The Synodical of Women’s Fellowship of the Church of Pakistan

As one of the senior most members of Riffaqat-e-Khawateen (Women’s Fellowship) and having the immense joy and honor to be an active member of Women’s Fellowship of the Church of Pakistan, serving Women’s Synodical as its Vice President (1983- 1989), and an honorary coordinator (1990-1993), I reckon it my sacred responsibility to share the history and journey of faith of Women’s synodical of the Church of Pakistan. Our foremothers, who have nurtured the church through life’s tempests and storms, today call and challenge our sisters and daughters to come forward to play their role in making our church a loving, witnessing and a serving church in Pakistan. The article is based on the book, “The Synodical of Women’s Fellowship, Church of Pakistan: Its Role and Vision of Empowering Women Through Theological Education in Pakistan,” authored by me, and published (2007) by Women’s Synodical of the Church of Pakistan. The Women’s Synodical of the Church of Pakistan operates as a senior most standing committee for Women’s concerns within the Church of Pakistan. The Synodical Pakistan was formed because of the amalgamation of four Uniting Churches, i.e. Anglican, United Methodist, Lutheran, and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, in Pakistan. The inauguration ceremony was held at the Lahore Cathedral located on The Mall Road, on November 1, 1970. The basic principles on which all four churches agreed to unite were: Acceptance and recognition of doctrines found in the Holy Scriptures, belief in the Holy Sacraments and belief in the Apostles’ creed and Nicene Creed. Taxila Cross, discovered in 1935 during excavations at Taxila, an old city in Pakistan, is the official symbol of the church of Pakistan.

At the Inauguration Ceremony of the Church of Pakistan (1970), the Bishop of South India and other leaders of the newly formed Church invited Mrs. E.Khair Ullah who was present at the Inauguration Ceremony with a few other church women to convene a women’s committee. The purpose of this committee was to constitute and formalize women’s work of the four Uniting Churches, convene the first meeting of the Synodical, elect its officers and to plan programs for the succeeding years. The members of this committee were Mrs. Ethel Khiar Ullah (convenor), Mrs. C. Bhan (Secretary), Mrs. F. Inayat Masih (wife of Bishop of Lahore), Mrs. Young (wife of Bishop of Sialkot) and Mrs. Shirin Samuel (wife of Bishop of Multan). This committee, with the help of Mrs. Bhan, a qualified teacher, and a trained lawyer, accomplished the task of framing the first constitution of the women’s Fellowship. This was presented and approved by the Synod, Church of Pakistan in its first meeting held in 1971.

The first Synodical meeting of the Church of Pakistan was convened in Lahore from April 20th to 22nd 1972. Thirteen women delegates (4 from Lahore diocese, 4 from Multan diocese, two from Karachi diocese, and 3 from Sialkot diocese) attended the Synodical. Mrs. Melvina Wilson, Miss Stacy and Miss Blaauw also attended as official visitors.

The opening worship was conducted by the Rt. Rev. Inayat Masih, bishop of Lahore, and the first elected Moderator of the Church of Pakistan. In his opening address, the bishop stressed the ultimate purpose of the United Church: “to strengthen God’s work at every level and in each organization.” While referring to the constitution of the Women’s Fellowship, which was approved at the First Synod Meeting held in1971 in Lahore, the bishop said, “though it is important to abide by the rules, one should not be bogged down by them.” He urged the women to be mindful of the ultimate purpose of the United Church, which he reiterated should be reflected and maintained at all costs, as it is the source of blessing for the whole Church. While encouraging women to help the Church to overcome its “Spiritual poverty”, the Bishop of Lahore said,

“Women constitute 50 percent of Christians in our church and they have as important a part as men. The spiritual poverty in our church today can only be vindicated by the revival of the church through women. It is through women that a spiritually poverty-stricken church can be turned into a truly worshiping Church.”

The first elected officers of the Women’s Synodical were Mrs. Priscillas Peters (President), Mrs. Piyari Wahab (Vice President), Mrs. E. Khair Ullah (Secretary), and Miss Moti Ram (Treasurer). Mrs. Gladys Francis was co-opted as a member.

Right from the birth of Women’s Synodical, a definite need for an area worked, to assist women’s work in the newly created four dioceses of the Church of Pakistan was felt. To establish women’s work on strong footings in the newly formed Church also meant having sufficient funding, along with having dedicated women workers.

Mrs. Melvina Wilson, a United Methodist missionary from the United States of America, was the coordinator of women’s work in the United Methodist Church at the time of Church Union. Since the United Church was not able to assist women’s work with its meager resources, and the women societies of other three uniting churches lacked funding as well, the United Methodist Church allowed the designated amount of Rs. 10,580/- for 1971/72 for Methodist women’s work with the General Board of Global Missions (GBGM) in the United States, to be used, at the request of Mrs. Wilson, to continue women’s work in the United Church. The first Synodical Conference (April1972) passed a resolution to explore a procedure for securing extension of Mrs. Wilson’s services to continue work until a national coordinator is appointed. This appointment also ensured funding from the GBGM for women’s work. Mrs. Wilson continued to work as the coordinator of women’s work until her retirement in 1973. When Mrs. Wilson retired, Mrs. Gladys Francis, her assistant, carried on the women’s work in the Church of Pakistan until December 1973. Her status since then changed to a full-time worker in Lahore Diocese only. It is important to note that the Synodical of Women’s Fellowship of the Church of Pakistan did not have a full-time coordinator from 1974 – 1999, and that the secretarial work of the Synodical was overseed, kept and maintained by the Synodical officers in a “Synodical Steel Trunk”.

