There is an active United Methodist Women’s group at Ames under the direction of Mickey Waddell. The UMW Board meets monthly to plan their events and they offer two “Circles” or groups of women which meet monthly from September through June.
The Ser-Pra-Lo (Service, Prayer, Love) Circle meets in Room 2 on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Bonnie Rose leads this circle, which consists of twelve “active” members. We are an “older crew”, so we do not do as many projects as we used to. We pledge money to the District UMW for global missions and try to have some fundraisers for local missions. We meet once a month for fellowship and usually have a program. We take up a collection every month for missions (our Ames outreach program). Some of our members belong to the UMW Book Club and read four or five books a year that the District recommends. Right now we’re reading about domestic abuse. We’ve also read about human trafficking, child slavery and other social issues. We meet with the Mary Martha Circle three times a year for fellowship.
The M&M (Mary and Martha) Circle usually meets the 2nd Sunday of the month at 12:30 in Room 2. Diane Thaler leads this group. Several women in this group were members of the Jefferson Ave. and Grace churches which closed. The circle name has two meanings: one is the Biblical reference to Mary and Martha, two sisters who honored Jesus in different ways, and the other is a bag of M&M’s which are a happy mix of many colors. The UMW emphasizes missions which is important to us all.
