Courtesy photo Attendees at the 2017 Annual Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) Convention include, front row, left to right, Marvela Herbst, Gail Maxwell, Pat Klenow; back row, left to right, Jane Landwehr, Lorraine Kerr, Joyce Czerwan, and Marie Anderson. Congregations represented are Mt. Olive Lutheran, Iron Mountain; Trinity Lutheran, Coleman; and Grace Lutheran Church, Powers.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Seven Northern Michigan and Wisconsin women recently attended the 54th Annual Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) Convention in Orlando, Fla. Marie Anderson, Carney; Marvela Herbst, Bark River; Pat Klenow, Jayne Czerwan, and Jane Landwehr, Iron Mountain; Gail Maxwell, Powers; and Lorraine Kerr, Coleman, Wis., were in attendance.

Members from over 850 Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) congregations meet annually for mission support, spiritual renewal, motivation, and fellowship.

The convention’s theme, “Around the World of Missions,” provided opportunities to meet and talk with missionaries, to view and purchase mission crafts, to enjoy a banquet followed by entertainment. Highlights of the convention included the presentation of over $116,000 for WELS Home and World mission projects, a workshop on getting involded with the Kids CARE project, and an opportunity to hear the latest home and world mission developments from WELS Boards for Home and World Administrators Rev. Keith Free and Rev. Larry Schlomer.

The purpose of the LWMS is to increase interest in and to support mission endeavors of WELS through prayers, offerings and project support.

The 2018 convention will be held in at the KI Convention Center, Hyatt Regency Hotel in Green Bay, Wis., on June 21-24. The theme is “Speak, O Lord, from the Valley to the World.”