November Dear Sisters in Christ,

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1 November 2018 Dear Sisters in Christ, I bring you greetings from your board as we begin our time of Thank Offerings, preparing our homes for fall and getting ready for winter and the beginning of the Advent season. It seems there is never truly a quiet time when you are about the Lord s business! Once again we have had a wonderful convention on South Padre Island filled with the business meeting, inspiring speakers, and workshops. Kudos to our Rio Grande ladies for a job well done. Please see Linda Nicholas s report for more information. There are also many pictures posted on our Facebook page. The hula dancers were a big hit and yes, they did get me out on the floor! Thankfully there are no close ups or videos. Preparations are already under way for our 32 nd Convention in Capital North-Pflugerville, August 23-25, Mark your calendars and plan on joining us! This coming year, in addition to electing a president and board members, we will be electing our 5 voting members for Triennial. Please prayerfully consider this opportunity to represent your Synodical Womens Organization in July You have about 18 months to plan and prepare. Voting members have their transportation and hotel rooms paid for during the 3 days of Convention. The following days of the Gathering are on your own. We are hoping to have

2 the funds for scholarship support for women to attend the Gathering. Keep watching the Grapevine for more information! We have our new board members getting ready for our retreat on November 9-11 at Ebert Ranch. I am pleased to announce our new board members: Debra Mattke, Vice President; Rebecca Vella-Bishop, Secretary; Barbara Hartman, Board Member Bluebonnet; Peggy Horton, Board Member Capital South; Cassandra Chollet, Board Member, Gulf Coast; and Linda Nicholas, Board Member Rio Grande. We have a new nominations committee: Elva Cope, Alamo Conference; Martha Bridges, Capital North Conference, Kathy Staley, Cibolo Creek Conference, and Irene Merz, Hill Country Conference. Keep all of your board members and nominations committee members in your prayers as we continue to do the work of Women of the ELCA in our Synod. Our list of board members, nominating committee members and our calendar is on our page at the Southwestern Texas Synod website. Check it out to see who s who and what s happening around our Synod. Yours in Christ, Dinah Halopka-Ryson Southwestern Texas SWO Directory of Board Members, Dinah Halopka-Ryson - President, Debra Mattke - Vice President, Rebecca Vela Bishop - Secretary, Cindy Hilliard - Treasurer, Randa Bruce Gonzales - Alamo Conference, Barbara Hartman - Bluebonnet Conference, Beth Schroeder - Capital North Conference, Peggy Horton - Capital South Conference, Lynna Kraus - Cibolo Creek Conference, Cassandra Chollet - Gulf Coast Conference, Annabel Wilkinson - Hill Country Conference, Linda Nicholas - Rio Grande Conference, Leslie Ahrens - Board Member At Large.

3 Southwestern Texas Synod Women of the ELCA 31 st Annual Convention Wrap Up Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace be Still, and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. (Mark 4:39) On behalf of the Rio Grande Conference, The Southwestern Texas Synod Women of the ELCA and the Pearl Hotel and Spa of South Padre Island, we thank all who attended the 31 st annual convention. We sincerely hope that you enjoyed your time with us and that you left feeling inspired and blessed. For those of you who were not able to attend, we missed you. Convention Goals: Seeking peace through faith. That goal was met time and time again, through worship, prayer, fellowship and time with God. Each worship service was, uplifting and inspirational. The Friday night service was led by The Reverend Alma Morales and Synodical Authorized Minister Sheryl Carriere. Rev. Morales sermon was presented in Spanish and interpreted by Jan Demro. She gave a passionate sermon on her faith and the faith of the people she serves in the Colonias in the Rio Grande Valley and across the boarder in Mexico. Saturday mornings sunrise service was beautiful, with words of inspiration from Sheryl Carriere and Mary Lovig and songs of praise as the sun arose over the Gulf. Sunday worship service with Holy Communion was led by The Reverend Magdalene Holm-Roesler and The Reverend Jennifer Thomas. Greetings from Churchwide were given by our special guest Lisa Plorin, Executive Board President, Women of the ELCA. Our keynote speaker Brenda Ivelisse Pinero Carrasquillo, Esq. spoke on the inpowerment of women and faith. She spoke of the insperation of her mother

4 and growing up Lutheran in Puerto Rico, and, that through your faith and family, you as a woman can achive anything. Our Bible study leader was The Reverend Jennifer J. Thomas from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, (but lives in Kansas). Rev. Jennifer used our theme Pleace be Still as her basis for the bible study. She managed to bring that theme out time and time again from thourghout the bible. The workshops were well attended and fun. We had the Women of Faith and Creativity teach us how to make a flower using pop tops and yarn. Mary Lovig led a Holy Yoga class, and no you didn t have to get down on the floor, it was done from a chair. Jean Davis talked about Days for Girls and demostated how to make the sanitary packets for the girls living in third world countrys and in poverty. Brenda Pinero gave a talk on immigration and legal issues along the boarder. And lastly Rita Galloway took a group of ladies to Sea Turtle Inc. for a classroom session and tour of the facilities. Rumor has it that the food was abundent and very, very good, that the E Hula Mai dancers at the banquet were great fun and the fellowship was the best ever. Thank you everyone for your generous donations. Thank you to all the planning team participants for all that you did to make this convention one of the best ever. Thank you to the Rio Grande Conference Units: Grace Lutheran, Harlingen, Love of Christ, Weslaco and St Johns, San Juan for a job well done. CONVENTION OFFERING REPORT Peace Be Still was our convention theme held at The Pearl Resort in South Padre Island. The Rio Grande Conference set this wonderful theme with the help of God s creation of the beach and the Gulf of Mexico waters. I know I had a wonderful weekend praising God, renewing friendships and making new ones, and I hope that all of you did as well. The unit offering collected during Friday evening worship was $2, and the personal offering collected during Sunday morning worship was $1, for a total of $4, The Silent Auction proceeds were $1, and the Physical Offering of gift cards was $1, Total offerings received $7,

