wfn.org | ELCA Lutheran Women "Proclaim God's Peace"

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS Service

July 19, 1996

LUTHERAN WOMEN "PROCLAIM GOD'S PEACE" (69 lines)
96-17-051-FI

     MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- There were 486 delegates and 5,731
registered participants at the Minneapolis Convention Center July
11-14 for the Third Triennial Convention of Women of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  The convention
theme, "Proclaim God's Peace," inspired speeches, worship,
workshops, Bible study and business.
     Sharroll A. Bernahl, Fort Morgan, Colo., was elected to a
three-year term as president of the organization -- more than
500,000 women in ELCA congregations across the United States and
Caribbean.  Bernahl, 52, is a member of the Lutheran Church of
Our Redeemer in Fort Morgan.  She's been a member of Women of the
ELCA's Executive Board since 1993.
     "Where women are being challenged in their faith through
Bible study and prayer there is growth," said Jan Peterson, Thief
River Falls, Minn., in her final report as president.  Where such
challenges are met in the ELCA "the excitement cannot be
contained."
     Mary G. Seale, Roosevelt, N.Y., was elected vice president;
Donna L. Haack, Pomeroy, Iowa, secretary; and Nancy A. Hoffman,
Lancaster, Ohio, treasurer.  The convention elected 17 board
members and adapted a 1997 budget of $3,900,760 including a
$1,000,000 gift to the ELCA.
     Dr. Charlotte E. Fiechter resigned her position of six years
as executive director effective July 31.  "I believe it is time
for me to move on to new tasks and new challenges, and I believe
it is time for the organization to bring in new leadership," said
Fiechter.  An interim director will be appointed.
     "We talk a lot in this church about diversity," Gwen Carr,
Salem, Ore., told about 135 women during a "Women of Color
Gathering" July 8-10.  She added that the ELCA must continue its
work to "bond" with women of color.  Carr was president of Women
of the ELCA, 1990-1993.  Other events preceding the convention
included workshops on conflict resolution, domestic violence,
leadership and rural concerns.
     "I never saw a barrier as an excuse to give up," Wilma
Mankiller told the convention.  Mankiller was principal chief of
the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, 1985-1995.
     The struggle for peace and justice "is not something you do
for a year or some period of time.  It is a vocation for life,"
said Rigoberta Mench# Tum, who received the 1992 Nobel Peace
Prize for her work for the human rights of indigenous people in
Guatemala.
     Other speakers were ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George
Anderson, Bishop Andrea F. DeGroot-Nesdahl of the South Dakota
Synod, Bishop April Ulring Larson of the LaCrosse (Wis.) Area
Synod, Dr. Kathryn Wolford, executive director for Lutheran World
Relief, and the Rev. Walter Wangerin, Jr., columnist for "The
Lutheran" magazine, author, and speaker on the ELCA's weekly
radio ministry "Lutheran Vespers."
     Participants brought 3,802 children's books on a peace theme
that were presented to libraries, schools and health centers in
the Twin Cities area.  Fabric squares, "Pieces of Peace," were
sewn into more than 100 quilts and given to Lutheran World
Relief.  Blood donated during Fairview Health Systems' onsite
health fair was given to the Memorial Blood Center in
Minneapolis.
     The convention is "the largest gathering of adults in the
ELCA," said Fiechter.  "It is an opportunity to meet, touch and
relate to the constituency in numbers and with an impact greater
than at any other time.  It is a time to `touch the grass
roots,'" she said.
     About 175 workshop topics were presented in six afternoon
sessions; and a "Convention Without Walls" took participants to
12 Twin Cities sites.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia
Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956