Guidelines for Sharing
a “By Word & Example” Sketch
Women have always played a significant role in the life of the Episcopal Church. For nearly two hundred years women have devoted their time, energies, and talents to benefit their churches: donating land or money for buildings, raising money by the efforts of their own hands, organizing bazaars and events for the work of the Church, celebrating through fellowship and hospitality the life of the parish, and much more. They were called “the ladies of the congregation,” or the Woman’s Auxiliary, Guild, Episcopal Churchwomen, ECW, Altar Guild, the “ladies in the kitchen,” and until the 1970’s, named with a husband’s name as Mrs. —. These women have cared for us, taught us, and inspired us all.
The goal of BY WORD & EXAMPLE is to celebrate the women of the Church … and to “name the names!” When we tell their stories we are also celebrating the unique role of women in the history of the Episcopal Diocese in North Carolina.
Every woman has a story. Women who have served the church “not only with their lips, but in their lives” have been all around us on Sunday morning and times in between. It is their stories we are looking for – as servants and leaders, as pie bakers or dish-washers, bazaar volunteers or Sunday school teachers, as singers or senior wardens.
Please help write the biographical sketches that will become a part of the history of our church women as we approach the Bicentennial of the Diocese of NC in 2017. These guidelines will help:
- Look around you – who are the women who love their church? Include their full names (first, middle, maiden and married) and complete dates of their birth (and death as needed). Write about how they have served. History can come from “back in the day” or yesterday.
- Write about any Episcopal woman, past or present. Both men and women are invited to write these stories. For each sketch include the writer’s full name, parish affiliation, and the date.
- Look in church and family records, newsletters or bulletins, scrapbooks, local history collections, and newspaper files for story details.
- Limit the text portion of each sketch to 500 words maximum. Sample sketches are shown on this web site. The ECW Archivist/Historian may edit sketches as needed and will return a copy of the edited version to you.
- Include a picture whenever possible!
- Submit as many sketches as you like – all women can be included. By January 1, 2017, we hope to have a comprehensive record in the ECW Archives of as many women as possible to document the invaluable service women have offered to the Episcopal Church. Sketches are now being published on the ECW website and will become a permanent collection in the Diocesan and ECW Archives as part of the 2017 Bicentennial Celebration.
- Most importantly, save a copy of your sketch for your own parish records and history.
Please submit sketches and direct any inquiries to:
Lynn Hoke, ECW Archivist/Historian
Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina
200 W. Morgan, #300 Raleigh, NC 27601
archives^ecw-nc#org 919-602-4305