Lutheran Reflection

Thankfulness

For all the faithful women who served in days of old. So starts hymn number 855 in our Lutheran Service Book.

As we near the end of our Lutheran Women’s Missionary League’s 75th Anniversary year of 2017 (http://www.lwml.org/75) and as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this week and take time out to thank God for his abundant blessings, I was thinking of specific things our organization was thankful for. I thought of the women who worked hard for years prior to our founding convention who struggled for recognition, put up with all kinds of criticism, derision, and still kept on until they were able to organize a national women’s organization within the synod. They are in my prayers of thanksgiving this week and in my heart.

Today we are thankful for all Lutheran women and their dedication to work that shows God’s love and forgiveness to believers and nonbelievers through our LWML. Groups in the local church, the zones and districts and the national organization put in countless hours of work and prayer as we go about our business to enable women to use their God-given abilities to serve others. (http://www.lwml.org/get-involved)

I’ll share the rest of Hymn 855, For All the Faithful Women with you and let you know that I am thanking God for each of you this week that you continue to Serve the Lord With Gladness!

For all the faithful women Who served in days of old,

To You shall thanks be given; To all, their story told.

They served with strength and gladness In tasks Your wisdom gave.

To you their lives bore witness, Proclaimed Your power to save.

 

O God, for saints and servants, Those named and those unknown

In whom through all the ages Your light of glory shone,

We offer glad thanksgiving And fervent prayer we raise

That, faithful in Your service, Our lives may sing Your praise.

 

All praise to God the Father! All praise to Christ the Son!

All praise the Holy Spirit, Who binds the Church in one!

With saints who went before us, With saints who witness still,

We sing glad Alleluias And strive to do Your will.

 

 

 

 

Patti

Lutheran Women in Mission

Thanksgiving

Making friends with so many other women in the world is one of the great things about being active in LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission. I am so thankful for LWML and the friends I have made through it.
I would never expect that feeling overwhelmed I would tearfully call a woman in Oregon and pour out my anxieties. Nor would I have believed that I had a special friend in Phoenix who sends me gifts who I’ve only met once. I wouldn’t have thought I’d learn first-hand about dog-showing and breeding. Or connect with a friend of my dear Aunt Irene in California. The list could fill this page.

As we approach Thanksgiving my thoughts turn to people I am thankful to have in my life now and in the past. Not things—people. I’m sure as Christian women that is what most of us recall at Thanksgiving. That is why we go to the trouble of getting the family and friends together around the meal and the football games. It’s not always about the food, although that’s one of my favorite parts, but about the time set aside to catch up with family, meet that new baby in the family, and renew relationships.

Last week in the store the Thanksgiving items were already 50% off as Christmas items bulged from boxes waiting to be shelved. I know you all feel like I do that the Thanksgiving holiday, largely passed over, should be promoted as much as we promote Christmas. Our church has a Faith Friends group that meets Wednesday nights. It includes the kids from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Our LWML, working with our DCE intern during November, are doing three Wednesdays on thankfulness. The first Wednesday we did kits and tied quilts for Lutheran World Relief and talked about what we were thankful for. You might be interested that most of the kids mentioned people over things. The second week we skyped with a couple who are missionaries in Slovakia and the kids got to ask many questions. Then we did bookmarks and notes for the teachers and students to send over. Our third evening will be looking at thank you videos about the Lutheran World Relief kits and quilts from two groups of recipients. Then we are going to put together trail mixes and write a thank you for someone who normally doesn’t get much “thanks” for doing their job. It will be interesting to see where these will go.

I hope you have an opportunity to have a “people” Thanksgiving. I know you all will be thanking God for friends made in LWML because I’ve seen you all in action!
I’ll end this as my dad always ended our meals.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever (Psalm 106:1 KJV).

Patti

Happy Thanksgiving

Lutheran Reflection

Honor the Veterans

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46:10-11

Christ for Veterans

This week our country takes time to honor the veterans of our Armed Forces. Most of us have some connection to someone in the service currently or in the past. There are a trio of us at my congregation, Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that share that “veteran” connection as women who have served in the Armed Forces. We also share our service in LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission.
Carol, Debbie and I all entered the service during the Viet Nam conflict. Carol served 4 years in the Army. Debbie served in the Air Force for 33 years and added Desert Storm service. I served for 3 years in the Navy doing active duty at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Virginia.
There are many more of us LWML veterans around the country. I’ve met some at the Rocky Mountain district convention held in Colorado Springs last year. I served with another LWML district president from South Dakota who was a veteran and I know there are more out there. I’m hoping to make contact with many of you veterans next summer for the fall issue of the Lutheran Woman’s Quarterly which will feature LWML veterans and active duty women.

