Membership is Valuable!

By SHELLY HOLT

The National Council of Catholic Women acts through its members to support, empower, and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership, and service. NCCW programs respond with Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society in the modern world.

As mentioned in a previous column, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) formed the Council of Catholic Women in 1920 to join all the various women’s groups together under one umbrella. Today, although all women are invited and actually are part of the group by virtue of being a woman in the Church, paying memberships of individuals and affiliates (churches, deaneries, areas, dioceses) have declined across the country. It is one of my goals as your diocesan president to spread the good news and revive our organization in our own diocese!

Did you know:

• You are represented at the biannual meetings of the USCCB?

• You are represented at the United Nations, the World Union of Catholic Women Organisations (WUCWO), Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, and Religious Alliance Against Pornography?

• You share in partnerships and collaborations with Catholic Relief Services, Cross Catholic Outreach, Catholic Charities USA and others?

As an individual dues-paying member or affiliate your benefits include:

• Annual subscription to the quarterly Catholic Woman magazine

• Annual subscription to the monthly NCCW President’s Pen

• Access to monthly member Zoom calls

• Eligibility to vote in NCCW elections (can vote online) and at the Annual Business Meeting held at the NCCW Convention each summer

• Access to the member area of the NCCW.org website

If you are not currently an individual member, you have access to the public page of the NCCW.org website to check out what you may be missing!

The July quarterly meeting will be held at St. Teresa Church in Mapleton, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 13. The day includes rosary, Mass, meals and two engaging speakers: Cathy Blaeser from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life and Joyce Jennings from Austin speaking on grief and the scriptures.

As always, questions and concerns can be directed to me at shellyholttotalwellness@gmail.com or call 507-381-2842.

Shelly Holt is the president of the Winona-Rochester Diocesan Council of Catholic Women.