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Erie Area Church Women United
100th Anniversary Celebration
A SUCCESS!
Women, History, Honor, Praise and Memories
O, Church Women United, We Are Called, We Are The Church! The three titles of our glorious hymns sung on Saturday, August 21, 2010 ~ meaningful in every sense of the word. We are church women, we are united, we are called, we are the "church" and we are so blessed by our Father to have been loved and cared for by hundreds of local women who have carried us to this special day, for the past 100 years.
Our celebration began early in the morning with a lovely time of fellowship and warm hospitality offered by our Benedictine Sisters. At 9:00, Sister Therese Glass began our morning retreat with a poignant look at The Fine Art of Living by Joan Chittister. We reflected upon the collective years of giving and service within the room filled with over 20 past CWU leaders, Valiant Women and Young Church Women. We were lifted up by Diane Edwards who shared Erie's ecumenical history with us and brought with her the warm wishes of Inter Church Ministries of Erie County for our next 100 years.
The morning then broke into sessions that included presentations by Pastor Dan Wolboldt of Warren State Hospital, Djamillah Samad, National Executive of CWU, and Kathy Leemhuis representing SERVV International. All seemed to enjoy the morning followed by mid-day prayer with the Benedictine Community and a most delightful lunch together.
Our anniversary day reached it's highpoint at 1:30 pm when nearly 100 men, women and children gathered to praise the Lord! Music by the Benedictine Community gently filled the air and Sister Ann Wambach opened with a word of welcome. Nine awesome women were given Valiant Woman and Young Church Woman Awards and touching words about each of them filled our hearts and eyes with emotion. Djamillah Samad, National Executive of CWU shared thoughts and prayers from both NYC and Washington and offered some vision for our future.
Proclamations from the City of Erie to the White House were presented with love and each and every member of the Erie Area Church Women United Leadership Team assisted in the execution of a perfect celebration. Many thanks to everyone who had a hand in the Anniversary Celebration and even more so to those many women who gave of themselves over the past 100 years. Our rich history will be the foundation of our future. Thank you!
Designs By Lucinda Fundraiser
This year our local unit has embarked on a unique inspirational jewelry fundraiser to help ensure the future of CWU, its celebrations, and programming. With the remarkable support of your wonderful sisters in Christ, we have sold nearly every pin and decided to conclude our fundraiser with the sale of a custom design 100th Anniversary pin!
To make this a special part of our history, we decided to limit the number of pins available to 100 in honor of each and every wonderful year of our existence in the Erie Area! The sale of this beautiful pin will not only support and enhance the ecumenical Christian mission of Church Women United (CWU) in the Erie Area, but those women who wear these 100 pins will be a part of history! These pins are a combination of the cross and flower design which you have become accustomed to seeing in our newsletters and at our celebrations which was designed by our very own Leadership Team member, Gail Smith, and the National CWU sunburst logo.
COMMEMORATIVE PINS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE:
on Sunday, November 7th at our World Community Day Celebration,
and/or by mail - CLICK HERE for an order form.
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