Episcopal Church Women (ECW)
Vision
We are Episcopal Church Women, committed to one another and called to witness for Christ. Our challenge is to provide a safe place where every woman is free to become the person Christ called her to be. We are called. We are different. We are one body.
Our Mission
To make our vision a reality, the Episcopal Church Women of East Carolina must engage, mobilize, and support the women of our diocese to ensure we all have the means to go out into the world rejoicing in the power of the spirit and serving the Lord.
Our Goals
- To strengthen lines of communication through our Diocesan ECW Newsletter and our website
- To encourage familiarity with and participation in programs offered to women of the Episcopal Church on a parish, diocesan, provincial, and national level
- To provide scholarships to support education for women and children in need
- o reach out to all those in need
- To present knowledgeable Speakers and event leaders to guide our efforts in reaching our vision
- To actively volunteer ourselves in such a manner that our vision becomes a reality
Letter to the Diocese
To All Women (and interested men) in the Diocese of East Carolina,
We’d like to borrow these powerful words of Bishop-elect Deon Johnson of the Diocese of Missouri:
The work of the church is essential.
The work of caring for the lonely, the marginalized and the oppressed is essential.
The work of speaking truth to power and seeking justice is essential.
The work of being a loving, liberating and life giving presence in the world is essential.
The work of welcoming the stranger, the refugee and the undocumented is essential.
The work of reconciliation and healing and caring is essential.
The church does not need to “open” because the church never “closed.”
We who make up the Body of Christ, the church, love God and our neighbors and ourselves so much
that we will stay away from our buildings until it is safe.
We are the church.
Our challenge during these very trying times is to maintain our perspective and our level of
commitment. Now more than ever, we, as Episcopalian women in eastern North Carolina, need to support each other as we find new avenues to reach out to those in need and to actively volunteer ourselves in such a manner that our vision becomes a reality. We do not need to wait for our churches to “open” to feed a struggling family, deliver toilet paper to the elderly lady on your street who can’t go shopping, host a “virtual” fundraiser to raise funds for your regional Food Bank or set up weekly phone calls to the members of your parish who are alone, sick or bedridden. Be the church.
We look forward to working with each of you in the “new normal” as we meet the needs of our parishes and communities.
Sincerely,
Diocesan ECW
