President Beth Meyer First Lutheran/Fremont

The Spring Gatherings were as varied as the women in the Nebraska Synodical Women’s Organization.  I want to take this opportunity to thank the Conference Coordinators whose term of office is over and the Conference Coordinators who have consented to serve a second term, for their service to the women of the NSWO in planning these events and their work at the convention.  Those whose term is over are: Phyllis Eriksen – Central Conference, Laurie Schmidt – High Plains Conference, Phyllis Rahn – Northeast Conference, Charlotte Gronewold – Southeast Conference, and Linda Fangmeyer – Southern Prairie Conference.  Those serving a second term are: Karen Anderson – Metro East Conference, and Estelle Riemann – Midlands.  We welcome the new Conference Coordinators and are grateful to them for answering the call to serve in this capacity.  These new CC’s are: Palmetto Matuszek – Central, Leslie Marchando-Cook – High Plains, Janice Roeber – Northeast, Glenda VanEperen – Southeast and Arlene Hjelm – Southern Prairie.  The dates have been set, the theme chosen and the ladies are ready to plan the gatherings for 2009.  These plans were made and the CC’s training took place at the June Board meeting under the tutelage of Shirley Splittgerber, our faithful and knowledgeable tutor.  Thank you, Shirley, for your service to the NSWO.

With thankful hearts we gave graciously with gratitude to various missions throughout Nebraska, with our tangible gifts.  Our offerings given to the Women of the ELCA, the NSWO and to the NSWO Vision Fund totaled $12,711.55.

I reported in our last issue that Bishop deFreese’s Bible study was based on the theme verse and that the joy of the Lord is our strength, but he also talked about his “Philadelphia Story” that brought in the theme, Rejoice! Renew! Revive!  Pr. Martin Russell, Assistant to the Bishop, did the Bible study for the Northeast Conference and he gave us a different slant on the joy of the Lord.  He told us that joy is at the heart of who God is.   He reminded us to think about the creation story.  When God had finished creating something He would look at it and say, “It is good!”  If God weren’t full of joy He would have had to say, “It will have to do!”  Only a joyful person can say, “My joy be in you.”  Joy is the serious business of heaven.  Pr. Russell went on to remind us that we must abide in God to be a joyful person.  Pr. Russell closed with, ‘the joy of the Lord is your strength.’  That strength is Jesus – He went to the cross for the joy that was set before Him.  Thank you, Bishop deFreese and Pr. Russell, for your willingness to lead us in our Bible studies.

By the time this article reaches you about 50 women from Nebraska (some a bit younger than most) will have returned from the Women of the ELCA Triennial Convention and Gathering revived in their faith, renewed in the Spirit, and excited to share what they have experienced.  Please contact one of these women to speak to your unit about this experience.

I am gently reminding you to read the article on the Autumn Renewals and our guests from Argentina and Tanzania.  Please plan to attend one of these events.

Called and saying yes!

Beth Meyer