United Church Women (UCW)

Terms of Reference
The Manual (290-295)

The National UCW Vision

As United Church Women we believe:
 

• that as Christian women of faith, we nurture spirituality by reaching out with commitment and devotion to all God's people;
• in promoting truth, justice, peace, caring and sharing with respect for all in the community and wider world;
• in loving God and others by living generously and giving joyfully; and,
• in affirming and strengthening ourselves creatively in study and witness through music, laughter and
solitude.

High River UCW Mission Statement:

To unite the women of the congregation for the total mission of the church and to provide a medium through which we may express our loyalty and devotion to Jesus Christ in Christian witness, study, fellowship and servIce.
Responsible to one another within the UCW group and to the congregation through our actions.
Responsible for:

(these ministries are not exclusive to the UCW and are shared with others in the congregation)
- ministry of hospitality and service through activities such as hosting and serving funeral teas.
- ministry of education through devotions and programs at monthly meetings, supporting women in going
to conferences and other events and financial support of church educational institutions.
- ministry of outreach through activities such as garage sales, support of Christmas market at HRUC, making and selling bags for the Grandmothers to Grandmothers project, bread sale to support the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, annual donations to many organizations, sponsoring children to attend church camp and an annual commitment to the Mission and Service Fund
- ministry of leadership within the congregation by providing a member to the council [The Manual 219(e)] and in areas such as recycling, use of fair trade coffee/tea and educating the congregation about the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Grandmothers to Grandmothers project.
- ministry of support to one another through Caring and Sharing times at meetiilgs as well as visits, phone calls and taking meals to offer care.
- ministry to all women in the congregation through invitations to participate in various activities and through caring support.
A Historical Note: The United Church Women's groups of a congregation have a right to representation on the governing body of the congregation as mandated in The Manual of the United Church of Canada. The Manual does not give such an automatic right to men's groups. This comes from the historical situation where the Church Board was made up totally of men of the congregation. The women carried out their functions "ithin the church under the banner of the United Church Women. It was thus a radical act when the UCW groups "ithin a congregation were each given a seat on the Church Board and the women became voting members of the governing body of the congregation. (Possibly about the same time that women won the right to vote in elections.) The right to representation on the governing body continues to this day. The United Church Women organization was formally inaugurated on January 1st, 1962 through the amalgamation of the Woman's Missionary Society (WMS) and :he Woman's Association (WA).