ELCA NEWS SERVICE June 15, 2005 Lutheran Women Focus On Having Healthy Hearts 05-105-MRC CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More than 2,000 Lutheran women from the United States and overseas plan to "act boldly" in promoting women's holistic health as they gather July 5-10 for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Sixth Triennial Gathering at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas. From 2005 to 2008 Women of the ELCA plans to mobilize 3.2 million women in the five-million-member church to improve their own health and the health of others under the initiative "Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls." The goals of the initiative are to educate women and girls to care for themselves physically, spiritually and emotionally, help prevent health risks from continuing, and advocate for more research to hasten the elimination of heart disease and stroke. "Women's health is obviously a very broad issue," said Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director, Women of the ELCA. "As we looked at all the possible issues around women's health that we could examine, we decided to focus on women's heart health in part because the heart is the center of our existence; it's the center of love and the center of our being," she said. Women of the ELCA's health initiative will officially begin at the Triennial Gathering. "The gathering brings together women from across the United States [and overseas] for worship, praise, learning, service and fellowship. The Sixth Triennial Convention of Women of the ELCA, the highest legislative authority of the organization, will take place during the gathering," said Bushkofsky. "The gathering and convention also serve to bring to close the 2002-2005 triennium and its theme, 'Listen! God is Calling,' and to launch the 2005-2008 triennium and its theme, 'Act Boldly.' The theme is rooted in the mission of Women of the ELCA, 'to mobilize women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ,'" she said. Under the "Listen! God is Calling" theme, "women have spent a lot of time discerning what God is asking them to do in their lives. We realized that if one is not fully healthy, one cannot really respond to the call God may have for her. Therefore, we're looking to address women's health holistically for the next three years," Bushkofsky said. To help kick off the health initiative, the gathering will host a four-kilometer "run, walk and roll" in the San Antonio area, she said. The ELCA Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, is cosponsoring the 4K event. Women will raise funds that "will be used programmatically by the women's organization to address issues of heart health" both locally and internationally, Bushkofsky said. She said women of the organization will tailor the initiative according to "what makes sense in their locale." Other healthy-alternative activities at the gathering include Tai Chi exercise, massage therapy and a blood drive to benefit the San Antonio community, she said. These and other activities will take place at the gathering's exhibit hall called "The Dwelling Place." Featured speakers for the gathering include Barbara Ehrenreich, author of the book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America." Ehrenreich will share her experiences that formed the basis of her book and address health issues faced by low-wage-earning women who cannot afford health insurance or take time off from work to visit the doctor. The Rev. Vashti Murphy McKenzie, bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and president of the A.M.E. Council of Bishops, will preach at the "Thankoffering Service" July 7. McKenzie was the first woman elected bishop in the A.M.E., a church whose membership is 70 percent female. The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, will preside and the Rev. Andrea Walker, St. John's Lutheran Church, Summit, N.J., will preach at the gathering's opening worship on July 6. Debra Farrington, author and retreat leader, Harrisburg, Pa., will speak during inspiration time, which takes place every morning of the gathering. Ione Hanson, who is married to Mark Hanson, will host the inspiration time on July 7 and will lead the "4K Run, Walk and Roll." She is a pediatric clinical social worker in the Chicago area. The Rev. Melanie McRae, spiritual director and chaplain, Minneapolis, will preach and the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive assistant to the ELCA presiding bishop for leadership development, will preside at the gathering's closing worship on July 10. The Rev. Sarah Henrich, associate professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., will lead daily Bible studies, and the Rev. Jeanne Porter, an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and associate professor of communication arts at North Park University, Chicago, will lead sessions for the clergywomen's affinity group at the triennial gathering. The Women of the ELCA organization has more than 7,800 local units in congregations of the ELCA and "institutional settings" across the United States and Caribbean. - - - Information about Women of the ELCA Sixth Triennial Gathering is available at http://www.womenoftheELCA.org/news/events/tg05/ on the Internet. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news