Alphabetical Listing of All Program Resources

 

Act Boldly Bookmark

Make this easy-to-assemble bookmark for yourself or as a group project. Use it in your Bible, journal, diary or other book as a reminder of your mission as a participant in Women of the ELCA: to act boldly on your faith in Jesus Christ.

Download the PDF instructions with photos.

Act Boldly for Health

This three-part Bible study supports Women of the ELCA's Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls initiative. Each approximately one-hour session is designed for group use but can also be used by an individual. 

Session One: Act Boldly with Balance
Session Two: Act Boldly in Crisis
Session Three: Act Boldly toward the Goal

Act Boldly for Mission

This three-part Bible study explores how women can boldly take part in God's mission to love, bless, and save the world. To be in the church, says author Kelly Fryer, is to participate in that mission by sharing the good news about Jesus Christ in word and deed. Each approximately one-hour session is designed for group use but can also be used by an individual.

Session One: With the Message of Jesus
Session Two: Like the First Evangelists
Session Three: In the Power of the Holy Spirit
Leader Guide

Advent: A Season for All Generations

This two-part Advent program can be used by a group of any size. You’ll discuss various customs and explore the biblical figures of Advent (Zechariah and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary, and more). You might use it with your regular study group or as a special Advent Bible study group. Each part takes about 20 to 45 minutes and includes prayer, hymns, Scripture, narration, and discussion.

Download your free copy.

A Bold Life of Faith: Katharina von Bora Luther

Katie Luther was a wife, mother, farmer, brewmaster, innkeeper, and more. In all that she did, she acted boldly on her faith in Jesus Christ. There’s a little bit of Katie in all of us. Learn about Katie while learning more about yourself. Use this resource, designed to take about an hour, a small group or individually.

Download your free copy.

The Called to ... series

This series of eight programs for groups, each designed to take about 60-90 minutes, offers a wide variety of opportunities to explore together what God is calling you to be and to do. 


Called to a Global Perspective: Passport to Your Heart helps women to see themselves as a part of a global community in which all can play leadership roles.

Called to Be Global Sisters: Seeing Each Other with New Eyes increases our understanding of women from other cultures. A one-hour program that includes role plays and probing discussion questions.

Called to Be Political: But I Don't Want to Be Political! offers a fascinating glimpse into the teachings of Martin Luther on the role of Christians in politics and explores how those teachings still speak to us. A two-hour program.

Called to Be Women in Mission: Exploring New Opportunities provides a biblical foundation for understanding God's call to be women in mission — in our homes, congregations, communities, and world.

Called to Deal with Difficult Issues: A Challenging Ministry presents a process for thinking theologically as we face difficult issues in our daily lives.

Called to Ethical Decision Making: No Easy Answers, a two-hour workshop, explores the Lutheran ethical approach and the complexities involved in ethical decision making, and offers participants practical experience in ethical deliberation. 

Called to Love as God Loves — Unconditionally! is a three-session resource that focuses on God's call to love ourselves, to love our neighbors, and to support one another.

Called to Obey God: It's Not Easy Being Jonah probes the book of Jonah for help in learning how to discern our role in carrying out God's vision for the whole of creation.

Children's Sabbath

The National Observance of Children's Sabbaths is an intergenerational and interfaith event dedicated to speaking out and acting faithfully on behalf of children and families. This short resource is an introduction to Children's Sabbath with tips on planning, suggestions for activities and action, planning and promotion ideas, and sermon help.

Download your free copy.

Crumbs from the Table

This study of the story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman has a cross-cultural focus and explores how Jesus broke down the cultural boundaries between himself and the woman and the communities they each were from. The sessions are designed for group use but can also be used by individuals, and will each take less than an hour.

See Part One: A Feast of Crumbs, and Part Two: Crossing Boundaries

A Day Full of Light: Ending Commercial Sexual Exploitation

This introductory resource to commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), or sex trafficking, includes background on CSE and why Women of the ELCA is involved in the effort to end it, action steps, worship resources, links to online resources, and a list of ministries that work to address the challenge of CSE and the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Download your free copy.

