wfn.org | Lutheran Women Focus On Having Healthy Hearts

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 15, 2005

Lutheran Women Focus On Having Healthy Hearts
05-105-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More than 2,000 Lutheran women from the
United States and overseas plan to "act boldly" in promoting
women's holistic health as they gather July 5-10 for Women of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Sixth Triennial
Gathering at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San
Antonio, Texas.
     From 2005 to 2008 Women of the ELCA plans to mobilize 3.2
million women in the five-million-member church to improve their
own health and the health of others under the initiative "Raising
Up Healthy Women and Girls."  The goals of the initiative are to
educate women and girls to care for themselves physically,
spiritually and emotionally, help prevent health risks from
continuing, and advocate for more research to hasten the
elimination of heart disease and stroke.
     "Women's health is obviously a very broad issue," said Linda
Post Bushkofsky, executive director, Women of the ELCA.  "As we
looked at all the possible issues around women's health that we
could examine, we decided to focus on women's heart health in
part because the heart is the center of our existence; it's the
center of love and the center of our being," she said.
     Women of the ELCA's health initiative will officially begin
at the Triennial Gathering.
     "The gathering brings together women from across the United
States [and overseas] for worship, praise, learning, service and
fellowship.  The Sixth Triennial Convention of Women of the ELCA,
the highest legislative authority of the organization, will take
place during the gathering," said Bushkofsky.
     "The gathering and convention also serve to bring to close
the 2002-2005 triennium and its theme, 'Listen!  God is Calling,'
and to launch the 2005-2008 triennium and its theme, 'Act
Boldly.'  The theme is rooted in the mission of Women of the
ELCA, 'to mobilize women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus
Christ,'" she said.
     Under the "Listen! God is Calling" theme, "women have spent
a lot of time discerning what God is asking them to do in their
lives.	We realized that if one is not fully healthy, one cannot
really respond to the call God may have for her.  Therefore,
we're looking to address women's health holistically for the next
three years," Bushkofsky said.
     To help kick off the health initiative, the gathering will
host a four-kilometer "run, walk and roll" in the San Antonio
area, she said.  The ELCA Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, is
cosponsoring the 4K event.  Women will raise funds that "will be
used programmatically by the women's organization to address
issues of heart health" both locally and internationally,
Bushkofsky said.  She said women of the organization will tailor
the initiative according to "what makes sense in their locale."
     Other healthy-alternative activities at the gathering
include Tai Chi exercise, massage therapy and a blood drive to
benefit the San Antonio community, she said.  These and other
activities will take place at the gathering's exhibit hall called
"The Dwelling Place."
     Featured speakers for the gathering include Barbara
Ehrenreich, author of the book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not)
Getting By in America."  Ehrenreich will share her experiences
that formed the basis of her book and address health issues faced
by low-wage-earning women who cannot afford health insurance or
take time off from work to visit the doctor.
     The Rev. Vashti Murphy McKenzie, bishop of the African
Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and president of the A.M.E.
Council of Bishops, will preach at the "Thankoffering Service"
July 7.  McKenzie was the first woman elected bishop in the
A.M.E., a church whose membership is 70 percent female.
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, will
preside and the Rev. Andrea Walker, St. John's Lutheran Church,
Summit, N.J., will preach at the gathering's opening worship on
July 6.
     Debra Farrington, author and retreat leader, Harrisburg,
Pa., will speak during inspiration time, which takes place every
morning of the gathering.
     Ione Hanson, who is married to Mark Hanson, will host the
inspiration time on July 7 and will lead the "4K Run, Walk and
Roll."	She is a pediatric clinical social worker in the Chicago
area.
     The Rev. Melanie McRae, spiritual director and chaplain,
Minneapolis, will preach and the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock,
executive assistant to the ELCA presiding bishop for leadership
development, will preside at the gathering's closing worship on
July 10.
     The Rev. Sarah Henrich, associate professor of New Testament
at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., will lead daily Bible
studies, and the Rev. Jeanne Porter, an ordained minister in the
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and associate professor of
communication arts at North Park University, Chicago, will lead
sessions for the clergywomen's affinity group at the triennial
gathering.
     The Women of the ELCA organization has more than 7,800 local
units in congregations of the ELCA and "institutional settings"
across the United States and Caribbean.
- - -
     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