WELCA executive board focuses on fundraising, stewardship.

by Women of the ELCA

Organization plans for exciting new initiatives, as well as sustainability.

by Women of the ELCA staff

Meeting virtually April 12, 2025, the Women of the ELCA executive board approved a recommendation by the budget and finance committee to have Executive Board President Myrna Wells-Ulland form a new fundraising task force. The task force will be charged with raising funds for the current budget and sharing information with women in the pews about how much it costs to run the organization and the need for gifts to support the overall work of Women of the ELCA. The board’s action came after a decline in income and donations resulted in a 2024 organizational deficit of $130,000.

Board members heard from speakers including Lisa Higgenbotham and Dr. Mia McNulty. Higgenbotham, a regional gift planner with ELCA, gave a presentation about stewardship. McNulty, an active Women of the ELCA participant and leader, gave a presentation on racial justice. McNulty is an educational and health care advocate/consultant, focusing on civil and human rights.

The board also received an update on plans for a May 5 prayer vigil for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. At an April 3, 2025, Bold Cafe dinner, Wanda Frenchman and Prairie Rose Seminole led participants in a conversation about creating awareness and taking action to advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. In addition to the May 5 vigil, plans include: a landing page on WELCA’s website, related blogs, and a new educational resource, “We stand for her” for congregations and groups. Leaders are encouraging women to study the book, “Where They Last Saw Her,” by Marcie R. Rendon.

Lorie Garcia, executive board vice president, encouraged other board members to participate in these activities and seek out the names and stories of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in their area, so that their names and stories can be lifted up at the May 5 vigil.

The board also:

• Welcomed Linda Clarke, Sioux City, Iowa, to the board. Clarke fills a vacancy left after the January 2025 death of Jennifer Ackerman.
• Removed the requirement that the Women of the ELCA liaison for Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM) attend LMM board meetings. Instead, WELCA and LMM will share their board reports, post each other’s weblinks on their respective websites and commit to having WELCA and LMM executive directors continue conversations.
• Encouraged Interim Executive Director Jennifer Hockenbery to continue pursuing an opportunity to place a full-time Lutheran Volunteer Corps fellow with Women of the ELCA. Hockenbery explained that the fellow could provide administrative support for churchwide staff over a 12-month period. The WELCA Human Resources Fund will cover the volunteer’s placement fee, health insurance cost and stipend.
• Learned from Interim Executive Director Jennifer Hockenbery that two interns will serve the churchwide organization. Hockenbery said that Kamila Montserrat Gutierrez is working on creating Women of the ELCA’s Wikipedia page, as well as building connections in Greater Milwaukee Synod to rebuild the synodical women’s organization (SWO) presence there. Eva McClelland is working on WELCA’s Campus Ambassador program and assisting with the lecture on “Luther, love and marriage,” set to take place June 13 at Christ Chapel at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota.
• Heard about Women of the ELCA global engagement trips planned for 2025 in Meru, Tanzania, and Guadalupe, Mexico. Trip participants will have the opportunity to live and work with recipients of Women of the ELCA’s Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls’ seed grants called “World of Healthy Women, Healthy Girls.”
• Invited women across the church to give to Katie’s Fund and register for the June 13 celebration of the Luther marriage anniversary at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, Minnesota, and at other sites around the U.S. Visit womenoftheelca.org and click on the Events tab to learn more.