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Just Love: A virtual preview

Women of the ELCA staff and guests offer a taste of what’s to come at the Gathering 2021. Join other women of faith for a two-hour webinar, Saturday, Sept. 12, 1 p.m. CDT, for Bible study, speakers, music, and more!

Register now!

Our Speakers
Angela T. Khabeb
Pastor/Bible study leader
Angela T. Khabeb Pastor/Bible study leader

The Rev. Angela T. Khabeb serves Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. She enjoys an active home life with her amazing husband, Benhi, and their three wonderful children Konami, Khenna and Khonni.

Rachel Kurtz
Musician
Rachel Kurtz Musician

Rachel Kurtz has been touring and singing for almost 20 years. She speaks frankly about love, God, parenting, heartbreak and her infectious laugh is peppered throughout her concerts. Her songs are rife with emotion and can make you get up and dance. Whether she is singing in a bar or church, her voice can cut through the noise and gives the listener a place to rest. She has sung at that last 6 national youth gatherings and her song “Make a Difference” is sung nationwide on any given Sunday.

Jenny Michael
Pastor/Emcee
Jenny Michael Pastor/Emcee

The Rev. Jennifer Michael is a pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Battle Creek, Mich.  A Florida native, she completed her theological studies at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa and was ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on June 24, 2017.

Beth Birkholz
Pastor/Stretch Break
Beth Birkholz Pastor/Stretch Break

Pastor Beth Birkholz serves as Director of Congregational Engagement for Samaritas, a social service agency in Michigan. She is an ELCA pastor, a trained yoga teacher in both Ashtanga and Kids Yoga, and she will be certified as a workplace mindfulness teacher this fall. She is wife to Scott, mom to two teenagers, and companion to a 75-pound lap dog plus two cats. They live in a house built by a Civil War veteran in Plymouth, Michigan.

Kelly Glow
Artist in Residence
Kelly Glow Artist in Residence

Dr. Kelly Deanna Williams was born in Los Angeles, California.  During her early years, she lived in Compton. There she witnessed and experienced the typical challenges facing low income families in metro urban neighborhoods including lack of resources, drugs, violence and gang activity.

Her 2015 album, Back to my Future, won a Gospel Choice Award for Best Holy Hip Hop Artist.

She received a master of science degree from Troy University and her doctorate of education from the University of West Georgia. Her album, Glow with Grace commemorates the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

She has appeared at three ELCA Youth Gatherings.

Lisa Plorin
Board President/Presenter
Lisa Plorin Board President/Presenter

Lisa Plorin was elected president of the executive board of Women of the ELCA in July 2017, having served on the churchwide executive board from 2014-2017. Previously, Lisa served in many capacities on both the unit and synodical level in Western North Dakota (3A) including president and vice president of the Western North Dakota Synodical Women’s organization. A lifetime member of New Hope Lutheran Church, Upham, Lisa is also a part of the gifts program and preaches supply for Prairie Hope Ministries, a three-point parish in her area. Lisa and her husband, Steve, have two daughters, Kortni and Brooke. The family owns and operates a small construction business, Dirty Dog Digging and Trucking.

Linda Post Bushkofsky
Executive Director/Presenter
Linda Post Bushkofsky Executive Director/Presenter

Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director of Women of the ELCA since 2002, loves to quilt and her scones are legendary. She’s also a creative and versatile strategist with more than 20 years of non-profit leadership following a successful legal career. When asked to describe herself, however, she always starts with “writer,” because she processes the world through her writing. When she’s not at a church function, you’ll find Linda in her herb garden or reading a book. She and her husband Dennis, an ELCA pastor, have a daughter and two grandchildren.

Valora Starr
Staff/Presenter
Valora Starr Staff/Presenter

Valora K Starr, director for discipleship, has been with Women of the ELCA since its inception in 1988. She began her churchwide ministry in evangelism and stewardship with the former American Lutheran Church youth ministries in 1983.

