DAVE SAMSON
Julie Aageson, resource director for the Eastern North Dakota Synod and coordinator for the ELCA’s 76 centers, is ready to provide materials, information and support to congregations and their leaders for “building up the body of Christ.”
Resource Center I
Today it’s more about networking than materials on hand By Linda Nansteel Lovell
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f Lutherans were asked to define resource center, how many would respond along the lines of “a place for books and DVDs”? Perhaps some of the savvier would add that the center’s catalog is online. But ask directors of ELCA resource centers the same question, and you’ll
get a different response. Darlene Kalfahs, resource director for the East Central Synod of Wisconsin in Appleton, said it’s a place for lay and clergy leaders “to discover resources, share ideas and brainstorm with experienced people who truly care about the ministry they do.” Karen Kaufman of the Northeastern Ohio Synod Resource Center, Cuyahoga Falls, said it’s “a link to a vast network of human and published resources” that support and inspire congregational leaders. As an example, Julie Aageson, resource director for the Eastern North Dakota Synod, recounted a recent conversation with a first-call pastor. He
Lovell is a freelance writer living in Ellicott City, Md. 36 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
told her the small congregation had no history of a Christian education committee. Instead, the council would identify a per- son to coordinate all education for a three- year term, at the end of which the member typically felt burned out and left the church. The pastor asked Aageson to help him introduce the congre- gation to the idea of faith formation, baptis- mal calling and minis- try teams. Later that day, Aageson saw a note
online about Augsburg Fortress’ resources on faith formation, includ- ing events in May, June and August. All seemed tailor-made for the pas- tor and his council, she said. It’s bringing together people and resources that makes Aageson and other directors so passionate about their ministries.
Cindi Eckert, director of the Sierra Pacific Synod Resource Center in Fresno, Calif., said she is “surrounded by the word of God all day long, and everyone who [visits] is also craving that piece of grace that we so dearly hold close to our hearts.” That’s not to say that all requests
made of the ELCA’s 76 resource centers are for religious materials. In addition to DVDs and curricula, Eckert said she gets many requests from people seeking help paying rent and utilities. But it’s more com- mon for people to ask for help find- ing stewardship, youth ministry and curriculum materials. How Lutherans Interpret the
Bible, a DVD featuring ELCA theo- logian Mark Allan Powell, is very
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