Issue 3/15

United in Prayer

Newsletter

July - September 2015

New Members Canterbury Archdeaconry

St Mary The Virgin Fellowship

Group: Christine Plant

Holy Trinity, Margate: Sarah Johnson

Ashford Archdeaconry

All Souls, Cheriton: Sheila Cinelli, Jenni Clifton, Diane Miller

and Jenny Todd

Maidstone Archdeaconry

Holy Trinity, Milton Regis: Gary Byrne and Joan Thatcher

Congratulations Ashford Archdeaconry

All Soul’s, Cheriton: 90th Birthday, Win Williams

St Leonard’s, Deal: Long Term Membership, Betty Ovenden, 50

years

Canterbury Archdeaconry

Holy Trinity, Margate: 90th Birthday, Mary Weitzel and Abbie Page,

Long Term Membership, Dorothy Chapman,

54 years

St Martin & St Paul, Canterbury: 90th Birthday, June Coaker and belatedly to

Beryl Harding

Golden Wedding, Monica and Mike Walling

Holy Trinity, Broadstairs: 90th Birthday, Gwen Bowerman and Joyce

Jenner

Long Term Membership, June Martin, 60

years

Golden Wedding, Charlotte and Alan Bell,

Sandra and Alan Baldwin, and Margaret and

Ted Keeping

Whitstable Team: Long Term Membership, Beryl Clarke, 50

years and Revd Ann Moreton, 50 years

Maidstone Archdeaconry

St Nicholas, Allington: 90th Birthday, Barbara Haynes

80th Birthday, Marie Derry

Golden Wedding, Mary and Mike Garrett

Minster Abbey, Isle of Sheppey: 90th Birthday, Bessie Davis

St John The Baptist, Tunstall: Long Term Membership, Pam Gray, 50 years

Front Cover photo: Members of the Board of Trustees who hold overall

responsibility for Mothers’ Union throughout the World.

My dear friends,

Gosh, but these months fly by don’t they? I have just

enjoyed a cup of coffee sitting in the garden taking the

opportunity to enjoy the peace and quiet whilst the

builders, who are erecting 5 houses on a site next to

ours, are having their coffee! The noise and dust will be

worth it for the end product I am sure. Sometimes we

have to endure some discomfort before we can reap the

benefits in life, don’t we?

On 7th March several of us attended Canterbury

Diocesan Synod. The theme for the day was ‘Changing the conversation about

children and young people.’ It was a very enlightening experience and we

listened to several speakers and attended workshops which entailed thought

provoking questions. Like Is Discipleship possible at any age? Involving

children in their own spiritual development in school; and changing the

conversation with young people from Formation not Information. The whole

day was inspiring and I am sure your churches would have been represented.

Marian Pope, our Diocesan Development and Training Officer, came down

from MSH for our last Diocesan Council and what fun we enjoyed with her. It

was a very up-beat meeting and I am sure that we all went home with loads of

suggestions to our fellow members as to how we could take the MU forward in

this Diocese. I know I ached from laughter. On the back of this issue you will

see several posters that were made during that meeting when Marian asked us

to draw the ideal Mothers’ Union person! Well, we had someone who had faith

so wore a cross and her MU badge. Huge knees, where she would be

constantly kneeling in prayer. Large ears to hear everything! Be able to juggle

several things in the air; be computer literate, and always have her phone

handy as she was always expected to be available 24/7. Always have the kettle

on and be prepared to make tea and cakes. To be like an elephant who never

forgets anything. She should be loving and welcoming, with loads of time and

have complete integrity. Do you know anyone like this? Let us know if you do.

There were, of course, many more suggestions but it did indeed get us

thinking. Imagine if everyone had just one or two of these qualities how well

we could all work together and how wonderful that would be. We do send out

love and grateful thanks to Marian for a very productive morning. We are so

lucky to have the staff at Mary Sumner House to be the backbone of our

Dioceses and please hold them in your prayers.

