Jan./Feb. response: Responsively Yours

Cast Your Eyes Forward

by Sally Vonner

I recently addressed the New Mexico Conference United Women in Faith, where their annual meeting theme was “Loving Wastefully.” What an interesting concept to ponder in this new year.

Loving wastefully is using more love than necessary, not saving it, but rather, using it, as we learn we should do in 1 Corinthians 13.

Love and faith are grounded together. Faith is being in relationship with God, our creator. Jesus said love God; that’s step one. Step two is loving your neighbor as yourself.

Our faith is lived out in community, with God and neighbor. Neighbors are our sisters and brothers who are believers and nonbelievers, friends and enemies, local and global; of different cultures, races, immigration status, gender identities, and whoever may be in front of you at any given time. 

Our predecessors exemplified this on that night in Boston in 1869. They came because of their love for God and neighbor. After hearing the plight of their sisters in India, they heard a call to put their love in action. 

In six months, they had raised enough money to send two missionaries to India: a medical doctor, Dr. Clara Swain, and an educator, Isabella Thoburn. Because they chose to be love, two institutions still exist today: the Isabella Thoburn College and the Dr. Clara Swain hospital.

Our foremothers’ love continues to care for our neighbors today through endowments used for scholarships and grants, National Mission Institutions, schools, hospitals, deaconesses and home missioners, and fellowship as disciples of Christ. 

Psalm 145:4-6 encourages us to extol, or tell of, the mighty acts that previous generations have done. I am thankful for our trailblazing foremothers, for our present moment, and for the mighty acts that our generation has accomplished and has yet to accomplish.

I praise and thank God every day for United Women in Faith and for leading us to a future with hope, as promised in Jeremiah 29:11. 

I believe the best days for United Women in Faith are yet to come.

I invite us to cast our eyes forward, to what the best to come might look like. What can you envision, dream, and believe might be possible for future generations of United Women in Faith? What might this organization look like 20-50 years from now? Among my hopes and dreams are achieving our Net Zero goal for climate justice and that the Charter for Racial Justice legacy will be acknowledged and recognized for contributing to the dismantling of racism in The United Methodist Church and the United States.

Casting our eyes forward in 2025—year one of our four-year path to growth in membership, income, and The Legacy Endowment Fund—trust that we will get there one year, one month, and one day at a time. Remember we are bold, courageous, and determined United Women in Faith. Together we will accomplish some mighty acts that future generations will recount.

Our time is now to put our faith and love into action to ensure our bright future. Let’s do it! 

SALLY VONNER
General Secretary and CEO
United Women in Faith

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