1925 - Ladies’ Aid and the Daughters of Woodland
Religion historian Ward Russell said of the women of Woodland Christian Church…
“It is impossible to write the history of Woodland without the record of the Ladies’ Aid and the Daughters of Woodland. Before the church was, the Ladies’ Aid were at work.“
Before the original Woodland Christian Church was dedicated, the Disciples Women and the Women’s Christian Missionary Society were formed. The missionary society was sometimes called the Christian Women’s Board of Missions and would later be known as the Christian Women’s Fellowship.
Owing largely to the work of Woodland women, the historian wrote, “This well organized and active church occupies a conspicuous place in the church life of the city and of the Bluegrass state.”
In the first 25 years of the church, the Ladies Aid had contributed over $22,000 to all causes - at a time when women enjoyed few economic rights. The younger Daughters of Woodland added $12,500 in gifts. Both groups strongly supported missions, benevolences, and Christian education.
Mrs. Dave McCord and Mrs. Eugene Burgin began the Christian Endeavor Society, an international group that was pivotal to the development of Youth Ministry. At the time, there existed Sunday Schools for young children and regular Bible Studies and worship services for adults, but nothing was in place for young people who did not fall neatly into either category. So, they formed and ran their own committees, and everyone was required to be involved in worship activities beyond simply singing hymns. By giving the youth more responsibility and empowering them to live Christian lives in their society, the modern Youth Ministry Movement was born. In the United States, Christian Endeavor was an influential movement, especially involved in the Temperance Movement.
The Daughters of Woodland formed in 1916, to support the activities of the church. When the new church was dedicated in early April 1925, The Daughters held an April Fools Dinner and Foolish Party in the Fellowship Hall. The women either brought their husbands, or borrowed one, and sat down for a delightful dinner including peppered candy and salted coffee, along with certain other inconveniences as might add spice to the occasion.
For twenty years, the Women’s Christian Missionary Society assumed responsibility for Vera Carpenter, a Living Link Missionary, who served in Puerto Rico at $1,000 per year.
In 1926, the businesswomen of Woodland formed the Worthwhile Club.
But in 1929, the stock market crashed and the longest, deepest, and most wide-spread depression of the 20th century followed. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt launched his New Deal programs meant to provide reform, and relief from the Great Depression.
- Russell, Ward. Church Life in the Blue Grass, 1783-1933 (1933)
- https://asburyseminary.edu/elink/the-christian-endeavor-collection-1/
- Trader, James. Echoes: 100 Years of Woodland Christian Church, 24, 58