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• Invitation

Fellowship of the Least Coin

IFLC / History

From an idea to a worldwide movement

The idea for the Fellowship of the Least Coin came out of the experience of Shanti Solomon of India. In September 1956, she was part of the Pacific Mission Team of seven women from different countries that traveled in Asian countries after World War II. This tour was organized by Dr. Margaret Shannon of the National Office of Presbyterian women in the U.S. When Shanti Solomon was refused a visa to Korea in the middle of the trip, because Korea did not have diplomatic relations with India, she went to the Philippines to wait. While there, she reflected on the experiences of their travel in the war-tom countries of Asia and the national and economic barriers that kept women apart. 

Upon the return of the team, she suggested that prayer could transcend every national boundary. She challenged the Christian women of Asia and of the Presbyterian Church of the U.S. to launch a project of Christian prayer and positive action in which every woman could participate, no matter her economic position. Every time a woman prayed she was to set aside a "least coin" of her currency. It was an encouragement to the women of the team to demonstrate their unity, in Christian faith, regardless of their country or economic circumstances. They all accepted it as a way to express their solidarity with suffering humanity and with women of every nation.

The East Asia Christian Conference (EACC), now the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), administered the FLC fund from 1958-1970. In 1958, the first Assembly of the Asian Church Women's Conference (ACWC) held in Hong Kong agreed to administer the Fellowship of the Least Coin. At the second Assembly in Thailand in 1962, ACWC voted to make the promotion of FLC their basic outreach program. In 1970, the founder Shanti Solomon was named the Executive Secretary of the FLC and ACWC. She was followed in that role by Shirin Samuel of Pakistan (1987-1997). Since that time the Executive Secretary has been an Asian woman who is active in the ACWC. 

The idea of the FLC quickly gained acceptance, not only among the women of Asia to whom it was first presented, but also among women of all the continents in the world. In 1966, when the FLC celebrated its 10th anniversary, women from 24 countries participated in the movement. By 1980, at the time of its Silver Jubilee, women from 75 countries had already joined the FLC. In 1996, 70 women from more than 80 countries around the world celebrated the 40th anniversary of the FLC.  And in 2006, the 50th anniversary celebrations were attended by more than 200 women from around the world.