Women Of The ELCA Dared To 'Dream Big'

SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- The Right Rev. Vashti Murphy McKenzie inspired and dared Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to “dream big and act boldly.” McKenzie, bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and president of the A.M.E. Council of Bishops, preached at the organization's “Thankoffering Service” here July 7.
Women of the ELCA's Sixth Triennial Gathering is meeting here July 5-10 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The organization's three-year theme, “Act Boldly,” is being unveiled at the convention amid Bible study, keynote presentations, workshops, community service, business sessions and elections. More than 2,100 women from across the United States and around the world are participating.
“The theme is rivers and reservoirs,” McKenzie told her audience. “Every community must have the ability to store water,” she said. “Without water one cannot be nourished. Water is priceless. The human body is 70 percent water. If water is not replenished, you die.”
“The church is like a reservoir, it too contains a life-supporting substance where people come to drink from the fountain that never runs dry,” McKenzie said. “The church is like a reservoir.” It provides “adaptors to help cope with present conditions.”
McKenzie suggested that Women of the ELCA “ought to be like a river. A reservoir contains, but a river flows. A river includes a fresh supply, it cannot be contained. A river will always seek its own space. Where the river flows, there will always be life.”
“God provided the living water” which flows “from the temple. Thus, the temple is the starting point, not the staying point,” McKenzie said. The temple is the reservoir, and “the river seeks to fulfill the Great Commission,” which is “to make disciples of all nations,” she said, illustrating the dual nature of the church and its people. The temple is “communal” and “the other is missional. You need both in order to get somewhere.”
“The river is about movement, action and change,” McKenzie told worshippers. “Now it's time to take some action. The river will always take you to places you've never been before, to do things you've never done before,” she said. “The river is a mandate of God. It transforms the land beyond the temple, beyond expectation.”
“The river will never take you where you want to go, but where you need to go. The river will take you to a place that won't bless you back. God gave us the river,” and “we must be part of the river. Come, be a part of the river. God needs the river to flow out of the temple,” said McKenzie.
The Rev. Susan Gamelin, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, High Point, N.C., presided over the Thankoffering Service. Gamelin is the author of the Bible study, “Act Boldly in the Fruit of the Spirit,” which will appear in the September 2005-May 2006 issue of “Lutheran Woman Today” -- magazine of Women of the ELCA.
A special “thankoffering” collected at worship totaled $58,700. The funds will support the domestic and international ministries of Women of the ELCA.
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Information about the Women of the ELCA's Sixth Triennial Gathering is at http://www.womenoftheELCA.org on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news