A Trio of Platinum Anniversaries
- donnabryan
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
As the sun sets on the 2026 International Women’s Day, I’m certain that many have been reflecting today on the significance of this event. You may have also studied a woman from the Bible at church or attended a special function or picnic or other gathering to commemorate this occasion. And as it fell on a Sunday this year, there were probably many thinking of Christian women who have given meaning to this day.
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My own thoughts were focussed on a trio of approaching 70th anniversaries that are marked on my calendar for the next three years, and their place in the lives of women around the globe. These three are:
1.     The Fellowship of the Least Coin (FLC) founded in October 1956.
2.     The Christian Conference of Asia, constituted as the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC) in March 1957.
3.     The Asian Church Women’s Conference (ACWC) founded in November 1958.
The two anniversaries that bookend these three are of organisations that were founded by Christian women, and the organisation between those two once administered all three in its early days, because it had the capacity and staff for this task.
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Beginning today, a series of monthly blog posts will lead up to the first platinum anniversary — that of the FLC in November.
The Fellowship of the Least Coin (FLC) is a worldwide ecumenical movement of prayer for peace, justice and reconciliation. Through this movement, Christian women around the world seek fellowship with each other and are reminded to live a reconciling and forgiving life with others. Though ‘least coins’ are given with each prayer, it is not a fundraising project, but a movement of prayer without any discrimination of race, colour, culture or denomination. It enables all, whether rich or poor, educated or illiterate, in urban or rural areas, to participate in the offering of their least coin, with prayer, thus providing gifts of love to be given for projects all over the world.
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It is important that only the least coin of each currency be set aside, so that even the poorest women of each country can be a part of this fellowship of love and care.
The EACC administered the FLC fund from 1958–1970. In 1958, the first Assembly of the Asian Church Women’s Conference, held in Hong Kong, agreed to adopt the Fellowship of the Least Coin as their one project. At the second Assembly in Thailand, in 1962, the ACWC voted to make the promotion of the Fellowship of the Least Coin their main outreach programme.
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About 1963 the EACC continued administering the FLC, but the World Council of Churches (WCC) became the custodian of the FLC funds after currency regulations in some countries posed problems for transferring funds. The WCC maintained a separate account for these monies.
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Dr DT Niles was the General Secretary of the EACC from 1959–68 and Chairperson from 1968–70, and Rev. Niles would send unsolicited grants to projects that were assisting women and children. It was said that he saw this approach as one of encouragement for those groups and their projects. This is how church women in Australia were introduced to the FLC. https://www.acw.org.au/post/australia-is-introduced-to-the-flc
This method of allocating funds began to change slowly once an Executive Secretary was
appointed to the ACWC with a gradual responsibility for the administration of the FLC. The first Executive Secretary was Shanti Solomon, and when her role was announced supporters of the FLC were delighted that the founder of the FLC was now its Executive Secretary. Shanti’s role began officially at the 1970 ACWC Assembly held in Sukabumi, Indonesia.
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As the Executive Secretary, Shanti promoted the programme of the ACWC, kept the records of the ACWC, and promoted the FLC. She soon threw herself enthusiastically into the work, collaborating closely with the EACC.
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More about the FLC in next month’s post.
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Further background information on the three organisations can be found at:
