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Rocky Mountain Synodical
Women's Organization

Acting BoldlyTakes Heart
by Valora K. Starr

From the ordination of women to the elimination of landmines, this organization has had a history of taking on difficult challenges and making a difference in the lives of women and girls. And today, there’s nothing easy about our churchwide health initiative, Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls, which, in part, focuses on the numbers one and three killers of women in the United States: heart attack and stroke.  

Why choose heart health?

We chose heart health because it is the number one killer and we can help make a difference on the emotional, physical, and spiritual impact in the lives of women and girls! Not long ago, cancer in all forms was number one. Then Avon stepped forward and waged a campaign vowing not to stop until breast cancer is eliminated. Pink ribbons and fundraising walks have become commonplace, and with the support of millions, all cancer is now number two due to the effort put into reducing breast cancer.

Heart disease and stroke are silent killers linked to risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and upper respiratory illnesses. Women of the ELCA can lead women and girls—who make up 63% of the ELCA’s membership to:

1. Educate women and girls on caring for themselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

2. Share the wealth to prevent girls and women from continuing today’s health risks tomorrow.

3. Advocate for more research to hasten the elimination of heart disease and stroke in our lifetime.

How do we begin?

We begin by talking with one another. We will need support and encouragement from one another to enter into dialogue about our health and hearts, because our cultural taboos tell us that our health is a private matter. Yet, as a community of women created in the image of God and supporting one another in our callings, it is important that we explore together how we live our best lives:

As physically healthy women and girls, we make healthy choices for our bodies.

As spiritually healthy women and girls, we engage in conversation, Bible study, spiritual renewal, and holistic healing.

As emotionally healthy women and girls, we engage in and seek healthy and meaningful activities and relationships so that we may better support one another.

A new resource

We also begin by offering a resource this spring that will help facilitate conversation and dialogue on emotional, spiritual, and physical health. Look for Our Journey to Wellness: How to Talk about Health in the spring packet mailing from Women of the ELCA. The four women who wrote this resource are advocates for women’s health and for Women of the ELCA taking on this challenge. Mary Stein-Webber, licensed counselor, part-time pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, and director of A Safe Place to Heal Christian Counseling in Oakland, Calif., will help us explore emotional health. Reverend Ginger Anderson-Larson, director for spiritual formation and associate director of contextual education at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, will lead us through spiritual health. Dr. Gwen Wagstrom Halaas, a family physician in St. Paul, Minn., and author of The Right Road: Life Choices for Clergy (Fortress Press, 2004), will shape our discussion on physical health. Tammy Devine, diaconal minister, registered nurse, and wellness coordinator for the ELCA Board of Pensions in Minneapolis, will help us see how living well is about a balanced life in Christ, body, mind, and spirit.

More than 260 women and a few men raised more than $28,000 by collecting pledges and participating in the first 4K Run, Walk ‘n’ Roll at the Women of the ELCA Sixth Triennial Gathering last summer. What a great beginning! Will you join us?

Send your offering to Women of the ELCA, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago IL 60631. Write “Women of the ELCA Health Initiative” on the memo line. You also can order t-shirts, $20 per shirt (indicate size: S, M, L, XL, or XXL), from the address above. Be sure to include your full mailing address and daytime phone number.

Valora K Starr is an associate for programs, Women of the ELCA.

Reprinted with permission from Interchange, a publication of the Women of the ELCA.

How to use this information

• Share this information with all the women and girls in your congregation.

• Contribute to the health initiative to support women challenged by heart disease and stroke.

• Purchase “Put Your Heart into Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls” t-shirts for yourself and the women and girls in your life.

• Make plans for hosting a dialogue using the new resource, Our Journey to Wellness: How to Talk about Health, coming in this year's spring packet. Invite all women and girls in your congregation.