Give Thanks

I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. My son, David, wife Sarah, Jackson, Adelaide, and Charlotte will walk over to our house for dinner. My brother, Robert, wife, Marcia, from Springfield, Missouri, our niece, Heidi from Oklahoma City and nephew Kurt, from Chicago, will also be there.  My son, John, who many of you met in Albuquerque, will fly in from LA with his girlfriend, Rita. And my husband, Bill, will tell the same jokes and make the same remarks he always does at a big family gathering! What fun! We may actually get everyone together for a family Christmas photo! My Thanksgiving prayer is pretty long!

I’m also thankful for the opportunity to visit and hear from our mission grant recipients—current and past—who express their thankfulness to me for the support the LWML has given them in their mission outreach ministries. I wish you could hear each one. We have a page in the Mission section of our website called “Your Mite Offerings Have Made a Difference” where we carry updates, thank you letters, and photos from grants current and past. These recipients have long Thanksgiving prayers for you all who faithfully fill your Mite Boxes in order to help them spread the Word of God around the world.

I know you all have much to be thankful for. As we attend church this Thanksgiving we will thank God for all the material things we have been blessed with as well as the most wonderful thing of all, faith in Jesus Christ and the gift of everlasting life. We thank God for loving us and sending His only son to die on the cross in payment for our sins. We thank God for making us heirs of His heavenly home. It’s almost too much to include in a single prayer of thanksgiving. Just so much! Amazing love, amazing Grace, amazing God!

I’m wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and very long Thanksgiving prayers!

Patti

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 118:1)

This past week LWML held a leadership event in St. Louis. This event was titled, “Follow the Leader”, and included 180 LWML women and junior pastoral counselors from the forty districts. LWML committee members conducted sessions covering various aspects of LWML. Guest speakers contributed, as well. I was very encouraged by the interest shown by the attendees and by the dedication of so many to serving the Lord and working in LWML.

Preparations for the event started over a year ago and subjects were chosen after a survey was conducted with district presidents asking what they wanted to learn and hear about. In response, the planning committee under the direction of VP of Organizational Resources, Debbie Larson, chose carefully the content of the sessions and the speakers.

It was a fun and informative few days spent together. Now the attendees will bring the knowledge acquired back to their districts. If you weren’t in St. Louis you will get the opportunity to learn and experience the material presented closer to home in your district and zone.

It’s a great time to be serving in LWML! It’s a great time to follow our leader, Jesus Christ!

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9).

Patti

Assembly of Leaders logo

This is a big week for LWML! We are having our Assembly of Leaders (AOL), this year, titled “Follow the Leader”. As always, we will begin with Bible study centered around the Scripture verse, What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me — practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:9). Bible studies will be led by our counselors, Rev. Robert Mundahl and Rev. Mitchel Schuessler.

Thirty-nine of our forty district presidents will be attending. New, this year, will be the newly elected junior counselors from the districts attending with their districts. Each district was encouraged to invite two other women to attend. Following the 3-day event, they will return to their districts and hold district and zone events to share information and ideas that they shared here in St. Louis.

Speakers, interest sessions, convention information, communication ideas, and other things used to strengthen their districts will be presented. I hope all of you will be able to attend a presentation they will do in your district.

Please remember them in your prayers this week for safe travel, good health, and a valuable learning time with everyone at this event.

In LWML, we serve the Lord, our Leader, with Gladness!

God’s peace be with you all!

Patti

To be an LWML Pastoral Counselor is huge. The job includes doctrinal review of everything, weeknight and weekday meetings either in person or via computer. You have to juggle family time, congregation time, and LWML time. You can be asked to be away from home at least 25 days per biennium. Your counseling time may include Executive Committee and Board members, district members, office staff, or other counselors. You review legal issues, employment questions, sit on financial committees, and plan and write various services, dedications, and convention worship. Necessary qualities include patience, a sense of humor, and the ability to be silly at times in sketches and “purplemercials”. In other words, we expect a lot out of our counselors!

