The theme for the 2026 Wild Women retreat will be “So She Laughed” (from Genesis 18:12). The weekend will explore the spirituality of joy and laughter through Bible study, workshops, and joy-filled fellowship. With an optional afternoon outing to LaZoom Comedy Bus Tours, this weekend is sure to put the “wild” in Wild Women and make you LAUGH!
The program will begin on Friday at 7pm and conclude by 11am on Sunday.
Program Leaders
The retreat leaders for the upcoming spring are excited to gather with you soon! Exploring topics like Joy in the Age of Anxiety and Joy as Resistance, this weekend will invite you to experience joy in new ways.
Pastor Megan serves at Bethel Lutheran Church in White Rock, SC. She has been ordained for nearly nine years. Megan loves the way ministry brings people together creating communities of love and support through the challenges and joys of life. Megan finds joy in sewing, spending time with her family, eating good food, and running.
Roxann Deborah Thompson is a Caribbean-born Lutheran pastor, theologian, and womanist scholar whose ministry is shaped by migration, memory, and moral courage. Formed across Guyana, Canada, and the United States, she brings a global lens to Scripture and community life. A graduate of Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, she weaves biblical exegesis, Lutheran theology, and womanist ethics into a voice that names joy as disciplined spiritual practice. Roxann serves at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Macon, Georgia, where she accompanies a congregation leaning into renewal and deeper presence in their community. She understands joy not as temperament, but as sacred survival.
Pastor Joanna Gragg serves at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in West Columbia South Carolina. She loves talking about faith and how church communities create space and connection where people can show up as they are. In her free time she enjoys hiking, crafting, reading, and cookie and movie night with her family.
Sister D’Etta Broam was ordained as a minister of Word and Service in September 2024 and consecrated as a deaconess in the ELCA Deaconess Community in November 2024. She is a certified yoga therapist with the International Yoga Therapists Association and currently serves as a Deacon for Health and Wholeness for the SC Synod of the ELCA.
Rev. Dr. Mary W. Anderson has been serving the church as a pastor for 43 years in either SC or Metro Chicago Synods. For the last eight years she’s been in five different interim ministry calls on behalf of the SC Synod and is now serving Pilgrim LC in Lexington, SC. While she has a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching, leading congregations is her area of expertise. While not every parish experience has been happy, the prevailing arc of her career has definitely been one of joy!
Pastor Elise serves St. John Lutheran Church in the beautiful mountain town of Abingdon VA. She is happily in her 7th year of ordained ministry and works to make sure that church is both a reverent and comfortable safe for all people, no matter where they are on their faith journeys! She is passionate about ministering to the unhoused and advocating for housing for all. She is back for her third year on the leadership team at Wild Women and loves connecting with new people each year! In her free time she loves taking her dog, Idgie, for hikes, biking and weight lifting and will never turn down a new art project or woodworking adventure!
Pastor Jennifer Roberts is the pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Atlanta, Georgia. She finds joy in serving alongside God’s people as together we proclaim God’s love for the whole world. She is passionate about empowering people to share their stories. In her spare time, Pastor Jennifer enjoys spending time with her family, painting, planting flowers, and enjoying the sunshine.
“I got to experience the ‘glimmers’ of God’s presence in a community of sisters.”
“Spending time with other women in a faith-filled environment is uplifting to the spirit and soul.” – Linda S.
“I found this theme and the presentation of this theme to be so empowering to me as a woman. I strongly feel this retreat was transformational. And this message is one I want to share and teach and encourage other women with.” – Mary Beth S.
Program Elements
-Comfortable Accommodations -Delicious Meals -Bible Study
-Small & Large Group Sessions -Worship -Group Activities
