January 9, 2012

Dear Sisters in Christ,

I received the following message from Women's Division about the proposed reorganization.

Directors of the Women's Division approved a proposal to structurally separate from the General Board of Global Ministries while continuing to work together with the GBGM in mutual areas of mission.

More details appear in the following document that was attached to the message.
 
Blessings,
Nancy M. Randers-Pehrson
Conference President, BWC United Methodist Women

Here is a document that might help you in conversation with local United Methodist Women members as you go into your Annual Conference meetings next week. It outlines what the proposed changes are and how it may affect United Methodist Women members, officers, and organizational structures.

Proposed Changes, What’s Staying the Same, & The Proposed Advantages

Proposed changes:

  1. The Women’s Division will structurally separate from General Board of Global Ministries.
  2. The title of “Women’s Division will become United Methodist Women.
  3. The board of directors will reduce its size from 50 to 25 members, with the task of fiduciary management.
  4. A Program Advisory Group, composed of 70-80 members, will recommend programmatic policies to the Board of Directors.
  5. The term “unit will be replaced with “local organization of United Methodist Women.
  6. Fewer officers will be required.

What's staying the same:

  1. The PURPOSE.
  2. The focus of United Methodist Women for women, children & youth.
  3. The priority of social justice and advocacy work.
  4. The streams and processes of funding United Methodist Women mission.

The main advantage: More flexibility.

The proposed reorganizing of the Womens Division Board of Directors and United Methodist Women leadership teams independently from GBGM means more flexibility to grow in mission with women, children and youth around the world.

More flexibility

  • Enables mission teams at all levels to organize how they best see fit to fulfill the Purpose and do the work according to their community's, church's, and members' needs.
  • Enables your mission team to remain the same if your organizational structure is working for you.
  • Enables the Women’s Division to advocate more strategically on behalf of women, children and youth within The United Methodist Church by moving from a division to an agency.
  • Enables the Women’s Division to broaden its priorities across the church by working directly with other agencies through the General Secretaries Table.
  • Enables United Methodist Women members from every Annual Conference representation on the Board of Directors and Program Advisory Group and thus fuller participation in the organization.

Keep in mind, these are proposals to be brought to General Conference in 2012, and we do not know what will result from the voting. Any changes will not be implemented officially until January 2013; however, the Women’s Division will prepare for implementation following General Conference.

There are also resources from the United Methodist Women website that offer guidance on the proposed changes:

Press Release: new.gbgm-umc.org/umw/news/press/item/index.cfm?id=489

FAQs: new.gbgm-umc.org/umw/news/press/item/index.cfm?id=487

Please feel free to distribute these links widely through your Conference network and remind Annual Conference attendees to visit www.unitedmethodistwomen.org for updated information on the proposed changes.