You have two outstanding counselors elected by your delegates at conventions in Des Moines and Albuquerque. I hope you have a chance to meet them if you haven’t already.

Elected in Des Moines, 2015, our senior counselor, Rev. Robert Mundahl, is senior pastor of Peace Lutheran in Faribault, Minnesota, in the Minnesota South District. He attended Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne and also has a B.S. in K-12 Education/Philosophy from the University of Minnesota. (Peace has a school, 3 years-8). He served as an LWML District Counselor in two districts, Missouri and Minnesota South. He and his wife of 43 years, Peg, have 2 children and 2 grandchildren. His hobbies include camping, photography, golf and hiking and his golden retriever, Glacier, frequently accompanies him. His favorite sports include golf and watching NCAA wrestling. He enjoys all aspects of being a pastor but says if he had to do a different job it would be a school teacher/coach.  

Our junior counselor, Rev. Mitchel Schuessler, is pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Troy, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois District. He received his Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and his B.A. from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. He served nine years in prison ministry. St. Paul’s also has a preschool. He and his wife of 34 years, Penny, have two married children. As hobbies he enjoys train watching and model railroading and reading. They have quite a menagerie at their house: Golden retriever, Zeb; chocolate lab, Wrigley; guinea pig, Oreo; parakeet, Rizzo; 2 water turtles, Houdini and Titan. His favorite sport to watch is baseball and if he wasn’t a pastor he would like to be a photographer. He enjoys leading worship and preaching and especially enjoys leading Bible studies.

Because of the heavy workload of reviewing manuscripts, articles and the review of the new history book that is currently being written, we asked Rev. Kenton Wendorf of Neenah, Wisconsin to come aboard as a special appointed counselor for doctrinal review. This has been a wonderful addition and has helped our elected counselors immensely. Many of you know Rev. Wendorf as LWML Past President, Jan Wendorf’s husband of 40 years and co-author of LWML Sunday materials in 2010. They have 11 grandchildren and, surprise, one of his hobbies is playing with the grandchildren! Also enjoys golf, playing the piano and watching the Brewers, and Indian’s play baseball and the Ohio State and Wisconsin play football. If he wasn’t a pastor he would enjoy working in the business sector, possibly in the nonprofit sector.

Our counselors are very special to us. I hope you will find a way to express your appreciation this month to your counselors—zone, district, or national—as they serve the Lord with gladness alongside you!

Patti

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom from the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints (Proverbs 2:6-8).


2017–2019 Mission Grant 14 — $100,000

LBW
Lutheran Braille Workers Grant #14

LBW’s ministry lovingly reaches out to people who are visually impaired to create a connection to the Word of God and His church. Lutheran Braille Workers, Inc. (LBW) is celebrating their 75thAnniversary on October 20, 2018 at their headquarters in Yucaipa, California. I had the pleasure of serving on their Board of Directors during the two years between being LWML VP of Christian Life and LWML President. LWML has been honored to be one of the keynote speakers at this anniversary celebration. LWML has long been supportive of LBW through mission grants. Many of us serve in Braille work centers across the United States and many of your LWML districts also support LBW with grants. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to present their grant check of $100,000 from our mite offerings when I go out there for the celebration? At this point, we only have half of that amount available. When you look at our mite offerings (www.lwml.org/mites-received) you will see just how far behind we are with them. Please pray about our mites. Then, I strongly urge you, individually and collectively, to do something specifically about it. What will you and your LWML group do now to help pay all of the grants selected at the Albuquerque convention, including this one for LBW?

Remember this grant in prayer: Lutheran Braille Workers (LBW) has been providing God’s Word to the visually impaired since 1943, utilizing the New International Version of the Bible for the past 25 years. With the use of the English Standard Version (ESV) by the LCMS, LBW desires to offer people with visual disability the opportunity to worship and study with the same translation of the Bible as sighted people of the Church. These funds will assist in the cost of the production of the zinc plates for each Braille Work Center along with producing the ESV Bible in large print.

