Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Ten would have been considered a success.   

But when twenty-six women showed up for a Saturday morning retreat sponsored by the Episcopal Church Women, the numbers alone were enough to make the group take notice.   

I suspect that many ECW groups (and other committees in the church as well) are doing some soul searching. As demographics continue to shift, the ECW of our mothers may not make as much sense in today’s context. But I’m also convinced that ECW can have an important role in the life of a congregation, and importantly, in the lives of the women in that community.   

The ECW at our church has become the catch-all. Basically, if it involves women, it’s seen as broadly under the umbrella of the ECW. In part, this happened because of the amazing generosity of women in the church, women who were willing to volunteer oodles of time for all manner of events, from the spaghetti suppers to the raffle parties, from book clubs to wine tastings.   

But the downside is a lack of focus and identity. No single group can be all things to all people. And frankly some of the ministry and work of the ECW belongs to other groups, including outreach, buildings and grounds, and hospitality.   

So we ask ourselves: what do women want? How would we like to reshape the focus of our local ECW to fit the needs of the members and community? How can we share the opportunity (and work) with other groups? What could this reorganization mean for our chapter of ECW?   

We are working on distributing a survey. The church-wide ECW offers a wonderful start with a sample survey that can be reshaped for your local context. The information we gather from the survey will be very helpful in determining our top priorities.   

At the same time, actions speak loudly. Two dozen women of all ages dedicated a Saturday morning to learning exploring our inner Mary and Martha’s—and how to nurture both within ourselves. During the morning, we prayed together, we stretched our bodies and minds, and we listened to each other’s stories without judgment and (mostly) without advice.   

The morning reflected a deep hunger for spiritual growth, a desire to seek with others how God is calling us to live and be and love in the world. If that’s all we did with ECW, it would be pretty amazing. But I can’t wait to see where this focus might lead us.