ST. LOUIS (ELCA) -- Participants at the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) convention had opportunities to attend more than 180 workshops on a variety of topics.
The Fourth Triennial Convention of Women of the ELCA is meeting here July 8-11 at the America's Center. The organization's three-year theme, "Live God's Justice," is unveiled at the convention amid Bible study, keynote addresses, workshops, business sessions and elections.
Workshop topics ranged from personal faith journeys, anger management and corporate social responsibility, to youth-parent relationships, to how to be a better writer to church relief work in Kosovo.
-- "Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey," Dr. Addie J. Butler, vice president of the ELCA, talked about her own faith journey and the lives of biblical women, and encouraged workshop participants to share their own life experiences. She said her church involvement began when she joined the stewardship committee in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, one of the ELCA's 65 synods. "The word keeps me going," Butler said. "Prayer keeps me going. The old gospel spirituals keep me going. Jesus takes my burden."
-- "Building Bridges, Dealing with Anger Constructively," brought participants together to discuss anger, its causes and how to control it. The workshop leader, Douglas Haugen, director of the ELCA Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM) program, Chicago, said men are part of the domestic violence problem and should be included in providing solutions to the problem. "Control is a main issue of domestic violence," he said. "Guys do not necessarily agree they are domestically violent. And no man would admit to being physically abusive, so one hardly finds a large number of men coming to discuss the issue at hand." Haugen said there are more secular than religious books that deal with anger.
-- "Corporate Social Responsibility: What Does It Mean to Mind God's Business?" Trudy Brubaker, director of corporate and social responsbility for the ELCA, Pittsburgh, discussed the complexity of corporate injustice and how people seeking justice can make a difference. She suggested participants consider buying "Equal Exchange" coffee, a product offered through Lutheran World Relief that assures a fair price to South American coffee producers; seek information on responsible financial investments; and invest in local community development loan funds.
-- Connie Leann Seraphine, coordinator of the ELCA's First Call Theological Education project, Chicago, led a workshop titled "Why Christian? Talking to Those on the Edge of Faith," reflections on a book of the same title by Douglas John Hall. "Church must be alive and imaginative," she said. "It must be a 'zone of truth,' a place of honesty for both adults and youth."
"The goal of parents is not to keep their children in church, but to keep them human in the way Jesus recognizes humanity," Seraphine said. "God through the Holy Spirit will do the rest. Teach integrity, honesty and shared power. Teach curiosity about the profound. Engage them in helping their neighbors. Jesus will be happy with them."
Marj Leegard, popular monthly columnist in Lutheran Woman Today and author of the book Give Us This Day, encouraged aspiring writers in her workshop, "Untitled Pictures, Unwritten Books." Leegard encouraged participants to write down the stories they've been longing to tell. "You were created by God, redeemed by Jesus Christ our Savior, and imbued by the Holy Spirit with a story. Tell it!"
--"Amid bombs and bread, where is Christ?" Jonathan C. Frerichs asked a large group gathered for his workshop on international relief, "Women and Talents: Money Management by the Billions." Freirichs, communication director for Lutheran World Relief, New York, began his workshop by thanking Women of the ELCA. "The 'W' in LWR really stands for 'Women'-- Lutheran Women's Relief," Freirichs said. "No group has been more a faithful contributor than the parish project groups most famously for donating quilts, but also for soaps and countless other much-needed supplies." (**Compiled by John R. Brooks and writers from the Triennial Times, a daily publication of Women of the ELCA for the Fourth Triennial Convention)
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
