History of United Methodist Women

For more than a century, women in the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren traditions have led a struggle for human rights and social justice. The generation of women who founded the early missionary societies developed powerful networks and organizational structures to help women attain full participation in the life of the church and society.

In the early years of the women’s mission organizations, the focus was on sending missionaries and helping to change the lives of women and girls in foreign lands. They incorporated the values of home and family into public life, as they addressed issues of poverty, child labor, immigration, migrant labor, family life, racial discrimination, full clergy rights for women, and many other social ills of the day..

Many problems faced by the women at the turn of the century have reemerged in our own time with a new and demanding urgency: new waves of immigration, homelessness, racial divisions, threats to the environment, substance abuse and addiction, lack of affordable health care, concerns for the well-being of children and the elderly, public education, questions about women’s roles in society, and world peace.

Because of the faithfulness and courage of the millions of women who prayed, planned, organized, marched, petitioned, labored, and supported the work of the early missionary societies, the lives of countless individuals, especially women and children, have been irrevocably changed. Women, children and youth in our generation, and the ones that will follow us, are living the legacy of the women’s missionary movement of the 19^th century.

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN are inheritors of the vision and toil of women’s missionary societies of eight (8) denominations.

• 1869 The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society is formed in Boston, MA at the Tremont Methodist Episcopal Church. Isabella Thoburn and Clara Swain leave for India in November, 1869 as the Society’s first missionaries.
• 1880 The Woman’s Home Missionary Society is organized and Lucy Webb Hayes is elected president. Ten years later, 1890, the Society is recognized by the church’s General Conference.
• 1904 Ladies Aid Societies, as old as American Methodism, are officially recognized in the 1904 M.E. Discipline, although there is never an official denominational agency.
• 1921 Wesleyan Service Guild is organized for women employed outside the home.

• 1879 The women of the Methodist Protestant Church organize their Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society in Pittsburgh, PA.
• 1893 The Woman’s Home Missionary Society is organized.

• 1878 Women in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South organize the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of their church and are given General Conference recognition. Lochie Rankin goes to China as their first missionary.
• 1890 The Woman’s Home Missionary Society is organized.
• 1910 The Woman’s Societies of the M. E. Church, South are joined under one Woman’s Missionary Council and made part of the general missionary organization of the church. Belle Harris Bennett is elected president and serves until 1922.
• 1920 Carrie Johnson is selected to head a standing committee of the Woman’s Missionary Council to study the race question and develop ways for black and white women to work together, a task she continues until her death in 1929.
• 1930 The Council sends Mrs. B. W. Lipscomb to organize women of two Spanish-speaking conferences (Texas-Mexico and Western Mexico) Also in 1930, the Bureau of Social Services of the Woman’s Missionary Council becomes the Bureau of Christian Social Relations with commissions on industrial relations, interracial cooperation, and rural development under the leadership of Bertha Newell.

• 1875 The Woman’s Missionary Association is organized. In 1877, Emily Beekin is sent to Sierra Leone as the Association’s first missionary; and the association is given General Conference recognition.
• 1909 The Woman’s Missionary Association becomes part of the General Board of Missions. Women gain wider and more influential responsibilities as a result.

• 1939 The Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church merge to form The Methodist Church. The various women’s home and foreign missionary societies and other women’s groups of the three uniting churches are joined and become the Woman’s Society of Christian Service. The Wesleyan Service Guild remains a separate organization.
• The Methodist Uniting Conference created the Central Jurisdiction, a segregated racial jurisdiction for black members of the denomination that covered two-thirds of the nation.
• As a result of this action, The Woman’s Society of Christian Service, Central Jurisdiction is formed.

1964

The 1964 General Conference imposed an organizational structure for the Woman’s Division and the Board of Missions that resulted in the transfer of administration of much of the division’s mission program to other divisions of the board. A written document, The Agreements of ‘64, guaranteeing certain provisions was adopted by the Division and the Board of Missions.

1946 The Evangelical United Brethren Church is formed from the merger of The Evangelical Church and the United Brethren in Christ. With the formation of the E. U. B. Church, the women’s organizations merge to become the Women’s Society of World Service. The Christian Service Guild remains a separate entity until 1958.

• 1968 The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren merge to form The United Methodist Church. The women’s organizations of the two denominations are merged in the new United Methodist Church under the names Women’s Society of Christian Service and Wesleyan Service Guild. Administrative responsibility assigned to the Women’s Division of the Board of Missions
• 1972 The Women’s organizations in The United Methodist Church merge to form one inclusive organization with the name, "UNITED METHODIST WOMEN." The 1972 General Conference ratifies the formation of UNITED METHODIST WOMEN, and the "Agreements of ‘64 " in all essentials are preserved.

For More In-depth information please see Living the Legacy:  The Continuing Journey of Women in Mission 1869-2002 10 Best Books on HISTORY OF UNITED METHODIST WOMEN "Her Story" Out of the Abiding Past  at www.gbgm-umc.org.  Info. on this site obtained from summary prepared by Women's Div. on their website.