ELCA congregations on Seward Peninsula draw hope, healing from two cultures

Faith sustains Inupiaq people in face of many hardships
Advent on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula is dark and cold. The sun shines only 4 hours a day, and temperatures, below freezing from October to April, may plunge to 35 or 40 below zero.

But the ELCA congregations on the Seward Peninsula are alive with faith. Their members are Inupiaq (In-oo-pea-ak) Eskimos, whose ancestors have occupied this beautiful but harsh land for generations. In the hundred years since Christianity arrived on the Seward Peninsula, they have followed Christ on a unique path that draws on two cultures.

When 80-year-old Robert Iyatonguk, a respected elder in the Nome community, was a boy in Shishmaref, his father whispered the pastor’s English sermon into his ear in Inupiaq. Today, pastors still preach in English, but the opening prayer and the Gospel are often read in Inupiaq. Favorite hymns, especially those that stress hope, comfort, and assurance, also are often sung in the native tongue as well.

Testimony is central to these congregations. After the sermon, members stand and disclose deep pain over a loss, thank people for support during a difficult time, ask for forgiveness, or acknowledge God for blessings received.

Elders play an important role
Revered for their knowledge of traditional language and culture--knowledge that is rapidly disappearing--elders occupy a special place in Inupiaq society. Like church council and Alaska Synod member Robert Iyatonguk, elders are strong leaders who are often consulted on community and church decisions.

They are also a strong connection to the rich traditions of Inupiaq Eskimo culture. “Elders remember their ancestors with a clarity as if they had seen them yesterday,” says Mary Miller, a member of Our Savior’s in Nome. “They can remember conversations, facial expressions, the very essence of a person’s character.”

Hope in the face of loss
Faith in God offers healing and hope for the future to people marked by loss--loss of ancestral languages, cultures, and lands. Loss of life, first due to influenza epidemics that wiped out most of a generation and left many children to be raised as orphans, and more recently due to alcohol and suicide. “Grieving is very much a part of our people’s lives,” says Mary Miller, who conducts grief workshops in Inupiaq villages for LAMP, Lutheran Association of Pilots and Missionaries. “God promises that he will never leave us or forsake us, that through Christ he came to bind up the broken hearted and comfort those who mourn. We know that one day our tears will be wiped away by God himself, and our suffering and pain will end. Because of that, we can grieve with hope.”

Alaska Native Lutheran Church, Anchorage Alaska
Alaska Native Lutheran Church grew out of an outreach ministry aimed at serving urban Inupiaq who “were getting lost socially, economically, and spiritually as they moved from one world to another in the 1970s,” says Pastor George Sonray.

About 100 people worship Sunday evenings in the sanctuary of Central Lutheran Church. Twice a month, everyone gathers early for a potluck featuring reindeer or moose stew, baked salmon, and “Eskimo ice cream”-- berries mixed with seal oil or reindeer fat. Homeless people are often among the guests.

Alaska Native’s choir often sings in other churches as a way of thanking them for contributions. The youth choir, which is learning Inupiaq songs and dances, joined youth from the five village congregations in a performance at this year’s Synod Assembly.

The congregation willingly gives when it can. Recently, a love offering netted $551 plus gifts of warm outwear to be sent to the Russian village of Yulika, which has no church.

Teller Lutheran / Brevig Memorial
The eight-mile wide Grantley Harbor separates this two-point parish. Pastor Brian Crockett commutes by snow machine or boat between Brevig, whose 250 residents are almost all Lutheran, and Teller, which also has a Catholic church.

Like residents of many small towns, people are close in Brevig and Teller. “Everybody knows everybody and what they are doing. When somebody gets sick, everyone is affected,” says Pastor Crockett. “When somebody does well--say, gets a walrus, a lot of fish, or a whale--everyone benefits.” When a death occurs, church members come forward to dig graves and make crypts and crosses. “People take care of those things no matter who died,” says Pastor Crockett.

Our Savior's Lutheran, Nome
Weekly attendance at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Nome drops by half in the summer, when members go fishing, hunting, seal hunting, crab fishing, and berry picking--all subsistence activities that allow people to live primarily or completely from the land.

But the community’s year-round concern for its youth is reflected in Our Savior’s active Sunday School, youth choirs, and Salmon Lake Bible Camp. Located 35 miles outside Nome, Salmon Lake attracts youth from Anchorage and the Seward Peninsula villages for Bible Study, outdoors activities, crafts, and a good time.

While getting to Salmon Lake is a challenge--Youth from Wales, Shismaref, and Anchorage must travel by plane, while children from Teller and Brevig travel by boat and truck-- Bible Camp is important. “It helps reunite urban kids with traditional culture and lets them bond with village kids they might not see otherwise,” says Pastor Frank Macht.

Shishmaref, Shishmaref
Music and education are the prime ministries of Shishmaref Lutheran Church, the northernmost congregation in the ELCA. Its Senior, Young Adult, and Teen Choirs practice weekly and sing songs in English and Inupiaq. All three choirs join for a monthly Singspiration of hymns and Gospel tunes.

Most children are involved Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, and during Advent, every child in the village of 600 learns a Bible verse and participates in the Christmas Eve program. Last year, more than 150 children took part, says Pastor Tim Oslovich. “The church is an important part of life in Shishmaref, and its ministry touches almost every member of the community.”

Thornton Memorial, Wales
From Wales, the westernmost point on the North American continent, you can see Siberia, the easternmost point of Asia. Once the largest native village in Western Alaska, its population was decimated by the 1918 flu epidemic.

Thornton Memorial is the only church in the village of 165 and the oldest building still in use. The hundred-year old building suffers from dry rot, has badly warped floors, and is not insulated. Building supplies are scarce and expensive--five 4' x 8' sheets of plywood cost $217-- and most repairs are made by Pastor Matthew Littau, his wife, and parishioners, who are now converting two extra rooms into temporary quarters for the health clinic, whose former location was recently condemned.

Thornton Memorial’s warm, relaxed, twice-weekly worship includes four or five choir numbers, accompanied by guitar. Songs, prayers, and testimony sharing can make the service last two hours, “but people are in no hurry to end it,” says Pastor Littau.

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