The United Girls of Religion (UWF) at Fenimore Road United Methodist Church (FSUMC) in Brooklyn over the weekend commemorated its 65th Anniversary with a gala banquet on Saturday and a Particular Worship Service on Sunday.
The gala banquet happened at Glen Terrace on Avenue N in Brooklyn, and the Particular Worship Service was held in lieu of the common 11:00 a.m. Worship Service at FSUMC, nook of Rogers Avenue and Fenimore Road.
The celebrations had been held below the theme, “United Girls in Religion with a Goal: Celebrating 65 Years and Counting!”
Through the gala banquet, which served because the Anniversary Luncheon, three members/former members had been honored.
They had been: New Orleans-born Dr. Marguerite Casanave Thompson, “a treasured member of the Fenimore Road United Methodist Girls in Religion”; Dr. Andrea Patricia Smith, at present serving as pastor of Bethany United Methodist Church, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, whose dad and mom had been Barbadian immigrants; and Jamaican-born the Rev. Heidi Nurene Thomas, pastor at Bethel United Methodist Church and Bushwick Parish United Methodist Church – each additionally in Brooklyn.
“As we have fun our sapphire birthday, we thank Dr. Maguerite C. Thompson, Muriel Johnson (deceased) and our founding moms for creating, planting and passing the mantle to all our leaders and members,” stated Marlene Ferguson, the Trinidadian-born chair of the Anniversary Committee, within the memento journal.
“Your arduous work and dedication haven’t gone unnoticed; and, at the moment, we’re the biggest native unit within the New York Convention, with 29 years of 5 Star Pledging and Gold Mission,” she added.
UWF President, African-American Benita Lynn Malloy, stated she admired and revered FSUMC’s UWF for “finishing up” the group’s function.
“Over time, your tireless efforts to service youngsters, youth and girls in numerous capacities haven’t gone unnoticed,” she stated within the journal. “You might be an inspiration to our church group and the community-at-large.”
The church’s African-American Pastor, the Rev. Roger Jackson, a local New Yorker, congratulated the UWF, stating that they’ve “exemplified in the beginning Christ-like traits by means of the varied interactions with one another and the community-at-large by means of the church’s outreach ministries.
“In your work for the Kingdom of God, you have got confirmed to hunt to attach and nurture each other by means of Christian religious formation,” he additionally stated within the memento journal.
“I commend you for being united to Christ and girls of religion in Christ, working and dwelling for the Kingdom of God right here on earth,” Pastor Jackson added.
Through the near-three-hour-long Particular Worship Service on Sunday, the Rev. Wendy Paul Paige, pastor of Kings Freeway United Methodist Church in Brooklyn, urged UWF members and different ladies to “stand collectively”.
“God is asking us to unite as a physique,” preached Rev. Paul Paige, who earned a Grasp of Divinity diploma from Drew College in New Jersey in 2014. “Unite as a result of God says unite.
“I’m so overwhelmed that God exhibits us [that] when ladies are uniting, one thing unimaginable turns into attainable,” she added, preaching on the subject, “She’s Proper”. “So, ladies, let’s rally; let’s acknowledge that we’ve been spoon-fed some rubbish.
“Consider all of the greatness that God can manifest,” Pastor Paul Paige continued. “We’re known as to create, as a result of that’s what we’re.”
Through the service, St. Lucian-born Susanna Emmamus-Amossah learn the Girls’s Historical past Second, specializing in Kamora Freeland, a senior at Kingsborough Early School Excessive Faculty in Brooklyn—an honors scholar who skipped eleventh grade and is heading to Spelman School within the fall.
Emmamus-Amossah stated Freeland has develop into the youngest African-American feminine pilot to earn her non-public license.
In studying the UWF Mission Second, Barbadian-born Harriet Gooding stated the group is celebrating 65 years in “Goal and Mission Work, with the deal with ladies, youngsters and youth.
“All year long, we’ve got unfold our giving by means of scholarship funds to graduating college students, internet hosting a Christmas celebration for kids/youth, honoring particular ladies, amongst different issues,” she stated.
“We are going to proceed to hold on our motto, ‘Religion, Hope and Love in Motion Can Change The World,’” Gooding added.
The Worship Service additionally featured, amongst different issues, Reward and Worship and Musical Choice by the Girls’s Day Choir; a “Litany of Remembrance,” learn by Malloy; and a liturgical dance by Angelica Nedd.
UWF offered a bouquet of flowers to the church’s First Girl Kim Jackson and UWF pin to Pastor Paul Paige.
UWF obtained a proclamation from Mayor Eric Adams, declaring Sunday, March 10, 2024 as “Fenimore Road United Girls in Religion Day.”
The group additionally obtained a proclamation honoring its “dedication to invaluable service” from New York State Assemblyman Brian Cunningham, the Jamaican-American consultant for the forty third District that encompasses the church. Syndney Renwick, Cunningham’s chief-of-staff, offered the award on his behalf.
“We need to thank the United Girls of Religion,” stated Pastor Jackson at service’s finish. “You already know, if you’d like something carried out, discover some ladies who’re busy. I really like you.”
