I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along th' unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till ringing, singing on its way

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1863

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned these words during the Civil War. It was a time of trial

for him personally and for our country. Then, as now, these words are a voice of promise and

hope for peace in our world.

May God’s guidance and grace be with us as we search for His peace during this Advent

season. May we experience and share God’s unending grace and love. Walk in the light of

Jesus’ presence and give thanks in all things.

Wishing you a New Year filled with love and hope. Continue to seek the peace.

The Southwestern Texas Synodical Board

Dinah, Lorie, Barbie, Judy

Elva, Ella, Becky, Peggy, Lynna, Cindy, Annabel, Charlene and Leslie

The Advent road to Bethlehem is paved with promise and hope ….(Douglas E. Wagner)

Reflections and Expectations

December 4 2nd Sunday in Advent

December 25 The Birth of Our Savior

January 1 A New Year Begins

The above verse is from a song we sing as we begin our Advent season. It is hard to believe

that my first year as President is over and year two has begun. This past year has been filled

with new experiences and challenges and a lot of growth in my knowledge of Women of the

ELCA! I have enjoyed meeting and spending time with you all at Conference Events and at

Convention. Your continued support and willingness to help has made my work much easier.

Our November Board Retreat was the weekend of 11-13 November at Ebert Ranch. One of the

issues discussed was the rotation schedule for conventions. Currently we have a 6 year cycle as

4 of our Conferences jointly host a Convention. This results in the other Conferences coming

up more frequently on the cycle. The decision was made to having each Conference host a

convention with a rotating 8 year schedule. Those Conferences that have jointly conducted

Conventions may continue to work together to put on the Convention but they will do it more

frequently. This “new” schedule will begin with the 2018 Convention in Rio Grande. More

information and discussion is planned when we are at your Conference Events.

The second area that we worked on was putting our purpose statement into action. Many

Synods have a project that they work on over a number of years that is in keeping with our

missions locally and guidance from Churchwide. For example, one Synod supports a hospital

in Liberia. We have been supporting HEART for the last 3 years. Other synods have

developed programs around human trafficking or refugee resettlement. Please speak with your

board members if you have an idea for a project. These may be global, local or combination. I

am looking forward to hearing what you all think.

We also did the usual work of discussing budget, assignments for the year, and Convention

planning for 2017. All in all, it was a very productive weekend with hard work, worship,

fellowship, and of course, food.

Looking forward-

For those of you thinking about attending the Triennial Gathering, 6 January is the cut off for

the early registration rate of $310.00. The cost will be $350.00 after that date. Lorie Garcia,

our Vice President, is trying to set up a mail group of all who are attending the Gathering to

help with finding roommates, answering questions, sharing information, etc. Keep us in the

loop if you are attending as we want to have opportunities to get together as a Synod group.

Our first Conference event is scheduled for 11 February, at Grace, Harlingen. The following

weekend I will be going to the Council of Presidents in Chicago. March and April will be busy

months for Conferences and the Ingathering for Lutheran World Relief, Texas Lutheran

University, and Seguin, Texas.

Continue to keep Rebecca Bernhard in your prayers as she continues to heal from her stroke.

Keep our Synod Board members and Conference Coordinators in your prayers also. Prayers for

guidance and wisdom are always welcome. If there are others that are undergoing health or

other trials, let me know so that we can add them to our prayers also.

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will

for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1Thessalonians 5:16-18, NLT)

Your sister in Christ

Dinah

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A GRAVE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS By Lynna Kraus

Human trafficking is something most people know little about, and perhaps have never even thought much about. However it is a “serious crime and a grave violation of human rights,” according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This agency assists countries throughout the world in efforts to implement the UN”s trafficking in Persons Protocol. The Protocol defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, harboring of receipt of persons, by means of abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control of another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of others or other forms of exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs.” What a mouthful! But basically it boils down to the buying and selling of human beings. Every year thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Almost every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims. We often think about trafficking for the sex trade, but as the above definition points out, people are bought and sold for many reasons, the bottom line being for monetary profit. I would like to focus on one area in which the ELCA is working against human trafficking: the sexual exploitation of children. Around the world children from infants to teenagers are being sold for sex. Often these young people are viewed as prostitutes and therefore criminals when they are really victims of the crime of human trafficking. So what can we as Women of the ELCA do about this? A social ministry organization affiliated with the ELCA is Cherish All Children. Its mission statement states that it is an ELCA ministry that equips congregations to prevent child sexual exploitation. Its vision is that congregations will be preventive champions so all children may be cherished, not exploited. The organization seeks to accomplish this vision by encouraging congregations to pray, educate themselves about the problem, connect with others and act in ways to make their own environment safe for all children. Diaconal Minister Amy Hartman is director of Cherish All Children. For more information and to discover what you can do, visit www.cherishallchildren.org.

