May Fellowship Theme is Poverty
Diocesan Press Service. March 8, 1965 [XXX-11]
On May Fellowship Day, Friday, May 7, church women in more than 1,000 communities, in all 50 states, and from many denominations, will come together to Join ranks in the war on poverty, and prepare themselves to do battle.
They will come in response to the call to a non-violent but all-out war against poverty -- an ancient enemy, deadlier in terms of human misery than all the military wars of history. A strange war it is to be sure: a war not to kill but to give life; not to wound but to heal; not to destroy but to build.
Women will come with a confidence in the outcome hardly ever possessed by those who engage in war; a confidence born of the knowledge that they possess the ultimate weapon. That weapon is an economy of abundance -- now sufficient to make the final conquest of poverty both possible and feasible. They will come grateful that for once this is the kind of war in which Christians can engage with zest and enthusiasm.
Under the theme "People, Poverty, Plenty" church women on May Fellowship Day will map the enemy territory and assess the enemy's strength. Where is there poverty in the United States? How extensive is it? What does poverty do to people? Why does the average person see so little poverty when so much exists ? What makes poverty invisible?
Seeing and knowing is a matter of the heart, as well as of the mind. May Fellowship Day in many councils will enable those who have known poverty themselves, or have come close to it through knowing people in poverty, to share something of their insights. Among these will be women who are participating through the organization Women In Community Service (WICS) in recruiting and screening disadvantaged young women 16-21 years old for the Women's Training Centers of the Job Corps. WICS was initiated for this purpose by women from four organizations -- the National Council of Catholic Women, the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Council of Negro Women, United Church Women.