Women of the ELCA

In February I wrote a post here on the power of inviting. I described my plans to personally invite women of my congregation who are not involved in Women of the ELCA to learn about our organization by attending an information session that I was hosting later that month.  Here’s what’s happened since I held that session.

A number of women (ranging in age from their mid 30s to mid 50s) came to my session.  I gave a slide show that explained our organization’s mission and purpose, and showed them our website and the many things it had to offer to them right now.  Eva Yeo from our churchwide staff was also very helpful by sending me a box of sample resources and promotional items to share with the women that day.

The women who came were receptive to what I had to say, and we agreed to meet again the following Sunday to continue our conversation.

About half the women came back the following week, and those women decided our organization was worth pursuing, but they weren’t interested in joining one of the existing “circle” groups in our congregation.  After some brainstorming, three of them met on their own later to plan an event for mid-April with the hopes that they will continue to meet each month thereafter, gaining new women along the way to their new group.  Also, in keeping with my initial invitation strategy, one of the gals will be sending out postcard invitations for this event to targeted women of our congregation.  She is utilizing the church’s newsletter and bulletins as well.

This inaugural event will consist of a “faith walk” at a local park and a Bible study using the April issue of Café.  Women will be invited to download the Café study onto their mobile devices ahead of time.  Printed out copies of the Café issue will be available for those without mobile devices.  Some of us will have the Bible available on our mobile devices, too.

These three women are hopeful that a new study group can get started this way.  They plan to keep having monthly events right through the summer, and then in the fall they will assess the women’s interest of formalizing their group as a part of Women of the ELCA.  I am so excited about all of this.

I hope your efforts to invite new women to get involved in Women of the ELCA are bearing fruit, too!

Kris Brugamyer, of Dickinson, North Dakota, is currently serving a second term on the churchwide executive board of Women of the ELCA.

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Happy Easter! We are again reminded that we are people of the resurrection. It’s the season of hope – the promise of new life to come. We’ve passed the somberness of Lent and Holy Week and are rejoicing in the words:  “CHRIST IS RISEN!  ALLELUIA!” So, how do we live as people of the resurrection?

I have a 26-year-old friend, Karly, who has Rett Syndrome. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this syndrome, it’s like having Parkinson’s, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, acute anxiety and autism all rolled into one. Mostly girls have this syndrome and usually do not have a way to communicate. Karly’s mom has learned to use “facilitated communication” which has helped Karly tell her story. She is truly remarkable! With the help of her mom and music therapist, she has written poems and songs that share her faith in Christ.

Five weeks ago Karly was near death and is now in hospice care. She writes that she is not “worrying about dying because she looks forward to the day she is with God in heaven.” Stopping all medication, supplements, and special diet has been freeing to her. She (and our God) are living the promise of the resurrection.

Playing music she has called “heaven’s beauty” (a collection sent by many friends), having the sun warm her body, being surrounded by flowers inside, enjoying an early spring outside, having plenty of time for prayer and quiet are the ways Karly has decided to live in the midst of her dying.

What has the resurrection called us to do? Tell our faith stories; live our stories and hear others’ stories. We are Easter people! Live that promise! And in Karly’s words, “It will be a great day, …the day I get my freedom. I can’t wait!”

Diane Frederick, of Oak Park Heights, Minn., is serving a second term on the churchwide executive board of Women of the ELCA.

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Editor’s note: On this Maundy Thursday we remember Jesus first sharing the bread of life and cup of salvation with his disciples before his crucifixion. A version of this reflection first appeared in the April 1996 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.

The pastor, the organist, 18 worshipers, and one butterfly were in the nave that hot August morning in Cologne, Germany. The windows of the church did not open, and everyone was warm. On the next day the world would solemnly mark the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Worship that morning included many references to World War II and to the peace that Christ brings to the world.

My now-rusty high school German got me through the liturgy and the hymns, but I couldn’t understand all of the pastor’s sermon. That, combined with the heat and the length of the sermon, led my mind to wander. My eyes caught sight of a butterfly fluttering about the altar and the cross. I followed its flight as it gracefully moved about the chancel.

When the sermon ended, the hymn of the day began with a cataclysmic chord that hung in the near-empty nave. That chord, symbolizing the bombing of Hiroshima, called up images of death and destruction. The liturgy continued, and soon the small group of worshipers gathered in a semi-circle for the Eucharist, with the bread and wine on the table before us.

As the pastor said the words of institution, the butterfly caught my attention once again. It was near a stained-glass window, high in the nave. Brilliant sunlight shone in, and the butterfly was straining toward the light, looking for the freedom of the outdoors.

I was brought back to the bread and the cup we were about to share. As I ate the bread and drank the wine, I thought with joy that here was the freedom I straining for; the gift of Christ found in the Eucharist. I need look no further.

