You Make Mission Happen

What Does it Mean to Lead Like a Woman?

For Deaconess Clara Ester, it meant showing up wherever justice called.

When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Clara rushed to help. She advocated for civil rights. For 36 years, she cared for vulnerable families through her leadership at Dumas Wesley Community Center in Mobile, Alabama. Within United Women in Faith, she served as national vice president, chaired committees, and helped move our mission forward.

Clara committed her life to love, justice, and service.

A longtime member of United Women in Faith and former National Mission Institution director, Clara passed away in July. But her legacy reminds us that leadership isn’t about holding a title or going alone. It’s about answering the call to serve as a member of a faith-fueled movement of women.

Who We Are Today

“Many of us are who we are today because of Deaconess Clara Ester,” said Megan Hale, United Women in Faith’s executive for the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner. “By sharing stories of her own experiences and through her unwavering work for justice … Clara taught us how to respond when our faith calls us to act.”

Clara’s example lives on in people like Rebekah Beck, who received a United Women in Faith scholarship for her MSW/MDiv degree at Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill. “To have my vocation — not as a pastor or theologian, but as a social worker — affirmed by my church is a source of immense confirmation that I am following God’s call,” she said.

When we join together, we are a powerful movement that not only impacts our world for today, but we also lay the groundwork for a better tomorrow by supporting the next generation of leaders.

This is the kind of impact your Mission Giving makes possible.

Mission Giving supports the ministries and programs that help women grow in faith, develop as leaders, respond to injustice and transform their communities. It helps women respond to the needs they see around them — and gives them the tools and encouragement to act.

You’re helping make room for the next Clara Ester — and for all the women whose leadership will change their communities in ways we may not yet be able to imagine.