A sewing circle is a monthly meeting of
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...
women for the purpose of sewing bedding and clothing to be distributed by service and missionary organizations to people in need around the world. The
Women's Missionary and Service Commission The Women's Missionary and Service Commission, previously known as the Women's Missionary and Service Auxiliary and abbreviated WMSC or WMSA, was a women's organization of the "old" Mennonite Church that originated out of the Mennonite Sewing Circ ...
grew out of such sewing circles.
History of Sewing Circle Organizations
Mennonite women of Eastern Pennsylvania were sewing clothing for the needy as early as 1895 and it was only a short time before they organized themselves into the Paradise Sewing Circle in 1897.
Women in Ontario were sewing clothes for distribution by deacons around the same time.
The next decade saw more sewing circles organized in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, and Ontario, notably at
Science Ridge Mennonite Church in
Sterling, Illinois
Sterling is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,782 at the 2020 census, down from 15,370 in 2010. Formerly nicknamed "Hardware Capital of the World", the city has long been associated with manufacturing an ...
, and
Prairie Street Mennonite Church in
Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana, east of Chicago, Illinois, and north of Indianapolis, Indiana. Elkhart has the larger population of the two principal cities of th ...
, as early as 1900.
Clara Eby Steiner
Clara may refer to:
Organizations
* CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization
* Clara.Net, a European ISP
* Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium
People
* Clara (given name), a feminine giv ...
, widow of
Menno Steiner
Menno is a Dutch language given name of Old Frisian origin. It was made popular by the influential Frisian religious reformer Menno Simons ( West Frisian: ''Minne Simens''), and the name was spread by his followers, the Mennonites.
''Menno'' is th ...
, began calling for a more general society of Mennonite sewing circles around 1911, an effort that was accomplished in 1916. The organization continued to evolve, eventually broadening to other kinds of service and mission in the
Women's Missionary and Service Commission The Women's Missionary and Service Commission, previously known as the Women's Missionary and Service Auxiliary and abbreviated WMSC or WMSA, was a women's organization of the "old" Mennonite Church that originated out of the Mennonite Sewing Circ ...
.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Historical photos of Mennonite Sewing Circles
Mennonitism
Women's organizations
Sewing