Methodist Mothers
- Pastor Cara
- May 8
- 2 min read
This weekend, we will celebrate our mothers and all they have done for us. We will let them sleep in, take them out to lunch, buy them flowers, and send them cards. But the way we honor them today is not the way we have always done it. In fact, the origins of this holiday show us that the Christian values of loving our neighbor and promoting peace are central to this celebration.
In 1858, Ann Jarvis a homemaker and a Methodist, living in what is now West Virginia, organized “Mother’s Work Days”. On these days, women would come together to improve sanitation and educate others on basic hygiene. Ann’s efforts were some of the first public health work done in the early United States.
When the Civil War began, her focus changed. Her community, like many, was divided over the war. Families and even brothers chose to fight on different sides. Ann Javis organized women to provide medical care to men on both sides of the conflict. After the war ended, she organized “Mother’s Friendship Day” to bring families from both sides together in an attempt to reunite those divided by political beliefs. For many years after the war, this day became an annual event.
In 1870, the poet Julia Ward Howe, who is best known for writing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, wrote a proclamation known as the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” which encouraged women to work for peace. She wrote, “I earnestly ask that a general congress of women, without limit of nationality, may be appointed … to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”
Following this proclamation, a few locations chose to celebrate Mother’s Day for Peace.
When Ann Jarvis died, her daughter, Anna Jarvis, took up her mother’s cause. She sought to create a national Mother’s Day on the Second Sunday of May, the day her mother died, to honor her legacy. She chose white carnations and encouraged people to write letters of gratitude to their mothers.
On May 10, 1908, the first Mother’s Day service occurred at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, the same church where Ann Jarvis taught Sunday School for many years. Anna Javis used this event to spark a movement. Three years later, Mother’s Day was celebrated in 48 states. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation establishing the first National Mother’s Day.
Before she died, Anna Javis became disappointed by the increasing commercialization of Mother’s Day by florists and greeting card companies. She was so distraught that she used every penny she had to file lawsuits against these companies and started a petition to have the holiday recalled in 1943.
As we all know, Anna’s petition did not change the celebration of Mother’s Day. We still give flowers and send cards. Perhaps, this year, though, we can honor not only those who nurtured us but also the labor of Ann, Julia, and Anna by celebrating those who have cared for their neighbors and labored for peace and justice.