Episcopal Church Women: The First Hundred Years part 10
Episcopal Church Women: The First Hundred Years part 10
This story is excerpted from Episcopal Church Women of Minnesota: The First Hundred Years, published in 1982 and reprinted in 2020.
The years 1962–1972 were a period of almost continuous violence and confrontation, both racial (Civil Rights rallies in Washington, D.C. and Salem, Alabama, Watts, and Detroit) and generational (Woodstock, the draft, Kent State, long-hair vs crew-cut). There were assassinations (Kennedys; Martin Luther King) and national failures (Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, blackout of Northeast)—and, for Episcopalians, the historic and traumatic General Convention and Triennial.
Up to 1967, ECW of Minnesota had done very well. It had 131 local units in 13 deaneries and was truly a helping hand to the Diocese. According to the 1963 constitution, it tried “to assume all possible share of the work . . . to extend Christ’s Kingdom.” To that end, in 1964, it collected in Apportionment $27,177.58 and sent $84,958.28 in Blue Box money to the St. Louis UTO Ingathering.
All departments/associates seemed to have been operating smoothly. Supply, for instance, filled its national assignment (this was discontinued in 1967) and sent layettes to Indian missions—plus quantities of clothing for resale. (ECW concluded at this time that, instead of “giving” so much, it would help the missions toward self-sufficiency.) It sent good, used furs to Alaska and new clothing to New Guinea—our recently acquired companion Diocese. CPC collected books for libraries: Gilfillan, two colleges in New Guinea, and the Church Army. It also provided clergy and missions with Bibles, Prayer Books, and sent Christmas books to seminarians. Christian Education tried to “. . . increase awareness of issues confronting Christian lay people.” (“Sensitivity” was the new buzz word.) CSR shared the same field, explaining the what and how. For instance, it issued material on race relations—at the same time, contributing both to social work for [urban-dwelling] Indians and, as always, to the Indian Scholarship Fund, the Building Fund, and the Clergy Discretionary Fund, as well as to other needs.
The smaller committees also performed admirably. The Altar Guild, for instance, continued to supply missions and to give surplices as a gift of welcome to priests new in the Diocese. Its embroidery division also filled numerous requests. Christian Ministries now that Windham House and St. Margaret’s had phased out, still gave scholarships, but to different schools. The National Cathedral Association, one year, added fifty-five members, bought twelve building stones for the edifice, made gifts to the White Chapel Fund, and added two blocks of needlepoint (states) to the War Memorial Tapestry. Lane House Guild continued its valuable work of maintaining the non-office part of the building; Indian Crafts now developed wild rice as a project; the Women’s Association of the Episcopal Foundation also kept up with its work. Ecumenical activities, too, were carried on with verve, and, in April 1966, on its thirtieth birthday, Church Women United honored Miss Mary Smith of Gethsemane (Minneapolis), who had been its first President.
Just before the General Convention and Triennial in Seattle, the Presiding Bishop, Bishop Hines, had toured ghettos, and, when he called the meeting to order, asked delegates to re-order priorities and give funds to Crisis in the Cities. Then, he asked ECW to up its contribution to the national Church from one million dollars to three. It did so. Delegates to Convention also acceded to Bishop Hines’ request and passed certain other notable and controversial bills as well: (1) restructuring the Church (under this the General Division of Women’s Work would become the Committee for Women), (2) the adoption for trial use of certain sections of a new Prayer Book, (3) seating of women in Convention (this, however, was contingent on its being passed again in 1970). It should also be noted that, in 1968, a representative from national headquarters met with the Minnesota ECW Board at Minnetonka and urged them to give up their separate women’s organization. After much thought about the past and the future, the Board decided not to dissolve.
Over the years, women had not really fared well in the Church. In 1922, the Committee on Woman’s Place in the Church had noted: “It is obsolete and out of all reasonable consideration for women to carry on the Church’s work and have neither vote nor voice . . .” At every General Convention since, the question had been raised—and denied. When the proposal finally received a 100% standing yea-vote, the reaction of many women was not one of gratitude, but rather one of indignation for having been kept so long waiting in the wings.
When delegates returned home from Seattle, they found that the decisions made there by Convention and Triennial were not approved by all Episcopalians; indeed, they caused considerable division in the Church. However, the idea of restructure caught on, and, in Minnesota, several deaneries and parishes gave up their traditional officer-and-committees structure with alacrity—not to say abandon—and experimented with new forms. (It may have been that ECW had become a little top-heavy with officers, committees, directives.) Some deaneries and parishes then adopted a single steering committee (occasionally both men and women); one deanery re-structured by dividing into four districts; one dissolved entirely “. . . in search for more meaningful [another buzz word] corporate life.” Several local ECWs dropped out as they sought restructure and redefinition of purpose. In 1970–1971, the deanery system itself was given up and a nine-region arrangement took its place.
Soon after, a representative of the Diocese met with the ECW Board to discuss with them “where they stood and where they were going.” After considerable thought, the Board arrived at the earth-shaking conclusion that “. . . women need to determine their own goals and objectives.”
From that day, apparently, ECW began to think in terms of its chosen programs and gradually left off being primarily either hand-maiden or helping hand to the Diocese. It was well into the next decade, however, before ECW, or anyone else for that matter, saw what the “goals and objectives” of the organization should be.