If I had a hero it would be Eric Norelius, a Swedish Lutheran pastor who came to this country in 1856 and began by serving two congregations, in Red Wing and Vasa, MN. I first became aware of Norelius because the education building at my internship congregation, First Lutheran Church of St. Paul, MN was named after him. First Lutheran Church was the oldest Lutheran Church in Minnesota, and in the early years, lacking a pastor of their own, Norelius would come up from Red Wing to help them. On one such trip the congregation approached him about a family that had just arrived from Sweden. Shortly after arrival, both the father and mother had died, leaving four children alone. Norelius decided to take them home with him.
The next Sunday the congregation in Red Wing decided to hire a woman to care for the children, and the congregation in Vasa opened its basement as a home for them. Shortly after founding this orphanage, Norelius, together with other Swedish Lutherans started a home for the elderly in Chisago City. In time these two simple acts of charity ended up becoming Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota and Ecumen (one of the countries largest providers of senior housing).
There was also a need for pastoral leadership as more and more Swedes kept arriving in Minnesota, and Norelius began taking young men into his home to train them for ordained ministry. Thus, Gustavus Adolphus College of St. Peter was born. Norelius was instrumental in the organization of the Augustana Synod and became its first president.
Now I would guess that when Norelius brought those four children home that night he was not thinking about establishing one of the largest social ministry organizations in the country. Probably he was most concerned about what his wife would say.
But if he were Bipolar, it would have been all part of the plan. . .
Shortly after my arrival in Sandpoint, a member of my former congregation in Plevna, MT, who was attending seminary, was assigned an internship as a missionary in Russia, and began serving St. Nikolai Lutheran Church in Novgorod. That connection led me to get our congregation in Sandpoint to become mission partners and support his work there. I was able to visit Russia twice. On the second visit we had the opportunity to meet with the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia and Other States, and also the Bishop of European Russia. During that visit they shared that they were dependent on a 2 million dollar gift from the German Lutheran Church to fund all the salaries of the pastors in Russia, and that the money was running out. The bells went off in my head. Hypo-mania kicked in. We had 4 acres of undeveloped land next to First Lutheran in Sandpoint that was worth about two million dollars. We could sell the land, and use the endowment fund created to support all the pastors serving in Russia. Wouldn't it be great for a modest size congregation to take over the responsibility currently being funded by the Lutheran Church in Germany.
But when I got home, I thought, lets have our cake and eat it too. Instead of selling our land, lets develop a ministry here (senior housing) that would generate more income than an endowment, and use the income to support the pastors in Russia. Luther Park at Sandpoint was born.
But that wasn't enough. If we could do this in Sandpoint, why not get the Synod to do a similar project as a means, not only of providing a needed senior housing ministry, but also as a way to fund other mission work, e.g. Hispanic ministries, new congregational starts, etc.. Plans were developed for the Beacon at Southridge in Boise, which would have been about 225 units of senior housing, and was projected to generate over a million dollars a year in revenue. A 25 acre parcel of land was purchased for 3 1/2 million dollars and we were seeking financing for the project when the economic collapse of 2008 shut it all down. The Church still holds the land in Boise. Which, to my way of thinking, could be sold and an endowment could be established to fund the pastors in Russia. . .
Now, the folks at the Mission Investment Fund of the ELCA probably have no clue how a simple desire to offer mission partnership support to an ELCA intern serving in Russia resulted in their owning a 3 1/2 million dollar parcel of land in Boise. But it all was part of the plan. There is part of me that would like, more than anything else, to follow through on that. After all, if Norelius' bringing four kids home could result in the founding of two of the nation's largest social ministry organizations, what could come from a more robust plan with the backing of the Church? Just give me a modest salary (not a big deal, cause I'm already on the Church's disability plan, why not pay me to do something?). Just let go of the reins and let me run with it. I'll get it done. But first I'll have to go off my medications.
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