United Methodist Women: Organized for Growth
United Methodist Women, like The United Methodist Church, is a connectional system. The major links of United Methodist Women are:
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The local group
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The district organization
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The conference organization
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The jurisdiction organization
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The national office
All of these groups relate to one another in a variety of ways; each group is empowered to structure itself in ways that fulfill the PURPOSE, best use the gifts of its members and meet the needs of its community in the world. Every level of the organization is connected in mission with Global Ministries.
Local groups report to district organizations, which report to conference organizations. A Board of Directors and a Program Advisory Group oversee the national office and conference organizations.
Organized for Flexibility
Financial Flexibility:
United Methodist Women-supported programs and projects are possible because of individual women's gifts to mission through "Mission Giving." Mission Giving allows United Methodist Women to respond where the need is the greatest and to work in partnership with organizations doing similar work.
Close to $20 million comes from United Methodist Women members annually to support mission programs and projects throughout the U.S. and around the world. These gifts do not include another $5 million collected and used by local member units.
United Methodist Women's volunteer board of directors disburse the funds received through Mission Giving by responding to emerging needs and explore historical, new and experimental mission programs with women and children.
Membership Flexibility:
United Methodist Women is committed to finding new ways to invite and involve women in our 140-year-old organization with over 800,000 members. At all levels of the organization, United Methodist Women works to:
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Ensure inclusiveness and racial/ethnic diversity
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Resource Hispanic and Korean-American members and other emerging language groups
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Nurture teen and college/university women