The Women’s Missionary Society is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The milestone was recognized at a luncheon on May 15 that attracted current and former staff, women from the Presbyterian Church from across Canada, and other women’s societies around the world. The event included speeches from former moderator Rev. Dr. David Sutherland, international guests, and former presidents of the WMS.
“Today I look around this room and see so many faces and I hear so many names of those who lent such fantastic support to all of us in ministries in Canada and in countries stretched around this weary world,” said former missionary and general secretary of the Life and Mission Agency, Rev. Dr. Rick Fee. “We sincerely thank you for every gesture. They were received. They were appreciated.”
The WMS was formed on May 15, 1914, when three groups came together at Knox, Toronto, to create one new group. The three founding organizations were the Ladies Auxiliary Association, the Women’s Foreign Mission Society, and the Women’s Home Mission Society.
The Ladies Auxiliary Association was formed in Montreal in 1864. The group of women worked for the Church of Scotland among the French. Over the years of their work, this group changed its name twice, settling on the Women’s Missionary Society, which the amalgamated group later adopted as its own.
The Women’s Foreign Missionary Society came into being through the Foreign Mission Committee of the church. They were formed in 1876 in Toronto to assist the committee with work involving women and children in the mission field, at the time including work with First Nations peoples and new immigrants from Europe in Western Canada.
The Women’s Home Missionary Society was founded in 1903, branching out of the Atlin Nurses’ Committee (which began in 1898). This society focused on supporting and developing hospitals, education and social services in remote areas of Canada. The women often gathered clothing and supplies to send across Canada to people in need. They also trained and sent deaconesses to work in Western Canada.
In 1972 the Women’s Missionary Society integrated with the work of the Presbyterian Church in Canada to support all mission work of the denomination. The group aims to work through the love of God to encourage all people to participate and support mission work. The WMS has supported many missions and missionaries throughout the years through prayer, financial assistance and service.
Many of the speakers at the anniversary event had been missionaries who were directly affected by the work of the WMS and remembered them for the cards they sent on holidays, the group’s desire to help in any situation, and the continuous support they all received while overseas.
“I can testify to the amazing strength and support that we gained from the gestures of friendship and kindness that came our way from individual members of the Atlantic Mission Society and the Women’s Missionary Society,” said Fee. “Cards, letters, church bulletins, financial support for those ‘little extra’ projects all conspired together to give that necessary lift when days seemed long and problems loomed large over one’s head.”
But the church has changed, and the WMS isn’t the same as it was 100 years ago. When the WMS was born, it was one of the only ways women could be involved in the work of the church. Today, the WMS is realizing the implications of an aging membership, which is, according to Alana Martin, former administrative assistant of the WMS, their biggest challenge.
“Something will have to be done to encourage new membership,” said Martin, one of the organizers of the event. “We need more people, preferably young people.”
“We’ve been consulting with WMS members across the country to get an idea about what changes they might want to see, and what they cherish and want to keep,” said executive director, Sarah Kim. “There are many, many opinions, and we’ll have to wait and see in what direction we’ll head.”
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Suggested Reading:
Women on the Cutting Edge of Misson by Heather Jones