Bold Women Needed …. Like You!

By Lori Garcia

Similar to your local units, our synodical women’s organization is run by talented women who

volunteer their time to do God’s work through Women of the ELCA. For 2017 we will need

nominees for Alamo, Capital North, Cibolo Creek. Hill Country and a member at large board

member. Nominating committee members for 2018 will be needed from Bluebonnet, Capital

South, Gulf Coast, and Rio Grande Conferences.

Your nominating committee for this year is listed below. If you are interested in serving or have

a suggestion for a nominee, please reach out to any one of them.

Alamo Conference Karen Stein klstein@stx.rr.com (210) 698 - 8159 Cibolo Creek Conference Charlene Spillman (Chair) charspill@cs.com (512) 963 - 5285

Consider prayerfully, are you ready to be a Bold Woman?

2016 Convention Financial Report

Judy Monger, Treasurer

The Unit Offering of $3,450.00 was taken on Friday evening. The Personal Offering of

$2.046.00 was taken Sunday morning. The combined total was $5,496.00 and was split

between Southwestern Texas Women of the ELCA Synod, Church-wide Women of the

ELCA and Sunshine Cottage for Deaf Children.

The Silent Auction proceeds totaled $1911 and that was split between Costa Rican Lutheran Church (ILCO) and

Seek the Peace.

The 500 Reformation Challenge for matching funds of $250 was meet with $359.45 therefore a check was sent

to Women of the ELCA in Chicago for $609.45.

Capital North Conference Patty Gweiwe Peppermintpatty11@live.com (979) 533-1060 Hill Country Conference Gloria Bierman kermitbierman@beecreek.com (830) 995 - 3833

SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS SWO UNIT OFFICERS AND/OR UNIT CONTACT INFORMATION

FOR Congregational units:

Unit Program Year (check one) ___ September 1 -- August 31 _____January 1 --December 31

NAME OF CONGREGATION__________________________Conference__________________________

Mailing Address____________________ City/State/Zip Code ___________________________________

Unit President/Coordinator________________________________________________________

Mailing Address ___________________________City/State/Zipode______________________________

Phone number____________________ Email________________________________________

Vice President_____________________________________________________

Mailing Address: ______________________City/State/ZipCode____________________________

Phone Number__________________ Email_____________________________________

Secretary_________________________________________________________

Mailing Address: __________________________________City/State/Zip Code___________________

Phone Number___________________ Email_________________________________________

Treasurer______________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address___________________________ City/State/Zip Code____________________________

Phone Number______________ Email_________________________________________________

List any additional members of your unit board on a separate sheet of paper.

If you have no organized unit, please provide the name, address and phone/email of a Contact Person so that

information can be mailed to your congregation.

Contact Person________________________________________________ Mailing

Address________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip

Code_____________________________________________________________________ Phone

Number________________________ Email____________________________________________

Please mail this report to: Barbie Johnson 200 Rain Creek Drive Hutto, Texas 78634.

2016-2017 Calendar of Events

February 11, 2017 Rio Grande Conference, Grace Lutheran, Harlingen, TX

February 17-19, 2017 Council of Presidents, Chicago, IL March 4, 2017 Capital North/Capital South Conference,

Georgetown March 11, 2017 Hill Country Conference, Zion, Fredericksburg March 25, 2017 Blue Bonnet Conference, First Lutheran,

Gonzales March 25, 2017 Gulf Coast Conference, Good Shepherd, Kenedy April 1, 2017 Alamo/Cibolo Creek, Amazing Grace, San

Antonio April 19 2107 Lutheran World Relief Ingathering Texas Lutheran University, Seguin 5-7 May 2017 Synod Assembly, Omni Hotel, San Antonio, TX May-June Board meeting, YO Ranch Hotel, Kerrville TX 13-16 July 2017 Tenth Triennial Women of the ELCA Convention

