The Mother of All Unions

Mothering Sunday - a brief history

Swapping your regular Sunday church service and heading for Christ Church Cathedral might not be the first thing you think of doing on Mothering Sunday.
Historically an annual trip to the main church or cathedral in a region, known as the ‘mother church’ was considered important. Traditionally Mothering Sunday is the day when children who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family.
As they headed to church, the children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to the church or to give to their mother as a small gift. The good news is the Lent rules are relaxed during Mothering Sunday, also known as ‘refreshment Sunday’.
 

Thinking locally

AS she examined the gown her premature granddaughter was wrapped in, the grateful woman noticed it had been made by a member of Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Oxford.
The grandmother then wrote a thank you letter to Denise Brown, one of the Area Vice-Presidents in the diocese. Making clothes for premature babies is just one of the many schemes Mothers’ Union has underway to make a difference in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Parenting courses, aimed at helping mums and dads bring up their children better, ‘Away from it All’ a scheme to fund holidays for disadvantaged families and supporting families of sick youngsters are just some of the projects this diverse organisation undertakes.
Three years ago the diocesan Mothers’ Union published Praying Through the Day, a colourful prayer resource for families, extracts from which have been published in the Door and its sister publication, Open Door. 1,000 copies have been sold at cost, and many of them have been bought by local Mothers’ Union branches as gifts for families coming for baptism. Due to demand, a second print run is being considered.
A group of Mothers’ Union members, including Bishop John’s wife, Wendy, have been trained to support families by visiting the Oxford Children’s Hospital, providing a listening ear to parents and sitting with sick children.
Despite the name, you don’t have to be a woman, or for that matter a mother to join. You simply need to catch the vision of a world where God’s love is shown through loving, respectful and flourishing relationships and have a desire to support the work. Primrose Gallimore, the former president, swore Bishop John in as a member last year. There are 3.6 million members worldwide and 2,000 in the Oxford Diocese.
A Parenting Focus Day for all Mothers Union volunteers is set to take place on Saturday 25 September. It will offer sessions on issues of particualr concern to parents and some continuation training for facilitators.
For more information contact Penny Rickards on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 01344 771302.

Catch the Wave of Prayer

EVERY moment of every day someone in the Mothers’ Union is praying. The Wave’ of Prayer sweeps through the world, and the MU’s 3.5million members take it in turns to pray when it arrives in their diocese.
Every year the Wave arrives in the Oxford Diocese on June 11 and stays until the 15. At that time between 8am and 8pm, the branches pray, using resources put together by Marion Gunning. And due to the different time zones, members of the Oxford Diocese’s link dioceses in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria will be praying during what for us are hours of darkness.
Marion says: “Members meet to pray, sometimes during the slot their branches have been allocated, or if they can’t make that, they may pray individually. We try to make it flexible but the idea is that during that week, there is always prayer going on.”
The prayers are specifically for the needs of link dioceses and reflect the work of the Mothers’ Union. Marion says: “Although our daily lives differ enormously we have a common life in Mothers’ Union. Other dioceses will pray for us during this week and we remember them in turn, as the Wave of Prayer reaches them. What we really value is the way the Wave unites us all and is such a powerful symbol of the power of prayer in our everyday lives.”

Thinking globally

Mothers’ Union in the Oxford diocese has links with dioceses in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Nigeria, writes Penny Rickards.
Mothers’ Union is held in the highest regard in these areas and women wishing to join have to undergo training. Last year 195 new members were enrolled in Boga Diocese and some of their husbands now wish to join having seen the benefits that membership brings.
The Mothers’ Union literacy scheme, which is open to non-members, has given many women a voice in their communities, a new-found respect from their husbands and the means of earning money and growing crops to feed their families. They receive training in health care and learn how to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. Mothers’ Union is a prayerful organisation, so as well as raising funds for branches overseas we also hold them in our prayers.
We are currently being asked to pray for Kisangani where an epidemic has killed 13 youngsters. The school has been closed for investigation and is now under police protection as locals want to burn it down. We are also supporting St George’s, Baghdad, that has a Mothers’ Union membership of over 4000.
Although not officially linked with Oxford, we feel strongly that we want to help them as much as we can.
The Vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White told a local congregation that Mothers’ Union is the life blood of the church, providing daily meals, health clinics and general support to a fractured congregation.
It is important to these dioceses to know that we think of them, that we raise funds for them and that we pray for them and they for us.

Make a Mother's Day

The Mothers’ Union, has seen income levels drop alarmingly as investments have taken a tumble. Yet working at the grassroots, actually serving communities in 78 countries of the world means the global organisation sees first hand where people need help.

So the ‘Make a Mother’s Day’ campaign offers ethical gifts which help family carers through some of life’s most challenging difficulties.
Each gift reaches out to a mum, granny, or care-giver to help them give care, protection, nurture and a more positive and hopeful future to children.

This year the challenge is on to meet greater needs amid the recession. There are a total of 14 ethical gifts to choose from for 2010, ranging from £7 - £168. Ducks and chicks and seeds and goats are on the agenda, along with funding the salary of a literacy trainer for a month, or to supporting environmental stability.
But there are gifts too for the strategist supporting environmental stability or leadership.

‘The Childhood is going Bust’ campaign costs £40 to help ban bras for seven-year-olds and prevent the sexualisation of pre-teen girls.
Catalogues are available from Mothers’ Union’s office at Mary Sumner House, 24 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3RB.