LWML South Wisconsin District Convention
Attendees, loved and served by Christ, will be empowered by the Spirit to grow in their faith so that they can love and serve.
Michigan District LWML Convention 2024
Abiding in the safety of His refuge, attendees will be:
-Equipped to know that the steadfast love and faithfulness of the Lord is to all generations.
-Equipped to model to others that taking refuge in Christ satisfies more than any food or drink.
-Equipped to make relying on the Lord a habit.
-Equipped with confidence to share the Good News so others may taste and see the Lord is good.
Inspired to Thrive - Lutheran Vitality
Join our partner in ministry, Siebert Lutheran Foundation, for an annual FREE day conference.
“We look forward to gathering with Lutheran pastors and lay leaders, ministry and youth leaders, volunteers, and people representing Lutheran-affiliated nonprofits and schools. Registration will closes April 30th!”
Ignite and Inspire Leadership Conference
The first annual IILC was developed in partnership with executives and tailored for experienced and aspiring leaders wishing to build impact and brand. We invite anyone who values sharing best practices, networking, and growth, across all industries and levels of experience.
Conference Theme:
Human-centered leadership in the age of AI: You’ve heard about ChatGPT and the massive industry changes expected due to AI. How do you keep the personal connection? How will you leverage technology and human potential to fulfill your organization’s mission? These questions inspired this year’s conference theme to help you navigate these new leadership challenges. The conference aims to ignite the conversation through a community of leaders and inspire forward thinking. This is your opportunity to network, learn, and engage.
Website: https://learn.cuw.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=17198928
NWD Pastors' Wives Retreat
Hosted at Camp Luther. WLI Director, Darcy Paape, will be the event speaker. More information to come.
EmpowHer - intergenerational brunch
We would like to invite you to an Intergenerational Ladies Brunch for women of the congregation and school (8th grade and up) and young women from Concordia University Wisconsin to join together for Food, Conversation, Craft, and Devotion. This event will be co-led by the CUW Young Women’s Ministry (L.I.G.H.T.) and Women’s Leadership Institute’s (WLI) mentoring arm, EmpowHer. The purpose is to foster intergenerational connections with area women. So, feel free to invite friends from the community.
Opportunity to Donate: Homemade Food just makes a brunch even better. If you are willing to donate an egg bake, quiche, food tray, or baked goods for the event, please indicate that on the signup form and share the quantity. Please also indicate if it has any allergens (nut, dairy, wheat, especially). Thank you!
Questions: Please email Darcy Paape at dpaape@fils.org.
To Sign Up: Use this link
EmpowHer - panel on vocation
Hosted on campus at CUW, an panel on vocation. More information to come.
Best Practices in Ministry - Phoenix
WLI is excited for Best Practices! Come visit us at our exhibit table. WLI will be hosting a listening session on what support and encouragement women need in ministry and leadership. We hope to see you there for a dynamic sharing of ideas!
https://cclphoenix.org/bpm/
Growing Together Mentoring Workshop
On the Campus of Concordia Ann Arbor, open to all.
Registration by February 11 for guaranteed light dinner.
LWML-SWD Winter Getaway
Retreat Speaker: Darcy Paape Darcy comes to the Winter Getaway as an author and executive director of the Women’s Institute at Concordia Wisconsin. She has 20 years of experience working with young adults in high school, church ministry, and university settings. Darcy has directed the Women’s Leadership Institute and worked to create programs and host conferences and workshops for Christian women in leadership.
She will be presenting her mentorship workshop entitled “Growing Together” at our retreat. A tireless advocate for mentoring in church and ministry settings, she has published a book on the subject, titled Someone to Walk With: A Woman’s Guide to Christian Mentoring. She will show us how to mentor with today’s needs in mind at our retreat.
Registration: https://lwml-swd.org/events/retreat
CUAA student scholarship award - chapel livestream
The 2023 WLI student scholarship winner and honorable mentions will be recognized at chapel.
Livestream link: https://www.cuaa.edu/stream/index.html
CUW student scholarship award - chapel livestream
The 2023 WLI student scholarship winner and honorable mentions will be recognized at chapel.
Livestream link: https://www.cuw.edu/stream/index.html?id=CUWChapel
Women of Influence Award Banquet
Join WLI in celebrating the 3rd Annual Woman of Influence community award and honoring our 2023 student leadership scholarship winners!
https://cuw.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/233
Inspired to Thrive
A free day conference located in Brookfield, WI. Darcy Paape, WLI’s director, will be presenting on Mentorship during a breakout session. We hope to see you there!
We look forward to gathering with Lutheran pastors and lay leaders, ministry and youth leaders, volunteers, and people representing Lutheran-affiliated nonprofits and schools. Registration is required for this complimentary conference.
https://www.siebertfoundation.org/2023-inspiredtothrive
Best Practices for Ministry (WLI Will Exhibit)
WLI will be featured as an exhitibor at this conference, if you are planning on attending please stop by to say “Hi” and grab some WLI swag. We hope to see you there!
What is Best Practices for Ministry: Heartland? With the goal of helping other congregations most effectively use their God-given gifts, Christ Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Arizona, started the Best Practices for Ministry Conference. Since it began, the conference has been presented free of charge to all who attend. Participants are greeted with warm hospitality, great speakers, and practical workshops. The Conference has grown greatly since its start, and expanded to the Midwest in 2015, when Carmel Lutheran (now Cornerstone Lutheran) brought it to Indiana to make it more easily accessible to congregations “in the Heartland”. Since that time, Best Practices for Ministry: Heartland has also been hosted at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Columbus, Indiana, and St. Lorenz Lutheran Church in Frankenmuth, Michigan. This year, it’s back at Cornerstone!
