RLC’s centennial and its unresolved governance dispute

Workers clean the roof of Resurrection Lutheran Church on Sept. 10, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Tamara Walter

Resurrection Lutheran Church’s centennial is worth celebrating. For a century, generations of Juneau residents have worshipped at RLC, raised their children there, celebrated marriages and baptisms, mourned loved ones, made music, and served their neighbors. That history belongs to the entire congregation — not merely to whichever group presently controls the building or speaks in the church’s name.

Members are assembling a careful history of RLC. That work has renewed our appreciation for the people whose faith, labor, and generosity sustained the congregation through fires, rebuilding, social change, and evolving community needs. It has also reinforced an important lesson: an institution’s history should be presented completely and honestly, including during painful disagreement.

The recent centennial announcement describes RLC’s history and invites the community to anniversary events. What it does not explain is that RLC remains divided by a serious governance controversy and pending litigation.

An appeal is before the Alaska Supreme Court in Karen Lawfer, et al. v. Resurrection Lutheran Church, et al., Supreme Court No. S-19777. The appellants contend that actions taken to replace RLC’s elected leadership and end Pastor Karen Perkins’ call violated the congregation’s governing documents. Those claims are disputed. They were not finally resolved merely because the Superior Court dismissed the underlying action. The appellants’ opening brief and excerpt of record have been accepted by the Supreme Court, and the appellees’ response remains pending.

Reasonable people can disagree about events at RLC. But no one should mistake an anniversary celebration or submitted community announcement for a judicial determination that one faction’s account is correct, the governance controversy has ended, or the congregation has reconciled.

The division has affected more than church governance. RLC once supported an unusually broad collection of ministries and community programs, including food assistance, prepared meals, shelter-related services, educational and television-production programs, music, and use of the building by community organizations. Some activities have changed, diminished, moved, or been placed on hold. Their present status should be described accurately rather than allowing past accomplishments to create a misleading impression about current operations.

Those programs were built through the work of pastors, council members, volunteers, donors, partner organizations, and patrons—many of whom are now excluded from the centennial narrative or stand on opposing sides of the dispute.

Celebrating RLC’s first hundred years should not require silence about its present difficulties. Honor the people who came before us and enjoy the photographs, records, fellowship, and worship. But also remember those affected by the unresolved conflict. RLC’s history deserves preservation, its centennial deserves recognition, and Juneau deserves an honest account of where the congregation stands today.

• Tamara Walter is an RLC member and the founder of TBI Resource Foundation, which merged with RLC’s Resurrected Hope Foundation to form Nourish Communities Foundation. A retired special-education teacher, she has served as faculty for RLC’s Showrunner television-production camps.