Since the formation of the United Church included different traditions and denominations, the initial years of Women’s Synodical were dedicated to organizational structure and familiarizing members with the purposes and organizational functioning of Women’s Fellowship. A lot of effort was also expended to promote understanding and respect for each other and develop Christian fellowship among women.

Synodical, right from its formation, have devoted considerable time to adhere to the spirit of its constitution, making it relevant and meaningful in the individual lives of women and in the life of the Church. The first constitution was written and received in 1971 at the first meeting of the Synod. It was approved with amendment 72/4 at the First Synodical Meeting held in Lahore. 

The amendment read as follows: “the wife of each bishop of a Diocese shall be an ex-officio member of the Synodical and its Executive Committee.” This constitution with its four-fold purposes, was a simple and workable document which aimed at meeting the needs of Women Fellowships at three levels – Local, Diocesan and National. In 1975, Mrs. C. Bhan wrote to the President of Women’s Synodical to add a preamble to the constitution. This Executive Committee discussed and approved the following preamble to the constitution in its February meeting: “ At the time of the inauguration of the Church Union in November, 1970, the women of the uniting churches who already were organized into women’s groups called by the various names, formed themselves into one body of women ad chose the name of Women’s Fellowship of the Church of Pakistan, therefore all other groups with various names ceased to exist.”

The revised constitution (1998) of the Women’s Synodical as it stands today was studied and discussed in a session chaired by Mrs. Khushnud Azariah and was unanimously passed by the membership at the 10th Triennial Synodical Conference held in Multan in 1998. (The text is available at the office of the Synodical.)

The emblem of the Women’s Fellowship (Riffaqat-e-Khawateen) was designed by Mrs. Melvina Wilson. It consists of the following three components, as described in “Rahbar”, Synodical handbook (p. 9): 

i. Taxila Cross, the official symbol of the Church of Pakistan, occupies the central place to denote that women are integral part of the global church. 

ii. Circle is a symbol of our unity in Christ, who is the center of our lives. 

iii. Wreath symbolizes victory in Jesus Christ. In Christ, we can serve and live victoriously.

Foremothers and Pioneers of Women’s Synodical

Several dedicated and able women have given leadership to the Church of Pakistan through their dynamic and dedicated service to the Women’s Synodical. Mrs. Priscilla Peters’ recent death on March 21, 2024 at age 95, has prompted me to begin sharing the wonderful story of Women’s Synodical through social media. In this communique, I am pleased to share the contributions of Mrs. Priscilla Peter, a beloved foremother and one of the pioneers of Women’s Synodical of the Church of Pakistan.

Mrs. Priscilla Peters was the first elected President of the Women’s Synodical of the Church of Pakistan. She has not only played a significant role in nurturing Women’s Synodical in its infancy, but continued to develop the organization with her devotion, multifarious skills, and talents. She has also served the women’s synodical as a treasurer and raised funds to carry out Synodical’s various programs and projects. The following article is based on the writer’s personal acquaintance with Mrs. Peters, her presidential addresses and an article written by her at the request of the writer. Mrs. Priscilla Peters, a former United Methodist, served Lucie Harrison Girls High School, a former Methodist Girls High School in Lahore for thirty-seven years and was the principal for twenty-seven years. She also served the Girls’ Hostel attached to the school, called “Christian Religious Education Center” as the Directress after the nationalization of Church Schools (1971) in Pakistan. After her retirement, she migrated to the United States with her husband, Col. Eddie Peters, to join her two sons who reside in the United States of America.

Well-known for her faithful dedication to the Church, wisdom, and far-sightedness, Mrs. Peters has represented the Church of Pakistan both nationally and internationally. She served the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, a global sisterhood, as an Area Vice President of West Asia and the World President.

The writer is proud to have her as her High School teacher and is highly indebted for the contribution she had made in her life as a teacher, mentor, colleague, and a friend. When asked to write her experience with the women’s synodical to be included in the History book, Priscilla Peters wrote an article which is included in the history book, “Church of Pakistan- The Synodical of Women’s Fellowship, “Its Role and Vision of empowering Women through Theological Education in Pakistan” authored by Khushnud Azariah in 2007.

