Women of the ELCA Told That God Loves Boldly

SAN ANTONIO (ELCA) -- Women of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) closed its Sixth Triennial Gathering
with worship on July 10. The Rev. Melanie A. McRae, ELCA pastor,
spiritual director and chaplain, Methodist Hospital and Park
Nicollet Health, Saint Louis Park, Minn., told worshippers about
God's extravagant love.
Women of the ELCA held its gathering here July 5-10 at the
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The organization's three-
year theme, "Act Boldly," was 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 participated.
Basing her sermon on Jesus' parable of a sower broadcasting
seed across various types of soil, McRae said the Gospel of St.
Matthew tells the story in very clear terms of which seed fell on
good soil and which seed fell on bad soil.
"Who am I in this story?" McRae asked. "Are you weed or
wheat?"
McRae noted that no specific plants are weeds, but a weed is
any plant "that grows where you don't want it to grow."
Separating weeds from other plants is a matter of perspective and
preference, she said.
The same plant can be fabulous and a problem, McRae said.
"So are we."
The parable is less about the seed than it is about the
sower, she said. "This is a story about the heart of God," McRae
said. "God's love is boldly and extravagantly showered upon us
each and every day."
"We live in a culture that is more and more concerned with
who is 'in' and who is 'out,'" she said. "We are prodded to act
boldly," sharing God's love extravagantly, she said.
"Do we dare act boldly?" McRae asked.
"Get your bag of seeds, we're going in," she concluded.
Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director, Women of the
ELCA, Chicago, led the gathering in recognition of the
organization's officers and board members who completed their
terms of service. The outgoing president, Mary Ellen Kiesner,
Menomonee Falls, Wis., installed the new president, Carmen K.
Richards, Hope, N.D., and other officers and board members
beginning their three-year terms.
The Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive for leadership
development, ELCA Office of the Bishop, Chicago, presided at the
Lord's Supper during the gathering's closing worship.
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Information about Women of the ELCA Sixth Triennial
Gathering is available at
http://www.womenoftheELCA.org/news/events/tg05/ on the Internet.

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