Dawn Wiggins Hare, General Secretary of the Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW), wears many hats in the denomination and will certainly be among the busiest in the next two weeks. Hare was tasked with chairing the Central Conference Delegate Training on Sunday, April 21 in Charlotte, NC.
This three-day, pre-conference orientation was an effort by the general secretaries, the Commission on General Conference and the Council of Bishops to help bring equity to delegates from across the Central Conferences. This event was organized to feature subjects requested by the delegates. “Our goal was to be factual, honest, and unbiased in our presentations,” stated Hare. She continued, “Knowledge is power and our goal was to empower each delegate to have factual information to be able to vote their conscience.” Hare presented in several sessions. One specifically focused on presenting to Central Conference female delegates about safety, boundaries, and finding their voices.
Hare was elected General Secretary in 2013. The commission is one of 13 general agencies of the United Methodist Church and is committed to the full participation of women in the complete life and mission of the church. It serves as an advocate for and on behalf of women, seeks to eliminate inequities in relation to women in the church, and monitors the general agencies, institutions, and connectional structures to ensure inclusiveness of women.
In a
previous interview with AWF native, Anna Grace Glaize, Hare was asked about her favorite Biblical character. To Glaize’s surprise, it was Solomon! She stated, “I think more of the qualities of people than the people. Just like I was drawn to wisdom and it happened to be embodied in Solomon, and Sophia [meaning ‘wisdom’ in Greek]...I tend to be drawn to women who show courage because that’s something I’m always checking about myself. Am I having the courage I need to have in this moment? Or am I backing away? And it’s, you know, the courage of announcing that He is risen, the courage of talking to Jesus at the well. I mean the courage it took to take on the system and say, ‘We want this land. It was our father’s!’ I think it’s not so much the characters as the character of women in the Bible that I’ve been drawn to.”
COSROW is also responsible for fielding a team of monitors at General Conference where
several AWF friends are serving in this capacity. These monitors produce reports on women's participation in the conference.
Hare is a member of Monroeville UMC in the Alabama-West Florida Conference and has served on several delegations and in many conference leadership positions in addition to her current general church position.
Photo courtesy of United Methodist News.