God Colors Outside the Lines: A Short Workshop on Diversity and God's Church 

Diversity is one way God demonstrates genius at coloring outside the lines. Through scripture and simple, brief exercises, this short resource will help you demonstrate how diversity is a gift from God, as well as a trait of God, worthy of our exploration and embrace. 

Download your free copy.

Grace-Full Living

We continue our focus on women’s health in all its many facets. If we look at our complete and total health holistically, doesn’t it make sense to include financial health? When we consider health in mind, body, and spirit, do we ponder how financial health and giving are integral to our wellbeing? Grace-Full Living can be used in its entirety all at once or divided over a longer period of time. It is divided into three parts of about 60 minutes each. Use in a congregational setting, as a conference event, or as a workshop.

Download your free copy.

Hospitality: More Than Warm and Friendly 

Hospitality is more than being warm and friendly. It is a transforming way of life that opens our hearts to seeing Christ in others and being available to those in need. This resource is designed for individual study but can also be used in a group setting and should take about 60 minutes. 

Download your free copy.

I Am She

Our mission statement calls us to act boldly. What does this mean? It means a variety of things, for boldness has a range of voices. Some is bright and loud. Some is firm and quiet. Do you know what is your “best bold”? This program will help you discover it and put it into action! I Am She can be used in a congregational setting, as a conference event, or as part of a synodical convention. It could be conducted over five to six weeks or as a weekend retreat. So boldly claim your boldness today, declaring, “I am she!” 

Download your free copy.

Lessons for Today's Disciples

This resource will help you discover, practice, and be empowered by the seven marks of discipleship: praying, studying, worshiping, inviting, encouraging, serving, and giving. Use it individually or as a group study, perhaps covering each of the seven marks over seven sessions of about an hour each.

Download your free copy.

The Level Playing Field

We are called by our constitution to be an anti-racist organization. This program is part of our anti-racism education materials and uses an activity called The Level Playing Field to help people make the connection between racism and real life. It is ideally used with a cross-cultural group, either large or small. 

Download your free copy.

Listening to God: A Guide to Discernment

This resource was written for Women of the ELCA by Debra Farrington, a popular author and motivational speaker. It consists of six flexible hour-long sessions exploring what it means for an individual to discern God's hopes and desires for her life and what it means for a group to discern what their God-given gifts are for ministry. Ideal for a small group in either a retreat or workshop setting.

Available for purchase through Augsburg Fortress. 
Visit the Augsburg Fortress Web site to order, or call 800-328-4648.

Living from the Heart of God: A Journal for Life's Stages

This journal for women of all ages offers reflections, devotions, and prayers on the many life stages and experiences of women, from first friends to marriage and family life, from buying a home to chronic illness. Each section also includes space for the reader to record her own thoughts, prayers, and experiences.

Available for purchase through Augsburg Fortress. 
Visit the Augsburg Fortress Web site to order, or call 800-328-4648.

Looking into the Mirror: A Lenten Reflection 

Lent is about looking into a metaphorical mirror, the kind we hold up to out souls. Use the Lenten season to refocus your faith life and realign your relationship with God through 40 days of reflection. The discussion questions work best in small groups, though this resource can also be used independently. 

Download your free copy.

Our Journey to Wellness

This resource is your starting point for participating in our health initiative, Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls. It is a guide to having healthy dialogue in your community about women's total health: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Use it with your women's group, as part of a cluster or conference event, or as part of a synodical convention. Try it with a confirmation class or with young adults. The program can be used over several sessions or as a one-day retreat.

Download your free copy.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Author Barbara Gove Gill offers 21 heart-warming devotions inspired by insights from children, enriched by questions for discussion and reflection. Can be used by individuals as well as by groups. 

Download your free copy.

Paths to Wholeness

How is your spiritual life? Do you sometimes find it hard to connect with God or let God connect with you? Would like to try some new things? Take a journey in spirituality and learn about the many different paths to God. Paths to Wholeness is a retreat experience that offers a holistic approach to spirituality. You will recognize your own spiritual paths as well as the spiritual paths of others. This retreat resource can be conducted over a period of several weeks and is ideal for a one-day retreat. 

