Oct. 19, 2023
Dear United Women in Faith Member,
As part of a sisterhood of women committed to putting faith, hope, and love into action, I am reaching out with an important message. After much prayer and deep reflection, United Women in Faith is taking several steps to adjust to the organization’s current financial reality and remain faithful stewards of the resources entrusted to the organization.
I want you to be among the first to know that due to factors that include a decline in organizational giving, we are enacting a series of cost-savings measures, supported by the board of directors who met October 13-14. United Women in Faith will eliminate five staff positions by the end of the year and two additional positions in 2024. We will offer severance, benefits, employment assistance and education reimbursement to impacted individuals. Please join us in prayer for our affected colleagues, whose good work helped make us the nurturing and impactful sisterhood we are today.
Additionally, we will move our headquarters by the end of the year to the Church Center for the United Nations (CCUN), which we own. This change will mean we will have minimal office space and our staff will work almost fully remotely. You may be aware we changed our mailing address earlier this year to this location.
These measures will help us adapt to a changing church and world, but it was still a difficult and hard decision. As you wrap your mind around this information, please do not lose sight of our mission. United Women in Faith is devoted to uplifting women, children, and youth. I know that in time, like generations of United Women in Faith before us, who survived church disruptions, pandemics, wars, and other societal unrest, we, too, will see brighter days ahead. We will continue to put our love into action. We will see the growth in our giving and membership that we envisioned through our rebranding.
I thank you for your dedication to our beloved organization and solicit your prayers and continued engagement. Please continue to support our missional work with your financial gifts as we build back to the pre-pandemic level. With your consistent giving, we will achieve our goal of being a place for women of faith to find spiritual growth, purpose, belonging, and opportunities for service and advocacy to make an impact in the world. Now is the time to invite women to join us.
Lastly, I know that transitions are difficult. Please know that we are implementing a strategic plan to reposition us for the future to ensure we can be good partners with our communities as well as with women, children, and youth around the world. United Women in Faith wants to be who God has called us to be—united women in faith—and we need your support to do so. Our ability to thrive depends on you. Let us stand together as the bold, courageous women we have been for 154 years knowing that with God’s help and our love in action, we can change the world.
Yours in Christ,
Sally Vonner
General Secretary and CEO
United Women in Faith