Our women's meeting began life at Wesley about 90 years ago when it was called the Sisterhood and met regularly on Monday afternoons. We now call it Network and it comes under the umbrella organisation of Methodist Women in Britain (MWiB). We meet once a month, usually on the last Monday.
Network ladies 2011
History
MWiB was launched on 1st July 2011, and was formed from two existing women's movements: Women's Network in the Methodist Church (simply known as Network), and the British Unit of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women (WFMUCW).
The Women's Network in the Methodist Church was formed in 1987. It brought together the two women's movements in the Methodist Church at that time, Women's Work and Women's Fellowship.
Women's Work came into being in 1858 as a movement of women supporting training and care for women missionaries, and who raised awareness and money for work overseas.
Women's Fellowship was formed in 1945 out of a concern for the problems created by the Second World War. It focused on welfare issues, fellowship and the training of women for leadership roles. Both these movements developed and had their own places within the life of the Church. Each was respected for the contribution it made. However, as the role of women in society began to change, so women within the church were beginning to question; why have two separate groups of women, when both were looking at the contribution of women in church and society, the theology of home and overseas mission? So, after much consultation and an enormous sense of pride in our past heritage, where the foundations for the future had been well established, Women's Network was born.
