The 19^th Episcopal District Women’s Missionary Society holds “A Woman of Firsts” Celebration in honour of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke

By The Rev. Thato Mere, Contributing Writer

The 19^th Episcopal District Women’s Missionary Society (WMS) hosted “A Woman of Firsts” in honour of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke. The session was held on Zoom on 14 August 2021. This comes as one of the 150th Celebration of the birth of Charlotte Maxeke, a response to a clarion call by the South African President Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa to celebrate the life and legacy of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke and her contribution towards the political and socio-economic landscape of the country. 

Charlotte Mannya Maxeke was the First black South African woman to receive a university degree (Wilberforce University). She was an activist and advocate for women’s rights in South Africa and one of the founding mothers of the A.M.E. Church in South Africa.

An initiative led by the 19^th Episcopal District Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sis. Reshoketswe Mosuwe and her Executive Board brought together missionary women of the 19^thDistrict, all wearing black and a fabulous headgear to resemble the strong and resilient woman, a mother and a leader Charlotte Maxeke was in her time. During the session, all that Maxeke was to the life of the church was resonated in the same spirit and accord by the Supervisor of the 3^rd Episcopal District Patricia Russell McCloud and the good leadership of both the WMS and Young Peoples Division (YPD) during her and Bishop McCloud’s tenure in the 19^th District. Supervisor Carolyn Brailsford of the 19^th District encouraged women to uphold the Maxeke legacy of loving and serving God by knowing who they are. The main speaker of the day, Judge President of the North West Province High Court Sis. Monica Leeuw, a staunch, and one of the longest serving member of the WMS, sentimentally shared the humanitarian principles that Charlotte Maxeke believed in. In the words of Judge Leeuw, “We have many sleeping giants in Africa,  we should live in the spirits of our giants. To expand as the A.M.E. Church, we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to live up to the legacy of our legends.” Judge Leeuw concluded her presentation by encouraging women that to achieve any goal, they need to be inspired by the legacy of Charlotte Maxeke and be driven by principles and passion of love, sharing, and sacrifice towards their brothers and sisters. The humanness Charlotte Maxeke and those past showed towards their fellow brothers and sisters must live in us. 

The umbilical and political perspective was shared with excitement and a thankful heart by the representative of the Charlotte Maxeke Institute, Mr. Thulasizwe Makhanya who commended the WMS for honouring the life and legacy of Charlotte Maxeke. Ms. Bathabile Dlamini the President of African National Congress Women’s League, of which Charlotte Maxeke is a founding member, also shared Maxeke’s contribution towards the growth and development of the Women’s League. 

It remains the responsibility of the women of this time and age to uphold the legacy of Charlotte Maxeke and Presiding Elder Rev. Alinah Masehela who was the first female to be appointed as a Presiding Elder in the 19^th Episcopal District. A Women of Firsts is an encouragement toward the current youth membership of the WMS in order to take the church forward by following in the footsteps of great giants such as Charlotte Maxeke. A Woman of Firsts is a fuel station for women such as the first female African to be elected to the Judicial Council of the AME Church during the historic hybrid gathering of the 2021 51^st Session of the General Conference, Sis. Thabile Ngubeni. A Woman of Firsts is a baton relay to the young women of the WMS to continue preserving the legacy and the wealth that Charlotte Maxeke has built.