Women of the ELCA
If you are a woman and a member of Brandon Lutheran church you are a member of WELCA too! Contact the office to get a WELCA Handbook for more specific information on our many ministry activities.
On Saturday, June 13, the Women of the ELCA held a gathering at the Graff Cabin at Pioneer Park for coffee/treats, introductions, and took a tour of the Graff Cabin. Howard Brown (top middle) was their speaker and guide. They then headed over to the Brandon Area Museum to explore more about their history.
2026 Officers:
President - Cheryl Lundeen
Vice President – Carol Smith
Secretary – Mary Entinger
Treasurer – Laurie Johnson
Director of Justice – Barb Sperlich
Director of Discipleship – Marilyn Abraham
Director of Stewardship – Deb Klein and Diane Laycock
Work Groups
All the women of the church are divided up into 3 Work Units. These units are called upon occasionally to help provide food and workers for funerals or other special occasions. You may only get called once or twice a year – depending on the need. This way all women have a chance to serve and the more active circle members don’t get overloaded with the work load.
Upcoming Highlights for WELCA
LWR School Kits
Beginning in May, our WELCA group will be collecting items for our School Kits for Lutheran World Relief (LWR). In the fall, we will have some of our youth put our kits together, and these kits will be sent to Minneapolis for LWR.
These summer months are the best times to purchase many of these items on sale! Please see the lists posted to know what items we can use. We have bags, but need unsharpened pencils, 16 or 24 pack of crayons, pens, rulers, pencil sharpeners, 2 ½ inch eraser2, 70 sheet notebooks, and blunt tip scissors. Bring your items to the drop off table in the Narthex of BLC.
Together, we can make life a little easier for many children and their families who are in need. Let’s see how many kits we can create this year!
Thanking Our Veterans
With the 250th celebration of the USA being held this year, we also want to say “Thank You” to our veterans here at Brandon Lutheran.
Several have been honored with a small token of recognition and the gift of a small wall or door hanger. To date we have recognized Don Aaker, Bob VanderLinde, Roy Beaird and Ray Ode.
If you are aware of others to be honored, please let a pastor, the office, or Cheryl Lundeen know!
2026 Upcoming Events:
July 6 - 10:30am Executive Board Meeting
July 6 - 1:00pm Freezer Ministry
July 13 - 9:30am Kitchen Clean Up
July 15/16 -Circles Meet
July 16-19 - Triennial Women of the ELCA Gathering in Des Moines, IA
July 27, 29 and August 3, 5 - Lefse Making
Fundraisers help support our Benevolent Budget. Some of the Groups/ Ministres WELCA support are:
Local- within our congregation
- Bible campers
- BLC Sunday School
- Vacation Bible School
- Noah’s Ark Preschool
- BLC Debt Retirement Fund
Community Giving - (Outside our congregation)
- Lutheran Social Services
- Church on the Street, SIoux Falls
- Bethany Meadows
- Noah's Ark Preschool Scholarships
- Lutheran World Relief
- Lutherans Outdoors in SD and Shetek Lutheran Ministry
- Student Ministry Programs at SDSU, USD, Augustana
- Family Connection
- St Dysmas Prison Ministry
- Brandon Valley Food Pantry