Our Story

The United Conference for Women (UCW) is one of the oldest independent, African American women's conferences in the country not affiliated with any major denomination. It began in October of 1976 with the vision of about 20 African American women friends and family members who had known each other since childhood and worked together in church, youth, and music ministries. These 20 women met in the choir room of the former Bethany Tabernacle Church in Detroit, Michigan, which was at the time located in the shadow of the Detroit Institute of Arts, and were commiserating that the national conference they usually attended was closed, and it was too late to register. Mother of two of the women co-founders challenged them: "Why don't you do your own conference?" Armed with faith and with a level of trepidation, these women nevertheless prayerfully decided to say “Yes” to the challenge.

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They didn’t know if anyone else would want to attend. But they stepped out and reserved Adrian College in Michigan for the first conference weekend. Seventy-six paid $35.00 to attend. 

Since that time, retreats have been held at Wheels Inn in Canada, the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, MI, and in various major conference centers around the Midwest. Attendance reached as high as 6,000. We were even able to hold virtual conferences during the COVID pandemic; but were grateful in 2024 when we were able to go back to in-person conferencing.

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The Lord has blessed United Conference for Women; through it He has touched and changed many women’s lives.  We have had gifted speakers from around the country come and minister to women from all walks of life. We have had prayer warriors to seek God’s face and women to give biblical direction to their fellow sisters who are struggling with the spiritual questions and challenges that we all face in all of the multiple roles that we must play. From single women to mothers and wives and daughters and in the workplace, we firmly believe that the Bible has life-giving, women-empowering answers. And we have prayerfully sought to provide those answers. Since 1976, women have come away from the conference renewed, refreshed, and ready to face the challenges of life.

 

Now, UCW is in its second and third iteration of attendance and leadership, with a new generation of both biological and spiritual daughters and granddaughters serving on the Board (LINK TO THE WORD “BOARD”) and nearly 100 volunteers serving in various areas of responsibility. That is very precious to us. We are gratefully committed to continuing the powerful spiritual legacy that was bequeathed to us by these foremothers in the faith.