5 Offerings to be shared are: Churchwide-50% $2, La Posada Providencia-25% 1, SWO-25% 1, Family Crisis Center-Silent Auction Costa Rica Companion Synod-Silent Auction La Posada Providencia-Physical Offering 1, If you or your unit have not given your offering for the convention, you may forward it to me at 502 E Randall, Beeville, Texas As a reminder, I encourage your units to hold a Thankoffering service and collect offerings to be sent to Churchwide. Per reports received, very few of our synod s units sent Thankofferings during Let s ban together and double or triple the number of units giving Thankofferings. Praise God! Your sister in Christ, Cindy Hilliard Treasurer

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8 More to come in the December Issue Capital North/Capital South WELCA Conference Event March 2, 2019 Immanuel Lutheran Church Pflugerville, Texas Southwestern Texas Synod Women of the ELCA

9 32nd Annual Convention God s Love Changes Everything August 23 25, 2019 Courtyard Marriott Pflugerville, Texas Bluebonnet Conference Event Hosted by Women of St. John Lutheran Church Westhoff & Lindenau Let the little children come to me, don t stop them because the kingdom of

10 heaven belongs to people who are like these children. Join us for a day of Worship-Education-Fun March 9, 2019 Registration begins 8:00am Breakfast/Refreshments furnished Registration $15 Key Note Speaker: Kara Joy Stewart Campus Pastor Texas Lutheran University Guest Speaker: Kim Reeves Bluebonnet Youth Ranch

11 Calendar of Events 9-11 November 2018 Fall Board Retreat, 4 pm Friday til 10 am Sunday, Ebert Ranch, TX 2 February 2019 Rio Grande Conference Event, St John s, San Juan 9 February 2019 Gulf Coast Conference Event, Faith, Beeville February 2019 Council of Presidents, Chicago, IL 2 March 2019 Hill Country Conference Event, St. Paul, Mason 2 March 2019 Capital North/Capital South Conference Event, Immanuel, Pflugerville 9 March 2019 Bluebonnet Conference Event, St. John s, Westhoff 23 March 2019 Alamo/Cibolo Creek Conference Event, MacArthur Park, San Antonio 24 April 2019 Ingathering for LWR, Texas Lutheran, Seguin TBD May 2019 Spring Board Meeting 31 May-2 June 2019 Synod Assembly, Omni Bayfront, Corpus Christi August nd Annual Southwestern Texas Convention, Courtyard Marriott, Pflugerville, TX July th Triennial Convention and Gathering, Phoenix, AZ

12 Southwestern Texas SWO Directory of Board Members,

13 Dinah Halopka-Ryson, President 2217 Crary Meadow Schertz, TX Cell Phone (210) Debra Mattke, Vice President 286 Vernell Ln Marion, TX Cell Phone Rebecca Vela Bishop, Secretary 109 Barrett Ave. San Antonio, TX Cell Phone ( Cindy Hilliard, Treasurer 502 E. Randall Beeville, TX Cell Phone (361) Randa Bruce Gonzales, Board Member Alamo Conference 725 Oak Village Dr. San Antonio, TX Cell Phone Barbara Hartman, Board Member Bluebonnet Conference 9511 FM 236 Cuero, TX Cell Phone Beth Schroeder, Board Member Capital North Conference 4277 Co. Rd. 123 Round Rock, TX Cell Phone (512) Peggy Horton, Board Member Capital South Conference Wandering Way. Austin, TX Cell Phone (512) Lynna Kraus, Board Member Cibolo Creek Conference 196 Middletowne Seguin, TX Cell phone (830) Cassandra Chollet, Board Member Gulf Coast Conference 212 Champion Dr. Rockport, TX Cell Phone (512) Annabel Wilkinson, Board Member Hill Country Conference 525 Cherry Hollow Dr. Fredericksburg, TX Cell Phone (830) Linda Nicholas, Board Member Rio Grande Conference 4348 N Kansas St. Harlingen, TX Cell Phone sheodoe@yahoo.com Leslie Ahrens, Board Member At Large 591 Glen Oaks Lane Cuero, TX Cell Phone (361) texasgirl.ahrens@gmail.com Pastor Barbara Beale ELCA Synod Liaison 1311 Fern Court Gonzales, TX Cell Phone (361) barbarab235@gmail.com

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