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What is United Methodist Women?

Organizationally, UNITED METHODIST WOMEN is the successor to the home and foreign missionary societies, the ladies aids, parsonage societies and guilds of the seven predecessor denominations now comprising The United Methodist Church. It is that group of women in each congregation organized for mission. Local units relate directly to district and conference organizations of UMW and to the Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries.

Who is a member?

Any woman who commits herself to the purpose and chooses to belong.

What is expected of a member?

Support for the program of the organization through prayers, financial contributions, and acceptance of leadership responsibility.

How big is the organization?

Membership was approximately one million in 1999, according to the evaluation reports returned by 21,518 of 22,520 local units. United Methodist Women is the largest lay women's organization of a major Protestant denomination in the USA. 

How many local units are there in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference?

Currently there are 325 local units in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference. Although The Book of Discipline, 2000 says, "In every local church there shall be an organized unit of United Methodist Women," not all churches presently have one. An individual in a church with no organized unit may become a district member.

What is the scope of the program?

Programs in unit and subgroup (or circle) meetings encompass mission education, spiritual growth, and social action, with a continuing focus on the needs of women, children, and youth. Programs are developed by each unit using a variety of printed, visual, and human resources. Units typically meet once a month, although this can vary depending on the needs of the unit.

How are units related to the districts and conference?

All local units are also organized into districts; in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference, there are four districts which divide the conference into four geographical areas. Each district is named after a large city within the district. The four districts are Dover, Easton, Salisbury, and Wilmington.

How is the organization financed?

Local units have budgets that are supported by individual pledges and gifts. Some units supplement their budgets by fund-raising activities. Each unit makes a Pledge to Mission that is sent to the district treasurer, and by her to the conference treasurer and then to the Women's Division, for worldwide ministries with women, children, and youth. Pledge to Mission and other undesignated money sent to the Women's Division becomes the basis of the division's annual budget. Women's Division receives no general church funds. A portion of the conference pledge is retained for administration and membership development needs within the conference.

What happens at the conference level?

The Executive Committee of officers at the conference level works to develop programs designed to meet the needs of its particular area. For the Peninsula-Delaware Conference, this typically would include one or more leadership workshops, spiritual retreats, a school of Christian Mission, and two annual meetings. 

Who is on the conference Executive Committee?

The conference Executive Committee is seen as a Mission Team and consists of a elected president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, mission coordinator for spiritual growth, mission coordinator for social action, mission coordinator for education and interpretation, mission coordinator for membership nurture and outreach, secretary of program resources, chairperson of the committee on nominations, communications coordinator, the bishop of the conference, and the president of each district. In addition, the Executive Committee can include members of the jurisdiction Core Planning Group and directors of the Women's Division residing within the conference.

What is the role of the clergy?

United Methodist Women is a laywomen's organization. By The Book of Discipline the pastor is a member of the local unit and its Executive Committee. The district superintendent is a member of the district organization and its Executive Committee. The bishop of each conference is a member of the conference executive organization and its Executive Committee and is a voting delegate at the jurisdiction quadrennial meeting. Clergy are not eligible to hold elected positions in UMW.

What is Response?

Response is the official magazine for United Methodist Women, published eleven times each year.

What is the Women's Division?

The Women's Division is the national policy-making body for United Methodist Women. It is a corporation. It is one division (structural part) of the General Board of Global Ministries. The officers of the Women's Division serve as the national officers of United Methodist Women.

Who are members of the Women's Division? How are they elected?

The Women's Division has 50 voting members (called directors) elected through the process of the organization as outlined in the Discipline. They serve a four-year term and are eligible for re-election for a second term. Thirty are members of the General Board of Global Ministries and of a program area and standing committee of that board. Forty are elected by jurisdiction organizations of United Methodist Women. The 5 jurisdiction presidents are also members of the Division. Another 5 are selected by the Women's Division for special knowledge and background, and to assure representation of racial and ethnic minority persons and youth.

How many staff persons does the Division have?

There are 41 positions on the executive staff. Additionally, there are 11 professional staff and 58 support staff persons. This includes all Women's Division staff.

Where is the Women's Division located?

The headquarters office is located on the 15th floor of the Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115. Other offices are in the Church Center for the United Nations in New York City, and the Methodist Building in Washington, D.C.; regional offices are located in Syracuse, New York City, Atlanta, Nashville, Indianapolis, Naperville, Dallas, Denver, and Seattle.

When and how does the Women's Division meet?

The Division meets in the spring and fall as part of the meeting of the General Board of Global Ministries. Work is conducted through a variety of task groups, committees and sections. Each has designated and limited responsibilities which require many items to be voted upon by the full Division. Directors serve as members of one section and one or more other groups. Staff assigned to attend participate fully in discussions; only directors vote. Business is conducted by parliamentary procedure, with a simple majority required for approval of recommendations.

How much is the Division's annual budget?

The amount of the annual budget is governed by Women's Division policy and cannot exceed the dollar amount received in the previous year. The 2001 budget, $19,642,655, is equivalent to the dollar amount received in 1999. This is primarily the undesignated Pledge to Mission giving of local units of United Methodist Women. Women's Division directors determine how this money is spent by adopting the annual budget.

How is the budget allocated?

The major categories are:

1. the program and responsibilities that the Division administers directly;

2. funds for mission programs of national and international ministries with women, children, and youth;

3. a share of the operating expenses of the General Board of Global Ministries, including print and audiovisual resources production;

4. benefits for retired missionaries and deaconesses.

The January issue of Response contains the report of annual appropriations.

What is the current program focus?

The current focus is also the historic focus: ministries addressing the needs of women, children and youth, advocacy for the oppressed and dispossessed, leadership development, efforts to achieve inclusiveness, and work with Korean-American and Hispanic-American women.

Central to all this is the development of the spiritual life of the individual member through annual spiritual growth studies, the Reading Program, the Program Book, A Call to Prayer and Self-Denial observances, and retreat and worship resources.

The program includes concerns for the aging, Schools of Christian Mission, a membership campaign, district visitation to local units, education for mission events, Mission Today, the Charter for Racial Justice Policies, and other justice issues impacting women.

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