Women’s Weekend includes look at mass incarceration
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The United Methodist Women (UMW) of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem will host their annual spring Women’s Weekend “A Call to Community” April 22-23.
All activities take place at the church, at 2400 Dellabrook Road; the public is invited to attend.
The weekend begins Saturday, April 22, with a prayer breakfast. Guest speakers will be Judge Denise Hartsfield and Brittany Jenkins. They will share on the topic “Mass Incarceration and How We Can Make a Difference.”
A United Methodist lay speaker, Judge Hartsfield will talk from her base of knowledge as one of four judges in Forsyth County with juvenile jurisdiction.
Brittany Jenkins, a native of Winston-Salem, is the manager of Corporate and Foundation Relations for the Charlotte Rescue Mission. Jenkins will speak from her experience with the Rescue Mission, whose clients fall into this population.
The weekend culminates with worship Sunday, April 23. The 11 a.m. speaker will be Camille French, vice president of North Carolina Operations for the Levy Law Firm Company. French is active in St. Paul’s music ministry as a vocalist and director of the Hand Bell choir. She is a graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest University and holds a law degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She is married to Nathaniel French, a mother of three children and is the Political Awareness and Social Action chairwoman for the Winston-Salem Alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.
Founded in 1869, United Methodist Women is the largest denominational faith organization for women with about 800,000 members whose mission is spiritual growth, developing leaders and advocating for justice.
Over the next four years United Methodist Women’s national programming guidelines direct local units to target specific issues identified as having major societal impact. These include climate justice, economic inequality, maternal and child health and criminalization of communities of color. Close attention will be given to how these issues affect women, children and youth globally.
Local UMW leadership says United Methodist Women are called to be voices for those who have no voice or need comradeship to strengthen their voice. ‘“A Call to Community’ to UMW means that we (all people) are as responsible for the other person’s well-being as we are for our own and we must acknowledge and address anything we do that causes harm or suffering for others because God’s promise of well-being has no exclusivity clause,” the statement says.
Founded in 1871, St. Paul UMC is the oldest African-American church in the town of Winston and the second oldest African-American church in the combined town of Winston-Salem. For more information on Women’s Day contact Peggy Moore pmoore68@att.net.
