Action and Advocacy: Mobilizing Women

 
Engage in action, support one another in our callings, and promote healing and wholeness

take action for and promote women's health		Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls, our health initiative, engages all women and girls of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in making and fostering spiritually, physically, and emotionally healthy choices. We also support the HEART for Women act.
support one another financially		Stewardship helps us exercise our faith and trust in God. We give what God has first given us: our time, our talents, and our possessions. We give because it is part of God's plan and because it is essential to our partnership with God in accomplishing God's mission. Grants help support organizations and local ministries that make a positive impact on the health of women and girls. Since 1988, Women of the ELCA has awarded more $3 million. Scholarships are awarded annually for women in ministry, both lay and ordained.
promote healing and wholeness		The Today's Dream: Tomorrow's Reality (TDTR) network of peer educators provides anti-racism educational presentations to synodical boards and conventions, clusters/conferences, and congregational units to help Women of the ELCA live out its organizational principle to “claim and practice an anti-racist identity.” Carrying out our vision of bringing healing and wholeness to the world includes supporting those with special needs, and particularly families with special needs children. On these pages you will find a wealth of resources for a range of special needs. Explore the concept of radical welcome with a discussion of the book Radical Welcome: Embracing God, the Other, and the Spirit of Transformation by Stephanie Spellers. This book, plus the additional resources found in this section of our Web site, provide a great way to study and discuss what it means to be a fully welcoming organization.
take action through advocacy		Domestic violence has devastating physical and emotional consequences for women, children, and families. This section includes a bulletin insert you can use to help raise awareness in your congregation and links to talking points you can use for an adult forum. Commercial sexual exploitation affects all of us and our youth. Discover ways to take action. Speak out on behalf of children and families by taking part in The National Observance of Children's Sabbaths, an intergenerational and interfaith event that unites thousands of religious congregations and organizations. Observing Rachel's Day is a wonderful way to build community and relationships by connecting adults (who may or may not be parents or grandparents) with children at risk. It is usually observed by Women of the ELCA on the first Sunday in May but can be observed any time of year.
take action in partnership with other organizations		Lutheran World Relief projects, like quilts, health kits, and fair trade coffee and chocolate are some ways that we can make a difference. Women of the ELCA is partnering with the Women's Funding Network to recycle old cell phones. Rather then send them to a landfill, where they leak toxins into the environment, recycle them in a way that raises money to help create lasting solutions for poverty and climate change.