I’d also like to recognize you who are wives and mothers of servicemen. You may be interested in reading more about our mission grant, “Christ for Veterans and Their Families”. This grant is for the LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces to host a national three-day training event empowering Operation Barnabas districts, congregations and chapter members to bring the Good News of God in Christ to veterans and their families.
Maybe you should consider what your LWML group can do to reach out to our military chaplains, active-duty and veterans, and their families as they stand ready to defend and protect each of us on a daily basis. You can start by praying for their safety and personal encouragement (think Barnabas). Then you can help fund the “Christ for Veterans and Their Families” mission grant through your Mite Box offerings.

Happy Veteran’s Day to all of you veterans and your family members!

Patti

http://www.lwml.org/2017-2019-mission-grant-3

https://www.lcms.org/ministry-to-the-armed-forces

Pictured is Debbie, Carol, and Me

Lutheran Women in Mission

Interdepartmental Met in St. Louis Last Week – What exactly is that?

Interdepartmental is a meeting of all the LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission committees that were chosen in August to work on the programs and resources for LWML over the next 2 years. Committee members represented 30 of our 40 districts. Meeting with the entire group for Bible study, then as committees, and later committee with committee, they addressed the goals and objectives from our Strategic Planning meeting held last year.
The women attending this meeting opened their hearts and brought $524 cash and $623 gift cards for the Texas LCMS Disaster Relief efforts. Along with that was $389 for shipping of goods from the LWML store for use in ministry to the flood victims. They also brought mite offerings of $1,313.54 for our mission grants.

Thanks be to God for these women who dedicate their time, talents, and treasure to the mission of LWML and our work to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks, also, to all of you in your districts and congregations who are just as dedicated. May you be blessed as you serve the Lord with gladness!

Serving with Gladness,
Patti

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Chirst and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them … (Romans 12:4-6a).

Lutheran Women in Mission

Interview with KFUO Radio

I am in St. Louis, Missouri this week meeting with women who have been selected to serve on LWML committees. Please pray for these women as they meet to determine goals, objectives, and action plans for this biennium.

In the meantime, I am also including a link to the recent interview I did with KFUO radio: https://kfuo.org/2017/10/24/faf-102417-lutheran-women-in-mission-today/

Please enjoy!

God’s blessings,
President Patti

Lutheran Women in Mission

Learning How to Let Go

Sometimes you have to let go! We’ve all faced time of letting go. Letting go of our children as they go to school, from grade school to college and beyond. We have to let go of our family traditions as our families move far away geographically—think of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have to let go of the idea that our children will want our china and crystal someday! You can add your own.

What does this have to do with my thinking about LWML this week? I have to tell you, if a woman in my congregation came up to me and said she wanted to start an additional LWML group in my church, after I picked myself up off the floor, I would be so excited! If they wanted to meet once a quarter, or have Bible study and collect mites only, or do activities with their small children, I would be so excited! If they wanted to have an LWML as a service group alongside a women’s ministry group already in existence in their church, I would be so excited!

Yet I received two inquiries from women interested in starting LWML groups who met opposition because they are proposing an alternative look for an LWML group. Isn’t that sad. When we “mentor” women in LWML that doesn’t mean we make them do exactly what we have been doing in our LWML group over the years. If we are comfortable in our group and how it operates and when it meets, and don’t want to change, why not encourage formation of another LWML group? They, too, want a group that they are “comfortable” in. Why not try letting go?

I hope you will take it as a mentoring opportunity should some women in your church want something different in their LWML group and are proposing to start one with a different look. Teaching with love and encouragement can be a great example of “serving the Lord with gladness.”

Believing that God has molded each of us individually with love should help us let go. Individual molds means no two are exactly alike. Can’t we let go and let God guide the women to celebrate LWML as it meets their needs? Be a positive mentor. Just think how exciting it would be to have more than one LWML group in all our congregations!

I [Paul] therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift (Ephesians 4:1-7).

Love to you!
Patti

Me and the LWML office staff at a session on, “Effective Mentor-ship”.

