Raymond J. Wade Papers

Raymond J. Wade (1875-1970), American Bishop, was born in LaGrange, Indiana, on May 29, 1875. He was educated at DePauw University and held honorary degrees from DePauw University, Taylor University, and Albion College. Wade joined the North Indiana Conference in 1894 and had pastorates in several Indiana churches. From 1915 to 1920 he was district superintendent of the Goshen District. Wade also served as corresponding secretary of the Commission on Conservation and Advance (1920-1924), was executive secretary of World Service Commission (1924-1928), and was secretary of the Methodist Episcopal General Conference (1920-1928).

Elected bishop in 1928, Wade was assigned to the Stockholm area which included the entire Kingdom of Sweden at that time. While in Europe, he was president of the University of Scandinavia's School of Theology at Gothenburg, Sweden, from 1928 to 1939. Wade supervised the work of the Methodist Church in several European countries until his return to the United States in 1940. He retired in 1948 after eight years of service to churches in the Detroit area. Wade died in 1970.

Myrtle L. Wade (1889-1969) was president of the World Federation of Methodist Women during the time her husband, Bishop Raymond J. Wade, was in Sweden. Myrtle Wade was the second wife of Bishop Wade. They were married in 1913.

Emily Smith (1865-1963) was an English born missionary who served in northern Africa. She began her mission work in 1892 with Dora Welch under the auspices of the English Society North Africa Mission. In 1908 they transferred to the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Smith and Welch did evangelistic and educational work with Moslems in Kabylia and Algiers until their retirement in 1933 whereupon they returned to England. The history of their work is recounted in Stranger Than Fiction: Adventure in a Moslem Land, a book they co- authored.

The idea for the World Federation of Methodist Women (W.F.M.W.) began in 1923 when Ohio Wesleyan University student Helen Kim, later President of Ewha University in Seoul, Korea, was asked to speak before the Des Moines, Iowa, branch of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. During her preparation she had a vision of a world fellowship of Christian women. When she presented her address entitled, "To the Women of the World," Kim outlined her plan to bring together delegates from all kinds of women's international organizations.

In 1927 during the tenth anniversary celebration of the China Woman's Society, Chinese women began to develop plans for an international organization. Two years later the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society acted on the plan and organized its International Department. On October 26, 1939, the first assembly of the W.F.M.W. met with delegates from twenty- seven lands signing the charter and constitution. The W.F.M. W. was officially recognized by the 1940 General Conference of the Methodist Church. Other assemblies were held in 1944, 1948, and 1952. Reorganization took place in 1956, and a new constitution was signed by forty-one units. At that time the W.F.M.W. became affiliated with the World Methodist Council and continued to advocate for women and provide leadership and training.