No 241 Spring 2015 - Anglican Diocese of Southwark...Spring 2015 Southwark News5 Forthcoming Events Sat 18th Apr Festival Eucharist, 12 noon, Southwark Cathedral Sun 19th Apr Cathedral

Southwark NewsNo 241 Spring 2015

ContentsFront Cover: Sue Steel presenting Southwark Diocesan President,Liz Pullen, with a cheque for money raised on the MU WoolwichWalk.

Pages

3 Letter from Our President 5 Forthcoming Events

News from Sue 6 Mapping the Future 7 Christmas Festivities

Christmas Tree Festival 8 Holy Trinity, Redhill Centenary10 Goodbye and Hello12 Relief for Families in Iraq13 The Blue Banner14 Cathedral Prayers15 Little Donkey, Little Donkey

Back Cover: Diocesan Details

The Southwark Mothers’ UnionFestival EucharistTheme: United in Prayer

Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 18th

April 2015 at 12 noon.The address will be given by the Dean of Southwark– who is a Diocesan Member, and the service willinclude the admission of members of the newCathedral Branch. Do come and join us in worship onthis exciting occasion.

3Southwark News Spring 2015

Letter from our PresidentDear FriendsTime seems to pass so swiftly when you are having fun! We hadnot yet entered Advent when I last wrote to you, but now we are inthe Season of Lent. There is so much we can do during this specialperiod and whether we give up something or take on somethingextra, I know we will all be praying. When we pray we give thanksand we make our petitions – but most importantly we listen. Welisten in the stillness to the voice of God.Our theme this year as you know is “United in Prayer.” You willread in the following pages a little about our new Wave of Prayerlinks. If you have not already done so, you will each be receivinga small prayer card which I hope you will use daily in your MiddayPrayers. You would be well-rewarded by looking up in an atlas tofind out where these dioceses are, or Google them to find out moreinformation. When we pray for a person or a place privately, ithelps to know something about them. The Wave of Prayer links uswith fellow members throughout theworld and with the new system, therewill not just be two-way prayer, but acobweb of prayer around the world. Weare united in prayer with our fellow-members worldwide.I hope too that we will be united in prayer for this, the final year ofthe present triennium when we reflect prayerfully on what has beenachieved and now think about the future leadership at all levels,from Branches to Central Mothers’ Union. Every member of theSouthwark Trustee Board has to step down: some may bere-elected but some have completed their second term of office,or indeed, wish to step down for personal reasons. At DiocesanCouncil in March, each branch will receive nomination forms forpossible future Trustees. We will be voting for the new SouthwarkTrustee Board at the AGM in July and I ask that you pray for allmembers in their work for Him, and in particular, ask God to raiseup new leaders within Southwark to carry on the responsibilities of

Spring 2015 Southwark News4

those who step down. Earlier, I mentioned the importance oflistening to God. Is he calling you to bear office within SouthwarkMU? If someone asks you whether you have considered standingfor election, please don’t reject the notion out of hand, butprayerfully consider it, particularly if several people ask you thesame thing. Moses and Jeremiah for example, both refused to obeythe voice of God, but were told not to be afraid because GodHimself would equip them to follow His bidding. I was myself calledwell out of my comfort zone but have found myself not only giventhe skills to continue, but have been much blessed and my faithdeepened by the experience of leading Southwark Mothers’ Union.It has been a very “joyful burden” as Bishop Christopher told methe other day. Please pray particularly for my successor as I toohave to step down having completed two terms as DiocesanPresident. It is my prayer that many of you will be inspired to greaterresponsibility within our wonderful organisation, and have great joyin carrying out God’s purpose for you.

With my love, prayers and good wishes to you all LizPerhaps we could all use the following prayer on a daily basis atour Midday Prayers so that we are “United in Prayer” for the futureof Southwark Mothers’ Union.

Loving Father,you call us to be your disciples by the power of your Wordand through your actions of love;grant that this time of looking forward in the life of theMothers’ Union, future leaders will hear your call to newadventures,and that they follow that call with courage and humility.May they know the comfort and inspiration of the HolySpirit,and walk in your love, with Jesus Christwho lived on earth as a servant, and reigns for ever as ourKing. Amen.


