jr. often told of that very proud day. He attended confirmation classes at Luther Memorial, riding his horse in from the farm and stabling it at his aunt’s house on West Dayton Street. He married Flora at Luther Memorial and continued the family’s involvement at the church. Their son Bob was baptized, attended Sunday School in the thennew education wing, was confirmed, and later married Julia at Luther Memorial in 1981. Chris and Brian were also baptized and confirmed at Luther Memorial. Over the years Bob has served on a number of committees, including youth, finance, property, facilities and budget. He also served on the Executive Committee and several call committees. Bob is currently serving his second term on the Congregation Council. He has been a lector, crucifer and communion assistant, but especially enjoys his longstanding service as an usher, which he has done “almost forever.” If it is the third Sunday of the month at the 10:30 service, he and his son Chris are ushering and Brian is the crucifer. Longtime members will remember Chris and Brian as toddlers when they began helping their dad usher.
(L - R) Chris, Bob, Julia and Brian Uphoff
Bob doesn’t have much time left for hobbies, but along with the whole family he competes in tractor pulls with their 1800-hp Mini Rod tractor in the summers. Julia has worked at Davis Duehr Dean for more than 30 years and loves to make jewelry, scrapbook, read, garden and cook for her family. Chris is a graduate of the UW–Madison Farm and Industry Short Course, and Brian, who graduated last May from Oregon High School, will continue his education in the same program this fall. Both Chris and Brian work with their dad and look forward to a long future in farming. Chris was a professional bull rider for a few years but now spends his free time hunting, fishing and working on the pit crew of a local race car. While Brian was in high school he was active in Future Farmers of America, serving in various leadership roles including president, and had a successful career as a wrestler. Brian served as a youth member on the Congregation Council and was its parliamentarian in 2010. Luther Memorial has meant a lot to the Uphoff family. Bob says, “It’s not just a building, it’s the people and the spirit of God that brings life to Luther Memorial. It’s easy to call this home.” KATHY SEIFERT is involved in many volunteer events and activities at Luther Memorial Church.
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Luther Memorial Church is large. That is, our building is big and built for a big congregation. Over the years, much of the seating areas have been repurposed or removed so that now we can seat about half the number of people for which the space was originally designed. Yet the building remains large. Sometimes we complain that the building is too large for the congregation to support, especially in the context of establishing a budget for heat, lights, air conditioning and maintenance. This of course comes up on an annual basis, and sometimes additionally at crisis moments when something needs to be repaired immediately with no preparation or planning for the expense. This concern is usually followed by a statement like “Wouldn’t the money be better spent on the homeless or the hungry?” It’s hard to argue with that. We are called as Christians to meet the needs of the poor, even as we include ourselves in their lot. I would like to turn the question upside down and at the same time, turn the church building upside down. I beg the reader’s patience; you will see where I am going with this in a moment. Here is the upside down question: “How does this large building support us, the congregation?”
Weathering the storm: Meeting challenges in the face of adversity
Those who built our church 90 years ago had a grand vision. We must see ourselves participating in an equally large plan to carry the purpose of this place into the future. DOUGLAS SWIGGUM 4
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I have been involved in many ways with Luther Memorial Church over the years on various committees, council, choir and task forces. One of my most significant tasks has been related to the Facilities Committee and a number of repair and renovation projects. I have spent many hours in the building fixing lights, analyzing HVAC problems, even trying to eliminate the sewer smell from the undercroft. Fairly mundane stuff, but it has given me a very intimate familiarity with our building. After the nave lighting project in 2004, I have a recurring thought about the word “nave,” and how we are all connected to this building. The previous nave lighting consisted of gymnasium-style lights mounted at the very peak of the ceiling. Because of their distance, they had to be very bright. When you looked up, you would be blinded. The rest of the ceiling was darkness in contrast. The new lighting was hung about half way down over the pews, so it did not need to be so blinding. Also, it included up-lights which allowed us to see and appreciate the beauty of our ceiling.
Here is the upside down question: “How does this large building support us, the congregation?” the rain and the thunder beginning, and then Noah’s response: “Okay Lord, me and you, right?”
