By: Canon Georgette Forney | AFL, President
One of the most critical elements of being a not-for-profit ministry is building a team of people who can bring different gifts and talents to serve the common good of the organization. The foundation upon which this team is built is the Board of Directors, who carry the fiduciary and management responsibilities for Anglicans For Life’s operations.
The individuals that make up the Board of Directors are each uniquely gifted to serve a specific role that AFL has identified to ensure best practices are followed. It is in this context that we are excited to introduce you to our newest Board Member, Linda K. Schaefer!
Linda recently retired from the financial office of our local hospital system, Heritage Valley. One of Linda’s key responsibilities was focused on grant writing and reporting. And I am happy to report she has already used this talent on AFL’s behalf and helped us secure a grant from the Nehemiah Foundation!
Linda has been married to her husband John for 37 years, and they have a cat named Mittens. Linda met John after she started attending St. Stephen’s Church in Sewickley, PA, where they are still members. She accepted the Lord into her life in 1979.
When asked about her views on the sanctity of life, she noted, “I believe we are created in the image of God and all human life at any stage is sacred. The use of fetal tissue and euthanasia go against my beliefs. I have held these beliefs as I became aware of these issues and matured as my faith has grown over the last 45 years. The previous rectors at our church helped me see that protecting life must be an important part of our faith walk. My husband also has strong pro-life views, and he has inspired me to participate in local rallies, marches, and with Choices Pregnancy Center.”
Linda has also served as the treasurer of the Women of St. Stephen’s and on the audit committee for the PA Healthcare Credit Union. We are grateful to have her on the AFL Board of Directors!
Life Forum Announcement:
I also wanted to give you some important details about AFL’s upcoming January Life Forum that will be held at the Falls Church Anglican church, in Falls Church, Virginia in conjunction with the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.
We will host our first event Thursday evening, January 22 with Emma Waters, who is serving as AFL’s Bioethics Consultant while also being employed as Policy Analyst at the Center for Technology and the Human Person at the Heritage Foundation. Emma’s presentation is titled “Thinking Biblically about Bioethics From Conception.”
The following morning, on Friday, January 23, the second presentation will begin at 9 am and is titled Thinking Biblically about Bioethics at the End-of-Life. (The speaker for this presentation has not been confirmed as of printing of this story.) A third presentation will follow by C. Ben Mitchell and is titled Thinking Biblically about Bioethics in the Church.
Afterwards, we will gather for our Prayer and Worship Service, and then those who choose to attend the March for Life will be able to board buses with a box lunch provided.
Complete details about the Life Forum including how to register, ticket pricing, speaker bios, and booking your hotel can be found at AnglicansForLife.org/LifeForum.
Obviously, the theme for AFL’s 2026 Life Forum is Bioethics because we recognize that while abortion ushered in the devaluation of life, topics like cloning, preimplantation genetic testing, the right to die, and gestational surrogacy seeks to further remove God from His role as creator and deigns to make man the authority over life and death. Against these emerging technologies, we must uphold the truth about the value of every human made in the image of God. We hope you will join us.
