Subseries 3 - Canadian Women in Mission

Women's sewing societies existed among Canadian Mennonites since the late 19th century in various congregations (eg. Edenberg, MB). Since 1917 the women from the General Conference Mennonite Church in the United States had an umbrella organization called the "Women's Missionary Association" (WMA). This organization had a Canadian representative from at least 1930 who encouraged local Canadian Mennonite women's sewing societies to register with the WMA. It wasn't until 1952 in Gretna, Manitoba that a Canadian Mennonite Women's conference was held which had significant participation from the various provincial women's groups which had been founded during the previous 2 decades, that the "Canadian Women's Missionary Association" was formally founded. The constitution was first presented and accepted at an All-Canadian Women's Conference in Drake, Saskatchewan in 1953. Early presidents of the organization were: Sophia Krehbiel from 1952-1957, Louise Schaefer from 1958-1960, Katherine Hooge from 1961-1966, Mary Harder from 1967-1972, and Margaret Ewert from 1973-1977. The position of secretary-treasurer was held by: Agnes Ewert from 1952-1962, Justine Warkentin from 1963-1965, Helen Redekopp from 1966-1971, Helen Rempel from 1972-1977, followed by Anne Neufeld, Margaret Bueckert and Betty Nachtigal. The name officially changed to "Canadian Women in Mission" (WIM) in 1975. The Canadian WMA and WIM functioned as an auxiliary arm of the church promoting awareness of and financial support for a variety of mission projects. They were also responsible for the publication for the German paper entitled "Unser Missionsblatt" which started publication in 1946.