Living a Life of Daily Bread

Women of the ELCA is pleased to share with the whole communion a new resource entitled Living a Life of Daily Bread. It is written by Mikka McCracken, a 22-year-old member of the ELCA who is a delegate to the assembly. Living a Life of Daily Bread, which builds on the assembly theme, can be used for personal reflection or group discussion. If done with a group, invite all to bring their favorite bread to share. What a feast it will be! By augmenting this resource with the various resources prepared for the LWF assembly, a weekend retreat could be built.

To obtain your copy of Living a Life of Daily Bread, go to http://www.womenoftheelca.org where you can download a free PDF version.

Linda Post Bushkofsky
Executive director, Women of the ELCA

Women in a diaconial practice: weaving justice and hope – an experience of ‘economia solidaria’ on the road to Stuttgart

The Department of Diaconia and Development of the IELCO (Iglesia Evangelica Luterana de Colombia) and the women’s groups work are leading the project of weaving bags which are going to be distributed to all delegates during the 11^th Assembly in Stuttgart.This proposal was sewed together during the Women’s Pre-Assembly, (October 2009) and received impulses from each women’s meeting in the Regional Pre-Assemblies. The bags are offered as gift which carries in the hope and commitment with gender justice in the whole communion.

A story in a bag

As Stuttgart prepares for the 11^th LWF Assembly in July, 32 elderly Colombian men and women living in tough conditions are busy trying to finish a large quantity of beautiful hand-made items that will be given to each delegate at the event. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia is overseeing the project that provides the beneficiaries with a small income but more importantly with a much needed sentiment of togetherness.

Más allá de un contrato, una afirmación de la vida

Bogotá, El rítmico sonido de lanzaderas de madera, marca los segundos que el valor va arrebatando a la muerte. Línea por línea emerge de un complejo flujo de hilos, una tela que es mucho más que una materia prima, es la materialización de la visión, la solidaridad, la habilidad y el empoderamiento que hacen sustentable y competitiva una labor completamente manual y rehabilitadora.

Mensaje de las Mujeres de la Preasamblea de América Latina y el Caribe de la FLM Bogotá, Colombia, 12 de abril de 2010

Nos reunimos como mujeres de la región de América Latina y el Caribe en el encuentro
previo a la Preasamblea de la región para debatir y proponer acciones concretas. Para
ello hemos leído el mensaje de la Preasamblea de Mujeres de octubre 2009 y hemos
contextualizado a nuestra propia realidad los tres ejes del mismo: liderazgo de mujeres,
justicia alimentaria y trata de seres humanos. Los criterios de análisis de todas las
temáticas que hemos utilizado son que aquello que no se nombra se invisibiliza y que
sin la equidad de género no hay sustentabilidad en la Iglesia.

Call to African Churches to Embrace the Gift of Women in Leadership Pastoral Letter to Church Leaders Insists on Firm Action on Women’s Ordination

ABUJA, Nigeria/GENEVA, 26 March 2010 (LWI) – Women church representatives attending The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Africa Pre-Assembly and Church Leadership Consultation, have called on LWF member churches on the continent to “embrace the gift of women in leadership” while at the same time “promoting inclusivity in all structures of governance.”

In their message presented to the pre-assembly today, the women expressed their conviction about the essential perspectives that women bring to the ordained and lay ministry, especially in an increasingly fractured world.

Message from Women’s Meeting African Pre-Assembly, Abuja, 24-28, March 2010

Africa is one of the largest continents in the world and it is blessed with both human and natural resources. It has diverse cultures, traditions, tribes and ethnic groups. Women constitute a large part of Africa’s population and they are hardworking and industrious. In most African societies women are the nurtures, taking care of their families and in some cases are the bread winners.

Even though there is an abundance of natural resources in Africa, the proceeds from these resources remains in the hands of a few people, leaving the majority in Poverty.  Most of the political, ethno-religious conflicts in Africa today are as a result of injustice in the sharing of resources.

Message from Women’s Meeting European Pre-Assembly, Bratislava 13 March 2010

At the Women’s meeting  at the European Pre-Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, on 13 March 2010 we identified human trafficking, food justice and the continuing controversy about  women in leadership as issues that mar the lives of many of God’s children and are in opposition to the Gospel message of grace, love and wholeness.  Through the pervasiveness of sin, the relationships of traffickers and trafficked, hungry and fed, women and men with God and one another are destroyed.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Human beings – men, women and children- are profoundly affected by the tragic business of human trafficking. For many of us in Europe, this seems like an invisible problem. In our ignorance and naivite we do not see the fact that people are being trafficked across borders in Europe on a daily basis. This happens for different purposes, all resulting in the violation of human dignity where lives and bodies are bought and sold.

North American contextualization of the Women’s Pre-Assembly message

Here is the text of the press release of the Women contribution to the North American Pre-Assembly, Kitchener, January 2010:

Women Delegates Urge Lutheran Communion to Address Human Trafficking Issues

Just to Put Food on the Table

KITCHENER, Ontario, Canada/GENEVA, 1 February 2010 (LWI) – Women’s issues should not be just a priority for women throughout the Lutheran World Federation (LWF); being an inclusive communion is the responsibility of the entire communion.

Speaking on behalf of women delegates and advisors attending the LWF North America Pre-Assembly Consultation (NAPAC), Mikka McCracken, female youth delegate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) urged all LWF North American delegates to take on the issues women delegates have lifted up as priorities within the whole LWF.

Asian contextualization of the Women’s Pre-Assembly message

Here is the text of the press release of the Women contribution to the Asian Pre-Assembly, Bangkok, December 2009:

“Asian Women Seek Structures That Ensure Visible Inclusion in the LWF

Call to Empower Womens Response to Climate Change, Poverty and Human Trafficking

BANGKOK; Thailand/GENEVA, 8 December 2009 (LWI) Women delegates attending the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Asian region Pre-Assembly Consultation (APAC) commended the LWFs far-reaching advocacy for marginalized groups in church and society, but called for urgent changes to structures and traditions that further perpetuate exclusion.

Making women visible is the first step in reducing their vulnerability, said Ms Dora R. Hemalatha, when she presented the womens perspectives on the keynote address by LWF vice president Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan. The presentation by the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELJHL) focused on daily bread as a holy call to justice in the Asian context.