Designed to live in community
In all of God’s wisdom, we women were designed not to live in isolation or in competition, but to live and thrive in community with other women, drawing upon the gifts of healing, leadership and inclusion. We’ve all known that, but a 2000 study conducted by scientists at UCLA confirmed that.

Those friendships we have with other women help counteract the stress we experience nearly every day. Managing stress and having less stress helps keep us healthy. Many studies have shown, for example, that social ties reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol. The Nurses’ Health Study from Harvard Medical School, a study that has been ongoing since 1976, has shown that women’s friendships enhance the quality of life, both physically and emotionally.

Dr. Ruthellen Josselson, a clinical psychologist and co-author of Best Friends: The Pleasures and Perils of Girls’ and Women’s Friendship (Three Rivers Press, 1998) tells us that women need “unpressured space in which we can do the special kind of talk that women do when they're with other women. It's a very healing experience."

Even before Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls, our health initiative, many Lutheran women have created that “unpressured space” through Women of the ELCA. That “unpressured space” can be found in a book discussion, a Bible study, or a service project. Some find that “unpressured space” while cleaning up together after a potluck supper. Others find it over coffee, discussing an article from Café. One gift we can give to the nearly 3 million women who are part of the ELCA is an unpressured space where women and girls can gather together in community to support one another.

If you are not currently involved in Women of the ELCA, won’t you consider visiting with the local unit in your congregation? If your congregation doesn’t have a unit of Women of the ELCA, we’d love to provide you with more information about starting a unit. It starts with gathering three or four women together. It’s as simple as that. For more information, contact Marilyn O’Connor (phone 800-638-3522, ext. 2727).

If you are involved in a congregational unit of Women of the ELCA, I encourage you to invite someone new to every event you hold. Among others, look to the teen-aged women in your congregation. Invite them in to some unpressured space.