Forthcoming EventsSat 18th Apr Festival Eucharist, 12 noon,

Southwark CathedralSun 19th Apr Cathedral Branch Opening, 11amSat 9th May Mapping the Future, 10.30am-4pm, Trinity HouseFri 15th May Cathedral Prayers Training,

11am-1.30pm Trinity HouseSat 16th May Centenary Concert with 2 O’clock Bells,

Holy Trinity, Redhill, 2.30pmFri 26th Jun General Meeting, NottinghamTues 7th Jul Southwark MU AGM and Trustee Board elections, 11am-3pm, Trinity Hse7th-9th Oct Worldwide Council, SwanwickSat 17th Oct Diocesan Council, Holy Trinity,

Sydenham20th- 22nd Oct Retreat, WychcroftThurs 3rd Dec Advent Service, 2.30pm, Southwark Catheral

News from SueJust to let you know that thetotal amount raised from theWoolwich Walk was £4,093.As you can imagine, we arethrilled and amazed

Also, here is a picture of myselfwith Ivy Mounsey, a memberfrom St Mary’s, Lewisham, whocelebrated her 100th birthdayrecently. Congratulations Ivy!


Mapping the FutureCome and spend a day exploring and celebrating howMothers’ Union can support families and how you can

play your part

Aim: to look at how Mothers’ Union is relevant toyou

Have you considered attending a conference specifically designedto enthuse younger members of Mothers’ Union?

How about joining us at the Southwark Diocesan Offices at TrinityHouse on Saturday 9th May? Each diocese within the CanterburyProvince has been allotted 4 places, though we can probably runto more as this is a local venue. There is a small cost of £15, andthe Southwark Trustees have agreed to pay this registration feefor the first 4 people to apply. Places are on a first-come-first-servedbasis, so if you feel that this is for you, then please email me [email protected] and ask for a booking form.

All places must be booked by 25th March 2015. I look forward tohearing from you!

I work full-time – how can Iget involved?

I never have a chance to spendquality time with God

I l i ke w h a t MU st a n d s for , bu t a l l th em em b er s i n m y br a n ch a r e so

el d er l y!

I feel as if I am the onlymember in the area with

children still at school


Christmas Festivities

Christmas Tree FestivalSt John's Mothers Union were amongst the 30 or so church andlocal organisations who decorated Christmas Trees for theChurch's first ‘Christmas Tree Festival’ which was held over 3 dayslast November. Each tree had a theme based on a carol and the

The challenge of there being no heating in the hall certainly didn’tprevent members and guests of St Dunstan’s Cheam M.U. fromenjoying the annual Christmas Social held this year on Saturday,6th December. Among the guests present were Area VicePresidentw, Ann Squirrel and Norma McKnight, who had travelled

t o

Cheam by public transport - no mean feat in winter.

Generous donations received on the night enabled £75 to beforwarded quickly to Southwark MU for the Sierra Leone EbolaCrisis and £75 to a local charity, The Children’s Trust, Tadworth.The delicious shared meal and warm companionship more than


MU's was "Gabriel's Message".Members decorated cards withphotos of their mothers or childrenor the Holy Mother and Child andhung these with decorations on thetree. The Festival was a greatsuccess with live music every hour,refreshments, a craft fair andculminated with a Tree Fest MusicConcert on the Saturday, where awide range of talented local groupsperformedJanet Austin, St John’s, Shirley

Holy Trinity Redhill CentenaryOur Mothers’ Union branch at Holy Trinity, Redhill celebrated its100th anniversary on 8th December 2014. To mark the occasionour annual carol service was turned into a double celebration, thebirth of our Lord Jesus Christ and our centenary.

We were delighted to have Elizabeth Pullen, our DiocesanPresident, with us together with members from other branches

within the Reigate Deanery,many of our own members andthe Church ministerial team andfriends from the HTcongregation. Some brancheswere able to bring their bannersalong which were paraded downthe aisle at the start of theservice.

The service was organized byMU with many members takingpart – Brenda Nash playing the


organ, Jenny Deeprose leading the prayers, and the Biblepassages were read by members (and a few ‘borrowed’ husbandsand friends) in dialogue style which brought the Nativity story tolife.

After the service everyone moved to the Church Centre wherewe enjoyed Christmas refreshments and a delicious centenarycake made by Jenny Moss, another of our members. Photographsof our activities and different membership and long servicecertificates covering more than half of our centenary were ondisplay as were the branch banners. These brought back manyhappy memories for us all.

