NORTHWESTERN OHIO SYNODICAL WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION

Board Meeting

October 12, 20029:35 a.m.

Jacquie Fritz Cottage, Coldwater Lake, Michigan

Present:

President - Pat Hirschfeld; Vice-President - Mary Satterfield; Secretary - Linda Tooman; Treasurer - Wanda Straub; Board Members - Gayle Guernsey (C), Nancy Sander (E), Corrine Hurni (MV), Jeanne Matthews (NC), Marilyn Lee (SE), Jacquie Fritz (SW), Joyce Nelson (T);

Absent:

Son Light Editor - Cora Kettler, Pastoral Advisor -- Julie Beitelschees.

Opening:

President Pat Hirschfeld called the meeting to order. Marilyn Lee opened with devotions on meditation using the theme "Listen, God is Calling." The scripture was taken from 1 Kings.

Minutes:

The minutes from the August 17, 2002, meeting was approved with the following corrections:

-Mary Ellen Gottried is from North Salem Lutheran Church, Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

-The pastor's name from S1. Paul Lutheran Church, Neehah, Wisconsin, is James Seim, not Paul.

Treasurer's Report:

Treasurer Wanda Straub reported a balance as of October 12,2002, of $ 3,654.65. Receipts of $ 650.96 and $1,195.97 were received from the church units. Also, $ 320.00 additional offerings were received from congregational units for the Triennial Gathering. "Son Light" subscription money received totaled $ 165.00.

There still is some discussion and questions concerning the conference treasuries going through the synodical treasury. Churchwide strongly encourages synodicals to handle monies for the conferences. Wanda Straub would like organize a meeting for conference treasurers to explain and brainstorm this problem.

Motion:

Corrine Hurni made a motion that the board members share expenses of our fall retreat held at the cottage of Jacquie Fritz. Jeanne Matthews seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Correspondence:

- A letter was received from the "Buddy, Baby, and You" project in Lima, Ohio.

- Carmen Hogrefe received a letter from Toledo Conference President, Peg Mink, with suggestions concerning transportation to the Triennial Gathering.

- President Pat Hirschfeld received another set of "Listen, God is Calling" program materials from churchwide.

- Faith Fretheim, Program Director of Women of the ELCA, sent pamphlets regarding the 2003 Scholarships for Lutheran Women. Four Scholarships are available: Scholarships for Lutheran Lay Women, Arne Administrative Scholarship, Herbert & Corinne Chilstrom Scholarship, and the Schmeider Leadership Scholarship. Secretary Linda Tooman will write an article on these opportunities for women for the next "Son Light" newsletter.

President's Report:

President Pat Hirschfeld reported on her trip to Tanzania with other members of the Northwestern Ohio Synod in October. She is in the process of writing articles for the "Son Light," and plans to prepare a program to talk about her experiences. If you would be interested in having Pat speak at your church or organization, please contact her at 419-586-7404. No fee would be charged except for mileage.

Pat sent a letter of recommendation for a grant from the ELCA for the "Buddy, Baby, and You" project in Lima, Ohio.

NEW BUSINESS:

Leadership Training Event:

The board officers and representatives discussed the idea of trying something different for the Leadership Training Event to get better attendance. Also, since Easter in 2003 is later, it is also difficult to find a date in May to have training. Different options were mentioned, such as having a leadership workshop for conference officers at the Synodical Convention in July, or combining two or three conferences together and selecting a central location for them to meet, with synodical officers attending to provide the leadership program. After much discussion, it was decided that the conference board representatives would meet with their own conference for a roundtable discussion concerning leadership. After their spring assembly, the board representative will arrange a meeting time with the new conference officers to talk about their leadership roles. This meeting would take place within 30 days after their elections. The outline for discussion at these meetings will be worked out at the next synodical board meeting.

Spring Assembly Theme: The theme for conference Spring Assemblies will be "Hear God's Call." Conferences may pick one of the following scripture texts for their assembly: 1 Samuel 15:22; John 10:27; Luke 8:18; Luke 11:28; or Mark 9:7 (NRSV). The conference may pick any Saturday on or before May 3, 2003.

Synodical Convention:

The Synodical Convention will be held at Holiday Inn French Quarter on July 18 & 19,2003. Our theme will be "Listen, God is Calling," and the Program Committee will meet to decide different topics to go along with our theme. Mary Satterfield, Program Committee Chairman, discussed with the board members the time-line for preparing for the convention, committees, and budget.

Board members need to complete their committees for convention by the next board meeting. Committees completed so far are: Program Committee - Chairman, Mary Satterfield; Alyce Walden (NC), Judi Coe (E), Joan Schulte (NC), and Pat Hirschfeld (SW); Minutes Committee - Chairman, Linda Tooman; Carrie Schild (SE), and Joan Schulte (NC).

Banquet Chairperson, Corrine Hurni, talked about centerpieces for the banquet and the menu for the meals. The complete menu still needs to be completed. It was discussed that the banquet will be a sit-down dinner and not a buffet.

