Plan ahead for the 2026 Gathering in Des Moines, Iowa!

Martha Ambarangu is a Pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania and a New Testament PhD Candidate at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. An ELCA Global Mission International Leaders Program scholar, she is also a member of African Women Leaders Network in the Young Women Leaders Pillar which of the United Nations and the National Director of the Circle of Concerned Women Theologians in Tanzania. Ambarangu is a wife, mother of two smart and beautiful girls, Michelle and Millicent, and the author of Heri and Nyamandi’s Summer, a children’s book.

Elise Seyfried is the author of five collections of humorous spiritual essays. Her essays have also appeared in publications including Gather, Living Lutheran, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Next Avenue, HuffPost, Insider, and The Independent. Elise has twice produced This is My Brave (live performances featuring people with mental illness telling their stories), and she is a “bipolar” book in The Human Library (an international program whose motto is “un-judge someone.”). Elise often speaks to groups on the subject of women’s mental health. She is the mom of five and grandma of three, and has retired after 20 years as Spiritual Formation Director at Christ’s Lutheran Church in Oreland, Pa.