March 6, 2012

To mark International Women's Day, the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is issuing a call for nominations for a prize encouraging women to become leaders in their church.

The Sylvia Michel Prize is awarded once every two years to a woman in the Reformed church movement who provides exceptional leadership in promoting opportunities for women to serve as leaders in their church and community.

A prize of USD5000 is awarded to an organization or individual working to encourage women to assume leadership positions in their church or investigating unequal opportunities for men and women to become leaders in WCRC member churches around the world.

The award is named for Europe's first female church executive president. In 1980, Sylvia Michel became the first woman to be elected as the church council president of the Cantonal Church of Aargau, Switzerland.

A jury consisting of the women presidents of Reformed churches in Switzerland and the executive secretary of WCRC's Office for Justice and Partnership selects the winner.

The 2013 prize winner will be announced in November. The prize will be awarded at a ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland in March 2013.

Applications should be submitted prior to 31 August 2012. The entry form and eligibility criteria are available at http://www.wcrc.ch/, or by contacting SMP@wcrc.ch.

WCRC was created in June 2010 through a merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC). Its 230 member churches representing 80 million Christians are active worldwide in initiatives supporting economic, climate and gender justice, mission, and cooperation among Christians of different traditions.

World Communion of Reformed Churches