Sisters in Spirit: Faith, Fellowship, Service
Some of us who grew up in the Lutheran Church may remember our mothers or grandmothers being part of an LCW (Lutheran Church Women) circle. They met other women, served their church, made friends and had fun.
The days of such structured women’s organizations seem to be over. Filling that void at Our Savior is Sisters in Spirit, an informal group that grew out of the efforts of a few women around 15 years ago who wanted to connect with other women, be part of a supportive community in which to grow their faith, and serve God.
Flash forward to today, and you’ll find that Sisters in Spirit (SIS) is still going strong as a loosely structured group open to all LCOS women and their friends. Our emailing list reaches 60 women. We have no officers or organizational structure, just a core group of about 12 women who keep things moving. There are no requirements to be a member and no commitments to be on our email list.
SIS tries to offer a variety of activities and projects throughout the program year from September to May—devotional gatherings, collection drives for worthy causes, crafting for gifts to shut-ins, fellowship get-togethers and other offerings over the years. Some are old favorites, but we try continually to present a few new opportunities.
A popular SIS tradition is the Christmas ornament we make every fall that is offered to the Congregation at the holidays to raise donations for a worthy charity. At Easter we make sure that the church’s shut-ins and seniors who can’t make it to worship receive a handmade remembrance. Other projects and outings we’ve enjoyed over the past few years include potluck Sunday luncheons, adopting a military family through the USO at Christmas, making chocolate-covered pretzels for those in counseling sessions at My Father’s House, going out to Sunday lunch and a matinee of the local high school musical, and holding a faux baby shower with all the fun of a shower without actually having a specific mother-to-be in mind. Those gifts went to our sister congregation, Bridge of Peace Community Church in the Fairview section of Camden. We’ve collected Christmas stocking stuffers for the youth of Bridge of Peace, as well as food drives for that church’s food pantry, along with pet supplies and donations for the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees. And in between all this we’ve enjoyed lunch and dinner at varied area restaurants.