Her work has included developing Women of the ELCA’s evangelism strategy and the organization’s first churchwide initiative, Women and Children Living in Poverty, and Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls. She continues to work in the areas of evangelism, discipleship, and global education.

As a lifelong community organizer and advocate for the empowerment of women and girls, she has developed programs focused on the girl child, faith and community.

Eva James Yeo
Staff/Presenter
Eva James Yeo Staff/Presenter

Eva J. Yeo serves as the director for membership. In this role Eva is a resource to congregational, inter-congregational, and special units of Women of the ELCA, providing them support and services, and assisting in expanding the organization’s membership and outreach. Previously, she served the Women of the ELCA in organizational development and communications.

Eva loves designing unique and creative clothing and environments that create positive energy. She is inspired by nature, textures, music and women that have overcome obstacles’ in their lives.

Yeo earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the School of the Art Institute and a science degree from Malcolm X College in Chicago. She is married to David G. Yeo and they have two sons, Ryan and Joshua. They currently reside in Chicago, Ill.

Meghan Johnston Aelabouni
Pastor/Workshop leader
Meghan Johnston Aelabouni Pastor/Workshop leader

Meghan Johnston Aelabouni is an ordained ELCA pastor and a PhD candidate in Religion. She and her spouse Gabi serve as the Country Coordinators for the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program in Jerusalem/West Bank. Meghan, Gabi and their three kids live in Jerusalem.

Janel Johnson-Momanyi
LWR Staff/Presenter
Janel Johnson-Momanyi LWR Staff/Presenter

Janel Johnson-Momanyi is the Quilt & Kit Ministry Manager at Lutheran World Relief. Prior to joining LWR, Janel was an Advocacy Manager at The Hemophilia Federation of America. She also spent two years working as a Legislative Assistant for the now Speaker of the House in Maryland. Janel earned her master’s degree in Public Administration and bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She is a classically trained opera singer with a knack for creating human connections. During the COVID-19 crisis, Janel enjoys listening to the birds outside her window and taking long walks around the neighborhood.

Elizabeth Eaton
Presiding Bishop/Greetings
Elizabeth Eaton Presiding Bishop/Greetings

The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton was elected as the ELCA’s fourth presiding bishop and the first woman presiding bishop at the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. She was elected to a second term at the 2019 assembly.

She earned a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School and a Bachelor of Music Education from the College of Wooster.

Ordained in 1981, Eaton served three congregations in Ohio before being elected bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod in 2006 and re-elected in May 2013.

Eaton’s four emphases for the ELCA are: We are church. We are Lutheran. We are church together. We are church for the sake of the world.

Myrna Wells-Ulland
Synodical President/Closing
Myrna Wells-Ulland Synodical President/Closing

Myrna is in her last term as president of the Grand Canyon Synod Women Organization. She previously served two terms as president of the NE MN SWO before relocating to Scottsdale, AZ. A Minnesota native and a Lutheran by baptism and confirmation, the triennial gatherings have cemented her love for Women of the ELCA. She enjoys mission quilting, reading and music of all types. In 2020, she added a new title to her resume: pandemic Mask Maker!

Make a difference with In-kind Gifts

Through in-kind gifts, we connect Just Love with the lives of gift recipients in Phoenix and around the world. We can be there for them in relationship and partnership, and we can make a difference in the
world.

Download the In-Kind resource

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Quilters of all abilities welcome for this challenge

Quilters of all abilities are invited to create a quilt responding to two things: one side interprets the Just Love theme of the 2021 Gathering and the reverse side interprets your response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Download the Quilting Challenge Entry Form

quiltchallcover-virt-600-400
Say cheese!
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Did we see you at our last gathering in Minneapolis in 2017? Our photo staff might have captured you and your friends! Tell others about what they can expect at this event. Download any photos for your use! See all of our photos from Minneapolis in 2017.

 

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