Another event to mark our special year is to be a celebrationconcert by the 2 O’Clock Bells, a hand bell ringing group fromSanderstead, which will take place on Saturday 16th May duringthe afternoon, to be followed by afternoon tea. We would be verypleased if anyone reading this would like to come along to hear thegroup – see Forthcoming Events.

Jenny Kempsell, Branch Leader, Holy Trinity, Redhill


Wonderfully, our worldwide membership has so increased that itwas thought by those in the Centre it was the right time to look atand reorganize the Wave of Prayer and all our World Wide Links.After a great deal of work, you will be aware by now, through thenew ‘Families Worldwide’ and through our Council meetings, wehave all been allocated new links and different dates.

Before Christmas our letter/email writers sent cards expressing ourthanks for all we have shared over many years. Especially wethanked them for their prayer support. With sadness, and withhopefulness for their future we said ‘goodbye’ to Butere in Kenya,Uyo, Niger Delta North, Aba and Calabar in Nigeria and TheNorthern Territory in Australia. Our Link Correspondents: KayGrimshaw, Margaret Palmer and Win Collis have also beenthanked for their faithful service.

Goodbye and Hello!

We now look forward to getting to know our newlinks and for praying for them and theircommunities. We say ‘hello’ to Ekiti and Ogori-Magongo in Nigeria, Machakos in Kenya,Harare in Zimbabwe and Phulbani in India. Atpresent we haven’t much information on ournew links, but we can see and find out a greatdeal about the people and environment bygetting on our computers.

If you haven’t got a computer asksomeone who has. I often ask mygrandson to show me things on thecomputer and he enjoys showing off hisskills and learning what I’m up to! Whenyou involve someone or others to helpyou, it gives you a great opportunity totalk about the World Wide Mothers’Union and they may be surprised to hearwhat you are involved in.

Harare Cathedral

Location of Ogori-Magongo in Nigeria


Our new dates in the Wave of Prayer are 31stAugust – 2nd September. Please do not wait untilthen, but start praying for our new links wheneveryou meet. You should all be receiving a small Waveof Prayer leaflet and your branch should have anew map to display at your church. We intend touse both emails and postage to keep in contact with our new links.Margaret Palmer, who was born in India, would like to be ourcorrespondent for Phulbani. Win Collis will link up with Ekiti and Iwill be in contact with Harare. We need two more writers - forMachakos in Kenya and Ogori-Magongo in Nigeria. If you haveany connection or interest in these provinces and would like to bethe contact, please speak to me.

After six years of being your Overseas Representative, I amstepping down at the end of the year. Let us give thanks for thegrowth of the Mothers’ Union throughout the world and remember,when we pray across the world, there are no miles between us.We are all in God’s hands and we give thanks. With love andprayers.

Cynthia Smith, Overseas Representative

Phulbani is in the state ofKandhamal shown in red

Machakos in Kenya


In November 2014, the Mothers’ Union’s Relief Fund was able tocontribute to the coordinated efforts of the network of Kurdishchurches in Iraq to bring refuge and safety to displaced familiesand refugees from towns that have become war-zones due to ISaggression – Mosul, Qaraquash, and more.The money and resources, given through The Diocese of Cyprusand the Gulf, have helped the local church make a huge differenceto these families, restoring some sense of stability and community.Without the presence of international relief agencies in the mostdesperate of areas, the Church network has enabled families tohave shelter, fresh water, food, clothing and medicine.Support for theserefugees has enabled thechurch network toestablish complexesacross the city of Erbil,each of which house 650refugees. In total nearly15,000 have to date beensheltered. Thirtyenormous water tanksprovide the fresh waterand over 1,000 blanketshave also been distributed.

The need to help these displacedcommunities rebuild their lives remains– the need for housing, schooling andof course employment. Rather thansimply continue to provide relief,therefore, Mothers’ Union will continueto build a close relationship with Iraqthrough the Diocese in order to do allwe can to contribute to the rebuildingof safe communities in Iraq.

Relief for Families in Iraq


“The Blue Banner”

We are members of one worldwide union,And we’re proud of the name that we bear;It’s a union for all Christians, men and womenWho believe in the power of prayer.

We believe in one God, the Creator,We believe in one Saviour, the Son,We believe in one Heavenly Spirit,We believe in the new life to come.We have vowed to preserve Christian marriage,And uphold Christian family life,To support those who’ve run into troubleAnd whose households are threatened with strife.

We have promised to study the Bible,To spend time with our children in prayer,To all gather and worship togetherAnd to bring Christian standards to bear.