The vaulted nave arches resemble the ribs of a naval vessel.
I had heard the connection between the word “nave” (from the Latin nāvis, which means “ship”) and Noah’s ark. With the new lighting, I could look up, see the arches, and imagine the ribs of a great ship. It is thought that the word “nave” stems from the vaulting architecture of great cathedrals resembling ribs of a naval vessel, upside down, protecting the congregation. In connection with that, I recall a story I listened to on the phonograph over and over as a child. My father, like many others, was a big fan of Bill Cosby, and had several of his LP records with monologues. One was called “Right!” and had a story about Noah and the ark. In the story, Cosby recalls the conversations between Noah and the Lord where the task is laid out for Noah, with the resulting problems with Noah’s neighbors and the difficulty in populating the ark with two of each creature. One of my favorite lines is Noah’s complaint: “Have you looked at the bottom of that ark? No! Who’s going to clean up that mess down there? Not me! I’ll tell ya, I’ve had enough of this!” As he continues to complain, we hear
Being involved in the Facilities Committee at Luther Memorial Church is something like being one of Noah’s family on the ark. It is a big boat, and there is a lot of work involved in keeping it afloat. It always has a leak somewhere. Our custodian Dan Zerger regularly sweeps up bat guano, but hopefully he’ll never have to shovel the manure like Noah did! In the day to day maintenance of our building, it is easy to forget that we will not always be at sea, but that some day the ark will come to dry land. And that is the point. The ark is not simply an object in the story — it is a character as well. It has purpose and action. Through the Lord’s will and Noah’s hands, the ark is built and then the rain comes. The ark is the vessel that carries all creation safely through calamity.
They were going to build a really big boat. What would the neighbors think? They had no idea of the stormy seas that would assail it. But they built it, and here it is. We are faced with maintaining this structure and are shocked by the expense. As I write this, we are replacing gutters and repairing walls on the west side of our nave. The price tag is high. The purpose is to keep afloat the vessel that protects the Lord’s creation through calamity. Many of us who are members here have come on board in need of protection, safety or care. Many of us now find ourselves in Noah’s family tending the boat; and tending the cargo. Okay Lord, me and you, right?
Our building is here. It sits in the middle of a university campus and a city where many people are adrift. It calls people in through its doors for any number of reasons; and it works silently, every day, just by being where it is. We may never know the extent of the safety and protection it has provided to those who enter. We do know that many of our lives would be diminished if it weren’t here in the first place. About 100 years ago, a small group of people heard the Lord talking to them, saying “Noah, I want you to build an ark!” I look at the cornerstone on the north face of our building, carved with the numerals “1921” and I think about the audacity of those people, to imagine something so large and so substantial.
(L - R) Chris Zieroth, Adam McCartney and Cory Bonlender of Millen Roofing have been repairing the church roof during sunny summer days. They all have at least 8 years experience in roofing. Although our roof presents unique challenges with the fragile French tile, steepness and height, the workers feel perfectly safe on our roof . . . as long as they don’t look down.
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A Taste of Luther Memorial cookbook A little over a year ago, a small group began meeting with a vision to create a new Luther Memorial cookbook. In the history of our century-old congregation, there has only been one other: The Luther Memorial Woman’s Guild Cook Book, printed sometime around 1940. Confident that Lutherans still love to cook, eat and share recipes, the cookbook committee started collecting recipes from Luther Memorial family and friends, near and far. We are grateful to all who contributed! Eleven months and 382 delicious recipes later, the book has gone to the printer. A special thanks goes to the cookbook committee: Ann Combs, Carol Noreen, Angela Read, Lori Scarlett and Lynn Washington.
Potluck Celebration: November 19 In celebration of Luther Memorial’s new cookbook, a congregational potluck has been planned for Saturday, Nov. 19, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Great Room. You are invited to bring samples of your recipes or another favorite dish to share. The celebration will include games, door prizes and fun for the whole family. Cookbooks will be available for the first time that evening for pick up and purchase. Lots of reasons to build up an appetite! We hope to see you at the Taste of Luther Memorial congregational potluck and cookbook launch.
