Mothers' Union Peterborough
The “Quiet Evening” in St. Peters Oundle gave us two hours of precious time for meditation and reflection on the ideals of St. Ignatius Loyola. The members felt refreshed and renewed by the encouragements given by the Archdeacon of Oakham, The Venerable Gordon Steele. We were given a warm welcome by the Oundle members.
Barbara Haynes, President
The pictures show a taste of the ‘Inspired Afternoon’ held on Saturday, there will be a document on the site in the very near future.
About 30 members gathered together to relax and revive our spiritual life at the lovely location of Weedon Bec. The countryside is beautiful. There was a canal walk and a pocket park to explore in the quiet times, and it was soon easy to become absorbed by our thoughts and ignore the trains that I am told pass by every 3 minutes.
Archdeacon Richard led the day for us. With his short, thought provoking and sometimes humorous sessions leading up to the quiet times he gave us lots to think about.
The sessions were entitled, “A new beginning”, “Priorities” and “Keep on keeping on “.
At lunch time we were able to catch up with old friends and loosen our tongues a little.
The day closed with worship in the church and the opportunity to join in some good M.U. singing.
We thank Archdeacon Richard for spending the day with us and for all his careful preparation. I would like to thank Sue for making all this possible and Sandy for the much needed cups of tea.
There will be a quiet evening in the north of the diocese in September with Archdeacon Gordon. I hope that I will meet lots of you there.
In this busy world it is so good to have some time out to spend with our Lord.
Barbara Haynes
We celebrated our anniversary on May 17th with a special Eucharist and Tea Party. We were joined by guests from the Diocese, branch members from the Deanery and both past and present members of our Mothers’ Union. The service was conducted by Father Tony Lynett and the Rev Mandy Cuthbertson and most members of our branch also played a part. We were delighted that Barbara Haynes was able to join us and she gave thanks for our branch after the presentation. We were also pleased that there were six past branch leaders (formally enrolling members) amongst the congregation.
After the service we all enjoyed afternoon tea in the church hall and caught up with old friends. We had displayed the photo albums for people to see and other memorabilia from the past. A lot of fun was had remembering the past events and reminiscing.
Gwin Desborough, Branch leader
The Mothers’ Union were very pleased to be offered a stand at Starburst to inform both the clergy and lay members about Mothers’ Union and especially the Away From It All holiday scheme. We found this opportunity very valuable and were pleased to be included in this Diocesan event.
I was very pleased to be asked to attend the service at St. Peter and St. James, Brackley for the commissioning of Judith Perkins as the new branch leader. It was also a good opportunity to thank Jill Knight for all her work in the past 6 years… enjoy a break now Jill.
At the same service I presented Marian Thompson with her long service certificate. Marian has been an active member for fifty years and has served in many capacities; currently she is a vice president.
To be invited to the parish lunch was certainly a bonus. Chris and I not only enjoyed the food but also the good company.
Barbara Haynes, Diocesan President
The trustees enjoyed an opportunity to spend time together to relax, be inspired, and to concentrate on being at one with our Lord away from the hustle and bustle of the world. We are grateful to Graham, the vicar of West Haddon, who led us with readings and worship.
During our quiet times activities to help our concentration were laid on by Sue Tringham whose home we met in. The artistic amongst us painted stones, coloured Celtic knots, or did drawings of the spring flowers in the garden. Some, myself included, sat quietly in the sunny garden intending to read but really managing to sit still for much longer than normal, with our thoughts. A really beneficial day for us all.
I do recommend that you all try one of our future quiet days.
The pictures show the less quiet time when we all got together for lunch, provided by Sandy and enjoyed by all.
Barbara Haynes, Diocese President
The Right Reverend Onesimus Park, bishop of Busan diocese in Korea came recently to England to attend a conference in Canterbury for recently appointed bishops or baby bishops as he described them. He spent a few days in Peterborough diocese and we took him to Oxford. Here he is at the foot of the Martyrs’ memorial. We think of Bishops Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer as martyrs for our faith but it was in the reign of Queen Mary, in the 1550s. The Anglican church in Korea remembers men and women who died within living memory and in North Korea men and women are still being persecuted for their faith. Bishop Onesimus brought with him his wife, Veronica, and her sister, Deborah. It was a great privilege to spend time with them. Can we pray earnestly for the work of the bishop and for the diocese of Busan in what is a predominantly Buddhist part of the world.
Sue Tringham
Mrs Doreen Littlewood has celebrated 50 years as a Mothers’ Union member. Barbara Haynes, Diocesan president, visited her at home to present her with her long service certificate. It was lovely that a few of the members from Brackley branch were able to come along for the celebration. Well done Doreen. Thank you for your commitment.
Barbara Haynes, President
I met Mary on my previous visit to Kenya when she showed me the Solar Stove, which she was introducing to Mothers’ Union members. When I went this time I gave her the money which you had donated so that she could provide families in need with a solar stove.
She showed me the beads and the wires which she had bought in Nairobi. These will be used by the members to make jewellery which will then be sold to fund a variety of projects to support widows and orphans in Bungoma diocese.
Sue Tringham