WMU

Founded in 1888, Women’s Missionary Union is an auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention that seeks to equip adults, youth, children and preschoolers with mission education to become radically involved in the mission of God. Headquartered in Birmingham AL., WMU is a nonprofit organization that offers an array of missions resources including conferences, ministry ideas and models, volunteer opportunities, curriculum for age-level organizations, leadership training, books and more. In the earlier years, the WMU groups were called “societies”, but around 1913, they realized that two-thirds of the Baptist Churches were in rural areas. The larger “societies” were encouraged to break into smaller groups called “circles” and the ladies aid societies in the rural churches were asked to form “circles” where they could meet monthly and study about missions.
1948 Forest Baptist WMU printed their first yearbook and it listed three circles, called Circle #1, Circle #2, and Circle #3. Through the years the circles grew and at one point there were at least five of these women’s groups. In 1968 the label “circle” was changed to groups. Today there are three Women on Mission groups, the Melinda Kyzar Group; the Martha Marler Group; and the Gloria Glaze Group. Their meeting dates are listed on the church calendar each month. The groups are named in honor of missionaries, active and retired.

Some have envisioned these prayer groups as “little, old ladies gathering to pray and drink tea”. Some of the ladies may be “old” by some people’s standards, and some may be vertically challenged, but these meetings are spirited and Spirit-filled, with time devoted to prayer for missionaries in the fields, reports on mission activities, guest speakers discussing a variety of topics, as well as planning for outreach. (And, there may be tea served at some of the meetings, but there’s always good eats!)