The Women’s Alliance of the United Church of Christ St. John in Brighton was dissolved after 140 years.
The Women’s Alliance of the United Church of Christ St. John in Brighton was dissolved after 140 years.
The Women’s Alliance of the United Church of Christ St. John in Brighton was dissolved after 140 years.
The Women’s Alliance of the United Church of Christ St. John in Brighton was dissolved after 140 years.
BRIGHTON – After years, the Scholarship for Women of the United Church of Christ St. John in Brighton is dissolving.
Started in 1880, the organization has 4 members, 3 of whom are between the age of 80 and 90, but its fundraising legacy will continue through the organization of Loyal Daughters of the Church.
The church, originally called St. John’s Evangelical Church in Brighton, was founded 150 years ago and the Women’s Community, originally called the Ladies Aid Society, was established 140 years ago, in May 1880, with 41 members.
Several German churches, such as St. John’s, have used the so-called “Ladies Aid Society” to refer to their women’s groups. Organizations raised the budget for church projects, provided non-secular relationships, and fostered social interaction for church women.
In its first year, the San Juan Ladies’ Aid Society held a sale and dinner to raise $154, or about $3,929 in 2020, to buy an organ. Seven years later, he bought a 1000-pound bell for the church bell tower; he hung himself on October 17, 1887, replacing a smaller bell given at Bott School, a room south of Brighton.
Each year, the Ladies Aid Society served a dinner and a summer dinner open to the public. Every November, they organized a bazaar that, in the early years, included bird and ham food and “useful and refined” pieces for sale.
In 1925, when St. John’s Evangelical Church underwent a primary renovation, the Ladies Aid Society bought new banks for the shrine. The renovation included the addition of a basement, which over the years has been the reason for many occasions and fundraising events.
On her birthday in May 1930, the Ladies Aid Society had donated $7470 to the church, or about $116,000 by 2020.
Mergers of national churches have led to several call adjustments for the women’s group: in the early 1930s, it became the Union of Evangelical Women and in 1941 the Women’s Guild. Then, in the last 1960s, she took her existing call, the women’s scholarship.
His monthly meetings included activity planning, non-secular and educational programs, refreshments and social time. The organization donated to all primary church structure projects, Christmas gifts for low-income families, Uni-Pres Kindercottage on East St. Louis and the local Good Samaritan Fund. He has housed bazaars, lunches, food collection campaigns, collections of school supplies and non-public pieces for a women’s shelter, sewing activities to make hats and gloves for young people in need and the creation of Thanksgiving food baskets for local families in need.
In 1992, to offer a fraternity opportunity to young adult women in the church, an organization called Loyal Daughters was formed. Although the women’s scholarship is over, the Loyal Daughters will continue their legacy of benevolence.