A capacity crowd in the chapel of the Hillcrest Academy building was buzzing with the conversation of enthusiastic women. That warm summer day, June 8, 1953 a national organization for women was about to be born. With Mrs. Clarence Walstad (Ruth) presiding, a roomful of women decided that they should organize nationally...

The early National WMF meetings were held in June each year. Bea Steenerson, Clearbrook, Minn., remembers that she “didn’t miss a meeting for years. We were just so excited to get down to WMF! And, oh! You should have heard the singing!”

Eleanor Bjornlie describes the CLB annual conventions of the fifties in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. “They were smaller and cozier than today. Whole families attended...

“The best way to get women praying for their missionaries is to have them get to know them,” was one of the thoughts behind a series of “Handbooks” produced by the women of the sixties.

Volunteers typed, duplicated, and assembled three thick volumes during this decade. The Handbooks were great reading! They contained short autobiographies written by many missionaries...

The women of the seventies continued to increase their budget to meet more needs. Concerned with helping the financial needs of the synod, a “pie-shaped” budget was adopted.  Thus WMF began using the same percentages as the synod did for World Missions, Home Missions, Lutheran Brethren Schools, Lutheran Brethren Homes, Publications, and the Synodical offices.  Some of the projects included transportation costs for Pastor Kosukegawa from Japan, and Pastor Manikasset from Africa...

Women continued to ask for practical projects that local groups could participate in.  The Campbell Soup Label project began with women saving enough soup labels to provide two electric pencil sharpeners for Hillcrest.  That continuing project over the years has provided VCRs, video cameras, a movie projector and larger equipment to help in the Christian high school...