Katie:

Guten morgen! I'm so pleased to be here with all these wonderful women. It's really just a pleasure to get out of my kitchen for a while. However, it will be a disaster when I get back. Dr. Luther can travel and be away from home for weeks on end. But when I'm gone ... well, that's another story.

Did I hear you say something about Katie's Fund? Are you all collecting money for me? I've been longing for a cruise up the Saale River. That would be so nice. Dr. Luther and I have never even had a honeymoon.

Narrator:

Katie:

Narrator:

I'd love to! This interest income will be used for three areas of ministry, which are the cornerstones of the organization: Global sharing will enhance worldwide partnerships, increase multi-cultural awareness, and promote social service initiatives. Living theology will focus on scriptural teachings and nurture our spiritual walks with our Lord. And leadership development will encourage more women to become involved with Women of the ELCA and provide for personal growth and enrichment. Many women participants become leaders both inside and outside Women of the ELCA, Katie.

Katie:

Oh, I am so impressed that you're going to use the money to develop Christian women leaders. And I'm a little envious too. Women in the city of Wittenberg are confined mostly to their homes. Our work is hard and the days are long. Very few women give thought to even learning to read. Having been a nun, I am well versed in the Scriptures, and I've read everything that Dr. Luther has written. I'm strongly entrenched in his work and his purpose.

We have many renowned theologians who visit with us. After dinner, I always enjoy the conversation and the discussions. But some of them do not understand God's Word as they should. Usually, I'm very quiet, but one evening I got into an argument with one of Dr. Luther's important visitors. I was right, of course. But when I left the room, I heard Dr. Luther say, "You know, if anything should happen to Katie, and I should decide to remarry, I think I'll carve my wife out of stone."

Narrator:

I can imagine that you give the good doctor a perplexing moment from time to time. You are a woman of substance! And we've documented some facts about you. It's all right here, Katie (hold up Katie's insert sheet for newsletters), how you've rented and purchased land, tended and slaughtered cattle, stocked a brook, operated a boarding house, ran a laundry, hosted banquets for 100 or more, and reared a number of nieces, nephews, and orphaned children along with your own six children. And you still found time to preside with Dr. Luther at his famous Table Talks.

You well understood the importance of making financial plans for the future. Your sound investments enabled you to care for your family in later years when your income was cut back. Katie's Fund will provide a similar assurance for Women of the ELCA.

More information is in this Katie's Fund brochure (hold up) for all our women here today. We plan to use these in convention packets, at conferences, and for our newsletter. But we do want to caution our good women here today that any contributions to Katie's Fund should not be at the expense of Thankofferings and regular offerings, which are need to meet our ongoing budget. It will take many years of contributions to Katie's Fund to build up enough principal to generate sufficient income.

Katie, I'm pleased to report that this fund, named for you, is now at — can we have a drum roll, please? — a whopping $326,734 (as of Sept. 30, 2005; check here for an update)! Let's give ourselves a hand! Our monies will be combined with that of other Women of the ELCA participants across the country to raise this total.

Thank you, Katie, for joining us this morning. Tell us, what was it like being married to the famous Dr. Luther?

Katie:

Well, it was never boring. Our home has some 30 rooms and most of the time they are filled with family and friends, students of Dr. Luther, and visitors traveling through Wittenberg. Four of our six children reached adulthood and they are a great deal of help to me. We also raised some nieces and nephews, as you know. But I maintain our home, a farm, and a brewery. We Germans like our beer, you know!

Dr. Luther travels and studies a lot, so raising the children and caring for the properties and the gardens were mainly left to me. My life with Dr. Luther is not an easy one, but it is a blessed one. I feel rather like the mother of our Lord when she said, "I have been blessed among women."

Narrator:

We made a good choice when we named our special fund after you. Thank you, Katie. You represent the new spirit of the Reformation and you certainly played no small role in transferring the ideal Christian service from the cloister to the home.

Katie:

Thank you. Auf wiedersehen!