Cookbooks may be purchased at the welcome desk on Sundays. For more information, contact Suelyn Swiggum at (608) 258-3160, ext. 15 or
SUELYN SWIGGUM is mission resource coordinator at Luther Memorial Church.
swiggum@luthermem.org.
A sneak peek at recipes from A Taste of Luther Memorial Minestrone Soup
Easy Low-Fat Acorn Squash
28 oz. beef broth 1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano 1 can kidney beans, drained 1 lb. ground beef, browned 1 carrot, sliced 1 stalk celery, sliced 1/2 tsp. basil
1 acorn squash water 1/4 – 1/2 cup raisins 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, broken up 1/2 – 3/4 cup applesauce
Combine all ingredients and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes. Submitted by Cheryl Porter
Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down in water 1/4 inch deep. Bake at 350 – 400 degrees for 45 minutes or microwave for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Meanwhile, mix raisins, nuts and applesauce. Turn squash over. Spoon half of fruit mixture into each half of squash. Return pan to oven and continue baking until filling is hot. Submitted by Bonnie Gruber
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MUSIC
A unique instrument Is it a bird, is it a plane? No — it’s an instrument! At least that’s what your director of music thinks when he accompanies the singing of the congregation. It has been part of my life’s work to better understand the nature of group singing: to think of the congregation not as a bunch of people, but rather as a unique instrument with its own sound, physical nature and expression. Combine this instrument with a spacious, reverberant room, and one has to work hard to know when to accompany and when to lead, when to blend into the sound and when to take the “bull by the horns” and make decisions about tempo and volume.
I remind myself that every time a group of people starts to sing, it is not a group of people singing! It is an event, like the first day of creation or having Jesus appear in the upper room when the doors were locked . . . something that was not there a minute ago, and now IS! My task is to enable this singing, taking into account the need to breathe, to phonate, to express; to relate the movement of fingers on a keyboard to the physical movement of diaphragm, lungs, throat, tongue and lips, knowing that these very physical things are directly connected to the life of the spirit, mind and heart.
There is so much more to playing for church than finding the “on-switch” to the organ and then hitting as many right notes as possible. Life is a gift, and each day is a glorious unwrapping. Thank you for your partnership in this process!
BRUCE BENGTSON is director of music at Luther Memorial Church.
FACT OR FOLKLORE
Blessed deliverance through the years In early 1929 the still-young Luther Memorial Church had grown amazingly in membership and just six years earlier had built the largest church building in Madison, with congregational programs to match. Pastor A. J. Soldan, the chief mover of that achievement, had accepted a call to California in April. In September Pastor Carroll J. Rockey arrived and launched a campaign to raise $100,000 toward paying down the $225,000 mortgage (worth many millions in today’s currency). Just one month later, the U. S. stock market crashed, and the worldwide Great Depression followed. The $100,000 fund campaign brought only $40,000 in pledges, of which only $8,000 was actually received. Membership declined sharply. By 1937 mortgage payments were far in arrears, and creditors were insistent. A bankruptcy sale of the church property was ordered. But with the resulting sale came also a blessing. The property was indeed sold, but not by the county sheriff: the national United Lutheran Church (then financially strong) was the purchaser, through its Board of American Missions, and deeded the whole property back to the congregation for the startling bargain price it had paid: $3,000 cash plus a $50,000 mortgage. The church set about rebuilding its membership, hope and determination to survive.
of World War II in 1945 brought home millions of military men and women, followed by whole new subdivisions of housing in Madison as throughout the country. That led to what came to be called the Baby Boom generation (today entering retirement age), which with other new members brought Luther Memorial to the largest size in its history, and a deepening of liturgical worship that has ever since been a principal feature of its life. The mortgage was paid off in 1948. Since then building expansion and renovation have been frequent and sometimes extensive, silently encouraged by that earlier and blessed deliverance. WALT MINER is Luther Memorial Church’s parish historian.
