Fresh Connection

At MN UWFaith’s Fall Meeting, members can vote on three important items. Please read the information carefully as you decide how to cast your vote on the 2023 Budget 2023 Slate of Elected Officers 2023 Changes to the Standing Rules Budget Proposal for 2023

Annual Meeting, Leadership Development    Join us on October 1st   at First UMC in Waseca for our Fall Gathering as we learn from Guest Speaker Nancy Beaulieu why we are all treaty people and why protecting treaties and Indigenous ways is sacred and fundamental to protecting our environment. We will also have our Annual Meeting to vote on the 2023 Officers, Budget, Standing Rules changes, and other business. The Gathering begins at 9 am with lunch at noon and afternoon sessions from 1 pm until 2:30.  Click here to register for Annual Gathering by September 15. LDR Leadership Development Retreat for Conference and District officers and for coordinators starts at 3 pm to 8:30 pm and continues the following day 9:30-2 pm.  Click here  to register for LDR  by September 21.  

  Diane Denkmann, Carol Foster, Nancy Kipp,   Kathy Carter, and Sheila Weber Five women from Brooklyn United Women in Faith experienced Assembly 2022 together via Zoom at Koronis Ministries. Each signed up for different sessions then met together in a conference room, each with their own laptop. This allowed everyone to attend a greater number of sessions than they otherwise would have. They discussed the sessions in real time and brainstormed ideas that were generated in the meetings. It made for a more meaningful and enriching experience. It was a perfect combination of Zoom technology and having fellowship with UWFaith sisters, and at the same time relaxing in a beautiful location by the lake.   Sylvia Farrells contributed to this article.

Accepting the Invitation   Have you ever felt like Jeremiah? (And I am not referring to the bullfrog in the Three Dog Night song from the 70’s?!) Anyway, I think about Jeremiah most of the time -- the prophet, not the frog! Let me explain.   In the first chapter of Jeremiah, he responds to God’s call saying, “I don’t know how to speak because I am only a child” (Jeremiah 1:6). Jeremiah is focused on himself and his own shortcomings. It is like looking into a mirror for me. Maybe you can relate.   I have spent the last twenty years committed to United Methodist Women, now United Women in Faith. I have studied, learned and my faith has deepened as I never imagined. In May, I was consecrated as a Deaconess committing my life to Love, Justice and Service. Like most of us, Love and Service feels second nature, but Justice -- that is a frog of a different color!   Currently, United Women in Faith is focusing on Racial and Climate Justice. My experience is that I know what ...

  Campaign for Emma Norton’s Restoring Waters   Restoring Waters is Emma Norton Service’s new development at Highland Bridge. Their $3M campaign to fund the development is an opportunity for you to act boldly for justice and equity to help ENS better serve women and families. ENS, a UWFaith National Mission, has served women and families for more than 100 years, providing safe and affordable housing which is still sorely lacking in our community. Most of the women ENS serves are affected by mental illness, struggle with chemical health issues, or have a dual diagnosis or other disability. Most have backgrounds of intergenerational poverty and homelessness, and many are dealing with the effects of systemic racism. They face numerous barriers to stability and independence. Restoring Waters will provide safe and affordable housing with trauma-informed supportive services for healing, recovering, and truly transforming lives. For more information about how you can ...

United Methodist Deaf Hard of Hearing Ministry had a booth at the United Women of Faith Assembly in May. It was the first time DHM hosted a booth and it was busy nonstop!   People at the booth shared information with people from across the country and world on Deaf ministry, interpreters, and the youth event at Daytona Beach, July 25-28, 2023.  One woman from Africa who visited the book shared about 500 Deaf children for whom she cares.   They also discussed Deaf prison ministries and went to classes such as Restoring Just Relationships, Climate Justice, and Ending Poverty.   They explored Deaconesses and Home Missioners for Deaf Ministry as well. Bishop Peggy Johnson,   retired Bishop from the Eastern Pennsylvania and Peninsula-Delaware Conferences,  shared that only one other person has done this and offered her support.   Adapted from an article by Billy and Mary Ann Deters in the United Methodist Committee on Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Ministrie...

Retreating for Visioning, Business MN Conference UWFaith officers and coordinators, with representation from all five districts, gathered at Koronis August 13 for a Retreat to vision how we will move forward into the future. Members of the leadership team brainstormed their dreams of transformational experiences that could energize, reconnect, and revitalize our members, districts, and local units. How does remembering our legacy move us forward instead of just doing it the way we’ve always done it? Prior to the Retreat, Christie Brown, Spiritual Growth Coordinator, asked each person on the team to bring one or more items from home that could be used to decorate an altar. At the Retreat, all items were placed in baskets. In random pairs, each pair created an altar using those materials and was asked to explain the symbolism of the items they chose. After an evening of sisterly sharing of stories and music, the group met August 14 for the business of leadership -- hearing reports, d...

