Church Women United
Encyclopedia
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
women’s movement representing Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
and other Christian women. Founded in 1941, this organization has more than 1,200 local and state units in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. CWU's members represent 26 supporting denominations and organizations. Offices are located in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Washington DC and at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
Mission and services
Church Women United's mission is to be a racially, culturally and theologically inclusive Christian women's movement celebrating unity in diversity and working for a world of peace and justice. CWU strives to provide for its members resources and information on a wide range of social justice issues, opportunities for worship and action, and an expansive network of women and women's organizations working to ensure a better world for all.Church Women United holds three annual worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
celebrations: Human Rights Day, May Friendship Day, and World Community Day. These ecumenical worship celebrations are the centerpiece of CWU's ecumenical life and spiritual thrust. Each is celebrated around an annual theme, written by CWU members. The celebrations energize and mobilize the movement and enable Christian friendship and spiritual growth.
The Human Rights Celebration began as a national event, in support of the UN Human Rights Day, and is now celebrated as a local unit event to honor individuals and groups who have done outstanding work in the field of human rights. As a local celebration it can be held at any time during the year.
First observed in 1933, May Friendship Day focuses on "creative and healing relationships" that exist in local communities, often including intergenerational activities, ecumenical Bible study and worship, and opportunities for action in one's local community. It is typically celebrated on the first Friday in May each year.
On World Community Day, first observed in 1939, Christian women pray and do projects that work towards global peace. It is an inclusive worship service, now adapted to include opportunities for interfaith participation and worship, to further CWU's commitment to peace and justice among all peoples and nations. It is typically celebrated on during the first weekend in November.
The International Fellowship of the Least Coin (FLC) is a worldwide ecumenical movement of prayer for peace and reconciliation. Persons in this movement make a commitment to spend time in prayer, and to uphold in prayer others who are victims of jealousy, hatred, violence and injustice. Every time one prays, she sets aside a "least coin" of her currency as a tangible token of her prayer. CWU is the custodian for FLC offerings in the United States.
Every four years CWU adopts a quadrennial priority to focus its social justice advocacy and action on a specific area or areas of need. The priority is used to guide CWU's work at the local, state and national levels. The priority for 2008-2012 is "Building a World Fit for All God's Children". This theme further breaks down into four "building blocks": health, economic justice, environmental care and peace.
History
In 1941, three organizations - the Council of Women for Home Missions, the Committee on Women’s Work of the Foreign Missions Conference, and the National Council of Federated Church Women - combined to form one national organization representing women from seventy Christian denominations. The new organization was originally called the United Council of Church Women (UCCW). The founders of Church Women United met in Atlantic City, NJ in December, 1941, while bombs were dropping on Pearl Harbor and the world was at war. Their first action, upon convening, was to circulate a petition signed by 84,000 church women "urging the United States at the signing of the United Nations Charter, to join and take its full responsibility in a world organization."The action received wide publicity in the media, encouraging Eleanor Roosevelt to later involve the leaders of CWU in a conference at the White House on "How Women May Share in Post War Policy Making". Such action remains typical for CWU today, as its quest for informed prayer and prayerful action continues. Women in the movement affirm that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence in the world.
Affiliated denominations
- African Methodist Episcopal ChurchAfrican Methodist Episcopal ChurchThe African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
, Women's Missionary Society - African Methodist Episcopal Zion ChurchAfrican Methodist Episcopal Zion ChurchThe African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion Church, is a historically African-American Christian denomination. It was officially formed in 1821, but operated for a number of years before then....
, Women's Home and Overseas Missionary Society - American Baptist Churches in the USA, American Baptist Women's Ministry
- Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...
, Christian Women's Fellowship - Christian Methodist Episcopal ChurchChristian Methodist Episcopal ChurchThe Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is a historically black denomination within the broader context of Methodism. The group was organized in 1870 when several black ministers, with the full support of their white counterparts in the former Methodist Episcopal Church, South, met to form an...
, Women's Missionary Council - Church of God (Anderson)Church of God (Anderson)The Church of God is a holiness Christian body with roots in Wesleyan pietism and also in the restorationist traditions. Founded in 1881 by Daniel Sidney Warner, the church claims 1,170,143 adherents...
, Women of the Church of God - Community of ChristCommunity of ChristThe Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
, Women's Ministries Commission - Cumberland Presbyterian ChurchCumberland Presbyterian ChurchThe Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Christian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. In 2007, it had an active membership of less than 50,000 and about 800 congregations, the majority of which are concentrated in the United States...
, Cumberland Presbyterian Women - The Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church Women
- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaEvangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
, Women of the ELCA - International Council of Community ChurchesInternational Council of Community ChurchesThe International Council of Community Churches is a Christian religious association of ecumenically co-operating and Independent Catholics based in Frankfort, Illinois, in the United States. It is the main organization of the Community Church movement...
, Women's Christian Fellowship - Korean American Church, Ecumenical Women's Fellowship
- The Mar Thoma ChurchMar Thoma ChurchThe Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church also known as the Mar Thoma Church is a Christian denomination based in the state of Kerala in southwestern India. It has an entirely different identity when compared with other Churches in India. Most Christian churches around the world are divided into...
, The Diocese of NA and Europe - Mar Women's Evangelistic Services - The Mennonite Church, Mennonite Women
- Moravian Church in America - North, North Provincial Women's Board
- Moravian Church in America - South, South Provincial Women's Board
- National Baptist Convention of America, Women's Missionary Union
- National Baptist ConventionNational Baptist ConventionNational Baptist Convention may refer to:One of several historically African-American Christian denominations:*National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., the oldest and largest denomination using this name, formed in the late 19th century...
USA, The Women's Department - Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Women
- Progressive National Baptist ConventionProgressive National Baptist ConventionThe Progressive National Baptist Convention, Incorporated is a convention of African-American Baptists emphasizing civil rights and social justice....
- Reformed Church in AmericaReformed Church in AmericaThe Reformed Church in America is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 170,000 members, with the total declining in recent decades. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1819, it...
, Reformed Church Women's Ministries - Religious Society of FriendsReligious Society of FriendsThe Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, Society of Friends Women - United Church of ChristUnited Church of ChristThe United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
- United Methodist ChurchUnited Methodist ChurchThe United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
, United Methodist Women
See also
- Gail E. MengelGail E. MengelGail E. Mengel was an apostle and member of the Council of Twelve Apostles of the Community of Christ from 1998 to 2005. Mengel and Linda L. Booth were the first women to be ordained apostles in the history of the Community of Christ...
, president from 2004 to 2008 - Interchurch CenterInterchurch CenterThe Interchurch Center is a 19-story granite-clad office building located at 475 Riverside Drive and West 120th Street in New York City. Besides renting to many secular non-profits, it is the headquarters for the National Council of Churches USA and its sister humanitarian organization Church...
, site of the National Headquarters of Church Women United
External links
- Church Women United Official web site
- The University of Texas at San Antonio houses a collection of papers by Helen McAllister spanning the years 1977-2000 and containing materials related to Church Women United.