By Loretta Fulton

“Horizon Dawning” not only was the title but also the tone of the United Women in Faith conference held Friday and Saturday in Abilene.

United Women in Faith is the name of the women’s organization of the United Methodist Church, although membership is open to women of other denominations. They met Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9, in Abilene to note the end of one era and the beginning of another. On Friday, they closed three separate chapters of United Women in Faith in preparation for celebrating one unified chapter on Saturday. In closing remarks at Friday’s session, held at St. James United Methodist Church, Brenda Breedan acknowledged that the ending was difficult.

“But we have the horizon to look forward to,” she said.

On Sept. 28, representatives of three conferences of the United Methodist Church–Northwest Texas, Central Texas, and North Texas–met in Abilene to unify as the Horizon Texas Conference. Previously, each conference had its own chapter of United Women in Faith. At the Nov. 8 and 9 meetings, women of the three conferences closed their old chapters and joined together as the Horizon Texas Conference chapter. 

Saturday’s meeting was held in the campus center of McMurry University, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. More than 160 delegates representing 68 individual congregations in the three former conferences convened to officially unify as one chapter. Standing rules were adopted and officers installed, including one from Abilene. Officers elected for the new conference are:

Wendy Campbell, president and communications coordinator
Brenda Breeden, St. James, Abilene, vice president
Vanessa Simon, secretary
Stachia Brothers, treasurer

At left, Brenda Breeden and Jeff Fisher visit at St. James United Methodist Church Nov. 8. At right, a crowd shot and a table centerpiece at McMurry University Nov. 9. United Women In Faith logo. Photos by Loretta Fulton

Presiding over the installation was Sally Vonner of Grand Prairie, national General Secretary and CEO of United Women in Faith. Vonner also was the keynote speaker.

“I do greet you in faith, hope, and love,” she said.

She noted that women in the Methodist Church first formed an organization in 1869, and it has gone through various name changes since then. “United Women in Faith” was adopted in 2022. The organization has gone through many other changes and challenges since then, too. Those changes have been met with resistance through various phases, including unification as the Horizon Texas Conference organization.

“The good news,” Vonner said, “is that God invites us into a new dawning every day.”

Vonner, an ordained United Methodist pastor, talked about the impact that the women’s organization has made on women, youth, and children. She used herself as an example. She felt called to ordained ministry but thought it was impossible due to financial concerns. But the United Methodist Women, as the group was then known, stepped up with a scholarship to Perkins School of Theology at SMU in Dallas. 

Each year on March 23 the United Women in Faith conducts its Day of Giving. In 2023, a total of $400,000 was raised. That jumped to $424,000 on March 23 of this year, Vonner said. 

“Don’t tell me what we can’t do,” she added to cheers from the delegates.

The Day of Giving is held each year on March 23 because that was the date in 1869 that eight women founded the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, the forerunner of today’s United Women in Faith.

Vonner said that she has asked friends and family to make a donation to United Women in Faith on her birthday and at Christmas in lieu of gifts. She urged others to do the same so that the organization can continue its work into the future.

“Let’s keep our aim high,” she said. “A new dawning is a journey, not a destination.”

Loretta Fulton is creator and editor of Spirit of Abilene