In 1993 a bishop from the Church of Uganda invited the Brotherhood of St. Andrew (BSA), a men’s organization affiliated with The Episcopal Church, to form a chapter in his diocese, but he ran into resistance from wives who insisted that their husbands would not join unless there was a similar organization for women. Baffled, the bishop contacted the Episcopal Church Center in New York City and was directed to the Daughters of the King (DOK).

This was actually the second time in the 121-year history of the Daughters that the Brotherhood of St. Andrew made a significant contribution to the DOK. In developing its own charter in 1885, DOK borrowed heavily from the Brotherhood, which was founded in 1883. Partially in recognition of that shared history, the Daughters invited BSA to hold its national meeting in conjunction with DOK’s Triennial July 5-9 in Orlando, Fla.

The Daughters of the King make vows committing themselves to daily prayer, service and evangelism, according to Sharon Lundgren, outgoing president. Any three women from the same Episcopal, Lutheran, Roman Catholic or Anglican congregation in communion with the See of Canterbury can form a chapter, she explained. During a time when membership in virtually every civic, religious and fraternal organization has dwindled, the Daughters have grown from 8,000 members in 1990 to 26,000 this year.

Mrs. Lundgren attributes a significant part of that growth to a decision to be ecumenical. Even before embracing other overseas Anglican churches in 1993, the Daughters welcomed their first Roman Catholic chapter in 1986. The first Evangelical Lutheran Church in America chapter affiliated in 2000. None of those chapters had voting rights at the Triennial prior to this year, when some 80 percent of the 238 delegates agreed to seat with full voice and vote the representatives from the ecumenical chapters.

The decision to bring the ecumenical chapters into the Daughters as full members was complicated by the decision in 2002 to welcome Anglican chapters in the U.S. that were not from congregations affiliated with The Episcopal Church.

“We were finding six or more [unaffiliated] Daughters at the same Anglican church,” Mrs. Lundgren said. “Some of them appealed to our national council. We had to make a decision whether they met our requirements. [We] decided to focus not so much on our denomination, but on our vows.”

Mrs. Lundgren was grateful to the Rt. Rev. William Frey, retired Bishop of Colorado and chaplain bishop to DOK during her tenure. She was jubilant at the affirmation of the council decision to welcome other U.S. Anglican chapters in 2002.

“We believe we model an example for the greater church of how to be inclusive of all our people,” she said. “We’re trying to keep everyone connected on an equal level.”

To find more news, feature articles, and commentary about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion not available online, we invite you to subscribe to The Living Church magazine. To learn more, click here.