In this article, Peters writes:

I am glad the history of the Women’s Fellowship of the Church of Pakistan is being written. The preservation of historical facts is very important for posterity. It enables them to critically examine and appreciate the past achievements and successes on one hand and the failures and shortcomings on the other hand and thus draw inspiration and guidance for the future. I feel honored to have played my humble part in the history of the Women’s Fellowship and have much pleasure to be able to write a few lines for this historic book. There is so much that I would like to share with you, but the limited space forces me to confine myself to only a few landmarks and will merely touch upon them. It has been my pleasant privilege. Mrs. Priscilla Peters

Emblem of Riffaqat-e-Khawateen to be closely associated with the Women’s Fellowship and its National Executive body, the Synodical of the Church of Pakistan from its inception to the present day. The Women’s Fellowship originated in 1970 at the time of the Church Union because of amalgamation of existing Women Organizations of Uniting churches. Together we adopted common purposes and a simple workable constitution. We always maintained an open and progressive attitude and amended our purposes and constitution when required to meet the needs and challenges of the time.

The Women’s Fellowship is a growing, active, and forward-looking organization. The past twenty-five years (1970-1995) have seen some critical times, faced problems and challenges, but these have only been stepping stones leading to remarkable achievements and successful growth. True to the theme of our first Synodical, “Go Forward”, the Women Fellowship and the Synodical have continuously forged ahead with great strides. Here I would like to gratefully acknowledge the dedicated leadership of “Founding Mothers “and subsequent leadership of their genuine concern for betterment of women, and their joint ceaseless efforts which have uplifted the Women’s Fellowship to its present well organized and effective state.

I am thankful for the opportunity of serving the Synodical of Women’s Fellowship as its National

President, Treasurer and now a life member on the Executive. I was First, Second, and Fifth President of the Synodical of Women’s Fellowship from 1972-78 and again from 1978-1986. In the interim years, I served as the treasurer from 1978-1983. One of the joys of serving in these capacities has been meeting and working with dedicated fellow Christian sisters. Together we nurtured and raised the women’s Fellowship from Its infancy to firm footings.

The initial years were devoted to familiarizing the members with the purposes and organizational functioning of the Women’s Fellowship. Since the amalgamation included different traditions and denominations, we deliberated to promote understanding and respect for each other and develop Christian fellowship among women. Surely and steadily the women’s fellowship gained popularity and strength which became evident by its attendance in local and the national meetings. To give an example, in the first Synodical only 20 women participated, whereas now it has a membership of over one hundred women.

Along with growth in number, our vision and outreach also enlarged. Programs consisting of meetings, Bible studies, seminars, leadership training and workshops were geared to generate awareness in women of their potential and develop their inherent leadership qualities, thereby enabling them to tackle their problems, to spiritually revive and motivate women to build Christian homes, to kindle Christian fellowship, and widen horizons of concerns from domestic to international levels. These efforts bore fruit and very confident active women emerged determined to uplift women and alleviate their problems. Consequently, this also gave birth to useful projects adopted by the Synodical namely: Christian Education for Christian children, scholarships for girls, help for Mandola Institute for Training of Minister’s wives in Africa, Mother and Child Clinic. Another significant step forward was that we shook off our dependency on other countries for devotional and program materials. Our women ventured into writing their own devotional and program materials and launched an informative and thought-provoking magazine of Women’s Fellowship. 

From the beginning we regretfully and with serious concern noted the microscopic  representation of women in the decision-making bodies of the church and resolved to redress this situation. In the Asian male dominated society, this is an uphill task, but our efforts were not without success. The women are now vocal and active participants in their churches and at national level in the Synod of the Church of Pakistan, the women representation has increased from one woman to ten women. We continue, in our endeavor to secure equal opportunities for women in all spheres.

One of the aims of the Women’s Fellowship is to develop and maintain sisterly relationships and active participation with other National and International women organizations. Our achievement in this sphere is praiseworthy. Our women have ably represented Pakistan at several International meetings such as World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, Asian Church Women’s Conference, World Day of Prayer. Fellowship of the Least Coin and many others. Some have also been elected as office bearers and to serve on their Executive Committees.

By the grace of God, the women’s Fellowship program and activities have multiplied manifold. This has necessitated co-ordination of work by a central office. To fulfill this need, the Synodical has appointed a full time coordinator (October 1993) whose primary responsibility is to promote, develop and coordinate the policies and programs of the Women’s Fellowship and build cordial relationships among all the groups. It is heartening for me to see that the seed we planted twenty-five years ago has bloomed into a strong multi-fruit bearing tree. I thank God for earnest dedicated services of members and officers of the past and present who with selfless devotion have toiled for the Synodical of Women’s Fellowship of the Church of Pakistan. May the Women’s Fellowship continue to grow from strength to strength and always be a source of abundant blessing for the women and the Church of Pakistan.”

Dedicated work and sincere prayers of women like Mrs. Priscilla Peters have no doubt brought the Synodical of Women’s Fellowship to become a multi-fruit bearing tree. Her faithful keeping of the Synodical record which she handed over to the writer when she was the honorary coordinator of Women’s Synodical was a great asset in writing the history of the first twenty-five years of women’s work in the church of Pakistan.

In the next issue, we will learn about the program emphasis of the women`s synodical of the Church of Pakistan delineating contribution I Mrs. Melvina Wilson, the first national coordinator of women`s work in the Church of Pakistan