The anxiety, discouragement and danger of failure in those days was so great it is hard to imagine or describe. Yet the congregation not only endured that experience, but was seasoned, toughened, strengthened and enriched. The end
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POETRY
SNAPSHOTS
Noteworthy I am the b flat dotted sixteenth dropped into the allegro non troppo near the end of the second movement. Nobody hears me, not even the conductor who is worrying whether the hungover oboe player glancing at the third violinist will catch the down beat. I’m there and gone as the piece moves into an adagio that leaves the audience in tears. They will go home happy and moved, glad they came to hear the music. But none will remember the b flat in the second movement a flyspeck from the composer’s mind.
A group from Luther Memorial traveled through Germany June 16–23 and toured the Wartburg Castle, which overlooks Eisenach.
If I could melt into the paper no one would miss me beyond the other notes in my measure. But then the timing would be off. The allegro would be too troppo the adagio all wrong and the beginning or the end off balance and the violinist would slap the oboist when she tried to steal a kiss and the audience would go home unhappy and the conductor might be fired.
At Stadtkirche (City Church) in Wittenberg, a local guide (far right) describes the font at which Martin Luther’s children were baptized to (L - R) Harley Lemkuil, Dick & Diane Hollum, Bill Braham and Natalie Paalu.
So I rise out of the paper, take my place, and tap the sound slipping over me.
THE REV. BRENT CHRISTIANSON is campus pastor and director of the Lutheran Campus Center. “Noteworthy” first appeared in Main Channel Voices. 8
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The city of Erfurt offered picturesque cobblestone streets, typical of many German cities.
Amazing ministry:
Appalachia Service Project is a home repair ministry in Central Appalachia. Participants spend a week working to make homes of economically needy families warmer, safer and drier. In the heat and humidity of late July, 18 youth and adults from Luther Memorial journeyed to Chavies, a town in eastern Kentucky, where it was even hotter and more humid. In three crews of six each, they improved the houses of several homeowners. Housing and meals were provided in the year-round center there, which was staffed by four trained college students. The week was the most exhilarating, exhausting, rewarding, frustrating and memorable week of the whole summer. MARY POWELL and her husband Lee are longtime leaders of youth mission trips at Luther Memorial Church.
Youth and adults prepare to depart on the ASP trip to Perry County, Kentucky. Top row (L - R): Brenda Ryther, Joe Ryther-Clark, Andrew Gaard, Caleb Scarlett, Pastor Franklin Wilson, Carl Messer, Anders Ohm and Taylor Day. Bottom row (L - R): Linde Sundell, Al Larson, Diane Norback, Lee Powell, Dave Zentner, Judy Braham, Clarissa Pohlman, Mary Powell, Helena Oddo and Madison Tomony.
(L - R) Mary Powell, a homeowner with her dog, Precious, Clarissa Pohlman, Madison Tomony, Al Larson and Anders Ohm.
(L - R) Joe Ryther-Clark, Helena Oddo, Clarissa Pohlman, Madison Tomony, Taylor Day and Anders Ohm.
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Luther Memorial Luther Memorial Church 1021 University Avenue Madison, WI 53715
Youth, Young Adults & the Future of the Church Fall Congregational Banquet Saturday, Oct. 22 6 p.m.
The Rev. Dr. Maria Erling
Luther Memorial’s fall congregational banquet will feature the Rev. Dr. Maria Erling, professor of modern church history and global missions at Gettysburg Seminary. An engaging speaker, she also co-authored The Augustana Story: Shaping North American Lutheranism, published by Augsburg Fortress in 2008.
Looking ahead All Saints Choral Evening Prayer Sunday, Nov. 6 | 5 p.m. Congregational Potluck Saturday, Nov. 19 | 5:30 p.m. Thanksgiving Eve Service Wednesday, Nov. 23 | 7 p.m. Christmas Eve Services Saturday, Dec. 24 | 5 p.m., 11 p.m. Christmas Carol Sing Saturday, Dec. 24 | 10:30 p.m. Christmas Day Service Sunday, Dec. 25 | 10:30 a.m. Third Day Carol Sing Tuesday, Dec. 27 | 7 p.m. St. Olaf Centennial Choir Concert Saturday, Jan. 28 | 8 p.m.