Guiding Principles

Here is the content of a document I wrote for the members of our Church Council. I thought that I would like to share a list of my guiding principles, touchstones for me as to why I am connected with this congregation. After I shared my principles early in the year, the Council members agreed to take turns coming up with one of theirs. This is a process that's more difficult than one might think!

Guiding Principles
Idea Starter Sheet
By Pastor James Aalgaard


What is a “guiding principle?”

According to a theory called “Family Systems Theory” or “Bowen Theory”, a guiding principle is a principle which is held by an individual or an organization that works toward “differentiation of self.” Differentiation of self is one of the concepts this theory works with in helping people work toward a more thoughtful, mature sense of self in relation to others. Guiding principles can help individuals and groups understand how they are distinct from others, while at the same time being connected.

For myself, I’ve used the image lately of “stepping stones,” or “floor boards” to describe how a guiding principle functions. I’ve also used the image of walking across a stream on the heads of crocodiles! There’s some risk in crossing the stream, but that is what life is about, moving from one point to another.

For our purposes as a Church Council, I propose that we ask ourselves what are guiding principles that help us to understand our level of commitment to this particular Christian community called St. Paul Lutheran Church.

What is an example of a guiding principle?

Lately I’ve come up with five principles that have to do with my connection with this congregation. One example is: “It’s easier to respond to God’s mission in the world as a community of individuals changed by Christ, than it is as individuals changed by Christ.”

This principle has helped to open up for me the blessing that comes with knowing you, and holding public worship with you as a congregation. It also raises my expectations of what God does in worship and in our times of Christian fellowship and ministry.

How do I come up with one (or several!)

Pause to pray. Think of significant moments in your life with St. Paul Lutheran Church. Think also of any dreams you have for this congregation.

Put your pen to paper. It may be helpful to write down some memories in an autobiographical way (who have been significant people for you, what significant thought or spiritual experience have you had here, etc.)

Now boil those thoughts down to a statement that you can remember, a statement that will be important for you as an individual in this community. If you have a hard time coming up with a Bible verse, it’s okay. I bet I can help you with that.

Family Like Tree Rings

Well this setting has more to do with stones than with wood. There Are many more stones, still laying in the shape of a foundation, than there are pieces of timber. Stones are plentiful here. The builder would shape them so they would stack upon one another.

What caught my eye however were the few pieces of wood that were strewn about. In a documentary about the vikings, certain technology was used to determine the age of building materials used to make a viking long ship. They were simply able to take a core sample of the old wood, place it along an historical time line, set it inside a spectrum of tree rings that goes back thousands of years, and quite accurately determine when that ship was constructed. I wondered therefore, how old this building site was. I think the answer is easier than going through all that. The locals here know more about our family history than I do.

Do you know how tree rings are created? They have to do with the speed in which a tree grows from season to season, and from year to year. So, in the winter months a tree will grow much slower than in the summer months, and when it's observed in a sample of wood, the denser and darker rings will represent the times of slower growth. Warm winters will have lighter or thinner rings I think, and so even different varieties of trees will share a common pattern, which helps scientists to put together the time line.

In families, time lines are called family trees, or geneagrams. I wonder if tree rings could be used as a metaphor for how an individual can study her or his family. Times of rapid change versus times of more static existence. Yet, it is the same tree and the softer and harder times are all in relationship with one another. For example, when my grandfather moved to the U.S. in 1925, that began a time of rapid change for the family! Soon, new young shoots were coming up in another part of the world, and although old patterns of functioning will continue (and it will be interesting to continue to think about what those patterns are), there are many new influences to the family, influences that impact the system in ways that would be difficult to understand let alone observe. Over time, one half of grandpa's family of origin moved to North America.

Family like tree rings. There might be something to that metaphor.

Sshh!

First impressions as we all know are quite important. Like flooring tile, or hard wood floors in the case of the airports of Norway, once first impressions are had, they initiate the direction of the experience, and especially one's relationships.