Lutheran Women in Mission

Celebrating LWML Sunday

LWML Sunday is traditionally held in October of every year to draw attention to the work of the LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission. Mission grant information is shared, congregations and pastors are thanked for their help, and usually there is a meal or refreshments involved.

Today, at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Tulsa, OK, we finished our Braille workshop (20 copies of Leviticus in Braille) and then we got to admire the LWML Sunday display they had for church Sunday. Every grant had photographs, information sheets and the center “stairway” on the display also had photos of the grants. It was very colorful and attention-getting. They also had a brunch and displayed the Lutheran World Relief contributions of the congregation. Mission Grant bookmarks were handed out. All of this was accessed through the www.lwml.org website! One of the important things that Lutheran Women in Mission do is bring mission awareness to their congregations. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is part of so many wonderful ministries out there that meet the spiritual and physical needs of God’s people! Often, our congregations have not heard of them. Knowledge about them can even inspire new mission outreach plans in some congregations.

At my church, Christ the Redeemer, also in Tulsa, we took a door offering. People love to work together to help fulfill needs. Letting them know what those needs are is a key activity for us all as women in mission.
If you haven’t had your LWML Sunday yet, please make a big effort to inform, thank, and engage your congregation in our mission outreach and funding of our mission grants. Use the resources available on our website. We won’t all have displays like the women of Our Savior had, but we can have fun and enjoy telling others about our LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission.

Greetings from my friend, Cherry, my husband, Bill, and myself! Love to all of you!

Patti

Cherry, Bill, and I attending LWML Sunday

Lutheran Reflection

Lutheran Mentors for the Next Generation

This week I want to continue on the topic of being a mentor to the next generation. I’ve invited Ashley Jenkins, Marketing and Communications Manager for the LWML to write an article about someone who inspired her:

It was 1993, a beautiful fall morning, and I was the young age of 5, dressed to impress for my first day of kindergarten. My mother always dressed me up. As we approached school, I remember being completely overwhelmed by the sight of Historic Trinity Lutheran Church. It was more than my 5 year old brain expected. I clutched my mom’s hand and refused to let go. She sat with me and didn’t leave. The other parents hugged their kids and said goodbye but mine didn’t. We sat in church and listened to Pastor Dave Marth greet us and pray for God’s blessings on our school year ahead. When the time came to enter the school hall I wasn’t ready. I burst into tears and grabbed my mom. She gave in and held onto me. We walked into the classroom together and my mom directed me to my desk. I was totally stoked because my name was on the desk “Ashley Elliott”. My mom stood back as the teacher introduced herself. Eventually she snuck out. From that day forward my mom was always there for me, and then she would silently sneak off when she knew I would be okay. The only reason I can call myself a Lutheran today is because of her. My mom was the best mentor I ever had. We regularly went to church and took Bible classes together. I’m so thankful to God for blessing me with Karen Elliott as my mother. I look forward to sharing God’s word with my own daughter. I will pass the torch to her as my mom did to me.

One week before my 29th birthday, my mom went to be with the Lord. She died from Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association is a foundation I support in order to continue her fight. She held onto me for as long as she could but now she’s snuck away because she knows I’ve got this.

Let us all reflect on what Jesus has called us to do as mentors. Have you spoken to someone younger than you about Christ? Invited them to church? Even the simplest act of kindness can speak multitudes to those who need it.

Thank you President Patti for inviting me to share my story. I hope my story can inspire others and from one generation to the next we can continue to share God’s love to the ends of the earth.

Lutheran Women in Mission

LWML a Mentor for the Next Generation

For 75 years as an organization and for more than that as united groups of women, women in the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League have served their church, their families and strangers in strange lands. This service is given to the glory of God. How do we pass on LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission from generation to generation? It’s important to remember that we don’t pass on the organization per se, but we pass on the Mission and purpose when we speak of His glory [of God] and all His redeeming acts, extending His kingdom throughout the world. We pray that these things are always present in the work of women in LWML.

I don’t think you will get too far sharing the organizational structure, the election of officers process, or the financial status of LWML. What you do share that has the most impact with those around you is the joy of being able to share the love God first gave to you with others. What is your passion that is expressed through LWML? What is it that excites you? Is it coming together to provide radio broadcasts to the Middle East? Is it giving women in Tanzania a chance to learn a trade and provide better for their families? Is it providing goods for the homeless in your community? Is it meeting together to study God’s Word?

