Mothers' Union

The Mothers' Union (often abbreviated MU) is a worldwide movement of Anglican women. It calculates its membership to be about 3.6 million in 77 countries. The organisation was founded by Mary Sumner in 1876 in the Church of England parish of Old Alresford, near Winchester, where her husband was rector. She was inspired to start the movement after the birth of her first grandchild. Remembering her own difficulties when she was first a mother, Sumner wanted to bring mothers of all social classes together to provide support for one another and to be trained in motherhood, something which she saw as a vocation.

In 1885, Ernest Wilberforce, the first Bishop of Newcastle, was preparing to address churchgoing women in the Portsmouth Church Congress. Finding he had nothing relevant to say to churchwomen, he contacted Mary Sumner and asked her to speak to the conference in his stead. Although she was reluctant and beset by nervousness, she addressed the women passionately about the power of mothers to change the nation for the better. A number of the women present were encouraged to return to their parishes to set up similar women's meetings, and the Bishop of Winchester, who presided over the congress, declared that the Mothers' Union become a diocesan organisation. The growth of the movement beyond the boundary of the Diocese of Winchester was due to the emphasis in Victorian British society on morality and contending with social ills as well as the growth in Anglican mission throughout the British Empire.

Rapidly, the Mothers' Union spread to the dioceses of Ely, Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield and Newcastle, and then throughout the United Kingdom. By 1892, there were 60,000 members in 28 dioceses, which grew to 169,000 members by the turn of the century. In 1893, annual general meetings were organised, and, in 1896, the Mothers' Union Central Council was formed. Mary Sumner was unanimously elected president, a post she held into her nineties. In 1897, during her Diamond Jubilee, Queen Victoria became patron of the Mothers' Union, giving it an unprecedented stamp of approval. Mary Sumner's Mothers' Union set up branches throughout the British Empire, beginning in New Zealand, then Canada and India. She lived to lead the Mothers' Union to act in rebuilding the heart of Britain after the First World War, and saw the first Mothers' Union Conference of Overseas Workers in 1920.

As a global movement of Anglican women, the Mothers' Union supports local churches with the prayers and activities of its branch members, as well as being a worldwide campaigning charity. Particularly concerned with the plight of women in the world, its projects include literacy and healthcare education and campaigning against violence against women and the trafficking of women. The Mothers' Union is part of Make Poverty History and the Jubilee Debt Coalition.

Of its 3.6 million, approximately 1.9 million Mothers' Union members are from Indian dioceses (from the formerly independent churchwomen's organisations of the Church of North India and the Church of South India, which affiliated with the Mothers' Union in 2001 and 2003 respectively). A further 1.3 million Mothers' Union members are in African dioceses, with the largest membership, 680,000, in Tanzania. Membership with in the United Kingdom is around 110,000.

Aim and objectives

From the Mothers' Union website:

The aim of the MU is to strengthen and preserve marriage and family life through Christianity. In order to carry out this aim, our objectives are:

To uphold Christ's teaching on the nature of marriage and promote its wider understanding.
To encourage parents to bring up their children in the faith and life of the Church.
To maintain a worldwide fellowship of Christians united in prayer, worship and service.
To promote conditions in society favourable to stable family life and the protection of children.
To help those whose family life has met with adversity.

Structure

The Mothers' Union has developed within the Anglican Communion and uses its structure as it own. Individual branches are usually based on parishes or small groups of parishes. There are often levels of coordination that correspond to deaneries and archdeaconries, that link the branch organisations with that of the diocese. The Anglican provinces each have their own administration, which, in turn, supports the worldwide president, currently Trish Heywood. The worldwide headquarters is in Mary Sumner House in Westminster, London.

Prayer

The Mothers' Union emphasises the importance of prayer underpinning its work. Each year, the Mothers' Union organises a Wave of Prayer. Each diocese is given a set day to pray for other dioceses, and within each diocese each branch is given a specific time to pray. This gives to members a sense of unity in prayer for one another as the wave of prayer moves from branch to branch and from diocese to diocese.

Another sign of unity is the Mothers' Union Prayer. Originally composed by Mary Sumner for her parish women's meeting and revised a number of times, this prayer often concludes worship together in branch meetings. The current version of the prayer is as follows:

Loving Lord
We thank you for your love so freely given to us all.
We pray for families around the world.
Bless the work of the Mothers' Union
as we seek to share your love
through the encouragement, strengthening
and support of marriage and family life.
Empowered by your Spirit,
may we be united in prayer and worship,
and in love and service reach out
as your hands across the world.
In Jesus' name.

Amen.
© The Mothers' Union ^*

Informally, a particular, personal prayer of Mary Sumner is often used by members when they meet together or in their private devotions:

All this day, O Lord,
let me touch as many lives as possible for thee;
and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken,
whether through the word I speak,
the prayer I breathe,
or the life I live.
Amen.
© The Mothers' Union ^*

External links

The Mothers' Union website
Canterbury Province MU — covering southern England and Europe
MU Australia
MU Ireland
MU Canada
MU Scotland
Barbados Diocesan MU
Manicaland Diocesan MU — in Zimbabwe, in the Church of the Province of Central Africa

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Aim and objectives

Structure

Prayer

External links