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Summary of Presbyterian Women Meetings
Presbyterian Women
Women's
Afternoon Out: Gather in Fellowship Hall Thursday, June 5, to
learn all about dinner napkins. Did you know napkins date back to Roman
times? Explore a little history as well as the napkin folding in many
different styles. Cloth napkins will be provided for everyone to
practice on or bring your own so you can take the pattern home. Also,
if you have a favorite fold, please share it with us. Bring your
neighbors and friends for an afternoon of folding fun and light
refreshments.
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Faire
with a Flair: On Saturday, September 13, KMUPC will hold its first
Consignment Sale in the PW Pavilion. Do you have something to sell?
Then sign up for booth space will begin in July. For more information
contact Betty Dean.
Style Show Luncheon...is back by popular
demand! Peggy and Betty are looking for clothing vendors for the Style
Show as you read this. Start thinking about and gathering ideas for
your table arrangement and setting now. A sign-up sheet will be
available later this summer for anyone wishing to design and carry out
her own setting. If you wish to volunteer to model clothing, you may
sign up then as well.
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Upcoming dates for you to mark on your calendar:
June 5, 2008 Napkin Designs for Your Table 1:00 PM KMUPC Fellowship Hall
September 13, 2008 Faire with a Flair 9:00 AM-3:00 PM KMUPC PW Pavilion
October 18, 2008 Style Show Luncheon 12:30 PM KMUPC Fellowship Hall
December 4, 2008 Annual Christmas Dinner 6:00 PM KMUPC Fellowship Hall
January, 2009 Victorian High Tea - a visual and tasteful delight. TBA
The Presbyterian Women will host the November 11, 2008 meeting of the Milwaukee Presbytery.
Presbyterian Women booklets are available on the table in the Narthex
Confessional Banner Booklets
Have
you noticed the Confessional Banners booklets now in each pew of our
sanctuary? We would like to draw your attention to these
banners. Many of these were made by long time members; if you
have any information as to who made the banners, please write it down
and we will share it with the congregation. Newer banners have
been made also and are displayed at appropriate times throughout the
Church Year. Knowledge of the ladies who worked on these banners
would be appreciated also. It is the hope of the PW to
acknowledge these women for their talent and dedication as part of the
history of our church. Your help would be sincerely
appreciated. Place any information you have in the PW or Betty Dean's
mailbox.
A personal copy is available for
download on Library page.
20 Years of Presbyterian Women
Brief History of PW
Presbyterian
Women's predecessor organizations began more than 200 years ago, when
women had no role outside the home. In the early 1800s the first
Presbyterian women's organization defied societal and churFinally in
1988, Presbyterian Women was born, incorporating the best in the United
Presbyterian Women and Women of the Church.
TWO
CENTURIES after the first Presbyterian women gathered to pray and
donate their money to the church; women have a voice in the church and
in the world. A legacy of devotion to the church and dedication to God
are a strong foundation for continuing mission and taking Christ into
every area of life in the third century. Presbyterian Women exists
today because women are adaptable, determined, proactive, charitable,
generous and dedicated to God. The Birthday Offering and the Thank
Offering make it possible for new and existing ministry projects around
the world to expand their work in new and creative ways.
Thank Youch
conventions. These courageous, dedicated women faced many biases. In
spite of numerous restrictions, the women's organization gained
respect, especially that of missionaries in the field who requested
women's donations and prayers.
In the mid-1800s with civil
strife in the nation, the church split; it would be many years before
the wounds were healed and the northern and southern branches were
reunited. The work of Presbyterian women varied with the cultural
backgrounds of North and South. Despite regional difference,
Presbyterian women have long advocated for women and children, and
crusaded for the right to fair, paid work for African - Native -and
Appalachian Americans. They went into the field to actively do
something about a host of other societal problems.
In the late
1800s the mission work of Presbyterian women broadened to include areas
in Alaska and San Francisco. By answering God's call, women's work in
the church and in society was validated, and the role of women in both
foreign and home missions expanded throughout the 19th century.
In
1872 the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in North
America (UPCNA) asked women members to devise some way to
systematically raise money to support women missionaries in the field.
In 1875 Sarah Foster Hartna spoke to the General Assembly and received
permission to establish the first national organization for women in a
Presbyterian denomination, the Women's General Missionary Society.
Southern women were more hesitant about organizing a church wide
missionary society; it took the southern women of the Presbyterian
Church in the United States (PCUS) more than 26 years to get permission
to set up a national women's organization, Women of the Church.
Presbyterian women's financial support of missions was phenomenal and
included the Thank Offering (first in 1888) and the Birthday offering
(first in 1922) both of which continue today.
The early 1900s
were a time of upheaval and discontent; but through it all, women
remained dedicated to the church. Then, in 1930, the Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A. (PCUSA) opened the office of elder to women,
thereby expanding the approval of women to serve on any board of the
General Assembly. The offices of elder and minister were opened to
women in the UPCNA when the PCUSA and the UPCNA merged and to women in
the PCUS in the 1960s.
In the 1930s the definition of the word
"MISSIONS" expanded. It began to mean more than sending out
missionaries, preachers and teachers to far away lands. If meant
sending workers to work in the inner cities. It meant working to bring
people together. It meant working with former enemies after the two
great wars. Peace with justice became a continuing emphasis of
Presbyterian Women as they continued their faith journey through the
twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. They worked to
stamp out hunger, exploitation of women and children and war.
Presbyterian Women were strong women who took tough positions on
racism, freedom to choose in problem pregnancies and equal rights for
women in Society and in the church.
Reunification became a
reality in 1983 when the two churches rejoined, becoming the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There were many difficulties in blending
two organizations of strong women.
Finally in 1988, Presbyterian Women was born, incorporating the best in the United Presbyterian Women and Women of the Church.
TWO
CENTURIES after the first Presbyterian women gathered to pray and
donate their money to the church; women have a voice in the church and
in the world. A legacy of devotion to the church and dedication to God
are a strong foundation for continuing mission and taking Christ into
every area of life in the third century. Presbyterian Women exists
today because women are adaptable, determined, proactive, charitable,
generous and dedicated to God. The Birthday Offering and the Thank
Offering make it possible for new and existing ministry projects around
the world to expand their work in new and creative ways.
Thank You
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