So my first impression of Norway, once I was off the airplane, was the quietness of the place. Although it was busy, there wasn't the racket of the overhead P.A. system. When arriving there after about 13 hours in the air, it was good to have this quietness, to get ready for my first full day with my family.

Once I got my suitcase, I hesitatingly went through the exit, nervous whether I was walking toward my family, or away from them! But there were three familiar faces ready to say welcome.

Helleren

At Jøssingfjørd in Norway, there is a place where a few houses are comfortably tucked under a strangely shaped cliff. In Norwegian, the word "helleren" is used to describe this formation of rock, and so this place bears the same name. People think these houses are about 200 years old, but there has been some study of this site and it is believed that there is evidence of human habitation going back 7,000 to 8,000 years. And why not live in a place like that? You don't have to spend much time repairing your roof! The houses are now a museum that visitors can go into. You are welcome to sign a guest book, and there are displays that help visitors know more about the site. The living quarters are small, even to Norwegian standards.

If you're ever on the south coast of Norway, you can spend a little time in Jøssingfjørd. You can learn about the sinking of the German ship "Altmark" by the British, and think about the rusting hulk at the bottom of the fjørd. As you continue on the road, you'll probably get the impression that the road is very very narrow, and you'll realize that you're far above the water in just a few moments, thanks to a lot of hairpin curves, with a tunnel or two thrown in.

Gustav Vigeland

Near downtown Oslo there is an expansive park, filled with sculptures done by one man, Gustav Vigeland. I think all the human sculptures are nudes, and they are depicting any human emotion imaginable. Some sculptures are solitary, lonely even, and some are set in relationship with other humans. The center of the park has a pillar that rises perhaps 30 feet from its base, carved from one piece of stone, showing the transitions through life.

This sculpture caught my eye. It's very near the center of the park. Notice how Vigeland has a handle on the shape of the human body. In this case, he is depicting a father, mother and infant. As I look at this photo I wonder to myself "where is the power?" Is it in the father, the most robust person in this triad, or in the mother, the one who bears the life of the child and is resilient, or in the infant, the one who has the most future? Or, is the power in the relationship that makes that little family?

The King's Palace

Oslo Norway

At one end of Karl Johan's Gate is the old railway station. At the other end of the street is the King's Palace, "Slottet", the residence of the King of Norway and his family. While walking up Karl Johan's, I remarked to one of my relatives that the King has a long walk when he wants to take the train. He (a career railway guy himself) laughed at that but said that the King does in fact take the train from time to time. Although, the King has his own rail car.

The rel's took this picture and said, "Here's the next king of Norway." Aww, they're just saying that.

Surrounding the palace are park-like grounds where anyone can walk. Huge trees that have been there for a long time, and a spirit of community. When the flag is flying full mast, the King is home. People like to hang out especially when the King is home. I guess personal tours can be arranged, and the relatives are excited to put something like that together for my mom and dad when they go next summer.

Gifts for the Fam

I would have loved to give one of these carvings to each of my Dad's 12 cousins still living in Norway, but I ran out of time. I got pooped out preparing for the other parts of my trip.

So, my hosts, and the female cousins all got a carving from me. These are called "Nisse" (niss-eh). They are little guys that go up and down the hills looking for ways to earn their keep, helping farmers chop wood or do other tasks. By nature, they don't let the grass grow under their feet. They're on the move. I guess you could call them "Wandering Norwegians!"

It was important to me to give them. What the recipients thought of them, now that's another story. Possibly varied responses, but my family has some quiet members so it's not fair for me to judge too quickly.

The style is called "flat plane carving", which is particularly Scandinavian. The artists who really do this well are people who are able to get the angles just right, so the shadows can play on the surface of the carving. Angled carving leaves some work for the imagination too, which I think is a good thing.

I'd like to keep carving and see if it can possibly be a lifelong pastime.

These are carved from basswood, and their staffs are made from myrtlewood which is unique to the coast of Oregon and northern California. The paints are acrylic, and the antiquing is a walnut stain mixed into boiled linseed oil.