There are three cornerstones of our Fellowship: spiritual, social and intellectual.
Members belong to one of the branches spread across the country, mostly in England and gather regularly for meetings which revolve round these tenets.
Each branch creates its own balanced and varied programme to offer its members spiritual refreshment, social interaction and intellectual food for thought.
Friendship and support within the Fellowship is of utmost importance. Outings, walks or lunches/suppers may be interspersed with talks from visiting speakers on a wide range of topics. Church services or ‘Pause for Thought’ half hours are an integral part of all programmes.
Members are not bound to any one opinion, and an outstanding feature of the Fellowship is the tolerance with which all opinions are received. It is not meant to be a practical or fundraising society. There are many of these, and each member has her own such activities. It is intended, rather, to be a source of spiritual refreshment coupled with intellectual interest, and the helpful sharing of love, friendship and, in the literal sense of the word, a fellowship.
As the Fellowship expressly takes no sides on any controversial questions of the day, it has no corporate voice.
As well as meeting locally in branches, we meet regularly at national and regional levels where the opportunity to experience Women in Fellowship on a bigger scale enhances our fellowship.
Although we do not actively fundraise, Women in Fellowship supports one charity: currently research and education at St Christopher’s Hospice in Sydenham, a Christian based foundation, and in doing so benefits the wider Hospice movement. All donations come from branches on a voluntary basis.
Although from a different era, this quotation from our archives still sums up our fundamental cornerstones:
“So here we have this beloved if rather nebulous society. If anyone asks you “What do we do?” it is so difficult to explain. We don’t do anything concrete. We are basically a company of friends – friends who in these difficult days, just as in its wartime beginnings are searching for a way of life to satisfy our longing to live a Christian life in all the varying conditions of our different homes. We want to be good wives and mothers and good citizens, and we believe that by pooling our ideas and experiences and by joining together in prayer and worship and in other ways we can help each other towards that end.”
Winifred Brown – WF Central Chairman 1951-54