About the theme
Our theme, of course, is drawn from the Old Testament book of Esther, whose particular story speaks to God’s love and care for God’s people when the people can’t free themselves from their present situation. We, like Esther, don’t have to close our eyes and wait for the worst to blow over in the midst of this pandemic. We can follow Esther’s lead by listening for God, following the Holy Spirit, and discerning a plan and strategy to reboot and rebuild each synodical organization with a unique ministry plan.
The fatigue of living in and leading an organization during a pandemic is real. We all know it. We also know that Women of the ELCA is suffering from financial decline and a decrease in participation. We’re living with political and racial unrest, violence, and a world in crisis. Add it all up, and you might think we’re without hope. But we know that servant leaders will guide our organization (and the world) to a better tomorrow.
So, we’re going to spend some time exploring servant leadership. We are servant leaders because we are disciples. The servant leader can say yes to positions of election, appointment, etc., but these positions are generally time sensitive. Servant leadership is lifelong. It is how the disciple shows up to complete ministry assignments. This leadership event will call our leader-full community of women together to re-member who we are, our purpose, and what God is calling us to do for such a time as this.
In the months following this event, leadership training specific to the different elected roles in our synodical organizations and conferences/clusters will be offered, also virtually. More info about those training sessions will be shared at the 2022 leadership event.
