Canadian Girls in Training

Canadian Girls in Training, or CGIT, is a church-based program for girls and young women aged 11–17 throughout Canada.

The group was founded in 1915, as an alternative to the burgeoning Girl Guides movement. Initial support was provided by the YWCA, along with the Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches. By the end of its first decade, 75,000 girls had received CGIT training. By 1933, there were chapters in 1100 communities across the country, with a total membership of 40,000. The group later became a program of the Canadian Council of Churches' Department of Christian Education, and was an independent organization by 1976. Today, it is supported by the United Church of Canada, the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the Canadian Baptist Ministries, and numbers approximately 2,000 members in 150 groups.

CGIT provides mid-week activities rooted in contemporary Christian (Protestant) values. Another aspect of the organization is participation in one of several CGIT camps, including Kalalla (Alcove, Quebec), Ryde Lake (Gravenhurst, Ontario), and Wohelo (near Edmonton, Alberta).

The CGIT purpose is: As a Canadian Girl in Training, under the leadership of Jesus, it is my purpose to Cherish Health, Seek Truth, Know God, Serve Others and thus, with His help, become the girl God would have me be.

Canadian Girls in Training wear a distinctive uniform, a white and blue middy, originally modelled on this style of shirt that was popular when the organization was being formed.

References

City of Toronto Archives Site accessed February 3, 2008
Keller, Rosemary Skinner, Ruether, Rosemary Radford, Carlton, Marie. "The Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America". pp. 365–366. Indiana University Press. 2006.
McIntosh, Robert Gordon. "Boys in the Pits: Child Labour in Coal Mines". p. 19. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2000.
McLean, Lorna R., O'Rourke, Kate. "Framing Our Past: Canadian Women's History in the Twentieth Century". pp. 155–156. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2001.
Prang, Margaret E. "Canadian Girls in Training," The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation, 2007. Site accessed February 3, 2008. Canadian Girls in Training," The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada, 2014. Site accessed August 12, 2014.

External links

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