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April 2005
The theme of the World Day of Prayer for this year is “Let Our Light Shine.” The service was written by the WDP Women of Poland and in the United States this is sponsored by Church Women United. My local unit used this for our United Methodist Women’s Day service this year because we felt it reflected the work of United Methodist Women.
The service is based on the scripture of Matthew 5:14-16 and is the same as one of our Assembly scriptures, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
United Methodist Women help to give light to the oppressed and dispossessed around the world. In 2004, total Undesignated Giving was up 0.59%. This was primarily due to quadrennial meeting offerings and Special Mission Recognition was up 9.5%. Also offerings for the 135th Anniversary totaled $424,254. The other channels were flat or had a decrease.
In 2004, the total operating revenue of the Women’s Division was $30,603,767 as opposed to $28,771,651 in 2003. However, there was a small decrease in net assets due to a smaller gain in investments of $4,362,481 as compared to $15,156,691 in 2003, and a larger expenditure of property renovations. The giving for A Call to Prayer and Self-Denial was $1,037,840 and the theme was “Health in a Changing World.” The distribution of this offering and proposed grants are in the Mission Opportunities Book. Supplementary Gifts were $1,782,666 and represents an increase of 29.8%.
The expenditures in 2004 were $35,262,254 and include the retirement benefits to 350 retired missionaries and deaconesses. All expenditures were within the approved appropriations and other planned expenditures. Supporting services, the auditing term for administrative expenses, totaled $3,104,502 or 8.8% of total expenditures. Staff monitored expenses diligently. We are now operating on spending limits for non-fixed items in order to rebuild reserves, and the future income outlook is a continued challenge.
United Methodist Women have brought light into the world for over 135 years. Barbara Campbell in her book In the Middle of Tomorrow says,
“Women organized for mission! That is our history! That is our goal! And it is from that commitment that we have constantly seemed to be ‘in the middle of tomorrow!’”
United Methodist Women are light in the world at 102 National Mission Institutions serving over two million women, children and youth each year in the United States. United Methodist Women are a light in the world at the Wesley-Rankin Center in Dallas which serves a predominantly Hispanic community. When I visited the center a few years ago there had just been a drive-by gang shooting and today the youth are carrying out activities in the Sarah E. Wilke Youth Center which was given to them by the city of Dallas Parks and is helping to empower youth to make positive choices in their lives.
United Methodist Women are a light in the world in nearly 400 programs and projects around the world and in Mozambique in a United Methodist Project assisting orphans who are abandoned children, children of war or whose parents have died of HIV/AIDS.
United Methodist Women are a light in the world in the Reading Program. A young women student at Columbia University visited my church and shared with me how the Reading program of United Methodist Women opened her eyes and gave her the courage to come to school in New York City from rural Kansas.
United Methodist Women are a light in the world in the School of Christian Missions offering new insights to issues, to geographical areas, and to our spiritual growth.
United Methodist Women are a light in the world in education. Historically, United Methodist Women have provided education for women and girls where none was previously available. Today through the Children’s Campaign we continue to advocate for Public Education and to help improve children’s education.
United Methodist Women truly are lights shining. However, we must not rest on past successes. Some futurists are concerned with sustainability in this world. One futurist said that no corporation is currently sustainable given its projected liabilities and obligation. He went on to say that a re-envisioning must begin to occur and there needs to be a changing of systems. One would not have believed even five years ago that General Motors might be on the edge of collapse, nor that AT&T would become a part of one of its former subsidiaries.
The work that the Women’s Division is beginning to do is long range planning and re-envisioning is vitally important. Theressa Hoover has said women organized for mission are in our church for the long journey. This mission is not our mission, it is God’s mission and we have committed ourselves to be proactive participants. The approach to mission that has been taken is one of partnership, mutuality, interdependence and solidarity rather than giving and receiving. The revisions to the Sharing Partners Action Network reflect a collaborative effort between our National Mission Institutions and the Women’s Division and the General Board of Global Ministries. It is an exciting prospect, it is changing the system.
Like the women in Luke 8:1-3, United Methodist Women have walked with Jesus and provided for his ministry out of their resources. The Policy Statement on Giving states:
“To achieve full partnership in our churches, neighborhoods and global communities, the Women’s Division expresses its continuing commitment to women, children and youth through prayers, gifts, and actions....United Methodist Women members are called by God to be in mission by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and by sharing God’s gifts.”
We have just been through the Easter season and that message is fresh with us. It is a message of abundant and eternal life; a message of love, liberation and unity; a message of hope, wholeness and justice. It is a message of resurrection and transformation. So Behold The Resurrection!
Connie J. Takamine
Treasurer
Date posted:
Apr 26, 2005
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