Missions Offerings

The 1888 preamble of Woman’s Missionary Union reads in part, "We, the Women of the churches connected with the Southern Baptist Convention, desirous of stimulating the missionary spirit and the grace of giving, among the women and children of the churches, and aiding in collecting funds for missionary purposes, to be disbursed by the Boards of the Southern Baptist Convention and disclaiming all intention of independent action, organize . . ."

Woman’s Missionary Union’s purpose remains the same today as WMU continues to promote and support the missions offerings in cooperation with the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board.

Annie Armstrong Easter Offering®

The first collection of funds by WMU for either of the Boards was for home missions and took place at WMU’s organizational meeting in May of 1888. WMU accepted a request from Home Mission Board corresponding secretary Dr. Isaac Taylor Tichenor to aid in building a church and enlarging a Christian cemetery in Havana, Cuba. Offerings for home missions continued to be taken each year, usually to aid missionaries on the frontier and the work in Cuba. In 1895 Dr. Tichenor asked WMU to contribute $5,000 to help alleviate the agency’s $25,000 debt and prevent the withdrawal of missionaries from their missions fields. In response, WMU instituted the Week of Self-Denial as a time of praying for and giving to home missions and raised more than the $5,000 requested. Since 1895, a week of prayer and a home missions offering have continued. In 1903 the official name of this event was the Week of Prayer and Special Effort for Home Missions; in 1922 the name was changed to the Thank Offering. In honor of WMU’s first corresponding secretary and crusader for home missions, the offering was named the Annie Armstrong Offering in 1934. In 1969 the name was changed to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering^®, directly connecting the offering with the Christian observance. Woman’s Missionary Union continues to promote this offering and set the goals for giving to North American missions.

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®

The first offering for foreign missions was instituted in 1888, in response to a plea from Lottie Moon to Foreign Mission Board corresponding secretary Dr. Henry A. Tupper to send women missionaries to China. Lottie suggested that a week of prayer and an offering at Christmas would unify the women to a common cause and proposed that the newly organized WMU raise $2,000 to send two women to China to provide assistance to her. Led by Annie Armstrong, the women of WMU brought an offering of $3,315.26 to the January 1889 meeting, enough to send three missionaries to assist Lottie. An offering for foreign missions has been taken ever since that time. The offering was known as the Christmas Offering for China until 1919 when it was named the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for China, at the suggestion of Annie Armstrong. In 1926 it became the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions and in 1969 the name changed to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering^®. Woman’s Missionary Union continues to promote this offering and set the goals for giving to international missions.