Christmas meal goers left out in the cold as church locks doors due to ‘threat of trespass’ by organizers
- Mark Sabbatini
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
Resurrection Lutheran Church’s new leadership bans former pastor from property, asserts planned holiday worship and meal were unauthorized intrusion into building
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Henry Adams says he was just showing up for a midday Christmas Day meal at Resurrection Lutheran Church, figuring that was still happening regardless of whatever disputes its leaders have been involved in lately.
But when he arrived the doors were locked and two former church leaders involved in organizing the event were talking to a few other people also unexpectedly out in the cold.
"We thought this was going to go on today, and I just woke up and thought I’d go over there and see if they have any dinner or anything," Adams said, adding he lives in an apartment a couple of blocks away and he didn’t make other holiday plans because his wife is ill.
Adams did get a meal of sorts for his efforts. Karen Lawfer, the church’s former congregation president, talked with him for a few minutes before giving him some food from the back of her vehicle she brought to distribute during the two-and-a-half hours the midday meal was supposed to take place.
The church’s Christmas Eve services took place as scheduled under the new council’s guidance. However, handwritten signs were on the church’s doors Thursday stating that "due to a threat of trespass" there would be no Christmas Day service or meal.
Two very different interpretations of events resulting in the lockout are being offered by the church’s current and former leaders.
An attorney for the current leadership says the former leaders were disruptive after showing up on Christmas Eve to prepare for an event the next day that had not been authorized. The former leaders say the Christmas service and meal have been traditional events going back many years, and their understanding was they would be allowed to occur again this year.
Whatever the reason(s), Tim Steffen was among the people who found themselves trying to come up with other ways to have a Christmas meal.
"I wanted to have my meal here because I had the impression that this was going to be the last one that they were going to serve," he said, referring to the hot meals former church leaders were providing twice a week until increasing it to thrice weekly last month.
Forced to look for other options, Steffen said he planned to see if he could make it to the Glory Hall for the shelter’s midday meal and then "watch Christmas DVDs" the rest of the day.
The lockout is a continuation of a bitter and lengthy leadership battle at the church that seemingly reached a conclusion a month ago when a judge upheld a bishop’s actions allowing the removal of Lawfer as congregation president and Karen Perkins as its pastor by a newer congregation council elected last year.
The core issue of the dispute involved the extent of services being provided to the homeless and others in need, since in recent years the church has hosted one of Juneau’s main food pantries and a winter warming shelter. The new leadership asserted in church and court filings that the former leaders’ efforts were too costly, disruptive and damaging to the church property, and at times illegal.
It appeared the dispute was at an end when the judge’s ruling on litigation in the matter occurred Nov. 24. Joe Geldhof, an attorney representing the new leadership, said in an interview the next day that outreach events already planned by the former leaders would be allowed to continue during the holiday season.
"My instructions from…the legitimate council was if they've got something scheduled around Christmas don't be a jerk and say you can't do it," he said.
Geldhof, when asked about that remark on Thursday, said plans by the former leaders for the Christmas service and meal occurred after the judge’s ruling, and Lawfer was continuing to claim authority as the congregation president.
"They set this, there was no cooperation," he said. "They set it without permission."
Lawfer, while standing on a sidewalk outside the church on Thursday, said such claims are nonsense.
"We have had a Christmas Day service for decades," she said, adding the schedule of serving hot meals on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through the holidays was also set in place.
The locks on the church were changed on Christmas Eve when Lawfer, Perkins and other people showed up to do preliminary cooking and other preparations for the Christmas Day meal. Geldhof said Perkins was also served with a trespass notice on Wednesday because she was "engaging in a belligerent manner" and refused to leave the property.
A message by the former leadership posted on the church’s Facebook page — which is still under their control — at 9:55 a.m. Christmas Day called the lockout "a deliberate show of force" by "the group claiming ‘leadership.’"
"The group claiming victory at RLC called JPD and had (formerly Pastor) Karen Perkins trespassed for a year when she challenged their authority to eject us — effectively silencing anyone who might have stood up for the ministry and the people it serves," the post notes. "The turkeys and hams are defrosted, ready to cook all day in our refurbished kitchen—food now prevented from being prepared and served. It’s 11°F with snow expected, and vulnerable neighbors may still arrive hoping for a warm meal—only to find locked doors."
Perkins, in an interview Thursday morning, said she questioned the authority of those trying to remove her because planning for the Christmas service and meals began more than a month ago, and the demand to cease didn’t occur until the day before the events.
"We've been doing for years, at least since I've been there, a 10 a.m. Christmas morning service," said Perkins, who served as the church’s pastor from November 2017 until the new council ended her contract on June 30 of last year.
Plenty of ill feelings and unresolved questions remain among both groups of church leaders. The church’s website has been stripped of most of its content by the former leadership, although weekly Sunday morning services are continuing as scheduled.
Geldhof said concerns among the new group include belongings the former leaders continue to keep at the church as well as unresolved questions about financial matters they were involved with. Lawfer and Perkins dispute the new council has legally established itself as the church’s official leadership, and question how programs such as the church’s weekly food pantry will be impacted.
A sign advertising the pantry outside the basement door of the church has been removed, but it is still listed by the Southeast Alaska Food Bank as operating during its usual hours of noon to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. Geldhof said the new council intends to continue the food pantry, but not the hot meals since "what they're not going to do, at least in the near future, is run an illegal soup kitchen."
Lawfer, who showed documents stating the church has an institutional food service permit valid at the church through December of 2026, said such assertions by the new council are why she is skeptical about other claims such as continuing the food pantry.
There were moments of holiday cheer among the people standing outside the church on Thursday, including discussions about family situations and one frequent visitor giving Perkins a bracelet he brought as a Christmas gift. But for Ken Garrison, a volunteer forced to abandon preparations the day before, the lockout was about more than just missing what might be a final meal there.
"These guys are awesome people," he said, referring to those planning the abandoned event. "They've been helping the community for a long time."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