Linda Post Bushkofsky is the executive director of Women of the ELCA.

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Easter—when Christians celebrate the Resurrection—is just around the corner.

I celebrate a little resurrection of my own at this time of year. Five years ago during Holy Week, I learned I had colon cancer.  I had no symptoms; I just went in for my first-ever routine colonoscopy at age 50. This is the test most people avoid.

But they shouldn’t. I was already at stage III and didn’t even feel it.

Of all cancers affecting both men and women, colorectal cancer—cancer of the colon or rectum—is the second-leading killer in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2007, the latest year for statistics and coincidentally the year I found out I had it, more than 53,000 of the nearly 143,000 diagnosed with it died.

Nobody wants to take the test, of course, and I’ve heard all kinds of reasons why. From “I haven’t had any symptoms” (neither did I) to “I don’t want to bare my big bottom in front of doctors.”  You’re pretty much out for the test, so baring your bottom is not really an issue.

To be clear, the day before the test can get a little rough. For someone who keeps snacks an arm’s length away at all times, the thought of a liquid diet is frightful. And then there is the “Go Lightly” drink that really should be named “Go Often.”

However, I can attest that a colonoscopy is far easier than getting seven inches cut from your gut and undergoing six months of chemotherapy. And it would be easier on the ones you love too. Chemotherapy can make you nauseated and tired and really not much good to anybody. It also makes food taste bad, which can put a damper on life—that is, if you enjoy eating. On the plus side, it helps you lose weight.

Because I’ve just hit the five-year mark, I’m done with annual CT scans and colonoscopies and high doctor bills. But I want to save you that hassle. If you’re over 50, please schedule your colonoscopy. Do it for me and for our Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls initiative. I want you to be around to see your healthy girls grow into healthy women.

Terri Lackey is managing editor of Gather magazine. She kept her family and friends up on her condition and progress through her blog Cowgirl Attitude.

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Recently I was asked the question, “What excites you about the work you are involved in?” I am not asked this question every day, so it got me thinking.

I love to receive phone calls from women who are interested in starting a unit of Women of the ELCA and want the latest resources to share as they begin organizing. It’s also exciting to receive phone calls from women planning their spring gatherings, retreats and synodical conventions. I can hear their excitement as they describe the opportunity to serve and make a difference aided by our resources.

Getting involved with our organization requires a commitment to the mission and purpose statement. My daily conversations are speaking to women that want to know more about Women of the ELCA or are interested in starting a unit. I begin with offering a welcome packet and introducing them to our resources. The mission of the organization keeps me focused and excited.

Mobilizing women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ

For 25 years women have used the Bible study in Gather, a magazine for growth in faith and action, and other resources to help them live out the mission. Some of my favorite resources can be found in the “Featured Resource” on our homepage. You can visit www.womenoftheelca.org and find a resource you love, too. We offer free downloadable resources that can help you in your unit or can be studied individually. Are you connected with Women of the ELCA? You can get excited, too!

Eva James Yeo is Women of the ELCA director for membership.

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Like many of you, I wake up each morning and check the news to see what’s transpired overnight. Day after day, week after week, the Chicago Tribune reports on drive-by shootings, shooting sprees, cop killings, slayings and the like. Weekend nights are especially bad. Headlines like “3 killed, 17 wounded in overnight shootings” are typical. Last weekend a six-year-old girl was shot on her porch, in front of her mother and younger sibling, a victim of suspected gang violence.

Shootings aren’t unique to Chicago, I know. The killing of Trayvon Martin has taken center stage in our national discourse, alongside the killing of 17 Afghans (including 11 children), allegedly by an American soldier.

And it’s not just shootings. Hit-and-runs seem to be on the rise, leaving innocent bystanders maimed or killer. Yesterday’s news included a story of a man who intentionally used his car as a battering ram to injure others in another car. You have similar stories in your home town, too, I’m sure.

As participants in Women of the ELCA we have committed ourselves to “promote healing and wholeness in the church, the society and the world.” How do I–how do you–weigh that commitment against the reality of senseless deaths happening day in, day out? Have we become so desensitized to these killings that we are no longer shocked by them? No longer moved to respond in some way?

One way for us to promote healing and wholeness in this context is to observe Rachel’s Day, a day to mourn the loss of our children and to renounce the forces of evil and fear that plague our nation. The day takes its name from Jeremiah 31:15–17. In those verses Rachel grieves for her children. Since 1996, congregational units of Women of the ELCA have been called to encourage their congregations to observe Rachel’s Day on the first Sunday in May.

Rachel’s Day is needed now, more than ever. How about it? Can we get every congregational unit to do something on Rachel’s Day that will raise our collective conscience about the plague that is evil? It’s a start.

