By Cheryl Magness
Standing before the nearly 4,000 participants of the 2025 Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) convention in Omaha, Neb., Chelsea Irwin, a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) missionary, related memories of growing up in Nebraska and seeing women in her family and local congregation involved in the LWML. Irwin (whose first name is pronounced “Chel-see-uh”) said she knew from early on that she wanted to be one of the “purple people.” Relating how she purchased four purple dresses for the convention — “one for every day!” — she said, “I think I’m in,” to appreciative laughs and applause.
Irwin appeared at the convention as a “Mites in Action” speaker — someone who, as a recipient of LWML support, shares how that support has had an impact. (Read more at lwml.org/mites.) Irwin reported on her service, based in the Czech Republic, in the LCMS Eurasia region, where she has served for five years, working with volunteers and youth and teaching preschool and English classes. She thanked the assembly for its support and “so much more.”
“You have shaped the importance of mission for me,” Irwin continued, crediting the LWML in large part for leading her to become a missionary.
‘Growing in God’s Grace’
The 41st Biennial LWML Convention was held in Omaha June 26–29 under the theme “Growing in God’s Grace,” based on 2 Peter 3:18. For the 2025–2027 biennium, convention delegates adopted a record $2,622,270 mission grant goal, which will, over the next two years, fund the 33 mission grants selected by the convention. (Those grants include four awarded to ministries based at the LCMS International Center: Set Apart to Serve, the Synod’s prison ministry, LCMS Disaster Response and LCMS International Mission.)
In addition, delegates took part in multiple opportunities for worship and Bible study, carried out service projects across the Omaha metropolitan area, and conducted convention business, including electing the following officers, who will serve for the next two biennia (current LWML President Eden Keefe, elected in 2023, has two more years left in her term):
- Sharon “Shari” Miller, Helena, Mont., vice-president of Christian Life;
- Linda Guteres, Medford, N.Y., vice-president of Communication;
- Anne Hartman, Eau Claire, Wis., vice-president of Gospel Outreach;
- Dianna Just, Vinita, Okla., recording secretary; and
- Rev. Michael Schmidt, Manhattan, Kan., junior pastoral counselor.
Speaking to the delegates on Sunday, June 29, LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison told a story that humorously but effectively summarized the LWML’s enduring impact. On a recent road trip with his wife, Kathy, he stayed at the pump to get gas while Kathy went into the station. When Kathy returned to the car after being gone for quite some time, Harrison asked her what took so long. It turned out that one of the gas station employees was an old boyfriend, and they had spent some time catching up. “Really?” Harrison said. “Your old boyfriend is a gas station attendant? I bet I know what you’re thinking.”
“Yeah,” replied Kathy. “If I had married him, he’d be president of the Missouri Synod.”
As laughter broke out across the convention hall, Harrison said, “That, my dear ladies, is what you do for the LCMS. … Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
‘How will you wait?’
Christina Hergenrader, a pastor’s wife and Concordia Publishing House author who lives in Texas, provided the convention Bible study on Friday and Saturday, June 27–28. Focusing on the convention theme, Hergenrader emphasized the apostle Peter’s instruction to wait, even as she noted, through a series of examples, that he was not very good at it. She catalogued the various ways God’s people are called to wait, both in their daily lives and for Christ’s return, and asked the assembly, “How will you wait?”
Observing that “Peter would have known the psalms,” Hergenrader drew the assembly’s attention to Psalm 40 (“I waited patiently for the Lord”), particularly verses 1–3.
“This is how we wait,” Hergenrader said. “With expectancy, not despair. … Worship while you wait. … Let God steady your steps. … Remember what God has done.” She encouraged patience in waiting on the Lord’s timing, recalling that He “is patient toward you” (2 Peter 3:9) and returning listeners to the convention theme.
“Waiting is part of the unfolding of God’s divine timeline. … While you’re waiting, grow in grace and knowledge of your Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Passing the purple baton
A key component of every LWML convention since 1973 has been the presence of Young Woman Representatives, or YWRs: women in their 20s and 30s who are invited to attend the convention free of cost and learn about the LWML as part of that attendance. The goal is to pass the LWML baton to the next generation, sowing seeds that will ensure the organization’s mission continues for years to come.
Judging by the number of YWRs at this year’s convention (79, four more than there were in 2023), the strategy is working. On June 28, the convention’s third day, LWML President Eden Keefe invited the YWRs to the stage to be recognized. As they filed on to the sustained applause and cheers of the assembly, Keefe asked them to create a second and then a third row. By the time they were all onstage, the convention was on its feet.
