When you think about Women of the ELCA triennial gatherings, what’s your favorite part? Singing (and often dancing!) with 2,000 Lutheran women? Being inspired by incredible plenary speakers? Maybe it’s learning in a workshop that leads to ministry at home? Living more fully into your baptismal promises? There’s always plenty of fun and fellowship too. Frankly, it’s the total package that keeps so many of us coming back every three years.
It’s no secret that you and I and a whole lot of our friends missed that when we postponed the 2020 Gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic. So, the churchwide staff and I have cooked up a little something to fill the gap, and we invite you to join us!
The Rev. Angela Khabeb at the 2017 triennial gathering in Minneapolis
This coming Saturday, September 12, we’re hosting Just Love: A virtual preview (1 p.m. CDT). While we can’t recreate an entire gathering virtually, we can offer a Bible study, a mini-workshop, words of inspiration, and a whole lot more. And you can participate via Zoom (for free!) from your comfy armchair, front porch, or home office. Registration is limited to the first 1,000 women, so complete your simple online registration right away.
Here’s who’s coming
Together we’ll explore Just Love, the theme of our now 2021 Gathering. Who’s going to help us do that as we prepare for next August? The Rev. Angela Khabeb (Bible study), Rachel Kurtz (music), the Rev. Meghan Johnston Aelabouni (mini-workshop), the Rev. Beth Birkholz (stretch break), Kelly Glow (artist-in-residence), Eva James Yeo (quilt challenge), and Valora K Starr (in-kind giving). You’ll hear greetings and prayers from the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the ELCA; Lisa Plorin, churchwide president of Women of the ELCA; and Myrna Wells-Ulland, president of the Grand Canyon Synodical Women’s Organization, home of the 2021 triennial gathering in Phoenix, Ariz. The Rev. Jennifer Michael, churchwide president in the 2008-2011 triennium, will be our emcee.
Just Love: A virtual preview will be two hours long, beginning at 1 p.m. CDT on Saturday, September 12. Participate while you brunch or lunch, knit or crochet, relax, or exercise. The important thing is to participate. The world needs God’s love now in desperate ways, and we are called to be that love, that just love. Won’t you join me on Saturday to learn more?
Linda Post Bushkofsk is executive director of Women of the ELCA. Register here. Learn more here.