Registration opens May 15, but for now, MARK YOUR CALENDARS and plan to join us for Best Practices for Ministry: Heartland!
Growing Together at ULC
The Women’s Leadership Institute will lead a more extensive Growing Together Workshop with the mentoring team at University Lutheran Chapel in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Spill the Tea! (CUW college women only)
EmpowHER is a women’s ministry centered on encouraging and uplifting women through one-on-one mentoring relationships built on Christ.
Join us for a cuppa tea to hear about WLI’s intergenerational mentoring ministry called EmpowHER. Find out about the application and pairing process and all the exciting things we have planned for this fall! Please note that we pair women in faith-centered relationships that cover a broad number of topics.
We would love for you to join the EmpowHER fam! You can find more information coming soon, including applications for both mentees and mentors at wlicuw.org/empowHER
Woman of Influence - Nominations DUE!
WLI is accepting nominations for the annual Woman of Influence award! Forms are located on our website under the “awards” tab, and due by June 30th. We look forward to celebrating the many women of influence that surround us.
https://www.wlicuw.org/woman-of-influence-award
LWML Convention (WLI Will Exhibit)
The Women’s Leadership Institute will be exhibiting at the LWML National Convention held in Milwaukee, WI this summer. If you are attending, please drop by and say hello!
Listening in a World of Shouting-St. John’s-West Bend, WI
“For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears, they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed,” Isaiah 6:10; Acts 28: 27
“Listening is about the experience of being experienced. It’s when someone takes an interest in who you are and what you are doing,” Kate Murphy, You’re Not Listening.
Have you ever experienced a disconnect in your relationships with a spouse, children, friends, or coworkers? Do you feel like your voice isn’t heard or like no one is listening? Do you yourself struggle to listen—really listen—to the people in your life? Perhaps you find it difficult to slow down enough in this busy life to hear and take in the conversations happening around you?
Listening is that moment when another person stops all else to focus on and understand your story. They not only hear it, but live it alongside you for a while. What a treasure to have a spouse, child, friend, pastor, youth leader, or parent who takes the time to listen for understanding, not only to speak and give a response! The truth is, we all have room for improvement in the art of listening. Listening produces fruit in powerful ways because it helps us pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s work and prompting in our life and the lives of others. It alerts us to Heavenly activity.
So many people long to just be heard, but how can we be heard in a world that's always shouting? Where do we anchor in to find the godly wisdom we need to give to those who ask for our help? This is a key component of being "Better Together" and walking with one another through life.
As a part of last year’s women’s retreat, “Courageous Relationships,” we briefly talked about the art of active listening. Many women went into the activity thinking they knew how to listen and walked away convicted. “Listening is hard!” “I thought I was a good listener, but it turns out I’m terrible at it!” We discovered that it is so hard to listen for the sake of listening and not just to give a response to someone.
We realized that an hour on a retreat was not long enough to cover all the ins and outs of listening to one another as we walk together. We also wanted more women to have the opportunity to learn and grow in this area of their lives, both through instruction and through some hands-on exercises.
Women’s Ministry started working with Darcy Paape, director of the Women’s Leadership Institute, shortly after the retreat to make plans to bring her in for a one-day workshop or mini-retreat to give us time to dive deeper into this important skill.
Darcy will be with us on Saturday, May 6th from 9am to 2pm in the Lower Level. This workshop will focus on good listening strategies and the triggers that stop our ears from the helpful feedback we might receive as we listen in our families, congregations, and workplaces. If time allows, the session will also introduce participants to praying scripture as a way to open one’s heart to listening to God’s Word.
This is a free event! Lunch and all materials will be provided for you (please make your lunch selections in the form below!)
If you are attending with a friend, please fill out a separate form for them.
Note: when filling out the form, if you do not have an email address to use, please use rmorton@stjohnswestbend.org.
PLEASE RSVP FOR THIS EVENT BY WEDNESDAY, MAY 3rd. This will allow us enough time to place our lunch orders.
If you have any questions, please reach out directly to Rachel Morton at rmorton@stjohnswestbend.org or 262-334-4901 ext 327.
WLI Spring Board Meeting
The Women’s Leadership Institute Spring Board Meeting will take place at the St. Louis Seminary in St. Louis, MO. We are grateful to our dedicated and enthusiastic board for making the journey and continuing to discuss WLI’s strategic plan.
Growing Together Workshop
Growing Together
Date: Saturday, April 22nd 8:30am-12 Noon
Location: Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO Sieck 201
Presenters: Darcy Paape, DCE, MS & Jessica Bordeleau, MAR
8:30 am Coffee and Introductions
9:00 am Defining Mentoring in Ministry
9:15 am Reflective Listening and Critical Thinking
11:00 am Cultivating Organic Mentoring
Someone to Walk With
Women’s Retreat-Grace Lutheran Camp in DeWitt, IA
Director, Darcy Paape, will be speaking from her book, Someone to Walk With: A Woman’s Guide to Christian Mentoring. She will also present content from the WLI: Growing Together Mentoring Program.
Go Leadership Retreat
Growing Together: Fostering Fruitful Conversations
This year's GO Retreat will help participants learn important communication and mentoring skills that will enhance their service as spiritual leaders who bear witness to Jesus Christ.