I hope that you can pass along to the next generation the “why?” of LWML and the “why?” of your participation in it. This is the best way for our organization to continue to the next generation.

One generation shall commend your works to another,
And shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
And on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
And I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
And shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
(Psalm 145:4-7)

What’s your “why”?

Spend some time thinking about that this week and be ready to tell someone about it. Pass it along to someone in a different generation and see if you can communicate your passion, the “gladness” of serving in LWML.

(And it better include Jesus)!

Patti

Mother and daughters praying during bible study at home.

Lutheran Resources

LWML History

On my blog this week I’m sharing the article I wrote for the Lutheran Layman. I was asked to write about the relation of women of the Reformation to current LWML—Lutheran Women in Mission. I learned some history while doing this and plan to dig deeper into the lives of these women of the time of the Reformation. I got the history information from our LWML history books by Marlys Taege Moberg and Ruth Fritz Meyer.

Throughout the 75 year history of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML), the Reformation has been revealed in the work of women in this organization. In 1929 a committee of seven women, working with the encouragement of the International Lutheran Laymen’s League (LLL), began to organize district women’s groups under a national umbrella for better coordination of mission support efforts. One of the names they considered for the organization was, “Lutheran Women of the Reformation.” Continuing efforts to organize and be recognized were supported by the LLL and came to a conclusion when LWML was officially organized in 1942. In 1962 LWML became one of the official auxiliaries of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS); the other auxiliary being the International Lutheran Layman’s League/Lutheran Hour Ministries (Int’l LLL/LHM).

Women of today rejoice in the full salvation by grace through faith that Christ won for them and the reality of being a part of the priesthood of all believers. These components of the Reformation encourage women to share their God-given gifts and talents in representing the church in mission. This inclusive mission of serving all people through sharing of the Gospel and practical application of that Gospel, is key to the LWML as they declare the praises of Jesus.

Early women reformers influenced by Luther’s teachings exhibited gifts of service that continue in Lutheran women today. The most well-known, Katie Luther, is known for her hospitality, hard work in the garden and on the farm, and hymn writing. Argula von Grumbach wrote in support of the Reformation. She is remembered for her emphasis on Scripture and her support of the priesthood of all believers, including women. Katherine Zell, a gracious hostess, offered food and lodging to the Protestant travelers and floods of refugees who came through Strasbourg. She wrote hymns, campaigned for better run hospitals and visited troops in the field during the Peasants’ War. Working with other reformers, Elizabeth von Muenden developed guidelines and orders of service for Protestant worship. This faithfulness in every vocation in life continues in women of the church today. “How can I help?” is a familiar phrase.

In LWML we engage with and equip women to support mission work, write devotions and Bible studies, search for opportunities to serve, learn how to be leaders in their women’s groups, and look outward with Christ’s love.
Just as the Reformation brought major changes for women in the church, and necessitated a look into the future, so today we are faced with many changes. The new realities in communication, family life, and education have brought changes in human relations. These changes call for a new kind of commitment and focus on God’s mission in His world: new understanding of differing needs, new plans for effective programs, and new support for all Christian woman. LWML — Lutheran Women in Mission — continues to bring gifted women together to recognize, identify, and then address these pressing issues.

Equipping women to serve has fostered new family resources in the form of the “Balance” Bible study series on family issues, the “Dear Mother” devotionals for new mothers, and the “Together is Better” marriage devotion book; all written to address their specific needs. Service opportunities for families and women’s groups are evaluated and posted online. Flexible meeting and activity plans are suggested to involve working women and families in the mission outreach of the church while considering the best use of their time.

Equipping missionaries and missions and educating congregations about them is the work of the national and district LWMLs. These are funded through mission offerings and the familiar LWML Mite Box. Through these grants missions have been equipped to improve the physical and spiritual lives of families. One recent grant was to Lutheran Hour Ministries for outreach in refugee camps in Lebanon. In the same way that women of the Reformation worked to improve the physical and spiritual lives of God’s people, so we today continue that work in LWML.

Engaging, equipping, and encouraging women in the church continues from Reformation to the present and will go on into the future. The LWML — Lutheran Women in Mission — looks back on 75 years in 2017, but just as importantly, looks ahead to a future as women of the Reformation even now. We are embracing change while enjoying the delight of being a child of God and serving Him with gladness!