Disciples Women / CWF

Join us for a book discussion of “The Shack” by Wm. Paul Young on Saturday January 9^th at 10:30 a.m.  Bring your brown bag brunch and your thoughts.

Food Pantry:

At West Side Christian Church we have a cupboard in the communion preparation room where we collect non perishable food for those who come to the church and need assistance.  Disciple Women/CWF maintains this ministry by encouraging church members to bring food items, stocking the shelves, rotating the food and having bags available.

Blessing Box:   www.discipleswomen.org

The Blessing Box: Living with Gratitude

For more than 50 years, the women of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have had a special way to express their gratitude to God for the blessings they have received—the Blessing Box. The Blessing Box was created in 1953, the result of a dream of the women who founded Christian Women's Fellowship. Jessie Trout, who was CWF's co-founder and first executive secretary, developed the idea as an over-and- above way to help fund the wider mission of the church.

Since that time, Blessing Boxes have been kept in the homes and offices of women across the church to enable them to express their gratitude for everyday blessings by giving to others. Thanks is given for a sunny day, a birth, a reconciling experience, a welcome phone call, a child's smile, a beautiful snow fall, a flower in full bloom, relief from pain, a good book, a safe journey, and many other things. It is a way of saying "Thank you God, for your world and especially for people."

For those who participate, it is a spiritual discipline even more than a financial one. It helps keep a focus on gratitude to God and on the responsibility to share blessings with others. The amount put in may be a dime, a quarter or more. The amount is not nearly as important as the discipline of regularly remembering God's goodness thru the acts of dropping in coins and praying prayers of thanksgiving.

Has the Blessing Box made a difference?

Yes! In addition to cultivating life-long habits of thanks-giving, the Blessing Box has generated millions of dollars in mission support. From 1999 to spring 2009, Blessing Boxes have contributed a total of $2,663,882 for the mission of the church, with $311,814 of that going to support women’s ministries. Since 2007, 50 percent of the donations go directly to the ministries carried out by the women of our church through the International Disciples Women's Ministries. This makes a significant difference in the mission of the church at home and abroad.

How can I make a difference?

Our dream is to put a Blessing Box into the hands of every Disciples woman sitting in the pew of a Disciples of Christ church.  You can help by using the materials from this page within your local congregation.

CWU

Church Women United (CWU) is a national volunteer Christian ecumenical women’s movement initiated and carried out by women in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is a movement that brings together women of diverse races, cultures and traditions in closer Christian fellowship, prayer, advocacy, and action for peace with justice in the world. CWU engages millions of women representing twenty-six supporting denominations and participating Christian women.

www.churchwomen.org

Welcome to Holiday House

All children have needs and as parents, we must find ways to meet the challenges they face as they mature. Whether researching a good college or finding a good therapeutic residential living placement, it takes planning and a little research to find the right fit.

Intellectually disabled children are often affected by multiple disabilities. Unlike children that mature to become more independent, the child experiencing disability will have needs that over time increase. Many homes are not adequately set up to meet the challenges of these changes. This is where homes such as Holiday House become such an important resource. Holiday House is designed to accommodate a broad range of emotional, physical, and cognitive issues presented by children and offers a complete package of therapeutic, educational, and recreational services that is unique to Hampton Roads. Welcome to our web site where you can learn more about the facility and contact us regarding your needs. We feel the more you know our programs, the more you will value the level of professionalism and the quality of care delivered every day at Holiday House.

Holiday House

Disciple Women/CWF supports this organization by participating in their birthday cake ministry.  Each month different groups will take a cake over to Holiday house, where they serve it at lunch for those having a Birthday.

Lydia and Rebecca Circles: October and November

Sarah Circle: December and January