For more information on Memorial Baptist Church's WMU program, you can contact our WMU Director, Debby Ferguson, through the church office.
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National Headquarters
Woman’s
Missionary Union, SBC
100 Missionary Ridge
P.O. Box 830010
Birmingham, AL 35283-0010
(205) 991-8100
email@wmu.org
In 1888, a handful of women dedicated to the cause of missions founded Woman’s Missionary Union. Since that time, WMU has become the largest Protestant organization for women in the world, with a membership of approximately 1 million. WMU also was the first and remains the largest body of organized laity in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Woman’s Missionary Union is built upon the following core values:
 | We uphold the foundational principles of the priesthood of every believer and the autonomy and uniqueness of each local church in carrying out the Great Commission. |
| We embrace the strategic role of prayer and giving for missionaries and missions needs. |
| We recognize the role of family in discipleship and missions development. |
| We recognize the giftedness of women and girls and accept the responsibility to help them use their gifts in serving Christ. |
| We accept the responsibility for nurturing preschoolers, children, youth, and adults in missions. |
| We accept the responsibility for developing and equipping missions leaders. |
| We accept the biblical mandate to respond to human need with actions modeled by Jesus Christ and with the message of God’s redemptive plan. |
| We partner with other Great Commission Christians to lead a lost world to Christ. |
| We believe that Jesus Christ, Son of God, gave His life a sacrifice for the salvation of all the people of the world, fulfilling God’s plan for the ages as revealed in the Bible, God’s Holy Word. |
From the beginning, WMU’s main purpose has been to educate and involve women, girls, and preschoolers in the cause of Christian missions. It accomplishes these purposes primarily through age-level organizations, including:
| Women on Mission, for women 18 and up |
| Adults on Mission, for men and women 18 and up |
| Acteens, for girls 12-17 |
| Youth on Mission, for boys and girls 12-17 |
| Girls in Action, for girls 6-11 |
| Children in Action, for boys and girls 6-11 |
| Mission Friends, for preschool girls and boys. |
WMU supports these organizations through age-appropriate magazines and/or products.
WMU offers ministry opportunities through Volunteer Connection; Baptist Nursing Fellowship; Project: HELP; Christian Women’s Job Corps, Pure Water Pure Love; and WorldCrafts.
WMU offers short-term volunteer missions opportunities through Volunteer Connection, Acteens Activators/Acteens Activators Abroad, Acteens Interns, and Women on Mission Enterprisers.
Throughout its history, WMU has been an auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, which means that it acts as a "helper" to the SBC. The auxiliary status also means that WMU is self-governing and self-supporting.
WMU’s governing body is made up of state WMU presidents who are elected by members of church WMU organizations when they gather for their state’s WMU annual meeting. These state presidents become vice presidents on the national level and function as the organization’s Executive Board. The WMU national president, elected annually by WMU members attending the national WMU annual meeting, serves as chair of the board.
Financially, WMU supports its work through the sale of magazines and products and from investments. National WMU receives no funds from the Southern Baptist Convention’s unified budget, the Cooperative Program.
Financial support of missionaries has always been a priority for women involved in WMU. When the women founded the national organization in 1888, one of their first items of business was to accept the request to raise money for the two mission boards. Within the first year, the women contributed over $30,700 to the two entities.
The women’s efforts to raise money for the two mission boards are known today as the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. The Christmas offering originated in 1888 and was named for Lottie Moon in 1918. The Easter offering originated in 1895 and was named for Annie Armstrong in 1934. The two offerings remained women’s offerings until 1956, when WMU agreed to promote the offerings churchwide. By the end of 1998, WMU had helped lead Southern Baptists to contribute nearly $2.5 billion to the two offerings.
Permanent WMU Watchword: "For we are labourers together with God" (1 Corinthians 3:9 KJV).
Mission Statement: Woman’s Missionary Union challenges Christian believers to understand and be radically involved in the mission of God.
The Tasks of Woman’s Missionary Union:
* pray for and give to missions
* do missions
* learn about missions
* develop spiritually toward a missions lifestyle
* participate in the work of the church and the denomination
What We Publish
One of the ways WMU expresses its commitment to Jesus Christ and His missions
cause is through acquiring, writing, editing, producing, marketing, and selling
books and other products that reflect biblical faith and practice and Christian
ethics. WMU determines a book’s worth by its potential for furthering the
cause of Christ throughout the world and involving Christians in Christ’s
mission. WMU publishes books and other products that promote a missions
lifestyle and greater missions awareness and that support our mission statement
and core values.
These include resources related to prayer, ministry, Bible study, spiritual development, social issues, cultural diversity and cooperation, administration, and leadership, and missionary biographies and stories. Specific target audiences for WMU publications include members of WMU’s age level organizations, leaders of church and associational WMU, and church members in general. WMU does not publish short articles, essays, fantasy, or books of poetry.
Most products WMU publishes are works for hire by writers chosen specifically for projects WMU initiates and directs. Occasionally, however, WMU publishes unsolicited manuscripts. WMU will consider for publication manuscripts, which support our mission statement and undergird our core values.
How to Submit a Manuscript
A complete manuscript proposal should include:
| A query/cover letter with a manuscript synopsis, purpose statement, target audience, projected length, and anticipated date of completion. |
| Writer biographical information, including other works you have published and credentials or unique perspectives you carry which qualify you to write on this subject. It should also include your complete name, mailing address, and phone number(s), present position, and educational background. (A form for providing this information is available from WMU upon request.) |
| A manuscript outline and either three chapters of the manuscript, or the entire manuscript. WMU will not make a decision to publish a manuscript until we see a completed manuscript. With an outline and three chapters, however, we can tell you of our interest. Writers must supply sources for all quotations and documentation of all facts cited within the manuscript. |
| A working title and three possible alternative titles. |
| A list of currently available books in this same genre and subject, including publisher and retail price, and a description of what your manuscript offers that these do not. |
All manuscripts should:
| Adhere closely to the Chicago Manual of Style. |
| Be letter quality printout or photocopy. Woman’s Missionary Union accepts no responsibility for lost or damaged manuscripts. Please do not send original artwork or manuscripts. |
| Be on 8 ½" X 11" white bond paper. Please do not send manuscripts on glossy paper. |
| Have pages consecutively numbered from the beginning to the end of the manuscript, rather than by chapters. |
| Include any necessary permissions for copyrighted material. |
| Include SASE for the return of the manuscript. |
If a manuscript is accepted for publication, the writer agrees to submit it to WMU on standard computer disks in a word processing format convertible to Microsoft Word. Each chapter should be self-contained in an individual file.
Please sent manuscript proposals to:
Editorial Department
Woman’s Missionary Union, SBC
P.O. Box 830010
Birmingham, AL 35283-0010
What We Pay
Woman’s Missionary Union pays a flat purchase fee for works for hire. Writers
of unsolicited manuscripts may receive a flat fee or a royalty on the retail
sales prices.
This page last updated 04/27/2004