20/11/2025
NLJ Celebrates CWA's 75TH Founding Anniversary
The soft launching of the anniversary celebrations was held in Luna Apayao Conference during the Joint UCM-CWA Execom on August 1-3, 2025.
Every conference or local church in the Jurisdiction had its unique way of marking the anniversary celebrations in October. Highlighted here are the Northwest Luzon Conference, Apayao, Middle Highland, Northeast Luzon, and North Central Luzon, which celebrated it in conjunction with the Fellowship of the Least Coin and the North Highland Conference through the Lamut Local Church marked the event with the observance of IP Sunday.
WALKING THROUGH HISTORY: THE CWA IN A NUTSHELL
KEEPING THE CWA VIBRANT @75 and BEYOND
The National Christian Women’s Association is 75 years old this October. It is a UCCP-recognized organization that represents the women's sector of the Church. As an organization, it enjoys the rights and privileges afforded to every member who vows to affirm and adhere to the UCCP Statement of Faith. It united the earlier various smaller groups of women in the church. It is composed of women who are 46 years old and above, who are bona fide UCCP member. A resolution approved in the 2018 general assembly in Pagadian City, made membership in the CWA automatic for church women who have reached the age of forty-six.
The initiatives to organize women's groups came from the early women foreign missionaries representing various religious evangelical denominations. They saw the need for purposes of study, fellowship, worship, and service. They started small and grew as the churches expanded. In the Visayas and Mindanao, these fragmented groups were called Dorcas societies. Named after Dorcas (Greek name) or Tabitha (Aramaic), a charitable woman who made things, especially clothing for the needy and widows in Joppa City. She did good works and showed compassion for the poor, hence, she was much loved in the community. She was the woman whom the apostle Peter rose from the dead. In Northern Luzon, our early women's groups were called Timpuyog Missionera a Babbai(TMB)Women’s Missions.
It was Bishop Enrique Calica-Sobrepena (Ph.D) of Bauang, La Union (1899-1978), the first chairman of the General Assembly of the UCCP who formed a four-women committee to unify these women societies into one national organization. In 1950 the first National Convention of Women of the UCCP was held with Felicidad Catli of North Luzon Jurisdiction as elected president. The convention adopted the National Women’s Association as the official name of the organization. In 1954, its CBL was formulated and presented in the convention.
Later on, the word “Christian” was inserted in the 1958 biennial convention. Hence, it became the National Christian Women’s Association. At the 2006 Quadrennial convention in Dumaguete city, the concept paper for “Wider Concerns” fund was distributed, pegged at P0.25/day contribution to augment the national CWA local source of income. In 2018 the new logo was approved and confirmed, and the amended CBL was ratified.
The CWA operates at 5 levels: local church level, circuit or parish level, conference and jurisdiction level. The details of which are contained in its CBL .
VISION: A fellowship of dynamic and dedicated Christian women, united by faith in God through Jesus Christ, committed to the pursuit of empowered women in the church and community towards an abundant and meaningful life for all.
MISSION: The Christian Women’s Association(CWA) commits to empower women in proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, to formulate and implement programs on leadership and stewardship.
GOALS: 1. To strengthen the faith community 2. To develop leaders among the women, and 3. To deepen the commitment on Christian stewardship
CWA LOGO:
“Circle symbolizes the circle of life; the Cross our faith in God and in proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The human 1 and 2 other small humans symbolize the leadership that the organization can develop and teach to empower not only the CWA members, but also others. The human figures are put inside the silhouette of a woman to symbolize that there is potential in every woman in community the CWA to become a great leader. The two hands mean women reaching out to help each other not only among the members, but also the where we belong, as we manifest Christ in our lives...in our being and doing. The year 1950 at the bottom indicates when the organ
ization formally became a Recognized Organization(CRO) of UCCP.
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