Linda Post Bushkofsky is executive director of Women of the ELCA.

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I looked out of my back door a couple of weeks ago and to my surprise I saw patches of green grass. To see green grass in Chicago in the first week of March, well, that’s unheard of. But it made me smile. It reminded me that spring is around the corner. I took this as a sign of hope. Hope of what is to come. Warmer weather, longer daytime hours, picnics in the park, walks on the beach . . . just a few things that I get to enjoy when the weather turns warm.

Oftentimes people are reluctant to accept change because it means they’ll have to do things differently. Doing things different sometimes pushes us outside of our comfort zones, causing us to become fearful of what lies ahead rather than hopeful.

The one thing that I’ve come to know over the years is that change is inevitable. Whether the change is for good or bad, it’s something we cannot avoid. So instead of worrying and fretting over the unknown that’s brought about by change, we should accept it and the new opportunities that it has to offer.

When you are feeling a bit apprehensive to the changes that are occurring in your life, remember the serenity prayer which says:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

The next time you’re faced with a situation that requires change, no matter how big or small, how will you handle it? Will you get dragged into it kicking and screaming or will you sit back and embrace it?

By faith, God allows me to know that there’s nothing too hard for God and that all things work together for good for them who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Deborah Powell is the associate executive director of Women of the ELCA.

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Words Matter is much more than the name of a project by the National Council of Church’s USA Women’s Ministry. Being unmindful of the words we use or worse—refusing to see the import of the words that we use—destroys lives.

Bullying is one way popular culture refuses to acknowledge that words matter. Rather than see name-calling, ridiculing, and verbal attacks as violence—far too many see these as rites of passage. While adult bullies tend to be the ones that defend if not actually cheer on the younger bullies, even past victims provide such unhelpful opinions as, “I was bullied as a boy! It made a man of me!”

Another way we deny words matter is in the vitriolic nature of words used around our differences of political opinion. The demonizations of the other camp and the out-and-out name calling of the opposition is no longer reserved for the episodic nationalistic fervor which has historically allowed us to wage war against and attempt to wipe from the earth certain powers and populations called “the enemy.” Currently, members of the same political party happily label each other in volatile and dehumanizing ways.

It isn’t just words. The cross hairs over Gaby Gifford’s picture that once appeared on a past candidate’s website is enough of an example of how value given to another can take life. Intolerance of any kind must be rebutted. Careless words and images cannot go unchallenged.

Religious intolerance is another example. And lest someone reading this thinks I am making a mountain out of a mole hill, we have too much history in this country of religious intolerance! Mary Dyer was hanged June 1, 1660 because of her religious beliefs. And more recently, CAIR launched a nationwide public service announcement campaign, called “I am an American Muslim,” designed to help reduce anti-Muslim discrimination and stereotyping.

Categorizing anyone who disagrees with us as being more than a person with a different opinion is a slippery slope. Saying they are not American, Christian, or patriotic (or fill in the blank) because they have a different opinion than ours places a strange god before any God. The more we see our neighbor as “other” the more likely we will lose our own humanity. Please. Speak up for tolerance. Please, risk kindness.

Inez Torres Davis is director for justice and currently serves as co-chair of the NCC’s Justice for Women Working Group.

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As we began Lent, many asked me, “What are you giving up for Lent?” This reminded me of a similar question they asked a few short months ago, “What is your New Year’s resolution?” I don’t know about you, but for me every January brings a rash of New Year’s resolutions. And every Lent, I consider what unhealthy habit could I eliminate (even if it’s just for 40 days) that would make me feel better, that I might even stick with after Easter.

Some years I have been more successful than others and other years I have been completely “off the wagon” within a matter of days.  After all, who really wants to give up ice cream or pizza?

Last January, I read an article in our local paper about New Year’s resolutions and the author was posing a unique perspective on the difference between resolutions and opportunities. She wrote, “As one ponders New Year’s resolutions, one might conclude that new resolutions should be given less priority and more attention should be given to new opportunities. Despite the word ‘new,’ new resolutions are often based on what we already know and have a past focus that may or may not change in the future. New opportunities, on the other hand, have a forward focus and are guaranteed to be new because they are yet to be revealed. Opportunities have an element of surprise.”

This has applications for our Lenten disciplines as well. Instead of thinking about what we are “giving up”, there is an opportunity to do more or something we’ve never done before.

Opportunities are revealed by God and stem from the newness granted in Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Just as spring is a time of renewal for our environment, so should this Lenten season offer an opportunity to reach for something deeper and transformational. So, I am setting aside those resolutions that reflect what I already know and where I’ve already been… and instead looking for where I might grow if I seize on opportunity!

Jenny Michael, of Pensacola, Florida, is the churchwide president of Women of the ELCA for the 2011-2014 triennium. 

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