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Racing to the Finish!

It’s time to put on your racing shoes!! LWML has 11 weeks to collect $449, 159.01 in order to meet the biennium’s Mission Goal. There are still grants to pay and other expenses that have to be fulfilled by March 31, the end of our 2-year Mission Goal cycle.

This past week the LWML Mission Grant Selection Committee met in St. Louis to go through 81 grant submissions for the next biennium and narrow those down to 31 to put on the ballot at our convention in June in Mobile, Alabama. They were all good opportunities to support missions and missionaries who, working with the Holy Spirit, are spreading the Gospel and doing works of mercy. It’s a shame to have to turn any of them down.

The grants we have this biennium are also great opportunities for you to support when you can’t do the work yourself or when you have a ministry that you are especially attuned to. But, we are short in our Mite Box offerings for grants. We still have several that need payment. If you go to our website, www.lwml.org and click on the Missions tab, you can see the grants that still have to be paid and a breakdown of each month’s Mite Box offering receipts.

What can you do to help? It’s easy to donate online and or to send a check to the LWML at our new address of 801 Seminary Place, Suite L010, St. Louis, MO 63105. Please keep our Mission Goal and the fulfillment of it in your prayers and then open your heart and pocketbook to give some extra offering to the Lord.

At the grant meeting it was discussed as it is every biennium, lowering the Mission Goal. Financing less ministry. Not having to work so hard. The economy is forecast to go down or stagnate, the church is losing membership, the LWML is not promoting the mission grants like they used to. Are we to give in to that type of thought? Are we that weak that we can’t take on a challenge and meet it? Are we to abandon the promises we made at the Albuquerque convention to those grant recipients depending on our financing?

I say NO! We are strong, we have prayer, we have resources, and we just need to work a little harder over the next 11 weeks! So put on your running shoes and let’s race to the finish, together!

Patti

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!