Purpose:
The organized unit of the United Methodist Woman shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience a freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.
Our Vision, Our History:
The United Methodist Women are focused on turning faith, hope and love into action on behalf of women, children and youth around the world, equipping them for leadership, service and action through education. Today, there are more than 800,000 members in the United Methodist Women’s organization, the largest Christian women’s organization in the world! On March 23, 1869, in Boston, eight women gathered at Tremont Street Methodist Episcopal Church to form the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society in response to a lack of women’s health care in India. Isabella Thoburn and Clara Swain left for India in November of 1869 as the Society’s first missionaries. Today, we continue the legacy of these women organized for mission as United Methodist Women serving women, children and youth around the world and in our own hometowns.
Our Members:
The United Methodist Women are a community of women who are seeking spiritual growth within a creative faith based supportive community. Membership is open to any woman who indicates her desire to belong and to participate in the global mission of the church through United Methodist Women. The United Methodist Women welcome all women who commit themselves to our Purpose. We are a diverse group of women of many races, cultures and languages, young and old. There is no minimum age requirement, no membership fees, nor do you have to be a member of The United Methodist Church, to be a part of our organization.
Our Focus on Serving Women:
Women have been empowered by leadership education opportunities, mission education, the Reading Program, tools for advocacy and more. These opportunities equip women and girls around the world to be leaders in communities, agencies, governments and churches. The United Methodist Women also support programs and projects aimed at improving the special needs of women because of their refugee status, their immigration status, situations in which they are abused, their high illiteracy rate in some countries, their economic dependence, their educational disparities, and much more.
Our Focus on Serving Children:
United Methodist Women believe deeply in responding to Jesus' mandate to "care for the least of these." Children often do not have a voice in this world, so United Methodist Women advocates on their behalf. United Methodist Women commits to children globally through community centers, educational opportunities for refugee children, homes for street children, advocacy against sexual exploitation and child labor. We believe that if children are raised with safety, security, food, shelter, education, and basic human rights, these children will grow to be loving and secure adults.
Our Focus on Serving Youth:
A special emphasis of the organization has been to involve young women in all the ministries and leadership of United Methodist Women. The Women’s Division has a teen and college/university women consultative group that helps direct the program of United Methodist Women to be more inclusive of younger women. We also work with youth organizations globally and with programs and projects that support and empower all youth, both boys and girls, enabling them to be in mission by supporting the US-2 program, a two-year, faith and justice-centered leadership, development and mission-service program for young adults with a college degree, ages 20-30, who are interested in partnering with faith-based organizations. Other opportunities include the mission intern program and the Global Justice Volunteers program.
Join Us!
Come, be a part of The United Methodist Women and make a difference. For more information, please call the Church Office (805) 526-6231.
2012 Officers
The United Methodist Women welcome our new slate of Officers for 2012:
President Joyce Martin
Vice President Joye Grove
Secretary Sherrie Myers
Treasurer Sherrie Kolz
Spiritual Growth Deb Barbey and Jerri Eriksen
Program Resources Laura Hole
Education/Interpretation Ruth Dempsey
Social Action Martina McRae
Membership Judy Thomson
Publicity Cristy Ross
Montgomery Scholarship Sharon Harman
Courtesy Peggy Warren
Historian Sheila Millard
Circle Chairs are:
Circle of Joy (2nd Mondays, 12:30 noon) Nancy Kinsinger
Circle of Faith (3rd Wednesdays, 12:30 p.m.) Jeanne Corr
Circle of Hope (2nd Thursdays, 9:30 a.m.) Cristy Ross and Bonnie Bastian
Fireside Friends (3rd Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m.) Joyce Harding and Helen Loring
Seekers Circle (2nd Mondays, 12:00 noon) LaVaun Campbell and Julie Brennan
