WINGS History

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The original WINGS program began in southern California, in 1988, by a group of catholic women, who had just experienced the faith enriching benefits of a RENEW program, sponsored by their parish. RENEW is a thorough spiritual renewal and evangelization process designed for parish life in the 21st century. It is carried out in parishes over three years, thus the members of this southern California parish yearned to continue growing in their faith, when this program concluded. The WINGS program was the result of their "renewed" faith.

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WINGS arrived in the Archdiocese of Boston, in 2000. The first group began at St. Mary’s in Holliston, when Jennifer Schiller, a member of the southern California program, returned home to Massachusetts. She felt God calling her to start this wonderful program in her new parish, because it had been such a spiritually renewing experience in her own faith life. Many women attended the original St. Mary’s WINGS group, including women from other parishes, thus several new groups began in neighboring towns. Currently, there are 12 WINGS groups in the Archdiocese of Boston.

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Membership for the WINGS group differs from that of other women’s prayer groups, as WINGS welcomes women of all ages; single, married, separated, divorced, widowed, or in religious life, from the Christian community, who want to grow in their relationship with God and each other. WINGS welcomes women in all life situations; women who are working, at-home, or retired. In other words, WINGS is for every woman, no matter her age or life stage, seeking to deepen her faith in community with others from her parish or cluster. The integration of all age groups is one of the most powerful aspects of the program, and leads to many spiritually nourishing experiences for its members.