CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Women leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will cross borders of age, race and geography to meet and encourage one another. The first ELCA Women's Leadership Roundtable, "Lift Our Voice," is set to host about 600 women Aug. 6-8 at the Marriott Downtown Hotel in Indianapolis.
"This is the first time an event like this has happened for the whole ELCA," said the Rev. Michelle L. Miller, associate director for leadership development, ELCA Commission for Women. Women of the ELCA, the church's women's organization, holds assemblies every three years, but this "women-centered" event is sponsored by almost every unit of the church, including Women of the ELCA, said Miller, ministry roundtable project coordinator.
Roundtables are being used to "really engage people in conversation," said Miller, and to avoid the passive "workshop" model of conferences. Participants will be assigned to tables to ensure a mix of people -- "cross-generationally, cross-racially, cross-vocationally," she said.
The ELCA has ordained women as pastors since 1970. The idea for the roundtable came from conversations of how to celebrate the 30th anniversary in 2000, said Miller. Regional celebrations were encouraged, and a churchwide event was suggested to honor all women in the church's leadership -- clergy and lay.
"We're expecting all different kinds of women" -- Lutheran women who work professionally in the church and outside the church, women who volunteer their skills in the church and outside the church, students, as well as women who may not be identified as leaders yet, said Miller.
Mentoring will be a focus of the gathering, said Miller, "so people are being encouraged to attend with their mentor or their 'mentee.'" Those women who don't consider themselves to be mentors will be urged to start being mentors, she said. "We need to be intentional about going back into our communities and identifying those younger women who have potential for leadership."
Roundtable planners set a goal of having at least 30 percent of the participants be women 30 years of age or younger, said Miller. Early registration suggests that will be achieved, she said.
Planners set another goal of having at least 30 percent of the participants be women of color. People of color make up about two percent of the ELCA's membership, but announcing this goal has sparked a lot of interest, said Miller, and it appears this goal will be met, too.
The event has been planned to precede the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which is to be held Aug. 8-14 at the Indiana Convention Center. Sixty percent of the assembly's voting members are lay people, half of whom are women. About 14 percent of the church's clergy are women. So, the assembly will already bring many women in the church's leadership to Indianapolis, said Miller.
Speakers will open each roundtable session: + the Rev. Barbara K. Lundblad, associate professor of preaching, Union Theological Seminary, New York; + Viola Raheb, director of Lutheran schools, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine), Bethlehem; + Dr. Jeanne Porter, associate minister of the Apostolic Church of God and associate professor of communication arts at North Park University, Chicago; + Patricia Hickey, therapist and drummer, Rhythmos Seminars, Grand Rapids, Mich.; + Charlotte D. Williams, associate director for leadership development, cross-cultural advocacy and budget, ELCA Commission for Women; + Katie Sorenson, youth and family ministry student, Augsburg College, Minneapolis; + the Rt. Rev. Catherine M. Waynick, bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis; + Christine H. Grumm, executive director, Women's Funding Network, San Francisco; and + Amy Grumm Friedrich, national policy associate, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, Washington, D.C.
Miller said she hopes women will leave the event with a renewed sense of their calling and "a restored commitment to uplift women in leadership." She said she hopes participants learn new leadership skills, reconnect with friends and build new relationships. -- -- --
The Commission for Women maintains information about the Women's Leadership Roundtable at http://www.elca.org/cw/roundtable/index.html on the ELCA Web site.
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
