LADIES CIRCLE

A Brief History About Ladies Circle

Goshen Church Ladies Circle was formed at its first meeting on Wednesday, January 15, 1975 at the home of Sister Maggie Calvin. The first officers were: Kay McCubbin, President; Brenda Wilson (Austin), Vice President; Gail Calvin, Secretary/Treasurer. It was decided at this first meeting that the group would meet on the second Wednesday of each month.

To get the group started, an initiation fee of $1 per member was assessed, with monthly dues of $.50; however, by April of that year all dues were suspended. The main fundraiser at that time was a craft booth at the Biscayne Mall Bazaar. The Ladies Circle met at Sister Maggie’s every month to work on craft projects throughout the year to sell at the Bazaar booth, which was very profitable in its time.

Also in the inaugural year of 1975, the group made Apple Butter in September at the home of Clellie and Maggie Calvin to sell as a fundraiser. Although the Biscayne Mall Bazaar eventually ceased, the Ladies Circle has continued their fall bazaar crafts and baked goods that are sold at the Goshen Church annual Chicken Supper. Those in the group that were quilters began quilting quilts for other people in January/February 1976. At that time they were getting $30-$35 dollars to quilt a quilt, and today that service brings in $130-$150 dollars per quilt depending on its size. Through the years, there have been various other fundraisers that have come and gone!

In December of 1976, it was voted to rotate the location of meetings with members volunteering to host each month, with the January 12, 1977 meeting at Sister Gail Calvin’s. This rotation process continues today. Our order of business at the monthly meetings consists of a circle prayer to open the meeting, a devotional shared by the host, reading of the minutes of the previous meeting; members sharing joys or concerns for those that are in need of special prayer; and any business that may come before the group. Each meeting is closed with everyone repeating the Lord’s Prayer. Following each meeting, the host provides snacks for a time of food and fellowship among the members.

With the various fundraisers mentioned above, it has afforded the Ladies Circle to monetarily assist the Church with various projects – one of the first was buying material for baptistery curtains. Although there were many projects through the years, here are a few examples of assistance in more recent years:

Reimburse Activities Committee for expenses to provide “Breakfast with the Lord” on the third Sunday of the month (some items are donated)
Reimburse Activities committee for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day banquets/celebrations each year
Provide treat bags for the children of the church at Easter and Christmas
Monetarily assisted Church with the remodeling of the master bathroom shower at the parsonage in 2015
Monetarily assisted Church with painting of the parsonage in preparation for Brother Aaron & Sister Cassandra Beaty’s arrival in 2019
Decorate dining room tables each month
Decorate the front porch of the Church with seasonal decorations
Organize and provide meat for lunches/dinners for annual meetings of the Church
Provide meat and organize funeral dinners for members who pass away

Ladies Circle is very fortunate to have the talented volunteers who are willing to give of themselves for the betterment of Goshen Church. There were years when the members drew names for a secret sister to ‘secretly’ provide gifts throughout the year. However, a couple of years ago, we decided to cease that practice and each member make a monetary donation at each meeting to put into a ‘Buddy Pack/Christmas Family’ fund.

At the end of the year, Ladies Circle makes a donation to the Southern Boone R-1 Schools Buddy Pack program (if needed) and also sponsors a local family for Christmas (school provides gender and age of children and a family wish list, but family is anonymous). In December of each year, Ladies Circle hosts a Christmas Dinner on their regular meeting night which is held at the Church, and families are invited to join the group for dinner. Following dinner, the ladies conduct any necessary business (which includes election of officers for the following year) and have a ‘grab bag’ gift exchange.

If you are interested in joining Ladies Circle, we'd love to have you! Send us a message through this website or simply talk to someone at church and they'll get you connected!