Women of the ELCA, Pacifica Synod

For many units, January is the time of new beginnings. New officers or coordinating council members have been elected and now take office. Planning for this year begins to take place if you have unit events on a monthly, quarterly, or other basis. I have been receiving notices of new officers. This is important as we have a protected site on the churchwide website to list the names and addresses of two unit contacts. Email addresses and phone numbers also. This allows churchwide to send resources to women directly rather than to a church office where history tells us they are often “lost” and don’t get into the right hands. And it is important when determining how many delegates we will send to the triennial conventions. That was already determined last year for the one coming up in 2011 in Spokane WA. But if our contact information is kept current, we will always be ready.

On the other hand, I also received a notice that a unit had completely disbanded. That is sad news as it always makes me wonder if they really understood the value of our organization and how simply it can be organized. It would not surprise me at all if ministry is still happening with women in that congregation even though they have chosen to no longer officially be a unit in our organization. Last March I prepared a power point presentation regarding the why and how to be organized. I would welcome any invitation to bring that to any local unit and tailor it to your needs and questions. Or any other board member would gladly come to a unit to answer questions or give a presentation. Any unit whether struggling or just wanting to share what is happening for them is always welcome to invite a board member – we exist to help you!

Since I mentioned the triennial in Spokane in 2011 – it is not too soon to plan for this event!! Based on our five year plan, that would be the year for us to convention in HI, but we moved that to 2012 so that we could all plan to attend both events! This November we will be electing four delegates (plus the president) for that triennial so begin thinking now who you would like to represent Pacifica Synod in 2011. Remember that each nominee must be nominated by a unit. Women can volunteer to become a nominee but they must go through their unit and have the unit submit the nomination. The nomination committee is not yet in place and those details will come in next few months, but you can still be thinking and praying about this important election.

And speaking of elections, this will be an important year for us. We did not have a convention in 2009 so now in November 2010 we will be electing a full slate of officers and board members. There are currently just three or four who will be eligible to run again for board positions. We do not have a campaign! We will have a nominating committee for secretary, treasurer, and eight board members. President and Vice President are elected by nominating ballot. It definitely is not too soon to be thinking and praying about who will serve for 2010-2011. And be ready to volunteer!

Are you regularly checking out our churchwide website at www.womenoftheelca.org? The newest resources available are right on the front home page and right now are on “Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls”, Faithful Stewardship, and Ephiphany. They can be downloaded – Free! Also right on the front page are opportunities to blog, twitter, and join facebook. I will have to confess that as much as I enjoy the computer, internet, and email, I have just not gotten into facebook, blogging, or twitter. However, it is even available on our www.pacificawomen.org site. Dona Jenkins maintains this site for us and would love to have interest in these newest forms of communication.

A wish for a Happy and Blessed New Year to you all as you continue –

Acting Boldly in Christ!

Eunice