(l-r): Lynette Auch, outgoing President of Lutherans For Life, and Diane Albers, incoming President of Lutherans For Life, at the 2022 Lutherans For Life National Conference!
by Diane Albers
I am the new president of the national LFL board of directors! It has not sunk in yet! I’ve been involved with LFL for about 38 years. I began shortly after my youngest son was born and my daughter was 17 months old. I loved being a stay-at-home mom to three and the wife of a Lutheran high school math teacher, but I wanted more than that—and I wanted it to be meaningful and God-pleasing. That is when I saw a little article about LFL in the Missouri District Voice. Soon after that I went to a meeting to form a Life Chapter in South St. Louis and eventually became president. Life Chapter presidents were on the Missouri federation board, and soon I was put in charge of developing Life Chapters. Jeanne Mackay was the federation president at the time, and she was an excellent mentor for me. But soon she resigned and began her work in Kansas, and I became the Missouri federation president in 1994 and will continue until I resign on May 6, 2023!
So, you see I have a lot of history with LFL! In the beginning federation presidents were members of the national board, and because of that, I’ve been on the national board off and on since I began with LFL. Jean Garton was the first president of LFL, and I began my LFL journey with her. She was an amazing storyteller. I always remembered her story from each annual conference, but this one is my favorite: Jean was going to speak somewhere and there were a lot of vocal, angry protestors, so she had an escort to help her get through. But one protestor got close enough to wave a sign in her face and yell, “My body. My choice.” Jean just looked at her and replied, “You had a choice, and you chose that body?!”
The next president that I worked with was Linda Bartlett, and Linda was the writer. She wrote brochures, booklets, and programs. She was the voice of reason and a calm debater.
After that it was Diane Schroeder, and she made the board work! We were forever examining our LFL policy statements and our board policies. I don’t think I’ve ever taken so many psychological surveys, but it all worked! We have strong policies and have developed a strong, cohesive board.
When Diane retired, Lynette Auch, with whom I had served on the Council of Federation Presidents, took over. She became president when there was a lot going on: selling one property and buying another and remodeling it, choosing a new executive director, as well as other things. I will remember Lynette as always persevering through everything that was thrown at her but doing it prayerfully. She is an amazing prayer warrior. Her board meetings always ended with prayer for LFL and for each of us board members. And now Lynette has retired!
And who would have thought that I would end up being the new president of the board! The only way that could have happened was through the hand of God because I wasn’t looking for a new job! I said “No,” but then I prayed, and, when I didn’t hear a “No” from God, I let my name stand and was totally surprised that I had been elected. All I can say is that God must have plans for me and LFL. We are in a good place right now. We have an excellent, hard-working staff. Our policy statements are clear and strong. This ministry is diverse (Y4Life, Word of Hope, our conferences, and more!). We are well regarded by most Lutheran church bodies. Our donor base is strong. Wherever God is leading us, I plan to prayerfully follow. Please join me in praying that we would seek and follow God’s plan and that God would continue to bless LFL.