Events

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

March

Greetings from the Diocese of Salisbury Mothers' Union Trustees. The picture was taken at the end of our first meeting together - and still smiling!

Ann and Jane have appreciated the members’ welcome and the role entrusted to us.

We are thrilled that this year’s theme for Mothers’ Union is ‘Relationship not Rules’ and hope that we learn the rules as we build new relationships within Salisbury Mothers’ Union and further afield.

Diocesan Festival

Saturday 13^th March 10.00 am – 1.00 pm in Salisbury Cathedral

We come together in this way for a special celebration at the beginning of every triennium.

Bishop Stephen will be with us for the commissioning of our new Presidents and all office holders for the new triennium. A presentation will also be made to Bridget Trump, our outgoing President.

Our Festival will also include the opportunity to relate to one another.

If travel distances mean that arrival at 10.00 will be difficult, it will be possible to join the event informally between 10.30 and 11.30.

Please pray that this occasion will be a real celebration of our mission and ministry in the diocese

We will be celebrating and communicating the mission and ministry of Mothers’ Union in Salisbury Diocese.

Each deanery has been invited to depict one aspect of our work providing Information, along with an activity so that viewers may interact with us and think about the issues. We hope this will lead us all into Intercession in a variety of multi-sensory ways and finally Inspire everyone as we share our enthusiasm for Mothers’ Union.

We are delighted that two of Salisbury Dioceses’ Bishops will be with us for the occasion. Bishop David will be commissioning our new presidents and all office holders for the new triennium. Bishop Stephen will preach for us and send us out into the world after a procession of branch banners.

The Mothers’ Union theme this year is ‘Relationships not Rules’ so we hope there will be plenty of time for sharing with one another as well as visitors to the Cathedral. So

· Come ready to celebrate and relate

· Prepare your [home] displays to be easily portable

· Bring your personal belongings in a shoulder bag of backpack – you won’t need to be separated

from them of struggling to hold on to things

· If you wish to bring your branch banner you must have a stand for it, please – ask scouts

or guides if they have one you could borrow. Don’t forget to tell them about Mothers’ Union!

· Remember we will be enjoying lunch ‘in the world’ not in an MU huddle. You may think about

booking somewhere in Salisbury to eat – try Information Centre, internet or yellow pages

· Remember we have asked for £1 contribution per branch member for this event, please

The collection will be given to our work overseas. A gift aid envelope will be provided on arrival please fill it in immediately if appropriate.

We hope many of you will be able to come and fill the cathedral with worship and witness.

Members representing each deanery will be busy preparing their contributions for the Diocesan Festival this month. Please pray for clarity and impact for their work.

Theme for 2010: “Relationship not Rules”

Jesus was very clear that relationships are the most important reason for living and for the living out of our faith:

Our relationship with God, Our relationship with our families, Our relationship with our friends,
Our relationship with our neighbours, Our relationship with our churches, workplaces, schools, communities
Our relationship with our governments and all those in power
Our relationship with the wider world

Through and in all these different relationships we have both an identity and a purpose. As Christians our identity and purpose are entirely defined by our values as given to us by God, through the Bible, in the history and traditions of our churches and in the societies in which we live daily.

Through and in all these different relationships we learn how to recognise and experience God’s presence – right now, every moment, wherever we are. We believe that God is always present and active in our lives, whether or not we can see him. We also believe that God’s presence is a positive good even if we do not always understand how or why, especially when life gives us many difficulties and tragedies.

Emergency Prayer Chain

Heavenly Father, we recall that the arms of your servant

Moses grew weary in prayer until upheld by others. We pray

therefore for members of emergency prayer chains as they

daily bring before you those in pain and distress. Pour out

your Spirit upon each one, that with renewed faith, vision

and obedience they may be strengthened to serve others in

their time of need; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Muriel McDonald

If you would like a sick person prayed for contact

Jan Seaman: her phone number is in the

Members Handbook

Families First


'Families First -- the activists' lifestyle magazine from Mothers' Union'

As we update the website we are looking forward to the next issue of Families First. The January-February issue was full of excellent articles for every age group and family context. Please leave them where others can enjoy them or pass your copy directly to a friend. A Families First subscription would make a great gift (even in reverse role) to a daughter for Mothering Sunday if you haven’t already purchased something through www.makeamothersday.org

With all the branch returns coming in we are looking forward to seeing an increase in subscriptions to Families First this year. Not long to go until Mothering Sunday this year, so please pass around your copies of the brochure to everyone you know. There are none left at Mary Sumner House now , so let’s make use of the ones we have. The marketing unit at Mary Sumner House suggested we send details of the website to all our personal contacts. I did this to marvellous effect. There is no branch in your Diocesan President’s parish so many people are unaware of the breadth of work we are involved in – www.makeamothersday.org changed that for lots of people. Friends in another diocese were so impressed I have been able to put them in touch with Mothers’ Union there to explore Parenting Programmes with them. All on the click of a button. In addition I have enjoyed some conversations with old friends!

Make a Mother's Day 2010

Make a Mother's Day is Mothers' Union's ethical gifts campaign for Mothering Sunday. Give a mum or carer a Mothering Sunday gift, or buy a gift 'in memory' of a mum, and help a family in tough circumstances through Mothers' Union

Helping parents provide for their children, empowering communities, or giving pregnant mums vital healthcare, Mothers' Union makes a startling difference to families across the world

‘’Make your Day in this way’ Branch leaders have received poster and brochures – we hope everyone is thinking creatively about pointing out this opportunity to support MU work. Toddler Groups, Play groups, Sunday Schools, Messy Church – whatever your church does with children and young families. How about suggesting that your own families ‘Make your Day’ is this way

Using the Mothers' Union office

Resource packs and material for meetings are available for loan from the office. Why not include selected material at a discussion meeting with members? There are facts about all our linked dioceses around the world (Bendigo, Gippsland, Nakuru, Bor, Kadugli, Khartoum, Mundri, Rumbek, Wau and Manchester). Topics for children include busy bags for church, activity mornings, baptism follow-up, toddler groups, and worship with the under 5s.

