ACTIONS MIGHTIER THAN BOASTINGS tells the story of the Lutheran Ladies Aid in rural Iowa-Minnesota, 1930-1959. "I don't think young women of the church today appreciate what hard work it was," says Gwen. "But we used to have so much fun! Hard work, that's how we made our fun." The Aid organized their congregation's social life, raised their monies, and carried out a ministry to the wider community. From fundraising to cooking to providing janitorial services-whatever work a congregation needed to accomplish-the Ladies Aid planned, ordered, and executed. In so doing they became repositories for the traditions of their Lutheran faith.
Every living Ladies Aid member knows two things: one, that her Ladies Aid-the Lutheran Aid predating the mega-mergers in the second half of the 20th Century-is directly responsible for today's Lutheran church; and two, that the way to preserve the church is to make sure today's generation knows the story.
