254 / One Faith-Many Works

by the widow of M. S. Steiner, Mrs. Clara Eby Steiner. From 1911 till 1926 when she resigned because of ill health, Mrs. Steiner took an active part in corresponding with Ohio sewing circles and in visiting them. In 1914, for example, she appealed to local circles for funds to buy a sewing machine for the Mennonite Sanitarium at La Junta, Colorado, and for bedspreads for the orphanage at West Liberty.

A general meeting of sewing circle leaders was held at Wauseon, Ohio, in August 1915. At another similar meeting in 1916 at West Liberty, Ohio, the following officers were elected: Mary Burkhard, president; Clara Eby Steiner, secretary; and Ruth Yoder, treasurer.

At the General Conference of 1915 an overall organization was projected which included women representatives from nearly every state and conference of the Mennonite Church. As time went on, the organization, later called the Women's Missionary Society, supported missionaries in India as well as projects in the United States. During World War I much sewing was done for war sufferers. Despite some reluctance on the part of church leaders regarding a women's organization, the society grew. In all these years Mrs. Steiner played an important part in gathering data, issuing a Monthly Letter, and keeping up correspondence.

After 1918 the Ohio Women's and Girls' Missionary Society met annually to promote charitable and missionary activity. The society was made up of many local units, nearly every congregation having one. There were district meetings of the society, which on some occasions had between 600 and 700 women in attendance. Local units of the society prepared Christmas bundles for city and foreign missions. They gathered and repaired clothing for foreign relief and supported missionaries and the church's missionary activities.

Since affiliating with the Women's Missionary and Service Auxiliary of the General Mission Board of the Mennonite Church in 1955 the local groups are known as WMSA units. The work of the WMSA has since gone beyond supplying clothing and gifts of this kind. Mental hospitals and convalescent homes are visited and served according to patient needs. Local libraries receive gifts from the congregational WMSA units for the purchase of needed books. The Ohio Evangel reports in each issue the varied activities of the WMSA groups. These may include assistance to a needy family