September 2025
- West Ohio UWF
- Sep 2
- 9 min read
United Women in Faith of West Ohio
September Inspirations
We believe love in action can change the world.
Contents:
From the West Ohio Conference President
Important information about the Annual Celebration
Our Standing Rules state that the Proposed 2026 Standing Rules, the Proposed 2026 Budget and the Proposed 2026 Slate of Elected Officers are to be posted on the web site 30 days prior to the meeting. Please review these items and be prepared to vote at the Annual Celebration on October 11, 2025.
September and October are exciting months for us. Each district will be hosting their “Fall” event, celebrating accomplishments through the year, and electing new leadership for 2026. On October 11th, at the West Ohio Conference Center in Worthington, we will have our annual conference celebration from 10:00 to 2:00. Our 2025 theme, “Lift Every Voice: Dialogue Across Differences” will continue with a panel of guests, Rev. Lizzy Ortiz, Yenny Diaz-Burrios, Rev. Daniel Cardenas, and Rev. Katya Brodbeck, who will be telling their story of coming to this country. Mike Premo, Executive Director of Community For All People will speak, representing the National Mission Institutes we support. We will hear from Tracy Craft, our newly commissioned West Ohio Deaconess. Our lunch will be catered from Freedom a la Carte, an organization whose mission is to support survivors of human trafficking. You will find the registration for this meeting and the District “Fall” events on our website: westohiouwf.org. I hope to see you all there. It will be a great day.
Paula Nourse, Kinder6595@hotmail.com, 614-326-9062 (texting is good)
From Your Conference Treasurer
In the August edition of this newsletter, Paula Nourse, WOC UWF President, reminded us of the importance of mission giving. Each day, as I open my 2025 Prayer Calendar, I find myself praying for some of the recipients of our mission dollars: National Mission Institutions which are meeting needs and empowering women, youth, and children all over our country; students, both here in the United States and throughout the world, who are receiving scholarships enabling them to pursue and achieve their educational goals; international mission programs, etc. For example, last week I prayed for Neighborhood House in Wilmington, Delaware and the North Rampart Community Center in New Orleans; Doreen Mhlandhla, a scholarship recipient who is pursuing a M.Div. in Social Justice Advocacy at Drew Theological School in New Jersey; United Methodist Women Association in Cameroon; the New Mexico Annual Conference UWF; the Shepherd Society in Israel/Palestine; Southern Congo Wings of the Morning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Wings of the Morning is special to me because Gaston Ntambo attended the college where I worked.) I also have the opportunity to pray for UWF staff, missionaries, deaconesses and home missioners each week as they celebrate their birthdays. To think that all of these people and organizations are supported by our mission dollars – and this is just a small sampling.
The West Ohio Conference UWF has set a Pledge to Missions goal of $150,000 for 2025. At the end of June, we had reached 23% (or $35,125.18) of that goal. Thank you - and we still have time to meet this goal, but only with your continued undesignated giving support (and your prayers). We want United Women in Faith to be able to continue to support its many projects.
If you have questions, please contact me (Marsha Klingbeil) at uwfmarsha419@gmail.com.
Marsha Klingbeil, Treasurer, West Ohio Conference United Women in Faith
Opening Ourselves to Social Action:
This Month – Our Status, Our Role
“...We were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.’ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!’ At that moment the spirit left her.”
Acts 16:16-18
These few verses, connected to the story of Lydia, the seller of purple, caught my attention. I just didn’t remember this part of the story. Of course Lydia was a woman of means with a business and a belief in God. She responded to the apostles invitation to accept Christ, and supported them financially. But here is a slave girl, basically witnessing to salvation.
It is annoying when children, or adults, keep “yammering” about anyything and won’t stop! I guess this girl/woman, a mere slave, got on Paul’s last nerve, so she was shushed. Her owners weren’t happy to lose the money she could earn for them. So Paul and his companions were jailed because of the owners’ complaints. Is it bad for me to think this slave, with no filter or tact, was spreading the Gospel before the apostles had the chance? Guess I’m always looking for ways women were/are silenced.
The United Methodist Church, through the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (GCSRW) – along with United Women in Faith – have championed our value in the denomination for 53 years! There’s a letter written by Rev. Stephanie York Arnold, General Secretary, concerning shocking ideas put forth by a newer church, Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches: women should not vote, should not be in church leadership roles, should not be pastors, should be at home with children, etc. What is even more concerning, several government officials are members of this church and espouse these ideas!
We thought these ideas were part of the past, giving women choices today. There was an interview on CNN recently with one of the co-founders you can view, but I encourage you to check out Rev. Arnold’s letter on the GCSRW website, maybe run some copies for those who don’t have internet access. This would be a great discussion topic for one of your meetings. We need to be championing all women, in all situations, whatever their choices.
Becky Ruple, WOH Social Action Coordinator
BOOKS TO INSPIRE
Here are some books from the Reading Program you might find motivating as you plan on educating yourself and encouraging others.
Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams
Our Strangely Warmed Hearts: Coming Out into God’s Call by Karen P. Oliveto
You’ve Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected by Cynt Marshall
Love Is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement by Sandra Neil Wallace
A Right Worthy Woman by Ruth P. Watson
Raise Your Voice: Why We Stay Silent and How to Speak Up by Kathy Khang
We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders: A Memoir of Love and Resistance by Linda Sarsour
Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist & Civil Rights Activist by Rosita Stevens-Holsey and Terry Catasus Jennings
The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr
Time: The Untold Story That Held Us Together When Incarceration Kept Us Apart by Fox Richardson and Rob Richardson
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want by Ruha Benjamin
What We Owe the Future by William MacAskill
The Gift of the Unexpected: Discerning Who You Were Meant to Be by Jillian Benfield
Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza
Sacred Resistance: A Practical Guide to Christian Witness and Dissent by Ginger Gaines-Cirelli
Join Us in Building a Legacy of Love
I hope this message finds you blessed, thriving, and inspired by the power of our community and sisterhood. Today, I am reaching out to share an update on the Legacy Endowment Fund.
At United Women in Faith, we are dedicated to addressing the needs of vulnerable people, fostering equity, and advancing social good for women, children, and youth here at home and around the world.
Together, we bear witness to the Wesleyan tradition of living an active Christian life, blessing others with our service, and building the kin-dom—we love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously. That’s what we do as Methodist women: United Women in Faith’s mission is to connect and nurture women through Christian spiritual formation, leadership development, creative fellowship, and education.
One of the most impactful ways you can contribute to our mission of putting love in action is to join us by supporting the Legacy Endowment Fund, a permanently invested endowment, that will be an ongoing source of income, providing the assurance that our important work can always continue for generations to come. In 2014, United Women in Faith launched the Legacy Endowment Fund Campaign with a bold goal of raising $60 million. The Legacy Endowment Fund is now at $50.4 million!
We are excited and proud that we have come this far together. Without you, none of this would have been possible.
I believe that your gift is not just of monetary value; it’s an investment in the next generation of bold, courageous women who will live their faith by showing up and taking action in service of love, justice, and mercy.
If you are able, please consider giving generously and joining us in building this legacy of love. Giving to the Legacy Endowment Fund will support United Women in Faith in perpetuity. To make your gift today, visit uwfaith.org/legacy.
Thank you for your generosity and for your commitment to putting love first.
In Christ,
Janice Deal
Legacy Liaison
Annual Celebration Registration
In case you've missed it, online registration for our October 11 Annual Celebration is available at https://www.westohiouwf.org/2025-annual-celebration. On that page, you will find documents to read prior to our meeting. All registrants may register online and pay online or through mail—your choice!
Reading Program with West Ohio
Our collaboration with The West Ohio Conference continues, led by Julie Carter, Director of Faith Formation and Lay Ministry. Each month, the Expanding Connections Book Club meets via Zoom to discuss the month's book selection. In this new partnership, we are inviting our UWF community to join people from all over West Ohio as we Expand our Connection with one another and people we haven't met yet. Each month's book selections will be diverse, accessible, and empowering. This community of readers will be a hub promoting equality, equity, and inclusion and sharing the stories of the world to generate empathy and peace through books. Books will be announced on the 15th of each month, and a time for gathering and sharing will take place around the same time.
National Mission Institutions
National Mission Institutions are community-based organizations and social service agencies that were almost exclusively founded by women in the 19th century to serve marginalized communities and populations across the United States. Today, United Women in Faith remains connected to these community centers, colleges, and residences providing vital services in vulnerable communities. National Mission Institutions empower women, care for children, support seniors, educate youth, provide housing for domestic violence survivors, and offer residences for special needs children and youth. National Mission Institutions also advocate for the women, children, youth, and families in the communities they serve.
Learn more about the Mission Institutions in West Ohio—their histories, missions, and how you can serve and support the vital work they do:
National Events, News, & Resources
The National Office has many interesting events and gatherings such as Faith Talks, Voices of the Field, Podcasts, and Webinars. Go to the United Women in Faith website to find out more and to subscribe to their digital communications to stay up on the latest scoop by clicking here.
Important Information
Join us in celebrating all the ways we inspire, influence, and impact our churches and communities with our 2023 Annual Report. We will share the 2024 Annual Report once it is made available.
The United Women in Faith Board of Directors approved the organization's 2025 budget at its fall board meeting. Check out our report.
United Women in Faith continues to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Middle East. Read our statement.
We join our friends at the General Commission on Religion and Race to condemn false claims against migrants and call for action against racism and xenophobia. Read the full statement.
Support United Women in Faith
Please consider increasing your Pledge to Mission, both individually and from your local unit! Gifts to Mission make it possible for United Women in Faith to carry out its vital work to connect and nurture women through Christian formation, leadership development, creative fellowship, and education so that they can inspire, influence, and impact local and global communities.
The Legacy Endowment Fund
The most recent total of contributions to the Legacy Endowment Fund was in excess of $50,400,000 as of the end of July 2025. We anticipate making our goal of $60M by the end of the quadrennium in 2028. To learn more about this fund and how you can give to keep United Women in Faith strong for the future, go here.
The goal for this year's Day of Giving 2025 was $450,000, and an astounding $553,826 was given!
Learn about All-Access Membership
All Access provides easy online availability to resources nationwide. Customize your experience and access more ways to put love in action. Because love in action can change the world. Learn more.
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