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Ministries: Women’s Missionary Federation
Why call it a federation?
BY KAREN FLOAN
At times I have wondered if it might have been easier to explain the WMF to others if its legal name had been something like Women’s Missionary Fellowship. However, after doing some research on what a federation is, it is clear to me that the women who started the WMF in 1962 had great wisdom and insight.
Throughout history, federations have provided a model under which groups and even countries could organize themselves toward common purposes and goals. One simple Oxford Dictionary definition of a federation is “an organization or group within which smaller divisions have some degree of internal autonomy (or freedoms).” Examples of federations can be seen in components of countries, states, unions, clubs, and more. Our United States is considered a federal government where the individual states fall under the same governing authority and constitution but have their own freedoms.
This is very much the set-up of our AFLC national church body as well as our national WMF. Each church and women’s group are individual fellowships but work together with other fellowships as an association (or federation) toward common purposes and goals. “The Lutheran Free Church was organized as an association of autonomous congregations working together in common endeavors such as missions, schools, and educational publications” (Roots of Freedom, p. 6).
Perhaps your AFLC women’s group or women’s ministry may not be officially called a WMF; however, each is viewed as being a part of the national WMF.
On Oct. 27, 1962, the first WMF national convention took place in Thief River Falls, Minn., with about 30 women in attendance. These women dedicated themselves to the Great Commission that Jesus gave: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). They elected officers and organized districts with the purpose of strengthening the women in their various local groups and working together nationally to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Women gathered in their local churches for fellowship and raised support for AFLC mission projects. They also met together during the year in their districts for gatherings or rallies, where they focused on strengthening one another and hearing about mission needs.
What zeal and heart for the work of the Lord these women had! Do we have that zeal and the same urgency for missions as did the AFLC women of 1962? As a current officer of the national WMF, I have been challenged by the words the Apostle Paul wrote about our work for the Lord (Ephesians 2:10). It is exciting and overwhelming to consider that God prepares good works for us to do in advance and that he has marked out appointed times and places of the work for his kingdom (Acts 17:26).
As women, let us consider if we are doing the work God has prepared and planned for us in our churches, in our neighborhoods, in our families, and in our women’s fellowships. May we be looking for his return, and may he find us faithfully serving him together in the work of the Great Commission as a federation of women.
