Anglican Church Women, Nova Scotia Board
Did you know that there is a Nova Scotia ACW Board, with an office in the Halifax-based Anglican Diocesan Centre, staffed part time by an ACW volunteer Board member, encompassing the regions of our Diocese in the geographic area of Nova Scotia? This is known as the Anglican Church Women Nova Scotia Board, and it strives to have its volunteer membership reflect the geographic reach of the province. And, furthermore, did you know that this Board has as its mandate to encourage and support all Anglican women of the Diocese in Nova Scotia to participate in a fellowship of worship, study, and offering, with the aim of deepening and strengthening their individual spiritual lives and of awakening a greater desire for Christian service in the parish, community, diocese, nation and world? To model this stated purpose, the ACW Nova Scotia Board undertakes a number of ventures, including:
- An Annual Meeting that has a theme, so is much more than an annual general meeting, with all its associated business and is, instead, a mini conference with a strong educational, spiritual, and outreach focus
- A Lenten Quiet Day that links the ACW Board and ACW parish members with theological students at AST
- A bursary program for Atlantic School of Theology (AST) students and a 100th Anniversary Bursary for a mature female student returning to studies at a recognized institution of learning
- An Annual Outreach Project that rotates a local focus one year, with a national one the next, followed by an international one, before the cycle repeats
- A variety of ongoing outreach projects that provide needed support locally, nationally, and internationally. These include the collection of stamps for the Canadian Bible Society, labels for APSEA (Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority), and knitted pneumonia vests and Teddies for Tragedy that are sent near and far
- Prayer Partners
- A Newsletter, Keeping in Touch
- Coordination of the sale of Canadian Church Calendars
The ACW in our diocese and the nation has a long and varied history, dating from the time of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s when a Women’s Auxiliary was organized in Ottawa (1885). In Nova Scotia, it was Archbishop Worrell who sponsored the beginning of our WA. On May 24, 1905, the Women’s Auxiliary to the Missionary Society of the Church of England in Canada was organized in St. Paul’s Hall in Halifax. Over the years the Women’s Auxiliary, later the Women’s Auxiliary of the Anglican Church of Canada (1955), then Anglican Church Women (1966) has undergone more than name changes. It has responded to a variety of needs: missionary work with Canadian settlers and aboriginal peoples, as well as others abroad; support for women, children, and families; Christian education; and war emergency tasks, to name a few. The Dominion WA President even attended the First Assembly of the World Council of Churches in 1948 in Amsterdam as a delegate from General Synod. It is often stated that any Anglican woman is an ACW “member”, regardless of whether she belongs to an “official” ACW group or not. This statement is meant to be inclusive of all Anglican women, but it does not give full measure to the very real work that organized women’s groups do in our parishes. So, whatever the name(s) of the women’s group(s) is/are (some do not universally use the ACW designation), it is true that the life of a congregation and parish would be impoverished if it were not for the incredible and varied ministry of the women that make up a significant portion of the parish membership. In Nova Scotia, the Anglican Church Women Nova Scotia Board endeavours to encourage and support the organized work of the women of the parishes, the ACWs, thereby giving life to its purpose, as outlined in the Constitution of the Nova Scotia Anglican Church Women.