Jesus had a special place in His heart for the marginalized of society and so can we. Our LWML family reaches out to the physically and the spiritually blind as part of our mission. With the help of the Holy Spirit we should strive to do the best we can in both areas! 

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in pathsthat they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them(Isaiah 42:16).

Patti

The year of district conventions is concluded. The final conventions were the LWML Florida-Georgia convention in Orlando and the LWML Southern Illinois convention in Centralia, Illinois. Forty districts held conventions this year with 40 different themes, 40 different Bible studies, and many different guest speakers, servant events, worship services, and elections of officers.

Patti and  FL-GA President Trish 

Much like the body of Christ is one but composed of different parts with different functions, we celebrate this reflection also in our LWML districts. Differences come with geographic location, population differences, historical settlement patterns, and emphases of LCMS districts. We bring these districts together in our national organization and benefit from the differing input we receive from all of them. Not only do we benefit from the combination of our Mite Box offerings for grants but also in the talent that is brought to our various committees, our production of Bible studies and devotions, and our work in the area of mission service and gospel outreach.

Taking figures from the reports that the Executive Committee Representatives to the district conventions turned in here is what I see.

Attendance at conventions was 9,517 people

Young Woman Representatives were a total of 312

District grants for 2018-2020 totaled $3,469,997.92

I hope you were able to attend your district convention, the time spent together is never wasted. There is something for everyone at a convention. That something is not the same for each person. Remember to show appreciation to those who worked on your convention. Support your officers and work to fund your mission grants over the next two years. It’s a great time to be in LWML! It’s a great time to Serve the Lord with Gladness!

Engage, Encourage, Equip and Enjoy!

Patti

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing (Psalm 100:1-2 KJV).


Video Link

This video is a tour of our new LWML Offices. You’ll see as we go down the stairs in Loeber Hall on the campus of the St. Louis Seminary. The last hallway is not ours but I walked down it to show you the storeroom we are renting. Many of you will recognize the hallway as the location of the old food and clothing bank. There is a loading dock out back that we can use for truck deliveries.

Gold mums were planted outside the windows of the office by the Seminary to welcome us. The office staff can decorate their offices this week and get settled in. A huge thank you goes to Product Developer, Beverly England, who coordinated the construction, the move, and the interior decorating. She spent hours and hours on the phone and shopping and “coordinating” everything involved. Thank you, Bev!!

We just have to get window coverings and our outdoor sign done. Again, thanks to a donor who donated savings bonds years ago and also an anonymous donor who gave $20,000 towards the move. No Mite Box offering money had to be used.

Please stop in and “set a spell” if you are in St. Louis. Dedication of the office will be Tuesday, November 6, 2019, at 1:30.

Happy October!

Patti

https://files.constantcontact.com/72708238001/cdc2d64d-544e-45e1-8dd5-e1e65e1c588e.jpg

We all love to celebrate special events with our family like baptisms, confirmations, birthdays, and weddings, etc. This past Sunday Rev. Dr. Robert Roegner, LWML Pastoral Counselor 2013-2017, was installed to his missionary position with The Apple of His Eye Mission Society at Concordia Lutheran Church in San Antonio, Texas.

Pastor Roegner and his wife, Kristi, who most recently served on the LWML Church Workers in Mission Task Force, will be working with The Apple of His Eye founder, Steve Cohen and his wife, Nancy, as missionaries in Israel. They will be working with Immanuel Ministries and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Israel.

Another reason for the LWML family to mark this day is the fact that this outreach in Israel was made possible, in part, with your Mite Box Offerings from last biennium. You may remember the mission grant paid to The Apple of His Eye Society to do missionary work in Israel.

Now, as we would following any family celebration, we continue in prayer for Pastor Roegner, Kristi, Steve and Nancy as they set out to witness to the lost sheep of Israel. Thank you for your prayers and for your mission support!