Letters/Notes/Messages Dear Women in Faith Folks, Thank you so much for the reimbursement for the Virtual Conference. We at Recovery Church are excited to learn new ways we can participate. Blessings, Deb Mauer, Manette Olson, Renee Dixon

Local Unit Survey, Staying Active, National Membership, Going Inactive By Catherine Williams Membership Nurture and Outreach Coordinator    The 2021 Unit Survey ( click here ) is open until August 30. It takes about 10 minutes to complete. Be sure to submit it by the deadline. You will get a thank you page to show it has been received.   Local Units: Backbone of United Women in Faith! With all the changes, many of you may feel “out in left field” having very little contact with leadership in your District or Minnesota Conference of United Women in Faith.   How can District, Conference, National leadership help you? Units can stay active with one contact person (usually the President) and a treasurer. You can choose where your UWFaith money is given, designating it to a UWFaith mission such as Emma Norton Services or to local community missions you give to under United Women in Faith. To revitalize your unit, start building relationships with others in your churc...

CORRECTION: Click here for  "Deaf Hard of Hearing @ Assembly" article. Church Women United Invites You Church Women United of the St. Paul Area invites you to attend World Community Day, November 5, 10 am to1 pm at Centennial UMC , 1524 County Rd. C2 , in Roseville, MN . A light lunch will be served. The cost is only $15. You can pay at the door with cash or check payable to St. Paul CWU. If you’re unable to attend in person but wish to make a donation please, mail your check to: Sue Rengstorf, 590 Suzanne Avenue, Shoreview, MN 55126. Church Women United is an inclusive ecumenical Christian women's movement celebrating unity in diversity and empowering women to work towards a world of peace and justice. Donations for "Nickels for National" and "Fellowship of the Least Coin" will be collected. Offering will go to National Office CWU to further the work of the movement. Click here to register by October 28, 2022. You sho...

Each year, Emma Norton scholarships are awarded to eligible women who are pursuing Christian vocations. Now is the time to apply if you or someone you know is interested. Scholarships range from $500 - $1100. The scholarship money comes from Emma Norton herself. Concerned about the struggles of young women to obtain an education in the early 1900’s, Emma Norton gave $25,000 in stocks and bonds to the Women’s Home Missionary Society. Her stipulation with the generous gift in 1921 was that the money was to remain intact and that half of the interest is to be used for scholarships for women going into full-time Christian vocations. The other half of the interest is to be used for a national mission. The stock account has grown since 1921 and hundreds of scholarships have been awarded. The fund is administered by the Designated Fund Committee of the MN Conference United Women in Faith. Women with college degrees and United Methodist backgrounds who are currently enrolled in a course of stu...

Consecrated, Commissioned Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News Photo by Carolyn Winslow Sixty deaconesses and home missioners from 29 conferences were consecrated at the United Women in Faith Assembly 2022 in Orlando, Florida.  The office of Deaconess and Home Missioner, a division of United Methodist Women, “enables laity to respond to a vocational call to be Christ in the world through consecration for lifetime servant ministries of love, justice, and service.”  Among the 60, were three from Minnesota: Deaconesses  Carolyn Winslow and Cindy Saufferer, and Home Missioner Louis Porter II. These three as well as Deaconess Nicole Weydt (who could not attend Assembly) were also commissioned at the 2022 Minnesota Annual Conference by Bishop David Bard and assisted with worship at Annual Conference. The Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner invites those who are discerning a call to ministry to attend  a virtual discernment event taking place on Thursday, October 6, 2022. L-R:...

The Charter for Racial Justice Workshop by Jane Baker River Valley District President   One Assembly Workshop brought together members of the North Central Jurisdiction to advance conversation on racial justice education. With about 60 participants in total, delegates from each conference sat together. The workshop, “Because We Believe—the Charter for Racial Justice,”   started with introductions during which each attendee shared the name of someone who had influenced their thoughts on racial justice. Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells, Theressa Hoover, and Kamala Harris were among the well-known influencers. I named River Valley District officer Liz Weninger. Liz worked and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960’s. When I heard her speak at our district’s Spring Gathering (see photo above), I learned how much experience and knowledge she has about racial justice. After workshop introductions, participants were encouraged to discuss their respective conference’s member edu...

Coming from 24 countries and all 50 states, more than 3,000 gathered in Orlando, Florida and online for United Women in Faith’s Assembly 2022, held May 20-22 at the Orange County Convention Center. Among the thousands were about 50 from Minnesota.   Ubuntu Day of Service   Three hundred women, including several from Minnesota, came to Assembly a day early to participate in an Ubuntu Day of Service, volunteer work supporting outreach organizations in Florida, site of this year’s Assembly event.   The day was sponsored by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. Participants put together meal, hygiene, and community garden packets to benefit three organizations: Rise Against Hunger, My Neighbor’s Children, and Cornerstone Family Ministries. “Ubuntu is the  being  of mission,” said United Women in Faith’s Michelle Clemons, co-organizer of the event along with Zelda Jones. “It focuses on relationships, shared experience, and mutuality. Having a posit...