CWU Opens Its Circle To Present

An Ecumenical Service

By Shannon Hicks

Church Women United/Bethel-Newtown and CWU/Greater Danbury joined together to present a service last week that was simultaneously presented in churches, schools, community centers, and other locations across the country and around the world. “Circles of Love” was the theme for the November 7 World Community Day service, the 60th annual celebration of its kind.

CWU/Bethel-Newtown and Greater Danbury hosted their service in the Olga Kopeckne Memorial Meeting Room of C.H. Booth Library in Newtown, and three dozen attendees were accounted for including those who were involved in presenting the service.

“It’s such a joy to keep enlarging our circle,” said Darlene Jackson, a co-president of the Bethel-Newtown chapter and the convener of Friday’s service, in her welcoming remarks.

This year’s guest speaker was the Reverend Sargent Desmond of Brookfield. Rev Desmond, who retired in 1997 after 21 years as pastor in The Congregational Church of Brookfield, UCC, referred to himself as “a pew sitter, a listener more than ever.”

His talk combined a tip of the hat to Church Women United, a brief autobiography for those who were unfamiliar with the gentleman, some humor, and even a brainstorming session where he invited attendees suggest what can be done in the world to make life more peaceful for everyone.

“Sixty years ago women were bright enough and sharp enough to realize that we needed this: a world community day,” said the Rev Desmond.

“Talk is cheap, love is action,” he said later. “We hear the song that says ‘What the world needs now is love,’ and that’s what CWU members are doing around the world. It’s not too late to think about what can still be done. What can we do in our world to make it a more loving place?”

 At that point attendees suggested everything from providing food and shelter, companionship, acceptance, health care, and education to offering forgiveness, peace, prayer, and listening. At that point a small board the reverend had been writing the suggestions on was full, so he had to conclude the participatory segment.

“We’ve run out of space, but we haven’t run out of ideas. This group is fraught with ideas,” he said, smiling.

In paying tribute to Church Women United, the Rev Desmond praised the local chapters for continuing their work to offer ecumenical services and networking as part of an international movement.

“Three dependable ecumenical services across the country every year is not as simple as it seems,” he said. CWU annually offers a World Day of Prayer in early March, May Friendship Day in early May, and the World Community Day in early November.

“Yet Church Women United sticks to it,” he continued. “I believe you are unique in the area. There are no groups more united in their actions than right here, in CWU.

“This is an action plan,” he added. “It’s a 60-year-old action plan called into being by God’s love.”

The service was led by members of CWU/Bethel-Newtown and Greater Danbury. It was coordinated by Shirley Roman, the ecumenical celebrations chairman for the Bethel-Newtown chapter. Participants included Pat Conroy, Barbara Gates, Darlene Jackson, the Reverend Sue Klein, Jeanette Mayer, Elizabeth Scott, Pat Stroud, and Betty Williams.

The service included Scripture readings, prayers, and hymns, drawing on lyrical writings and songs by Sister Miriam Therese Winter, a professor of liturgy, worship, spirituality, and feminist studies at Hartford Seminary. The service also included a canned food/nonperishables collection, with the items collected shared with FAITH Food Pantry in Sandy Hook.