90th Anniversary Celebration

On Oct. 19, 1918, Bessie MacMurchy invited members of the denominational Women’s Missionary Societies to come together to organize a national Prayer Meeting. These WMS representatives were enthused by the opportunity to dialogue and find ways of promoting "the spread of Christ's kingdom by united prayer, united action and a stronger voice in national questions." Their first planning meeting was held on Feb. 15, 1919, followed by a mass meeting on May 16, which led in turn to Canada's first National Day of Prayer, in Lindsay, Ontario, on Feb. 20, 1920.

We trace the birth of the Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada to that invitation from Bessie MacMurchy. WICC is inviting you to join our birthday celebrations from October 2008 to May 2009.

Widening the Circle

WICC has made some specific commitments that relate to widening our circles across Canada, including our commitments:

• to racial justice in how we work as an organization and in our work priorities
• to respond to the changing face of Canada: diversity of race, age, religious and spiritual traditions
• to work in inclusive partnerships or coalition with other organizations and with communities pushed to the margins now and historically

The occasion of WICC’s 90th Anniversary celebration is an invitation for all of us to look for ways to “widen our circles”. We hope groups will take this opportunity to create new connections in their communities, to reach out beyond familiar networks.

To this end, WICC is offering a number of resources. We’ve designed a pin using the WICC logo, we've created a special celebration DVD, and we’ve prepared a liturgy for groups to use as a service of celebration. We hope that these resources will be helpful tools as you widen the circle.

90th Anniversary Resources

Click here to download the 90th Anniversary Resource Order Form.

• commemorative DVD
• a pewter lapel pin with bookmark
• liturgy

For more information, please contact the WICC office.