Remember Y2K? If you were like a lot of us, about this time 10 years ago you were stocking up on some food and water, taking a few extra dollars out of the bank, and wondering what was going to happen to your computer when the crystal ball dropped in Times Square. It seems kind of funny now, looking back as 1999 turned into 2000. Here we are again, another decade about to end. The biggest conundrum I’ve seen discussed so far about the decade that’s about to start is what we will call it. Will it be the twenty teens?
On newsstands right now you’ll find lots of magazines that have compiled lists at the decade’s end. Top ten movies by sales. Top ten bestselling novels. Top ten fads. They got me thinking: what would be the top ten for Women of the ELCA? I suppose we’d all have our own lists, some focused on what’s been accomplished in our congregational units or in our synodical organizations. Since my ministry with Women of the ELCA is within the churchwide expression of the organization, here’s my top ten list of accomplishments for the current decade (offered in no particular order).
1. Creating CAFÉ, our online magazine.
2. Podcasting CAFÉ issues.
3. Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls, our health initiative.
4. Co-sponsoring the HEART for Women Act.
5. Joining the Women’s Funding Network.
6. Making grants (over $3 million now).
7. Awarding scholarships (over $500,000 now).
8. The 90-ton challenge!
9. Creating Bold Women’s Day.
10. Expanding Katie’s Fund.
It would be easy to keep the list going. These were the first 10 things that came to my mind, but no means are they the only accomplishments of the churchwide organization in this decade. What would be on your list?
In whatever way you are involved in Women of the ELCA, what have been the significant accomplishments in the current decade?
Let’s celebrate those accomplishments and offer a hearty thank you to God for all that has been … and all that is yet to be.
Linda Post Bushkofsky, the executive director of Women of the ELCA since 2002, is looking forward to the twenty teens.
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