Title: ELCA Lutheran Women "Proclaim God's Peace" ELCA NEWS Service July 19, 1996 LUTHERAN WOMEN "PROCLAIM GOD'S PEACE" (69 lines) 96-17-051-FI MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- There were 486 delegates and 5,731 registered participants at the Minneapolis Convention Center July 11-14 for the Third Triennial Convention of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The convention theme, "Proclaim God's Peace," inspired speeches, worship, workshops, Bible study and business. Sharroll A. Bernahl, Fort Morgan, Colo., was elected to a three-year term as president of the organization -- more than 500,000 women in ELCA congregations across the United States and Caribbean. Bernahl, 52, is a member of the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Fort Morgan. She's been a member of Women of the ELCA's Executive Board since 1993. "Where women are being challenged in their faith through Bible study and prayer there is growth," said Jan Peterson, Thief River Falls, Minn., in her final report as president. Where such challenges are met in the ELCA "the excitement cannot be contained." Mary G. Seale, Roosevelt, N.Y., was elected vice president; Donna L. Haack, Pomeroy, Iowa, secretary; and Nancy A. Hoffman, Lancaster, Ohio, treasurer. The convention elected 17 board members and adapted a 1997 budget of $3,900,760 including a $1,000,000 gift to the ELCA. Dr. Charlotte E. Fiechter resigned her position of six years as executive director effective July 31. "I believe it is time for me to move on to new tasks and new challenges, and I believe it is time for the organization to bring in new leadership," said Fiechter. An interim director will be appointed. "We talk a lot in this church about diversity," Gwen Carr, Salem, Ore., told about 135 women during a "Women of Color Gathering" July 8-10. She added that the ELCA must continue its work to "bond" with women of color. Carr was president of Women of the ELCA, 1990-1993. Other events preceding the convention included workshops on conflict resolution, domestic violence, leadership and rural concerns. "I never saw a barrier as an excuse to give up," Wilma Mankiller told the convention. Mankiller was principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, 1985-1995. The struggle for peace and justice "is not something you do for a year or some period of time. It is a vocation for life," said Rigoberta Mench# Tum, who received the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her work for the human rights of indigenous people in Guatemala. Other speakers were ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson, Bishop Andrea F. DeGroot-Nesdahl of the South Dakota Synod, Bishop April Ulring Larson of the LaCrosse (Wis.) Area Synod, Dr. Kathryn Wolford, executive director for Lutheran World Relief, and the Rev. Walter Wangerin, Jr., columnist for "The Lutheran" magazine, author, and speaker on the ELCA's weekly radio ministry "Lutheran Vespers." Participants brought 3,802 children's books on a peace theme that were presented to libraries, schools and health centers in the Twin Cities area. Fabric squares, "Pieces of Peace," were sewn into more than 100 quilts and given to Lutheran World Relief. Blood donated during Fairview Health Systems' onsite health fair was given to the Memorial Blood Center in Minneapolis. The convention is "the largest gathering of adults in the ELCA," said Fiechter. "It is an opportunity to meet, touch and relate to the constituency in numbers and with an impact greater than at any other time. It is a time to `touch the grass roots,'" she said. About 175 workshop topics were presented in six afternoon sessions; and a "Convention Without Walls" took participants to 12 Twin Cities sites. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956