A(nother) New Name: United Women in Faith

I was talking with a friend the other day about the struggle for so many of us to transition from thinking about UMW to thinking about UWF, and then she went on to tell me all the names that our organization had been called in her lifetime. As someone who is relatively new to being a United Methodist and a member of UWF, I was surprised to hear that the name had changed so many times! The same is true of our denomination over the years as well as Mission u—the names may change, but the mission is the same.

As much as it can be annoying to have to train our brains to use a new name and a new acronym, I think that says something very good about both our denomination and United Women of Faith. It says that we want to do our best to include all women who are called to make a difference—those who are members of a United Methodist church and those who aren't, those who are United Methodists whose churches have a unit, and those whose churches don't. It reminds me of how we approach communion in our church—all are welcome and encouraged to participate.

The screen capture above is from the new United Women in Faith website. If you have not taken a moment to check it out, I encourage you to do so. What you will find there is that this is still the same organization we love and enjoy—still working to improve the lives of women, children, and youth, and still seeking spiritual growth and racial and climate justice. We're still us. Just with a(nother) new name. Apparently, that has happened more than 25 times in our history. Yet we are still here, as it says on the website, "a sisterhood acting in faith to tackle the hard work of the world without hesitation." Whatever name we go by, that's something to be excited about! —Julie T.