| Feb. 6, 2006 |
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Indianapolis |
The acronym “ICWF” rolls off the tongues of thousands of Disciples women who grew up with International Christian Women’s Fellowship, but things are changing for the 53-year-old women’s network—including its name.
In their annual gathering in late January, regional leaders of the church-wide Disciples women’s network voted to change the name to International Disciples Women’s Ministries.
“There was a time in the church when women served almost exclusively in auxiliary leadership roles to support the church’s mission,” said Adonna Bowman, executive director in the Office of Disciples Women, a part of Disciples Home Missions.
“This name, ‘Disciples Women,’ acknowledges that today, this women’s organization has a mandate to support the ministries of women in virtually every role in the church,” she said.
ICWF began in July 1953, when 2,000 Disciples women gathered during a general church assembly in Portland. The mission-driven organization provides training, communication, networking and other resources to support the ministry of women.
While women still remain deeply committed to mission through service and social action, the way they engage has shifted radically, said Susan Gonzales Dewey, president of the Church Women Staff Fellowship, the organization that voted on the name change.
“Disciples no longer make the assumption that gender is a barrier to any leadership position,” said Dewey who co-pastors a California congregation and serves as a staff member with the Pacific Southwest Region. “When we called Sharon Watkins as General Minister and President, we illustrated this reality emphatically.”
Women also provide significant financial resources for the church, Bowman pointed out. Total Disciples Mission Fund giving in 2005 reached $13.56 million, from congregations whose populations are at least 60 percent women, she said. Yet beyond regular congregational giving, Disciples women’s groups also gave another $1.59 million.
In other action, the Staff Fellowship:
- amended the bylaws to assure that ethnic and geographic constituencies are represented on the Disciples Women’s Executive Committee;
- reviewed resources designed to address the needs and interests of younger women and to equip women for leadership throughout the church;
- received more than $140 through the Blessing Box coin offering, a tradition of sacrificial giving started decades ago by Disciples women and revived currently as a spiritual discipline.
A general unit of the church, Disciples Home Missions is committed to equipping Disciples for Christ and connecting people to the life changing love of God.
Disciples Home Missions Web site: www.discipleshomemissions.org.
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