Church Women Invite Community To Unite For Friendship Day

On Monday, May 1, 1933, a May Day Luncheon was held at The George Washington Hotel in New York City, planned by the Women’s Council for Home Mission. Wall Street had crashed; people were still in a state of depression, financially and spiritually.

The women saw the need to turn things around and “to have a festive party to prove that life is in us.” They put on their best hats and listened as speakers talked about “Child Health” and “Children of Migrant Families.”

That first Dedication Day, begun as a series by The National Council of Federated Church Women, opened a chain of programs for the purpose of encouraging community interest in local councils of church women and their social concerns. Evolving first into a series of luncheons presented by The United Council of Church Women by 1941, then becoming an annual May Fellowship Day in 1945, the annual events became May Friendship Day and are now presented by Church Women United.

The 70th annual May Friendship Day will be celebrated on Friday, May 2. The local program, being presented by Church Women United/Bethel-Newtown, will be at Nunnawauk Meadows Community Building, on Nunnawauk Road in Newtown. All are welcome.

This year’s theme is “Many Gifts, One Spirit.” The service is meant to celebrate the gifts the Holy Spirit has given each person. The annual event is observed by Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and other Christian women in a common worship experience for the purpose of building and strengthening friendly relations within the community.

The worship program will begin at 5 pm. Tickets are $12 per person and include a buffet dinner. Offerings of the annual collection of the International Fellowship of the Least Coin and support for the ongoing work of Church Women United in the community will be received.

The service will include music, prayers, scripture readings, and sharing of ideas and dialogue. The program will reflect on the May 1933 luncheon, celebrate the legacy of the women who planned and participated in that program, and see the Holy Spirit’s work still alive today amid the world’s current crises.

For additional information or to purchase advance tickets (which is requested so that planners can prepare food accordingly), contact any of the CWU/Bethel-Newtown key women: Norma Gray (Trinity Episcopal), Barbara Gates (Newtown United Methodist Church), Pat Stroud (St Rose of Lima), Doris Schoonmaker (St John’s Episcopal), Betty Williams (Newtown Congregational Church), Carol Mattegat (Christ the King Lutheran Church), Barbara Gorham (Walnut Hill Community Church, Bethel), and Althea Benedict (St Thomas Episcopal Church, Bethel).