E&R Church. Women's Guild.

On June 23, 1934, the Cabinet of the Woman's Missionary Society ( Reformed) and the Board of Directors of the Evangelical Woman's Union met together for the first time in Cleveland to explore the possibility of uniting the women's work in the new church. They agreed to appoint a Commission on Merger to plan for an organic union of the women's societies. This commission worked for five years and presented its plan to both groups. The merger convention was held in Zion Church in Cleveland in November of 1939 and the women's guild of the Evangelical and Reformed church became a reality.

For the next two years, the administrative committee worked tirelessly to organize the new body, which consisted of 818 Women's Missionary Societies, 1,685 Women's Unions and 1,045 Ladies Aid and other societies. In fall of 1940 the Synodical Women's guilds were organized and in the spring of 1941 Regional guilds were begun. National headquarters were located in Cleveland and a working staff was chosen, with Florence Partridge as Executive Secretary. The work of the Guild was divided into departments, summer conferences were held and quadrennial conventions were planned. The first of these scheduled for 1945, was never held because of the war. Rather than having its own newsletter, the Guild was given pages in the Messenger, thus integrating its news into the life of the whole church.

A women's Merger Committee, composed of Congregational Christian, Evangelical and Reformed women, began to meet in 1947. In 1949, the Quadrennial Meeting was followed immediately by a joint meeting of the CC and E&R women. The women were ready for another merger long before it took place. When the merger finally did occur in 1957, the new denomination was already moving toward the concept of uniting men's and women's groups in a Council for Lay Life and Work. The national boards of the women's organizations continued to hold joint meetings until early 1963.

"The Missionary Home in Lancaster, PA was built and paid for by the Women's Missionary Society of the Eastern Synod of the Reformed Church of the United States. In 1926, this society voted to build and furnish a home for missionaries on furlough in this country. The lot at President and New Streets uin Lancaster was purchashed in 1929 for $5,135.00. The home was designed with three apartments of different sizes and dedicated in 1930. The property, building and furnishings cost about $40,000 and the $25,000 mortgage was repaid in ten years. Support came from the Classical Societies of the Eastern Synod and from the Synodical Soociety. Mrs. E.M. Ault of Lancaster served as Custodian from 1930 to 1948, administering the business of the home.

In 1946 the national Women's Guild of the Evangelical and Reformed Church took over ownership and operation of the Missionary Home. A committee of three women living nearby assumed the administrative duties. In 1963, the Women's Guild transferred the home to the United Church board for World Ministries. The BWM elected a property management committee to oversee its properties; there was a Home Operating committee on the local level to deal with the Missionary Home in Lancaster.

The files are limited in quantity and time coming only from the period of Women's Guild ownership and the transition to UCBWM ownership. In March, 1995, a few files were added by Al Bartholomew dating back to 1928."