To read more and communicate with these missionaries go to their website: www.appleofhiseye.org.

Congratulations Pastor Bob and Kristi!

Patti

Hurricane

LWML Carolinas District

Little did they know when they chose their district convention theme months ago how that theme would echo circumstances surrounding this past weekend’s weather events! President Carolyn Smith and LWML friends went ahead with their convention at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. I’d like to share a report submitted by LWML Parliamentarian, Barbara Volk, a member of the Carolinas district. We are so thankful for their convention taking place and the safety of all attendees. Thank you, Barbara, for this report:

The Lord was watching out for our Carolinas District LWML this weekend, so we were able to hold our convention even as Florence moved in. The LWML Carolinas District women were determined to hold their 66th convention at Lake Junaluska Christian Conference and Retreat Center in Western North Carolina on Sept. 14 and 15. 103 women and men (of the 116 preregistered) braved the storm and celebrated under the theme “SOS – Serving Our Savior.” Gifts from the Heart benefitted Haywood Pathway Center, which provides emergency services to the homeless, addiction recovery support, and crisis pregnancy assistance. Servant Activities were filling backpacks with school supplies for Orphan Grain Train and sending cards of encouragement to seminary students.

Because the rain and winds were moving into the area by afternoon, some of Saturday’s business and presentations were condensed, but attendees were still able to hear both parts of the keynote address by Dr. Gregory Seltz, Executive Director of the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty—“Called by God to BOAST of Him (1 Cor. 1:26-31)” and “The LCRL and You—Engaging the culture as God’s people for the sake of the Gospel.” Devotions and prayers were led by Senior Pastoral Counselor John Fair. Because the flights for LWML Representative Carol Von Soosten were cancelled, LWML Parliamentarian Barbara Volk introduced the video greetings from President Patti and provided an overview of LWML products and services.

Business included voting for officers, with Cheryl Wulfert elected district president for 2018-2022; selection of a mission goal of $67,000 and district mission grants for 2018-2020; invitation to the 2019 LWML convention in Mobile; and thanks to all who worked on the convention, particularly Donna Kleister, convention host committee chairman and Western Zone President.

I salute the LWML Carolinas District and their guests who braved the ire of their uninvited guest, Florence, to come together to talk about serving our Savior as we serve others through our work in LWML.

Love, Patti

Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age is the subject of a three-session webinar that Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) putting on this Thursday, September 13 at 7 p.m. Central time. In this webinar, Rev. Dr. Tony Cook, will discuss LHM’s 2018 research with the Barna Group. Here is LHM’s description of the course. I encourage you to sign up for lhmlearn and take advantage of this learning experience.

LIVE Webinar on Spiritual Conversations in the Digital Age

While technology and rapid cultural shifts have altered the face of evangelism, the Great Commission remains. This FREE three-session webinar presents findings from joint research done by Lutheran Hour Ministries and Barna about the state of spiritual conversations today. It explores changes in how and why people share the unchanging Good News in the digital age. This webinar digs deeper into our findings about the changes to faith sharing over the past 25 years, how people are sharing their faith today, the profile of those who are eager to share their faith, and how you can apply those insights to spiritual conversations in your everyday life.

Join Rev. Dr. Tony Cook, LHM’s Executive Director of United States Ministries, beginning September 13th at 7 p.m. CST for Session One, Sharing Faith Then and Now. During the presentation LHM staff will be answering questions followed by a LIVE Q&A with Dr. Cook after the presentation.

We look forward to sharing the research findings with you!

Go to  https://www.lhm.org/conversations/webinar.asp to sign up. All of us in LWML need to stay updated on current trends in communication because we have such a wonderful message to share! The message of the Gospel and God’s Grace!

Please keep the LWML Carolinas District in your prayers this week as the stormy weather approaches the location of their district convention scheduled for this week.

Patti