Since 1972, the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women has been charged with monitoring, research, education and advocacy to eradicate sexism in The United Methodist Church. Such an enormous job requires the work not just of the commission staff and governing board, but also the help of volunteers in every annual conference.

All United Methodist Annual Conferences are required by the Book of Discipline to have a Commission on the Status and Role of Women (AC COSROW). You can find a description of the annual conference COSROW's purpose and responsibilities in The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church in Resolution #8021- Functions of an Annual Conference COSROW. Annual conferences are also required to fund the group's work.

The Book of Discipline tasks each AC COSROW with the work of raising awareness about the status of women and working with leaders of our churches, districts and conferences to move towards the full and equal participation of women in the total life of the church (2012 BOD ¶2103). To achieve this goal, AC COSROWs are encouraged to undertake the following four areas of ministry:  Education, Advocacy, Cooperation, Monitoring & Research. (Excerpt from General Commission on the Status and Role of Women website, gcsrw.org)