& Gathering, Minneapolis, MN 29 Sept-1 Oct 2017 30th Annual Convention, Southwestern Texas

SWO, Kerrville, TX

Southwestern Texas SWO Directory of Board Members, 2016-2017

Dinah Halopka-Ryson, President 2217 Crary Meadow Schertz, TX 78154 Cell Phone (210) 241-2580 E-mail: halodl@aol.com Lorie Garcia, Vice President 1502 18th St. Corpus Christie, TX 78404 Cell Phone (361)876-6569 E-mail: loriegarcia@iheartmedia.com Elizabeth (Barbie) Johnson, Secretary 200 Rain Creek Dr. Hutto, TX 78634 Cell Phone (512) 947-5618 E-mail: Barbie_Johnson@outlook.com Judy Monger, Treasurer 13200 IXL Dr. San Antonio, TX 78253 Cell Phone (210) 326-1067 E-mail: j.monger@hotmail.com Elva V. Cope, Board Member Alamo Conference 4107 Dunn Oak Drive San Antonio, TX 78223 Cell Phone (210) 912-5175 E-mail: ecope1@satx.rr.com Ella Goeble, Board Member Bluebonnet Conference 686 Wolf Hartman Road Cuero, TX 77954 Cell Phone (361)275-5456 E-mail: egoebel@hughes.net Becky Bernhard, Board Member Capital North Conference 101 Link St. Elgin, TX 78621 Cell Phone (512) 818-1022 E-mail: 63horn@gmail.com

Peggy Horton, Board Member Capital South Conference 11106 Wandering Way. Austin, TX 78754 Cell Phone (512)825-6732 E-mail: hortonhouse3@att.net Lynna Kraus, Board Member Cibolo Creek Conference 196 Middletowne Seguin, TX 78155 Home Phone (830) 379-4603 Cell phone (830-305-1765 E-mail: kraushl@att.net Cindy Hilliard, Board Member Gulf Coast Conference 502 E. Randall Beeville, TX 78102 Cell Phone (361)319-9472 E-mail: cindy.hilliard1958@gmail.com Annabel Wilkinson, Board Member Hill Country Conference 525 Cherry Hollow Dr. Fredericksburg, TX 78624 Cell Phone (830) 997-8226 E-mail: awilkinson@beecreek.net Charlene Albertson, Board Member Rio Grande Conference 16336 FM 498 Lyford, TX 78569 Cell Phone (956)4720123 E-mail: charlene>albertson@yahoo.com Leslie Ahrens, Board Member At Large 591 Glen Oaks Lane Cuero, TX 77954 Cell Phone (361)564-8595 E-mail: texasgirl.ahrens@gmail.com Pastor Barbara Beale ELCA Synod Liaison 514 Zion Cemetery Rd. Cuero, TX 77954 Cell Phone (361) 275-8775 E-mail: bb3750@aol.com

Southwestern Texas SWO 2016-2017 Conference Coordinators

Alamo Conference Randa Bruce Gonzales 725 Oak Village Dr San Antonio, TX 78253 Phone: 210-392-6233 brugondc@yahoo.com Bluebonnet Conference Barbara Hand 6821 S. US HWY183 Gonzales, TX 78629 Phone: 830-857-3445 barbara60h@gmail.com Capital North Conference Martha Bridges PO Box 1150 Elgin, TX 78621 Phone: 512-535-8770 martha_bridges_99@yahoo.com Capital South Conference Christine Bohls 1501 Spring Peony Court Plugerville, TX 78660 Phone: 512-773-6916 csbohls@gmail.com Cibolo Creek Conference Debbie Mattke 286 Vernell Lane Marion, TX 78124 Phone: 830-914-2149 dmattke@tlu.edu

Gulf Coast Conference Julie Schievelbein 707 Alta Vista St Kenedy, TX 78119 Phone: 830-583-2628 sewcraftytx@gmail.com Hill Country Conference Dorcella Sunday 118 Winding Oak Dr Fredericksburg, TX 78624 Phone: 830-997-7937 sundaydorcella@yahoo.com Rio Grande Conference Flora Gunderson 33840 S. Garcia #385 Port Isabell, TX 78578 Phone: 956-647-5130 gunderga@juno.com