Making Our PURPOSE

Through Mission Today!!!

Our PURPOSE is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.
 

To Know God.............

• Use the Prayer Calendar at all unit meetings to pray for those in mission.  Assign the prayer calendar ahead so persons will be ready to read.  Use the Prayer Calendar every day for personal Bible Study.  It has Bible passages for daily reading.  You can use the Bible passages as a part of your devotions at your unit meetings. 
• Encourage the ladies in your unit to attend the Conference School of Christian Mission.  There is always a Bible Study as part of the school.  Ask someone who has never attended to go with you and mentor them.    Help those you may not be able to afford the cost to attend.  Offer scholarships especially to first timers.
• Encourage the ladies to attend the Conference & District Spiritual Growth Retreats and Opportunities.  This is a time for spiritual growth for all those who attend. 
• Have a mission study using the spiritual growth studies used at the School of Christian Mission.  Invite other area churches to participate.  Contact your district or conference Mission Coordinator for Education and Interpretation to learn what studies may be used.
• Encourage your members to subscribe to Response Magazine.  Have the unit itself to have a subscription to Response Magazine  and make it available for members to use.  There is a Bible Study in each issue.   Share these studies at circle meetings.
• Use programs from the Program Book.  Use as much of the program as you want to. You can adapt the program to fit your needs.  There are programs for spiritual growth, mission education and on giving.

To Experience Freedom As Whole Persons Through Jesus Christ..............

• Implement the Charter for Racial Justice in one way during the year.  View the videos on the Charter for Racial Justice.  Use the resources available from the Women's Division, including a 187 page handbook:  Resources for Racial Justice:  Tools for UMW Leaders.  Click here to download PDF file of that handbook.  Find books on the Reading Program that deal with racism and get your members to read and share the stories.  Involve other churches with different cultures in your mission studies and other events your local unit may have.  
• Encourage your ladies to attend the Conference & District Annual Meeting.  Volunteer your church to host a district event and get the other area churches to help.  Ask others to attend with you.  Offer scholarships to first timers attending from your unit.  Let them ask a friend to attend with them and give a scholarship to them also.
• Subscribe to Response Magazine.  This is our magazine.  It helps us to learn who we are as United Methodist Women.

To Develop A Creative Supportive Fellowship..............

• Share the joys of membership with the other women in your church.  Each one invite one.  Be intentional about inviting others to join. 
• Have your Social Action Coordinator or someone else in your unit to join the United Methodist Women’s Action Network to receive and respond to legislative information during the year.  Learning about the issues facing women and children help us to learn the areas we need to be involved in. Download Action Network Registration Form (WORD)    Download Action Network Registration Form (PDF)  Or, join the email version...the Electronic Action Network....by sending an email request to:  umwanet@gbgm-umc.org
• Invite your district officers to come and give a program to your unit.  This is part of the LUV (Local Unit Visitation) Program.
• Help sponsor a Children’s Sabbath in your local church.  Have children involved in the service and be sure to highlight the issues and needs that children are facing today. 

To Expand Concepts Of Mission Through Participation In The Global Ministries
 Of The Church..............

• The Conference School of Christian Mission is a great way to learn about mission opportunities all over the world.   There is always a Geographical Study and a General Issue Study.

• Help the unit to make a Pledge To Mission and to meet it.  This is one channel of the five channels of Undesignated Mission Giving.

• Help unit to contribute to all Five Channels of Mission Giving.  Have your unit honor some with a Special Mission Recognition pin each year.  Honor and remember someone by sending a Gift To Mission card and a Gift In Memory card during the year.  Also, help your unit be involved in the World Thank Offering.  Remember Mission Giving helps make mission possible around the world.

• Use a Response Moment at all unit meetings to help tell the mission story.  Use the articles that are followed  by the Mission Giving symbol to help members know where Mission Giving is helping.

• Use the Reading Program to learn about all aspects of the mission.  There are books on spiritual growth, mission education, social action and membership in the United Methodist Women.  Have the unit to purchase one book from each category and share the books with members in the  unit.
   

When you live out the purpose of the

United Methodist Women, you are

 helping your unit to become a

MISSION TODAY UNIT!!!

Mission Resources All Local Units Need:

• Prayer Calendar - New Calendar Printed Each Year!

• Program Book - New Program Book Printed Each Year!

• Children’s Sabbath - New Handbook Printed Each Year!

• Material Resources for Mission Catalog

• Response Magazine ($21 / year)

• New World Outlook Magazine ($19.95 / year)

• Charter for Racial Justice Policies

• Membership Joys & Responsibilities

You can order all of these mission resources (except for the magazine subscriptions) from the Mission Resource Center.
 

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The PURPOSE of United Methodist Women
The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.

This page was last updated on Saturday, December 29, 2007.