2 Wednesday, November 6, 1996 West Seattle Herald/White Center News
ii ¸ ill '
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Don't sweep leaves into street
gutters, the city reminds resi-
dents,
Leave leaves out
of gutters, please
The city i=ngineering
Department is reminding citi-
zens again of proper leaf-rak-
ing etiquette.
Sweeping fall's casualities
into streets is not only illegal,
says maintenance manager
Roxanne Thomas, but also
• makes roadways slippery
and clogs drains.
Instead, she suggests
backyard composting or
recycling.
V
Rollerblade arena
will open Nov. 15
Seattle In-Line Arena, a
full-size indoor rollerblading
rink, opens Nov. 15 at the
Riverside Mill, 3800 W. Mar-
ginal Way S.W.
It will be decorated to look
like New York's Central Park
at Christmas. Open public
skating times will be 2 p.m. to
midnight Fridays and Satur:
days through Dec. 14, then 2
p.m. to midnight daily Dec.
20-30. Cost is $5.
By early next year, the
arena will be open 21 hours
a day, seven days a week.
A
V
ouse in
the .movie =Sleepless in Seat-
tle" where Meg Ryan took
her boyfriend to meet her
parents? It: was •supposedly
Admiral.
"It was also where Rosie
O'Donnell talked .on the
• nine.bedmomlisix-bath room
Vieto ria ;,at ::-1620 Su n
:poo:iiibii !ia£d;i !r60 : an:d: a :i
third:f or baiii oomi::! i: :
You'i!h aq : :to ::buy the
smaller Tudor house: next
door too. It's a
all fora
- _ - _
** Our goal this year
was to gain some
school has grown from 145 students
to 225, and its faculty of 11 teachers
and five aides is three times bigger
than when he started.
Pera was also pivotal in the
founding of Seattle Lutheran High
School 18 years ago, according to
the school's former principal and
executive director, Bob Christian.
"In 1966 he formed a steering
committee," Christian says. "I don't
believe that there would be a
Lutheran high school in West Seat-
tle without him."
Christian, a 19-year member of
Hope Lutheran, says Pera's absence
will leave a void.
"(The congregation) is losing a
deep friend in the ministry. He was
really in touch with people, whether
he was making sick calls, helping
people ore getting programs started.
That will be missed."
THE CHURCH'S vice presi-
dent, Bruce Carlson, who was 13
years old when Pera came to Hope
Lutheran, calls Pera a rock of
strength.
"His faith and devotion to his lord
and savior and to Hope has been a
real blessing," Carlson says.
Hope's congregation may have
been a litfie spoiled keeping their
pastor for so long. Such a lengthy
stay at one church is "very unusu-
al," says Pera. Most ministers move
on to a new church after five or 10
years•
"You get entrenched so deeply in
the community and the lives of peo-
ple, finally you're in too deep," he
says. "That's one of the reasons
people leave."
But Pera says the diversity of
Hope's congregation kept him com-
ifig back for more.
Balancing the beliefs of the
church's large contingent of more
traditional Lutheran's with the more
progressive members provided a
constant challenge.
"This isn't a cookie cutter kind of
congregation," he says. "There are a
lot of interesting groups and ele-
ments that give it a consistently
changing scene. A congregation of
this size needs to have a spirit of
acceptance."
Inevitably, controversial issues
such as homosexuality and abortion
can become a threat to the fabric of
a congregation.
PERA SAYS it's a pastor's
responsibility not to skirt volatile
issues, but to make sure he's not
misunderstood.
"The goal is to engage people in
thinking and discussing rather than
arousing and antagonizing," he
says. "Otherwise you become
"e •
Clemens Pera reflects on more than
known as someone who stirs things
up rather than being a representa-
tive of God's peace."
Pera says the ministry has
changed drastically since he was a
young single man accepting his first
pastor position.
"There's less congregational and
denominational loyalty," he says.
"People are quick to pick and
choose based on their preference
and their needs. You can sense the
consumerism of people.
"It's more, 'What can the church
do for me?' instead of 'What can I
do for God and the church?'"
That shift has required churches
to be more alert to the cares of their
members, he says.
"If you don't meet their needs
they're off to somewhere else,"
Pera says. "It's a challenge to a
church to do its best."
THE JOB is also harder today
because a pastor's responsibilities
are exPanded beyond, preaching and
administering sacraments.
'iYou're expected to be a music
leader, a work leader, good with
kids. You have to preach and teach
well and do some counseling," he
says.
But the changes haven't all been
professional.
During his time at Hope, Pera
married his wife Carol and raised
two sons, and he's gained some per-
sonal insight.
"I think I'm less rigid," he says.
"I'm a little more accepting of peo-
ple and their opinions. I allow a lit-
tle more space for the uniqueness of
people."
Pera believes he mirrors his con-
gregation.
"I would like to think that we
have an open-door church," he says.
"I like not to think we're viewed as
a sect or a cult all tied up in itself;
we're open to the community."
Pastor Pera and his wife will remain
in their Junction area home, but he
says they will find another church to
By Tim St. Clair West Seattle's first cohousing
STAFF WRITER development, Puget Ridge Cohous-
Puget Ridge will soon have its ing, is located at 7020 18th Ave.
second cohousing development. S.W. People started moving into its
A Green Lake couple recently 23 units in 1994.
acquired the rights to buy a 1.7-acre Kara Black and her husband,
site just west of South Seattle Corn- Kurt Yandell, are buying property
munity College. They hope to in the 5900.block of 17th Avenue
recruit enough buyers to build 12 to Southwest. They're seeking
14 units, prospective buyers from diverse
Cohousing differs from traditional racial and ethnic backgrounds
housing developments in that the resi- who'll help them design the new
dents actively seek to know their development.
neighbors by sharing outdoor space, The couple formed a small corpo-
tools and planning. Often a "common ration, Seattle Cohousing LLC
house" is built in which members eat
meals together, hold meetings and
-- See COHOUSING, page 3
have other get-togethers.
three decades at Hope Lutheran Church.
attend out of deference to the new pas-
tor, whoever that might be.
Congregation member Franeey
Joslin says Pera's decision to leave
the church his wife grew up in is a
powerful example of his love and
respect for the congregation.
"This is a tremendous sacrifice
for them," she says. "I'm in awe of
that, the tremendous foresight he
has,
that
will be
have to!
future
"You
way."
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