Understand more about the holiday opportunities we offer, our work with couples preparing for marriage and the issues surrounding Domestic Abuse.

Contact 01722 333402 for details.

‘The office has been re-ordered to accommodate the needs of two presidents and the prayed-for Development Worker. Please drop in and see if fresh resources take your eye for meetings. Maybe now is the time to be creating a demand for items for 2011!

New! Please see the 'Links' page for a downloadable

Branch Information Leaflet

intended for Branch Leaders

New! Spring Council - 2010

To view downloadable notes on the meeting held on 26 February [click] here

and for photos taken on the day [click] here

Office Notices:

The office is open at the following times:

Tuesdays and Thursdays 9.30 am - 3.30 pm

and at other times by arrangement

We are not open on Saturday mornings

Salisbury Cathedral Communion Service

Holy Communion will be celebrated on Tuesday 23 March at 12:15pm by Revd John Cowburn

POLICY

In Salisbury Diocese our Policy Work now comes within the Action and Outreach Unit and is to be headed by Gillian Mackenzie.

For now have a look at the MU website for Policy Watch which contains information about the Commercialisation of Childhood, which we recently began to consider at our Training Day in November. Other subjects covered are Gender Segregation, Religious TV in Britain and the Registration of Births.

A downloadable flyer for advertising this aspect of MU is available on www.themothersunion.org/document/FP_Resources_Flyer.pdf

and to see a locally produced poster [click] here

Families and Relationship... is the title of a recent Government Green Paper outlining its social policy relating to family life. Mothers’ Union will be responding to a consultation on the Paper. A copy is available from Mary Sumner House or Gillian Mackenzie.

Policy Watch is available online: http://www.themothersunion.org/policy.aspx . You will find plenty there to occupy a branch meeting.

Also available are discussion papers on the following subjects:

Marriage or Cohabitation, Euthanasia, Abortion, Fair Trade & Trade Justice, Infertility – A Christian Perspective and Supporting Families. We need never be short of material.

Development Worker

We are looking to appoint someone to this post and are inviting applications.

To view (and perhaps respond to) our advertisment [click] here

Caravan at Durdle Door

Our mobile home at Durdle Door is used by families in need of a break. The site opens for the new season at Easter so if you are interested in enquiring about a holiday, contact the MU office for more details.

Family Holiday 2010

We will be taking a group of families for a residential Family holiday in Exmouth from 14th to 21st August.

Those wishing to book holidays should get in touch with Diane Eaton our holiday booking agent on 01202 715666 with details of any families that you feel would benefit from a week’s holiday.

Volunteers are still needed to help on the holiday; will any one interested please contact Sue Gallagher as soon as possible on 01722 332619 for details as soon as possible.

The Big Swap

Fairtrade Fortnight

runs from

2nd February to 7th March 2010

Join in by swapping your usual stuff for

Fairtrade stuff.

Don't forget you can e-mail us with your comments, or to ask for information: mothers.union@btconnect.com

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LOOKING FORWARD

"Let us go into a quiet place....."

Mothers' Union Spring Retreat 2010

Here is a good opportunity for members of Mothers' Union

to take some time out from everyday activities and spend some time resting, relaxing and listening to God

It is being held at Abbey House in Glastonbury

from Tuesday 4th May to Thursday 6th May

The cost is around £115

We are pleased to have Revd. Anne Charlton, Assistant Curate at West Moors, as our retreat conductor
She will be speaking on "Exploring our Journey of Faith"

For more details, please contact the Diocesan Office

01722 333402

or email alison241@googlemail.com

National Family Week

will be from 31st May to 7th June

more information will follow

Salisbury Diocesan Deanery Chairman’s Conference May 26^th – 28^th at Glastonbury. We will shortly be planning this important opportunity to work together on our vision for the diocese – watch this space!

The 2010 Autumn Retreat will be held at Ivy House Warminster during the weekend of

Friday 15 - Sunday 17 October

RECENT EVENTS

LPA Day in the Cathedral

A very successful day was recently held for the diocesan Lay Pastoral Assistants during which they were given a gift of a pack of information containing the current resources from Mothers’ Union.

All were invited to join as Diocesan Members, so that we can share the prayer support, access resources as they are published and work together as active missionaries in our communities. LPAs were encouraged to refer families to one of our holiday schemes as well as to recommend volunteers to serve on the Team during the residential Family Holiday.

Many LPAs are already Mothers’ Union members, including the two co-ordinators in the dioceses;

it would be good if more became members too.

Family Holiday

The successful Diocesan Holiday was held at Exmouth during the summer of 2009 for 15 families and the Team of 18 volunteers. To the theme of ‘Journeys’ we created a relaxed, yet supportive atmosphere that enabled conversations to happen and friendships to grow. Activities, outings and groups for the children were used to make good use of the local amenities, the skills of the volunteers and the warm and sunny weather.

Sunday afternoon on the beach

Friday morning at the park

Evening entertainment from a member of the

Christian Magic Circle

The 2009 team

A scrapbook of photos and reflections from the Team will be used as a promotional tool to inform parishes, the statutory agencies and Mothers’ Union groups as we look for new families for 2010.

Sue Gallagher is very happy to come and talk to groups about this project, or to explain the criterion for the participating families. Further details from the MU Office 01722 333402.