What is the roll of women in the church?

A "roll" is a strip of photography film that has been coiled inside a canister for so long it retains its shape. The "roll of women in the church" is from an email sent by Vernon Lindstrom, pastor of the Willow River Evangelical Free Church in Valentine, Nebraska, to the church secretary, Eunice Eklund. He needed it because the church is celebrating its 123rd anniversary this September, and he wanted to include it in a slide show.

Eunice, first of all, was impressed that Vern finally figured out how to send an email. She responded that no one used real film anymore. If he was talking about the pictures Sue Ellen Swensen took at the annual women's conference in Broken Bow, he could check the church Facebook site. Sue Ellen's daughter, Tylyr, edited them in Photoshop so everybody's neck wrinkles were smoothed out. But Eunice didn't tell Vern that.

Five minutes later, Eunice got a notification that Vern's email inbox was full and he never got her message. She tried calling, but Vern's daughter, Linda Anderson, picked up. She was in the middle of planning the vacation Bible school and said her dad forgot his phone at her place again after she hosted the elders' meeting, but she'd tell him. Better yet, she'd download the pictures since he'd probably ask her to make the slideshow, anyway. As Eunice ended the call, Pastor Vern walked in and shut the door to his office. He must be working on his sermon.

That reminded Eunice that Claire Johnson had needed that deposit for the campsite for the church picnic she was planning at Lake Ogallala State Recreation Area. Eunice was just sending the Paypal payment when Maggie Nyberg came in. She needed copies made of this week's worship music since she was leading. She'd print them from home, but her daughter, Rylee, had used all her ink for the signs for the missions yardsale.

While Eunice made the copies, Maggie told her that Gwen Lundborg would be in later to set up the fellowship hall for the AWANA awards ceremony and that Connie Bergen was taking over kids' Sunday school from Abi Wallin, but just for the summer because Abi was going to teach the adults a series on 1 John. Eunice finished the copies, then asked Maggie to stop by the kitchen and pick up the instant pot her mom, Phyllis Gunderson, had leant to Iona Holm for that cooking class at the women's shelter.

Eunice spent the rest of the morning setting up the stage for worship practice, ordering new chairs for the youth room, making sure Tylyr's sister Myra mowed around the flower bed, and cleaning the boys' restroom. Libby Engvall stopped by with the flower arrangement her grandmother, Heidi Mattson, made for Sunday service, and Lizzie Fogelberg brought by more Welches for the communion closet.

Around 2 pm, the printer on Eunice's desk turned on and spat out three pages of Pastor Vern's sermon notes. He could put them into the word processor but could never figure out how to send an attachment. A second later, Eunice's email dinged; it was Pastor Vern, telling her he had printed his notes and would she please put them into the bulletin. A minute later, he showed up at her desk, put on his hat, and let her know that he sent an email to let her know his sermon notes should be in the printer and would she please "do her magic" and put an outline in the bulletin. He'd just seen Mae Hansen and Bekah Lundqvist pull up and wanted to show them which part of the chapel roof they needed to replace.

Eunice waited until Vern was out the door before she went to his computer, deleted all his spam emails, and sent herself his sermon notes. She barely paid attention to the text as she cut down the notes into an outline. Once done, she finally looked at the title:

"The Role of Women in the Church"

Eunice frowned. Did he realize this Sunday is Mothers' Day?

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