New Jersey         

New Jersey 
Women of the ELCA  

 33rd Annual Gathering

Internet Video interaction – ZOOM 

Saturday, September 25, 2021

(Annual Business Meeting - Friday, Sept. 24 @ 7pm)

“Love One Another” John 13:34 

To register & to receive the ZOOM Gathering link, send an email to njwelca@yahoo.org  

Friday Business Meeting - 7pm

Voting Members Needed!  Visitors Welcomed!

Would you like to be a “Voting Member” at the business portion of the Gathering to be held Friday September 24, 2021 @ 7 pm?  Please contact Joanne at joannewk@yahoo.com.

Saturday Gathering Schedule

9:30 – 10:00 AM

 Opening Hymn & Prayer – Deacon Jamie Dungel

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Where do you see Love in “Ephesians 4,  the WELCA

Purpose Statement & Mission Statement”

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Speaker – Pamela Gardner

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Snack & Open Forum Time

11:30 – 12:00 PM

Love Scavenger Hunt

12:00 – 12:30 PM

Church Wide Update

12:30 – 1:00 PM

Business meeting update

1:00 – 1:30 PM

House Blessing Workshop – Deacon Jamie Dungel

1:30 PM

Closing Prayer & Hymn – Deacon Jamie Dungel  

 Pamela E. Gardner - Speaker   

Pamela Eloise Gardner is a lifelong resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, and a graduate of Henry Snyder High School. She received her B.A., and M.A. Degrees from Jersey City State College, now known as New Jersey City University, where her major was Special Education. She also obtained her Learning Disabilities Teacher - Consultant Certification from the same University.   Ms. Gardner was formerly a Special Education Teacher, a Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant and a Child Study Team Facilitator for the Jersey City Public School District.  In November of 2011, Ms. Gardner was elected the Hudson County Register of Deeds and Mortgages.

A Life Member of the NAACP, Ms. Gardner served as First Vice President of the Jersey City Branch. She previously held the positions of Third Vice President, Advisor to the Youth Council, Chairperson of the Political Action and Membership Committees. She is the past Chairperson of the local unit of Women in NAACP (WIN) and the first New Jersey State Chairperson of Women in NAACP. She has been a member of the Executive Committee of the New Jersey State Conference of NAACP Branches and served as its Political Action Committee Chairperson. Ms. Gardner has coordinated regional and state conference workshops as well as Political Action Workshops on Police and Community Relations with special emphasis on Racial Profiling for the State Convention.  She also organized Voter Registration Drives, “Get out the Vote” activities and Candidates’ Forums.

Ms. Gardner is a Past President of the North Jersey Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She has served as a Commissioner of the Jersey City Incinerator Authority,  and as a member of the Community Advisory Committee to the Jersey City Medical Center after the closing of the Greenville Hospital.  Ms. Gardner was elected President of the New Jersey Association of Learning Consultants in 2012. She also served as a Commissioner of the Jersey City Housing Authority and as a Jersey City Community Service Block Grant  Advisory Board Member.

Pamela was a mentor for the Sandra and Glenn D. Cunningham Foundation, and a member of Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham’s Women Advisory Group (WAG). She was also a member of the Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey where she served on the Recorders’ Committee and was a member of the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers (IACREOT). She served as a member of the conference planning committee for Recorders.

Currently, Ms. Gardner is a trustee for the Hudson County Community College where she serves on the Personnel Committee and as Chairperson of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee.  In 2020, she  was elected a member of the Northeast Region Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Association of County College Trustees (ACCT).  

  Lois Bylund - Churchwide Representative 

Lois BylundExecutive Board MemberWomen of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Lois Bylund was elected to the executive board of Women of the ELCA in July 2017 for a second term. She serves on the constitution review committee and as convention coordinator.
Prior to her election to the churchwide executive board, Lois was president of the Northwestern Minnesota Synodical Women’s Organization (3D). She also served as an advisory member to the Northwestern Minnesota Synod and as a cluster coordinator.

A resident of Moorhead, Minn., Lois is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in that city. There she is an active member of her circle and served as unit president twice. Lois is currently serving as recording secretary of the Trinity Foundation Board at her church. She has also served on the church council and as a voting member of the synod assembly.

Lois has served on the planning committee and worked in the kitchen and dining room for the community Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Trinity Lutheran Church and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Moorhead. She has also delivered meals to families and shut-ins and served as a United Way representative. Lois is an active member of the Blue and Bold Toastmaster’s Club in Fargo, N.D.



Lois and her husband, Leon, have three children. She has worked for a hospital services company for many years and now serves as its operations coordinator.
Lois enjoys crafts, refinishing and refurbishing furniture. She hopes to learn to quilt when she retires. 

The Churchwide Executive Board, 2020-2023 triennium

A letter from Joy Michalicek, President, 2020-2023 triennium

Shalom!

Thank you for all you do for Women of the ELCA! Your time, talents and treasures are needed now more than ever, not only to WELCA, but also to the world. You make a huge difference in our churches and communities. Thank you again for all you do and continue to do!

...  (click here to download entire letter...)

'Just love' Triennial Gathering 2023 logo & theme remind us that we are all part of one body 

 Following Jesus is messy. Loving one another is justice. We are not perfect, we are often broken, sometimes we don’t fit. Sometimes our edges are rough—but we are one body in Christ.

Click here for more info about the Triennial Gathering!

Churchwide EXECUTIVE BOARD POSTPONES TRIENNIAL CONVENTION to 2021 and the Triennial GATHERING UNTIL 2023

“We are postponing not canceling,” said Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director of Women of the ELCA.

The Eleventh Triennial Convention scheduled for July 14-16, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona, is being rescheduled for August 3-5, 2021.  And the 2020 “Just Love” Gathering, scheduled for July 16-19, 2020, is being rescheduled for 2023.

“We hope that everyone who is currently registered will come next year,” Bushkofsky said. “And if they aren’t able to come, they could gift their registration to someone else.” Staff will be working out final arrangements with the Phoenix businesses and communicating directly with all who are voting members-elect for the convention and who have registered for the gathering.

ELEVENTH TRIENNIAL CONVENTION Postponing the convention means that the current executive board will serve another year until “replacements are elected and installed,” Bushkofsky said. Then, the board elected in 2021 will serve a two-year term. For the 2023 convention, “we would be back to our three-year cycle. That works best with the churchwide assembly, the youth gathering, and the rostered leaders’ event.” 

 

2019 NJWELCA Convention Photos 

Click here for more photos of that day....
 
Do you have photos of the 2019 Convention to share? 
Send us an email at njwelca@yahoo.com. 

Congratulations, Carol Ursilli! 

Trinity,Jersey City-Grace,Bayonne WELCA unit honored

Carol Ursilli with a Certificate of Appreciation.