Southern Conference Spring Gathering Recap
What a perfect day for "Planting Seeds for WELCA"! On Saturday, March 29, the day before Laetare Sunday — a Sunday of rejoicing in Lent — 33 women from 15 churches gathered at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Marion for an afternoon of rejoicing, making new friends, fun, laughter, devotions, and, of course, food.
Pastor Kim Lee-Brown from the host church led us in opening devotions and singing. We got to know more about each other by circling the room in order of birthdate. Some of the ladies were thankful for the many years with which God had blessed them and even announced the year of their birth. Miraculously, two women shared the exact same birthday, September 7, 1948, and they even had the same first name!
Pat Caley, president of the C/SIS WELCA board, told the history of WELCA. After leading the group in saying the purpose statement together, Pat explained Fair Trade and showed some of the items she brought for sale related to gardening.
We also learned about three WELCA resources available: Daily Grace, Bold Cafe, and Gather magazine. A free one-year subscription to Gather magazine was offered to the attending women. We are thankful for our president and the board members from up “north” who supported our event in the Southern Conference.
The program continued with a demonstration of how to make seed paper by making a pulp with shredded paper and water in a blender. Seeds are added to the pulp and sifted onto mesh in a frame. When left to dry in a cool, shady area, it becomes paper. This seed infused paper is often used for gift tags and even wedding invitations. Children can press the pulp into open cookie cutters. They have lots of fun planting “snowmen,” “stars,” “bells,” “candy canes,” and “Christmas stockings” in the garden.
Next, each person read a Bible verse with one of the words from the following sentence: We plant a seed, and with sun and rain it begins to grow. The following verse was especially meaningful: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).
The last activity before snacks was to plant seeds. Each lady chose a packet of seeds and planted some seeds in a peat pot with soil. They didn't even mind getting dirty. The lemonade, water, flower cookies, and popcorn (from seeds) were enjoyed by all.
Pastor Kim Lee-Brown led us in singing the beautiful prayer, “On What Has Now Been Sown.”
The afternoon ended much too quickly. I pray that this is only the first of many yearly gatherings and events to regrow WELCA in the Southern Conference. God's love and blessings to all.
Written by Linda Davis, Southern Conference Representative (Redeemer, Centralia).
