Two months out
Members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Kingsport, Tenn., wore red Feb. 13 to show support for women’s heart health and to promote Go Red for Women, an initiative from the American Heart Association.
February events have female focus
R
ed isn’t reserved for Pentecost or any number of sports teams. It’s also the official color for the Go Red movement for women’s health. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Kingsport, Tenn., showed its support last Feb. 13 by asking worshipers to wear red. They were part of an area campaign spreading the message that heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death among women. Go Red for Women (
www.goredforwomen.org) is an initiative from the Ameri- can Heart Association that empowers women to take care of their hearts—a perfect emphasis for the Sunday near Valentine’s Day (this year Feb. 12). Holy Trinity was one of 70 churches in Northeast Ten- nessee and Southwest Virginia participating in the inaugural Churches Go Red event in 2010 as well.
Spreading the Go Red message moves members past a focus on only spiritual health, said Steve Counts, pastor of Holy Trinity, adding, “As a matter of stewardship, how we care for our physical health is important as well.” Counts said Holy Trinity wants to raise awareness about heart dis- ease, which kills more women than the next five leading causes of death combined. Most worshipers wore red, and a presentation about women’s health was offered at the congregation’s monthly fellowship dinner. Women also take center stage the fourth Sunday of February in many ELCA churches, thanks to the Women of the ELCA Bold Women’s Day. Last February, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Pensacola, Fla., celebrated Bold Women’s Day for the first time. Lauren and Hannah Baradon, 9, served as lectors that day “with the skill and aplomb of seasoned lay minis- ters” said Ann Housh, parish administrator. Bold Women’s Day celebrates all Lutheran women who have acted or are acting boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ. “Be bold, take risks on account of the gospel, but believe more boldly still in Christ Jesus; that’s what Martin Luther tells us,” according to www.
womenoftheelca.org/bwd, which serves up plenty of ideas for celebrating the day. Women of the ELCA wants to mobilize women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ, urging on its website: “We know that each woman will act boldly in a way that’s unique to her, so we talk about each of us ‘finding our bold.’ Some boldness is firm and quiet. Some is bright and loud. We want to help each other find that bold, live it out and celebrate it.”
Good one! Small change for ingenuity
Davis [Calif.] Lutheran Church collected change for a month during its fall steward- ship drive. They made and sent home with members Pony Express satchels for pen- nies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Members returned nearly $675, which was emptied into a coin trough as part of Stewardship Cel- ebration Sunday. Members voted to give the money to The Empowerment Plan (www.
empowermentplan.org), which designed and developed a coat that can also be used as a sleeping bag for homeless people.
Kelly Meyerhoff (left), Quinn Williams and Margo Williams of Davis [Calif.] Lutheran Church sort change gathered by members one month this fall for a stewardship emphasis.
Send congregational stories—both those for a specific month/holiday or your best timeless idea—to
julie.sevig@
thelutheran.org. December 2011 39
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