wfn.org | Young Lutheran Women Are Leaders

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 13, 1996

YOUNG LUTHERAN WOMEN ARE LEADERS
96-31-093-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A three-year experience in international
leadership ended recently for Julie Ann Winder, Boston, and
Harolyn Light Coffer, Jefferson City, Mo.  The two young women
are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  They
were part of the International Leadership Conference for Young
Women, a program of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in
Geneva, Switzerland.
     "The program was one of the most wonderful training
opportunities I have participated in during my life," said
Coffer.  "I appreciate and praise the program for its diversity
of women.  We are a `rainbow people,'" she said.
     Winder said it was valuable to "meet female leaders from all
over the world.  It was interesting to learn that we have similar
struggles and joys within the church."
     The conference gathered 44 Lutheran women between ages 20
and 40 from Lutheran churches around the world at the end of
October to build and strengthen their leadership qualities,
preparing them for international work with the LWF and its member
churches.
     "The program allowed young women to fine-tune the gift of
leadership to serve the world to the Glory of God," said Sandra
Holloway, who designed the program while on the staff of the LWF.
Holloway is currently director for global mission education and
stewardship in the ELCA's Division for Global Mission.
     The young women were matched with international and regional
mentors.  They learned about the global church, became acquainted
with female church leaders and attended LWF events.
     Sue Edison-Swift, managing editor of Lutheran Woman Today,
the periodical of Women of the ELCA, served as a mentor and
regional coordinator.  "In many ways the LWF program was a
credentialing more than a training program," she said.  "The
participants in the program are already leaders in their
churches, professions and communities.  Their participation helps
church leaders recognize the women as leaders," she said.
     The women undertook hands-on experience -- short
internships, service opportunities, participation in LWF meetings
at an international, regional or churchwide level.  "The program
has broadened my perspective on many global issues," said Coffer.
      "These young women went through a personal life
metamorphosis.  They matured into leaders with the opportunity to
serve as international delegates," Holloway explained.
     Three years ago, LWF made a commitment to equal
participation of women and men in leadership responsibilities,
Holloway said.  Despite strategies and plans for leadership
training and participation of women, LWF recognized that young
women are a neglected group in its programs, meetings and events.
This could be attributed to "the lack of required skills and the
under-utilization of women's capacities in a competitive system,"
she said.
     The young women's program will provide LWF and its member
churches with a group of leaders who have an integrated
international awareness, said Holloway.
     LWF is a communion of 56 million Lutherans in 122 member
church bodies in 68 countries.  The 5.2-million-member ELCA is
the second largest LWF member.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312)
380-2958 or AHAFFTEN@ELCA.ORG; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312)
380-2955 or FRANKI@ELCA.ORG; Melissa Ramirez, Assist. Dir., (312)
380-2956 or MRAMIREZ@ELCA.ORG