Download your free copy.

Rachel's Day

This new resource offers step-by-step information on how you can carry out a service project that helps incarcerated mothers and fathers read to their children. Your congregation donates books, blank tapes, and recorders, and then volunteers help parents choose a book, record it, and mail the recording to their children. Rachel’s Day is observed by Women of the ELCA annually on the first Sunday in May, though it can be observed any time of the year. It is a time set aside to mourn the loss of our children and to renounce the forces of violence and fear. 

Download your free copy.

Also see our more extensive section on Rachel's Day for more ideas on observing the day, including a litany and responsive reading and other resources.

Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls: Connecting with and Supporting Girls

Girls need the women in their lives more than ever as they search for deeper connections and for more than their peers can provide. Talking and being with them early in their lives will help us to help them navigate their most challenging life passages. This resource is designed to help women and girls build relationships and can be used by an individual or with a planning group. Allow about 60 minutes for the first meeting.

Download your free copy.

Sacred Spaces

This is a helpful guide to creating a personal sacred space that enriches and supports your practice of regular worship within a community of faith. Learn how to select and create a sacred space, whether that space is a whole room, a quiet corner of a room, or your garden. 

Download your free copy.

Shared Wisdom: An Effective Style of Leadership

Are there occasional (even frequent?) differences of opinion at your meetings? Do tempers flare? This resource summarizes a group discernment model for decision-making built on the principle that every person has a piece of the wisdom, but not all of it. Try it at your next meeting to help move you in a new direction.


Download your free copy.

Stand Up for Justice

This is a good first step in your journey toward tackling tough issues. Working for justice is not a quick and easy process but a long-term commitment involving both reflection and action. In this justice journey, your actions emerge after Bible study, prayer, reflection, listening, research, and careful planning. This resource can be used by individuals as well as by groups. 

Download your free copy.

The Story of Peter and Cornelius

This Bible study on Acts 10, the story of Peter and Cornelius, can also be used in your group to introduce people to Scripture that affirms diversity as being both of God and part of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The study consists of an introduction (to be read aloud by the leader at the beginning of the study), five brief sessions with questions for reflection on a passage of Scripture, and a closing prayer or litany. This study can be done at one time or broken out into shorter sessions. 

Download your free copy.

The Three Stations: A Readiness Exercise

This 30-40 minute tool can be used as an ice-breaker activity at the beginning of a retreat, workshop, or other group time. Its meditative approach helps participants to clear their minds, to "do what they need to do" in order to become open and ready for their time together as a group. 

Download your free copy.

Welcoming the Stranger

Help your church family open its hearts to people, especially those often marginalized by society. This resource will help you identify barriers to welcoming strangers and develop a deeper understanding of the meaning of hospitality.  Designed for group use and can be completed in about 3 hours, or over 4 shorter sessions.

Download your free copy.

The Witness of Women

This 3-year program is based on the Samaritan woman's encounter with Jesus. Year One focuses on helping individuals and groups become comfortable with their own stories, explore the call to be a witness, study biblical examples of witness, and recommit to evangelism. Year Two focuses on how your witness affects the lives of others and how you, in turn, are affected by the sharing. Year Three prepares you to do intentional evangelism and observe changes in the lives of others. To order, and for more information, call Women of the ELCA at 800-638-3522, ext. 2741.

Who? Me? Women of Faith Making a Difference

Individuals and groups can use this 8-step process for addressing justice issues that affect women, children, and families. Learn how to gather information from those with firsthand experience, welcome new partners in your work, identify issues, and develop action plans. This program can be conducted over 6 sessions of about one hour each.

Download your free copy.

Worship Boldly

This worship resource is still available! It has proved itself perfect for use in a unit, at a retreat, or at a synodical gathering. This edition created in 2005 has more than 40 songs and canticles. Worship services range from a service for commissioning new officers to a service of Holy Communion. There are late-night prayers for an overnight retreat, special litanies, and individual prayers for all occasions. BE sure to buy enough copies to have on hand for meetings and special events.

Available for purchase through Augsburg Fortress. 
Visit the Augsburg Fortress Web site to order, or call 800-328-4648.