wfn.org | ELCA Women Attend Wide Range of Workshops

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 11, 1999

ELCA WOMEN ATTEND WIDE RANGE OF WORKSHOPS
99-WO-22-JB**

     ST. LOUIS (ELCA) -- Participants at the Women of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) convention had opportunities to attend
more than 180 workshops on a variety of topics.
     The Fourth Triennial Convention of Women of the ELCA is meeting
here July 8-11 at the America's Center.  The organization's three-year
theme, "Live God's Justice," is unveiled at the convention amid Bible
study, keynote addresses, workshops, business sessions and elections.
     Workshop topics ranged from personal faith journeys, anger
management and corporate social responsibility, to youth-parent
relationships, to how to be a better writer to church relief work in
Kosovo.
     -- "Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey," Dr. Addie J. Butler,
vice president of the ELCA, talked about her own faith journey and the
lives of biblical women, and encouraged workshop participants to share
their own life experiences.  She said her church involvement began when
she joined the stewardship committee in the Southeastern Pennsylvania
Synod, one of the ELCA's 65 synods.  "The word keeps me going," Butler
said.  "Prayer keeps me going.  The old gospel spirituals keep me going.
Jesus takes my burden."
     -- "Building Bridges, Dealing with Anger Constructively," brought
participants together to discuss anger, its causes and how to control
it.  The workshop leader, Douglas Haugen, director of the ELCA Lutheran
Men in Mission (LMM) program, Chicago, said men are part of the domestic
violence problem and should be included in providing solutions to the
problem.           "Control is a main issue of domestic violence," he
said. "Guys do not necessarily agree they are domestically violent. And
no man would admit to being physically abusive, so one hardly finds a
large number of men coming to discuss the issue at hand."   Haugen said
there are more secular than religious books that deal with anger.
     -- "Corporate Social Responsibility: What Does It Mean to Mind
God's Business?" Trudy Brubaker, director of corporate and social
responsbility for the ELCA, Pittsburgh, discussed the complexity of
corporate injustice and how people seeking justice can make a
difference.  She suggested participants consider buying "Equal Exchange"
coffee, a product offered through Lutheran World Relief that assures a
fair price to South American coffee producers; seek information on
responsible financial investments; and invest in local community
development loan funds.
     -- Connie Leann Seraphine, coordinator of the ELCA's First Call
Theological Education project, Chicago, led a workshop titled "Why
Christian? Talking to Those on the Edge of Faith," reflections on a book
of the same title by Douglas John Hall.  "Church must be alive and
imaginative," she said. "It must be a 'zone of truth,' a place of
honesty for both adults and youth."
     "The goal of parents is not to keep their children in church, but
to keep them human in the way Jesus recognizes humanity," Seraphine
said. "God through the Holy Spirit will do the rest.  Teach integrity,
honesty and shared power.  Teach curiosity about the profound.  Engage
them in helping their neighbors.  Jesus will be happy with them."
      Marj Leegard, popular monthly columnist in Lutheran Woman Today
and author of the book Give Us This Day, encouraged aspiring writers in
her workshop, "Untitled Pictures, Unwritten Books."  Leegard encouraged
participants to write down the stories they've been longing to tell.
"You were created by God, redeemed by Jesus Christ our Savior, and
imbued by the Holy Spirit with a story.  Tell it!"
     --"Amid bombs and bread, where is Christ?" Jonathan C. Frerichs
asked a large group gathered for his workshop on international relief,
"Women and Talents: Money Management by the Billions."  Freirichs,
communication director for Lutheran World Relief, New York, began his
workshop by thanking Women of the ELCA.  "The 'W' in LWR really stands
for 'Women'--  Lutheran Women's Relief," Freirichs said. "No group has
been more a faithful contributor than the parish project groups   most
famously for donating quilts, but also for soaps and countless other
much-needed supplies."
(**Compiled by John R. Brooks and writers from the Triennial Times, a
daily publication of Women of the ELCA for the Fourth Triennial
Convention)

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html