Aglow International

AGLOW INTERNATIONAL was founded in Seattle in 1967 as a way for Christian women to pray together and to minister to one another. This group, which now spans six continents, has also made progress in reaching out to women of color. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ten years ago, Venetta Proady was in a relationship that caused her great personal turmoil.

A friend suggested she attend a meeting of Aglow International,

a Christian organization that ministers one on one to women. It turned her life around and brought her closer to God.

"After the first meeting, I felt like that's where God wanted me to be," said Proady, who is now president of the organization's Seattle Central chapter. "I just belonged. That was the first time I felt so much acceptance. I was hooked."

Back then, Proady, an African American, was one of few minorities in Aglow. In the ensuing years, many others have joined, though the group has found it difficult to shake its all-white image.

Aglow's mission: Lead women to Jesus, help their faith grow and give them opportunities to minister to others.

It does this through prayer events, leadership training, short-term mission trips, seminars, Bible study and national and international conferences.`I . . . have always felt very accepted'

Although Aglow now has 20,000 members - with chapters on six continents and 120 nations - it is nearly unknown in its homeland.

Aglow was founded in Seattle in 1967 by four women who felt the male-dominated church overlooked women's spiritual needs.

Debra Austin, Aglow's spokeswoman, said that, during the time Aglow was forming, women's groups were looked down on by the church; therefore, they chose to go underground instead of being ostracized as radical feminists.

For more than a decade, it has been trying to diversify its ranks. But to many peering in from the outside, it has been seen as a whites-only organization.

Deloris Moore, who sits on the national board and is also an African American, can attest to that. When she became a member in the late 1970s, she remembered looking across a sea of white faces and seeing only a sprinkling of minorities.

Moore said the reason Aglow was primarily white stemmed from segregated churches. Therefore, when minorities became members, those on the outside thought they were token representatives.

"Once churches began to integrate, more women of color became involved," she said. "I never thought race was an issue and have always felt very accepted."

In fact, many of Aglow's minority members say they feel one and the same with their white counterparts. For them, it has always been the Lord's teachings that brought them together in mutual friendship and respect.Action began in the early 1980s

Aglow began putting into practice the racial harmony it preached in the early 1980s, said Bobbie Byerly, Aglow's national president, from the group's Edmonds headquarters. In 1994, it established an intercultural mission - consisting of Aglow women from different ethnic backgrounds - to get a feel for what more could be done to draw minority women.

Byerly, a Southern-born white woman, said Aglow, in many ways, at first wasn't sure how to reach out to minority women. However, during her more than 25 years of involvement, it has learned.

"Besides just having rules in their bylaws that stress cultural diversity," Moore said, "Aglow actually is diverse by including women of different cultures as speakers and ministry leaders."

Proady's chapter was founded two years ago, to accommodate Central Area Aglow members. It holds prayer meetings and Bible studies once a month and hopes soon to start a Central Area teen group and prison ministry. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Aglow International

-- Headquartered in Edmonds, it has 15,000 national chapters and more than 13,000 international chapters.

-- Worldwide, Aglow has 20,000 members and ministers to more than 400,000 a year.

-- All women are welcome at Aglow meetings. To find the nearest one, call the Edmonds office at (206) 775-7282.