You might dance and sing with abandon, praising God with 5,000 other Lutheran women of all ages. You might get fired up about a social issue, going home to seek changes after participating in a servant event. You might hear God’s call, finding yourself considering a missionary assignment or looking at seminary admission brochures. You might be called to change careers or recommit to your existing work through a keynote address. You might learn a new skill in a workshop or try a new project in the exhibit hall.

One thing is for sure. By attending a triennial gathering, you will join in community with other women, creating sustaining bonds of Christian love and experiencing the Holy Spirit in new and remarkable ways. And your life will be forever changed. Won’t you join me in San Antonio?

"Grace Notes"*
by Linda Post Bushkofsky

Act boldly. That’s our triennial theme, but it’s more than that. It’s a lifestyle. It’s how we live our lives in a way that reflects our values and attitudes, and as Christians we are called to be nothing but bold in our actions.

Lutherans aren’t called the "frozen chosen" for nothing. Many Lutherans are of the timid and reserved sort so well described by Garrison Keillor. Yet to be bold doesn’t necessarily mean one has to be loud, gregarious, pushy or even belligerent. Whatever our temperament or personality, each Lutheran Christian is called through our baptism to act boldly. We Lutherans have a theology that gives us great freedom to be risk takers as we respond.

As Martin Luther told Philip Melancthon, in 1521, we are called to be bold, to live in obedience to Christ, to take risks on account of the Gospel, and yet in doing so, we should believe more boldly still in Christ Jesus. One of my colleagues puts it this way: we are to live boldly and sin boldly. To live is to sin. And to sin is to live. Each day inevitably brings with it sin. Yet each day also brings with it a new opportunity to believe firmly in and respond to our baptism.

We’ve spent the last 36 months listening to God. And if we are honest, we must open ourselves to the creative, ever-changing, ever surprising actions of the Holy Spirit. However reluctant we are, we know that when we listen to God, we are likely to hear a call to change our own self-image, to give up whatever passes for safety and familiarity, to live in a way that seems so entirely different from our own expectations. We will continue to listen to and for God in the next 36 months and beyond, but now we are ready to act.

So what can it mean to act boldly? We’re going to spend at least the next 36 months answering that question, and we can expect a wide variety of answers. This is not meant to simply be an academic exercise. We truly expect the 3 million-plus women in the ELCA to act boldly! For some, to act boldly may mean getting fired up about a social justice issue (e.g., universal health care, ending commercial sexual exploitation, ending world hunger), working to bring about change on that issue. For others, to act boldly might mean accepting a missionary assignment or returning to school to follow a call that has long been ignored. For still others, acting boldly may mean enriching one’s prayer life or increasing assistance to a local food pantry, teen center, or Alzheimer’s ward. To act boldly may mean greater contact and service with one’s immediate family and friends or greater contact and service within the community.

In whatever ways we act boldly, both individually and collectively, we know that we are likely to encounter risks. To act upon God’s dreams for the world will likely put us in conflict with the ideals our culture holds dear. We can survive and even flourish in spite of the risks through the communities of women that surround us. We are continually enabled, empowered and supported by God’s grace.

God is making you bold, courageous, and fearless. Do not ignore the call. Act boldly.

* Reprinted from the July/August 2005 Lutheran Woman Today magazine.