Structure and Governance
Church Women United is a movement of local, state, regional and national units, which are interrelated and interdependent. Each part has its own organizational style and program within the framework of the movement and in the spirit of Church Women United’s purpose and goalsThe national unit consists of the Common Council, the highest legislative authority of CWU which meets every four years to approve program goals and a budget for the quadrennium. The officers of the Common Council – the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer – are the officers for the corporation. In addition to the officers, the voting members of the Common Council include the: Board of Directors, Nominating Committee, State Presidents, and Designated representative from each supporting church-related women’s organization.
Other State Unit Board members, staff of supporting church-related women’s organizations and representatives of ecumenical organizations may attend Common Council as observers at their own expense or at the invitation of CWU.
The Board of Directors of Church Women United meets yearly. It has two major functions:
1) policy and program planning, implementation and monitoring, and 2) general
business such as budget adjustments, personnel decisions and policy development.
The members include the officers, the standing and program committee chairpersons,
the regional coordinators, and two representatives of the supporting church-related
women’s organizations. The president may appoint other committees and task groups.
The Administrative Committee includes the officers and the chairpersons of standing
and program committees. It may act for the Board of Directors between meetings on
matters in which timing is urgent.
The Standing Committees are the Finance Committee, Personnel Committee and Nominating Committee. The Program Committees are the Celebrations Committee, the Ecumenical Leadership Development Committee, the Action/Global Concerns Committee, and the Communications Committee.
State Units are geographically designated into larger groups known as Regions. A regional coordinator for each region is elected by the Common Council. Regional coordinators serve as a link between state and local units, the Common Council, Board of Directors and staff. Regional meetings are scheduled regularly, usually biennially. Local Units connect to the Common Council and Board of Directors through their state presidents, regional coordinators and members of the Council and Board in their region or community.