Saint Mary Orthodox Church

Women's Club of St. Mary's
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America - AOCWNA

The Antiochian Women at St. Mary's is an organization open to all Antiochian Orthodox women of this Archdiocese. This organization has the following structure. Picture in your mind an orgainzational chart with three levels and look first at the lowest level. This first level and the most important is the local chapter. Every parish has a local chapter in the form of a women's group or club with officers and members. From this first level comes all the charitable works we do. We would cease to be an organization without the hard work and charity of all the local AOCWNA groups.

Here at St. Mary's, our Women's Club is the local AOCWNA chapter. St. Mary's Women's Club is a major fund-raising arm of the parish and is responsible for financial support of the Church School and its activities, with outreach to the community, as well. We meet monthly for fellowship activities and for planning and working on various projects. Some of our yearly activities include: Fall Food Sale, Book Club, Charity Bake Sale (we sponsor two during the year, with the proceeds going to orphanages in the Middle East and throughout the world). We make Christmas baskets for the Battered Women's Family Shelter, and we supply monthly Sunday dinners to the Shelter. We sponsor a parish Christmas Card Drive, Lenten Parish Family Dinners, Lenten Food Sales (NOTE: the women hand-make traditional arabic Lenten items to order; this is a wonderful occasion for the many younger women in the parish to learn how to make these delicious, traditional foods. The Webmaster). We also sponsor speakers and organize other activities designed to increase the knowledge of our Faith.

The second level is the Regional AOCWNA. There are seven regions in the North American Archdiocese: Can-Am, Eastern, Midwest, New England, Southeast, Southwest, and Western. St. Mary's is a part of the New England Region (N.E.R.). Our regional association is made up of officers (President, Vice President, Secretary, Public Relations Coordinator, and Treasurer), of appointed coordinators, and of four delegates from each of the eight churches and two missions in our New England Region. These regional representatives meet quarterly in General Assembly Meetings. The final meeting of the year is held in June, at the New England Region Parish Life Conference. These meetings include a business portion, a luncheon, and an informative speaker or program.

The third level is called the North American Board (N.A.B.). This level has a similar structure to the second level. Like the regional associations, the N.A.B. meets periodically throughout the year, with a final meeting at the annual National Archdiocesan Convention.

It is possible for women from any parish to serve at any of the three levels of the AOCWNA. St. Mary's Parish currently has women members serving at both the regional and the national level. The work of this organization is vital to the ongoing life of our Archdiocese. We invite all women to join us in this special and important ministry.

2010 - St. Mary Orthodox Church - Cambridge, MA