The Women of the ELCA

The Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America includes Lutheran women who gather in over 7,000 locations in the U.S. and the Caribbean, for service, a study, advocacy, fellowship and more! Women of the ELCA embraces all kinds of ministries that support the mission of mobilizing women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ. There is a place for you in Women of the ELCA. We promote and encourage women to lead, serve, and advocate in the community, inviting women of all generations and backgrounds to experience the reconciling and transforming love of God through Jesus Christ, encouraging women to act on their baptismal covenant.

St. Mark's Chapter

St. Mark's Women of the ELCA  is one of our most active ministries, reaching out to Lutheran Services Carolina, the Robeson County Church and Community Center, and the Robeson County Family Violence Center. Our women are active in the organization on a regional and statewide level, as well as the national level.

We enjoy our "girl time" in monthly meetings; we enjoy serving together; we enjoy worshiping together.   Join us and celebrate sisterhood in Jesus Christ! 

Mission Statement

As a community of women, created in the image of God, we are called to discipleship. As a group, we are empowered through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We commit ourselves to grow in faith; to affirm our gifts; to support each other in our callings; and to engage in ministries. We also promote the healing and wholeness of the church, the society, and the world. 

GATHER, Women of the ELCA's official bi-monthly magazine.

If you are interested in receiving it, 

please contact Sandra Britt at sanlumber@aol.com.

Follow Women of the ELCA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The NC Synod Women of the ELCA has a group on Facebook.

Bold Women's Sunday

March 2, 2025 

This Sunday, we celebrate women. Bold Women’s Day celebrates Lutheran women who have, or who currently are acting boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ.

The sermon this week will be brought by guest speaker Re. Ruth Ann Sipe, co-director of Lutheran Disaster Relief Carolinas.  Women of the ELCA will lead the service. A reception wil follow the service. 

Bold women are a part of our faith’s genealogy:  the woman at the well, the persistent widow, the women at the tomb, and those certain women who supported Jesus and the disciples. 

On this day we honor or remember bold women from our community and the bold women in our midst, who act boldly on their faith.

 The women of St. Mark’s lead boldly in many capacities. Our bold women work tirelessly for the good of our church, giving the glory to God in all we do.

Bold women are not all bold in the same way. Whether speaking out against injustice or holding the hand of a friends who is in pain, boldness is all about living out our baptismal call, about being a disciple of Christ.

Lutheran theology empowers us to take risks. Our ability to act boldly is rooted in our baptism and continually enabled, empowered and sup-ported by God’s grace. 

 March is Women’s History Month, which provides an opportunity to pause and reflect on the contributions women have made to our nation over time. And Bold Women’s Day commemorates Lutheran women who have acted or are acting boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ through prayer, service, advocacy, hospitality and other ways.

“Whether we live out our bold story of faith in the workplace, family home or community, our faith compels us to make a difference in the lives of others,” says Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director of Women of the ELCA. “It’s all about living out our baptismal call, about being a disciple of Christ.”

The women of St. Mark’s are the lifeblood of our church. Women serve in leadership positions of all kinds. Women lead worship. Women head committees. Women plan events. Our women are active in the community, and  state and conference levels of the Women of the ELCA. 

North Carolina Women of the ELCA Sandhills Conference met at St. Mark’s on Saturday, Sept. 21 to explore Women of Wonder and enjoy fellowship. 

Women from three conference churches, in Lumberton, Fayetteville, and Laurinburg were in attendance.  Conference lines have shifted since they were established; the Sandhills Conference once included six churches. 

Conference leaders Joyce Garner, Presider, and Julie Arndt, Director of Communications, assisted Maxine Amos with welcoming the attendees and keeping the program moving. 

Special guests included newly-elected WELCA state president Terri Brown and Sandhills conference board liason Lorri Monterose. 

Presenters Julie Arndt, Deb Rosenberg, and Sandra Britt led attendees through the lives and lessons of Phoebe, Anna, and Joanna with lively conversation following each presentation. This study, Women of Wonder, created by the discipleship committee of NC WELCA, was  a sequel to last year’s study, “Women of the Word” and focused on New Testament. 

Collected offerings for the Christine Bohr Anderson Scholarship fund totaled $110.00. The scholarship assists women from North Carolina who wish to pursue a seminary education. The scholarship is not restricted to age of applicant or nationality. The amount of the scholarship is one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars. 

A pennies offering of $192.00 will help support Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a non-profit that provides beds to children in need. No kid sleeps on the floor as long as this ministry continues its work.  

The regular offering will help support Feeding the Carolinas, in total $118.00.  The organization  unites the ten Feeding America Food Banks serving North and South Carolina. 

An in-kind offering of diapers and wipes, in  excess of $400, will go to the Robeson County Church and Community Center, Robeson County’s oldest and largest faith based non-profit. During Hurricane Debby, the center was in the thick of things, providing food, supplies, and shelter to those in need. 

The conference will meet again in the spring at Living Word in Laurinburg.