Chrisitan sorority
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| Sorority | Year founded | Active chapters & colonies |
|---|---|---|
| ΑΔΧ - Alpha Delta Chi | 1925 | 11 active in CA, GA, KY, IL, CO, OH |
| ΣΦΛ - Sigma Phi Lambda | 1988 | 20 in TX, OK, FL, AL, AR, SC |
| ΣΑΩ - Sigma Alpha Omega | 1998 | 18 in NC, IL, GA, CA, TN |
| ΘΑ - Theta Alpha | 2006 | 3 chapters, 1 colony in FL |
While the traditional women's fraternity or sorority was founded well before the start of the 20th century, the first ever Christian sorority was founded at UCLA in 1925 by ten women and named Alpha Delta Chi.
History
Alpha Delta Chi, the Beginning
Traditionally, the Christian sorority has followed the Christian fraternity in founding except in the case of Alpha Delta Chi. The sorority was founded in 1925 and Alpha Gamma Omega was founded in 1927, two years later also at UCLA.
These Christian Greek Organizations enjoyed local success in their early years but they did not experience the national growth seen by more traditional Greek organizations.
1980's Resurrgance
In 1988, the founding of Sigma Phi Lambda on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin sparked new growth for the Christian sorority. "Phi Lamb" was founded by women who saw brotherhood in Beta Upsilon Chi and wished to create a female component since BYX was a male-only organization. Sigma Phi Lambda today has a national director, national board of directors and is the largest Christian social sorority in the nation with twenty chapters. (Kappa Phi club is at twenty-four campuses; however, Kappa Phi club is not a social sorority)
A more unique situation occured in 1987 when Chi Alpha Omega was founded as a co-educational Christian Greek Organization. It wasn't until 1998 that Sigma Alpha Omega broke off as a womens only ministry. Today, Sigma Alpha Omega is the second largest Christian sorority with 16 chapters across the country.
Latest Developments
As Alpha Delta Chi, Sigma Phi Lambda and Sigma Alpha Omega continue to enjoy growth and success, a new Christian sorority, Theta Alpha was established at Florida State University by women who considered all three organizations but instead chose to create a new sorority with the help of brothers from Kappa Upsilon Chi. The sorority wished to have a more traditional structure and style. The sorority is already on three campuses and expects to open their fourth chapter this fall.
General Structure
The national Christian sororities by and far started on one campus with the short range goal of becoming a local ministry and then expanded as their concept became more and more public.
Today, most national Christian sororities have a national organization, national board of directors, national executive director and alumnae bases.
Ministry Focus
These sororities focus on internal discipleship and growth and using their resources for the Evangelical concept of evangelism to the outside community.
For the most part, these organizations practice traditional Ritual which are a members-only exercise to celebrate sorority history and to welcome new members, similar to traditional Greek sororities and include the transfer of organizational secrets to the next generation.
The vast majority of these organizations concentrate on the concept of Christian accountability and have programs designed to address this issue including Cable Groups with Sigma Phi Lambda, and Accountability Groups with Theta Alpha.
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