“My daughter said, ‘You’re going to have to get a bigger stage!’” Keefe laughed. “Wouldn’t that be a lovely problem to have? We ask God’s blessing on each of you and your time here.” As the YWRs left the stage, Keefe spoke of spending time with them the previous evening.
“These women have a wonderful sense of who they are,” she said, “and what they would like to be … as ‘Lutheran Women in Mission.’ They asked me amazing … questions. … I want you to know that the future [of the LWML] … is in good hands.”
Sophia Hynes, a member of Hope Lutheran Church in Idaho Falls, Idaho, attended the convention for the first time this year as a YWR. Although she has participated in a few local LWML events, she admits she finds it difficult, as a young, married professional who commutes an hour to and from work each day, to make time to get more involved. But she sees her time as a YWR as a way to learn and create connections for the future. She has also been asked to serve on the LWML Utah-Idaho District’s grant committee for the 2026 convention. “That’s going to be really interesting, to see what that process looks like,” she said.
Arianna Keyser, a YWR from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ogden, Utah, remembers her grandmothers being involved in the LWML when she was young. When her congregation put out a call for YWRs, she quickly decided to apply. She said the convention has given her a greater appreciation for the wide range of projects the LWML supports, from international to national to local, noting that the biennial national mission goal is only a fraction of the total funds raised, with additional grants going to district and local efforts. She also appreciated the convention’s lighthearted moments, one of which is the always anticipated “Humorous Interrupters.”
“We’re doing work,” Keyser said. “We’re learning things. But we’re also having fun.”
Sarah Graham, a YWR and member of Grace Lutheran Church, Summerville, S.C., said that a high point for her was “getting to meet all the other YWRs and … hear about all the different ways their zones and districts [are] connecting with each other as well as brainstorming ideas for navigating issues and bridging gaps.” It was also “amazing” to meet “so many women who were so willing to share their stories and who are so active in their zones to spread the Gospel and meet spiritual and physical needs.”
‘Clear vision’ for mission
Every LWML convention welcomes not only national but international participants, from LCMS missionaries serving around the world to international sister organizations to special guests. Among those special guests this year was a delegation from Lutheran Mission – Australia (LM–A), an emerging confessional Lutheran church body. On Saturday morning, June 28, President Keefe recognized Kingsley and Helen Vonow, part of a team working to plant an LM–A congregation in Adelaide Hills, Australia. Keefe also read greetings from LM–A President Rev. Dr. Matt Anker.
Helen Vonow, a retired Lutheran teacher with experience working with nonprofits, said Anker asked her and her husband to attend the convention specifically to learn more about the LWML, with an eye toward developing a similar organization in the LM–A. Vonow said she left the convention with multiple takeaways, noting in particular the focus on faithful, doctrinally sound Bible study; an “outward-looking mission lens”; and a well-organized administrative structure that facilitates the LWML’s work.
But “above all,” Vonow said, was “the overarching message … about sharing the Good News of Jesus and … being Jesus’ hands and feet to people in small and large ways across the world. All decisions [of the LWML] … come back to this clear vision.”
Key to that vision, Vonow continued, “are the individual women, at the grass roots, who come with their humble skills, talents and coins, to make a difference for the kingdom. Without the heartbeat of these beautiful women in the church, none of this … is possible.”
Final thoughts
On Friday, June 27, convention attendees had the opportunity to sign up for one of several “Mission Impact Luncheons” featuring speakers from various LCMS organizations. There was also a luncheon option with no speaker, billed simply as a chance to meet up with old friends or make new ones.
Sitting at a table with eight or nine of the latter, this writer enjoyed a snapshot of the energy, wit, wisdom, diversity, joy and dedication that makes the LWML tick. There was lively discussion of current events and politics (and a wide range of opinions on both), fond memories of past LWML conventions and presidents, thoughtful analysis of this year’s mission grant proposals, an in-depth rundown of how banner-making has changed and a lighthearted round of what some people call “Lutheran bingo” — connecting the dots of who is related to whom and how various paths have intersected at LCMS churches, schools and universities.
But one moment, beyond all the rest, crystallized for this second-time convention attendee what the LWML is, at root, all about. As a convention center employee cleared tables and gathered trash, an LWML member gently stopped her, placed a hand on the employee’s arm, looked into her eyes, smiled and said, “You’re doing a great job. Thank you.”
A small word, a passing kindness, a box of coins for the Lord’s work. The convention is over for another two years, but countless acts of sacrifice and love just like these will continue apace until the next international gathering of these very special “purple people.”
The next LWML convention will take place July 8–11, 2027, in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Learn more at lwml.org.
Posted July 31, 2025
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