It’s a source of great strength and enjoymentWhen we meet as we have here todayTo continue the work of our FounderAnd to cherish her words as we pray:

Margaret Fox, Branch Leader at Tadworth found this poem among someold MU documents. It says that the words were written by JennyMathieson. Margaret doesn’t know to which Branch Jenny belonged,but perhaps someone may know of her? Margaret thinks it still readswell, and sums up Mothers’ Union values. She read it out at one of herrecent events and it was greatly enjoyed so she thought it might besomething that readers of Southwark News might like.

The Blue Banner


God Almighty, our Heavenly Father,Who gave marriage to all of mankindTo be counted a source of great blessing,We give thanks with one heart and one mind.

Pour upon us Your Heavenly Spirit,That we may truly love and serve You,Bless all those who are married or single,Bless all parents and all children too.

May we know in our houses Your Presence,May Your Peace fill our homes every night,Please God fill them with love and with laughterThat Your Glory may make us alight.

Bless our members who live in far places,And unite us in worship and love,May we all seek to do as You bid us,Being strengthened by Grace from Above,Being strengthened by Grace from Above.

Jenny Mathieson

MU Cathedral PrayersPrayers are held on the 4th Wednesday of each month11.45am-12.15pm in the Harvard Chapel, SouthwarkCathedral. All are welcome.

Led by25 Mar Woolwich22 Apr Kingston27 May Reigate24 Jun Croydon22 Jul Woolwich


Last year I was preparing prayers, at my church, for Palm Sundayand was visualising Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem seated on the colt.This set me thinking of donkeys and the part they must have playedin Our Lord’s life. With Christmas just gone and Palm Sunday notfar ahead, they popped into my mind again!

We know Mary and Joseph travelled fromNazareth to Bethlehem to register at thecensus. It must have been a long, veryuncomfortable journey for Mary - heavilypregnant - riding on a donkey, carrying his“precious load”. What a relief it must have beenfor all of them when they arrived at the stable (no room in the inn!)and Mary dismounted. The donkey must have been there whenMary gave birth to Our Saviour. Was it still there when theshepherds arrived and the Magi visited with their gifts?

The next we hear is that the Holy Family are warned of Herod’splans and are advised to escape to Egypt. Was the donkey stillwith them - carrying Mary and Jesus - on that very long journey tosafety? I like to think so. Donkeys were an important part of familylife then - carrying loads and helping farmers till the soil. As Jesusgrew up, I’m sure donkeys were part of His life as a village carpenter.

As Easter approaches, we think of Palm Sunday. What anoccasion! People strewing their cloaks and palm fronds in His pathand shouting “Hosanna - Hail to the King”. The donkey carried OurLord - another “precious load” - bravely and steadily into the cityand on to the Temple and the events of that last week.

“Fools! For I also had my hour;One far fierce hour and sweet;There was a shout about my earsAnd palms before my feet.”Last verse of “The Donkey” by G.K. Chesterton

Elaine Williams, Prayer and Spirituality Committee

Little Donkey, Little Donkey …

THE MOTHERS’ UNIONSOUTHWARK DIOCESE

Linked with the Dioceses of Ekiti and Ogori-Magongo inNigeria, Machakos in Kenya, Harare in Zimbabwe,Phulbani in India and Oxford in UK

Patron: The Lord Bishop of the Diocese

Diocesan Mrs Elizabeth PullenPresident: Email: [email protected]

Secretary: Mrs Anne Love, Southwark Mothers’ Union,Trinity House, 4 Chapel Court, BoroughHigh Street, London SE1 1HWTel. 020 7939 9459(Mon, Tues, Weds & Fri term-time,10.30am –3.30pm)Email: [email protected]

Chaplain: Revd. Kevin Scott

Treasurer: Mrs Jean HattonEmail: [email protected]

MU EnterpriseRep: Mrs Jenny Holroyd

Email: [email protected]: Mrs Heather Wells

Email: [email protected]

Editor: Mrs Mary HarrisonEmail: [email protected]

Website: www.southwark.anglican.org/mu

The Southwark Mothers’ Union is a registered charityNo. 249815.

Documents

No 241 Spring 2015 - Anglican Diocese of Southwark...Spring 2015 Southwark News5 Forthcoming Events Sat 18th Apr Festival Eucharist, 12 noon, Southwark Cathedral Sun 19th Apr Cathedral