Discussion was heard on a devotional booklet for the convention. Since it is difficult to get devotions and meditations for the booklet, it was mentioned that we should publish the booklet every other convention (or every four years). Also, a suggestion was made that there be a time set aside in the agenda of the convention for "special announcements."

Conference Reports:

CENTRAL - Their Fall Retreat will be held on October 19 from 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at Hope Lutheran, Fostoria. Maggie Malley, Galion, Ohio, will be the guest speaker. The topic is "Forgiveness - The Promise of a New Day." The love offering of gifts will go to First Step Domestic Violence Center.

Pick up for Lutheran World Relief will be on Sunday, October 20th.

EASTERN - Eastern Conference held their Fall Retreat at the Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue, Ohio, on September 26. It was attended by approximately 36-40 women. Ruth Gray from St. John's, Fremont, presented the bible study on the book of John. Special music was provided by Fran Eckert and Carol Everson from Lakeside.

Officers training will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, at Trinity Lutheran, Sandusky. Their conference Spring Assembly will be held on May 3, 2003, at St. Paul's, Clyde.

MAUMEE VALLEY - The Maumee Valley Conference Fall Retreat was held on October 5 at St. Paul's, Defiance, Ohio. The theme was "Building Up the Body of Christ," based on the book of Ephesians. Paul Zumfelde from Lutheran Social Services Western Region Office was the main speaker, and Pastor Judith Waschel from Hicksville lead the bible study. The love offering of the day, both monetary and in-kind, was given to the Filling Home of Mercy in Napoleon.

NORTH CENTRAL - Their Spring Assembly will be held at Solomon Lutheran, Woodville, on March 29, 2003. The women from our synod who traveled to Tanzania in October will be the speakers. The conference Officers Training was held on October 1st at St. Paul's, Oak Harbor. The board is currently looking for a place and date for the 2003 Fall Retreat.

SOUTHEASTERN - The conference had a good Officers Training Retreat on October 5th. 54 women were in attendance with many new faces. It was held at North Woodbury, which has no organized women's organization. There was good sharing of how they listened to God's calling. There are still questions of "Who they are" in conference, synodical, etc. We need to keep sharing this even though we "oldies" get tired of hearing it.

Future dates: January 11,2003, (January 18, snow date) for their Presidents Meeting at Martin Luther, Bucyrus; May 3, 2003, is the Spring Assembly date at Good Hope, Bucyrus.

SOUTHWESTERN - On November 2, the Southwestern Conference will have their Fall Retreat at St. Mark's, Wapakoneta. Pastor Joy Miller will lead the opening devotions and communion. Jacquie Fritz and Elaine Harklau will present a program of "Opening Your Spiritual Gifts." In-kind gifts will go to Church United Pantry of the Lima area. The offering will go to LSS Cheryl Allen - South Side Center.

The Van Wert ladies will attend the Women's Ministry Task Force pilot program on October 26 in Toledo.

TOLEDO - Their Fall Retreat is planned for October 19 at St. Stephen Church in Sylvania, Ohio. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. After the communion service, Bonnie Kinschner will give her presentation "Holy Laughter, Holy Tears." The Bible study will be lead by Joyce Nelson. The cost is $8.00 per person.

"Son Light" Report:

The next "Son Light" deadline is November 1,2002. Pat Hirschfeld will contact Cora about space in the "Son Light." Keep in mind to use only materials pertaining to the activities of the Women of the ELCA. The editor has the right to edit aU materials sent. It was commented that the pages seem to full and need pictures and "breathing" space around and between the articles.

Women's Ministry Task Force (GET REaL) Report:

The Task Force has two meetings scheduled, October 26 and November 16. Both meetings are at Hope, Toledo. A full page Covenant Relationship Document was read which came from the Task Force. It was felt that further discussion is needed before giving the authorization from the Synodical Board to use this document. Mary Satterfield will contact the Task Force committee for further input on this matter.

OLD BUSINESS:

Women's Tanzania Project:

Lutheran World Relief did not have their Empowering Women Project in place as had been promised by the time Pat Hirschfeld was in Tanzania. She did not get to meet with LWR leaders as expected. Communications are still lacking. Possibilities were discussed about dispersing the money, but it was felt that we would wait until L WR has their project in place and we would go through LWR.

Web Page:

Our Synodical Women's web page has not been updated since June, and we definitely need someone to take responsibility for this. We also need each board member's biD to put on the page.

Synodical Banner:

Our Synodical banner will be available for use throughout the synod. Elaine Harklau from Southwestern Conference would like it for their Conference retreat on November 2nd. Marilyn Lee will check to see if the banner has been returned from the Global Mission Board who used it at the Global Mission events this past Summer. Wanda Straub will be responsible for scheduling the banner throughout the synodical.

Next Board Meeting: The next board meeting will be held on January 4,2003, (January 11, snow date) at First Lutheran, Findlay, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Bring a sack lunch. Linda Tooman will lead us in devotions, and Joyce Nelson will provide fruit, doughnuts and coffee.

Adjournment:

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned with the Lord's Prayer.

Respectfully Submitted, Linda Tooman, Secretary