|
Dear Members and Friends,
Although our year is a calendar one, it
always feels like a new beginning when the schools have gone back. We
pray for our schools, especially our church schools. It is so important
that our children get a good start and a knowledge of the faith in this
difficult world. Several of us helped in the Cathedral workshop in June
for pupils leaving primary school. It was lovely to see their faces as
they entered the magnificent building and to help them with their
anxieties as the move on to `big school' and become the small fry.
FAITH &
POLICY
Dates for your diary from
Sarah Wyman and to tell your branches.
October 18th
Service
preparation for next year's theme. Marshfield Hall from loam- mid-day.
We ask for a donation of £1 towards coffee and tea which will be
provided. Everyone welcome! It is always a really useful day.
The Advent
quiet days are on:
Tuesday
November 27th at St. Peter's Henleaze from l0 am to noon.
Wednesday November 28th at St. Philip's, Upper Stratton starting at
9.30
These are
a good preparation for the Christmas rush and I hope many of you will
join one of them.
Six of our
members went to the Open the Book day which was to help people tell
bible stories in a compelling way. I had enthusiastic reports from Sarah
and Pauline Palmer from Frenchay MU and there will be other
opportunities for more training. If you are interested contact Sarah on:
sarahgffhmw.demon. co.uk
Congratulations to Rita Banfield (diocesan member) and her husband
David on their Ruby Wedding. They had a lunch in the chapter house in
the Cathedral and five MU members went to help serve. We wore Hanham's
beautiful MU aprons (thank you for lending them) which were good
publicity and Rita's letter of thanks said her daughters were `extolling
our value' so we were very pleased.
Thank you
for all the festival services around the Diocese and a special thanks to
City Deanery who had theirs on Mary Sumner day with all their banners
paraded and who gave me a Mary Sumner mug as a memento.
We have
had the flood victims very much in our minds and prayers. I contacted
Sheffield diocese and Worcester to show our support. We have MU members
in our own diocese in the Swindon area who have been affected and will
give any donations to them.
FORWARD PLANNING
Thursday November 15th Council meeting in Broadmead Baptist
Church. If you've never been before, come this time! We have some good
speakers. You will hear about the work of the units and we hope to
have a display of energy saving ideas.
Next year,
for one year only, the National AGM will be a roadshow instead. The idea
is to bring a non member with you and enthuse them. Our nearest venues
will be Exeter on Tuesday, 17th June and Cardiff on Thursday
19th June so put these dates in your diary. The trustees would be
interested to hear members' preferences.
Congratulations to Almondsbury branch who will be celebrating
their 100th anniversary with a special service on 28th April, 2008 at
7.30pm. Put the date in your diary and let's give them lots of
support on that day. Margaret Roberts, branch leader, says they had a
visit from Mary Sumner in 1911! The branch has 32 members, Rose Thomas
having recently died at the age of 99, a faithful and longstanding
member who will be greatly missed.
GOOD
NEWS from the Hartcliffe and Withywood teenage parent project. They
are starting a contact centre for absent parents on a Saturday morning.
Several MU members have already volunteered to help and we would be
pleased if some more come forward. This is an excellent way to support
broken families and dear to our `five objects'.
Nearly
every MU meeting I attend is ended with that lovely prayer, the Grace.
We stand and often hold hands and smile at each other but I wonder if we
really think about grace, not gracefulness but graciousness. I say this
because I sometimes hear that we are not always gracious to each other
and it saddens me. If The Lord is prepared to be gracious to us,
miserable worms that we are, surely we can be courteous and gracious in
our dealings with each other! We are all volunteers working for a great
organisation. None of us is perfect, the least of all me but let us all
think before we speak and if we need to say something critical, try to
say it in a gracious way. Then the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will
indeed be with the Mothers' Union in the Bristol Diocese.
God bless
you all, Rosemary
 |