I would like to draw your attention to the next Annual Market which is to be

held at St Paul’s Church Canterbury, on Saturday 17th October from 10.30 am

to 12.30 pm. We are opening this Saturday morning’s event (in a response to a

plea from you) to the public so please encourage as many of your local friends

and parishioners to come along and support us. We will have a literature stall

there as well as the usual stalls. You will have heard by now which stall you are

asked to support.

With my love to you all,

Di Sabel,

Mothers’ Union President in the Diocese of Canterbury

Canterbury Archdeaconry

We had a good Lady Day with a

service in the Eastern Crypt of the

Cathedral when 62 people [a few

being Cathedral congregation

members] joined for a Eucharist at

which the Revd Lesley Valiant our Diocesan Chaplain presided and

preached. We had some members

from the Maidstone Archdeaconry

join us as it was easier to get to

Canterbury than the venues in

their Archdeaconry. It was great to

welcome them along. This was

followed by a service at St

Saviour's Church in Westgate on

Sea in the evening, when again

Lesley preached. The Revd Barbara

Way presided and the Revd Sue

Wing [MU member and assistant

priest at St Saviour's] had members enacting stories relating

to our Lady and our Lord.

I am in the process of booking a

pitch again at the Canterbury Food

and Drink Festival at the Dane

John Gardens, Canterbury on the

last weekend of September, Friday

25th - Sunday 27th September. I

will be asking for help to man the

promotional stall during the three

days and also asking someone to

take on organising cover for the

Friday and the Sunday and I will

organise the Saturday. I want this to be a full "Archdeaconry" event

where as many members as

possible will be involved. It is not a

strenuous task, you are just asked

to promote the work of the

Mothers' Union. I will provide the

gazebo and literature, all you need

to do is turn up and be friendly and talk to people. We will also try

to provide activities for children as

we did last year. We were blessed

with good weather and it was fun

and we had quite a lot of visitors,

some who knew about MU and

others who had never heard of it or

thought it wasn't still around!

Our lunchtime BBQ will be held

on Wednesday 8th July, weather

permitting. More details soon.

Our next meeting is scheduled

for Thursday 17th September at

St Mildred's Parish Room starting at 10.30 am and finishing

promptly after Mid-day prayers at

noon.

We also booked a Beetle Drive

for the afternoon of Saturday 3rd

October at St Paul's Church

Centre, Canterbury. Further

details soon.

I hope you will all be able to

have some time to enjoy the

summer and look forward to

hearing from you with news that

things are improving and numbers

are increasing!!

Margaret Horwood

Do remember to look at the Faith and Policy Watch leaflet either from

the email that Susan Bradley sends or a hard copy available at

meetings. This keeps you up to date with all that that is happening in

the Mothers’ Union.

Whitstable Team MU

Two members received their 50

years’ Long Term Membership

certificates recently and they

were Beryl Clarke and Revd Ann

Moreton. Presented to them by

Margaret Horwood Archdeaconry

President with Branch Leader

Patricia Page.

St Mary The Virgin Fellowship Group,

Minster in Thanet

Di Sabel and Margaret Horwood

enrolled new member Christine Plant,

and the photo shows Janet Walmsley

Fellowship Leader, Christine Plant and

Margaret Horwood, Archdeaconry

President.

Holy Trinity Branch Margate

On 10th March The Revd John

Richardson dedicated Holy Trinity,

Margate Branch’s new banner, which is

replacing the one which has been in use

since 1958. We also had great pleasure

in having Di Sabel our Diocesan

President, join us for the afternoon.

In the front row of the photo we have the

long serving members who were also at

the dedication of the banner in 1958.

They are left to right front row, Mrs Nora

Reeves, Mrs Dorothy Chapman, Mrs Mary

Weitzel and Mrs Eileen Welcome.

The back row, Mrs Brenda Williams who

made the banner with help from

members, Mrs Valerie Browne and The Revd John Richardson.

We also thank Mr Simon Pengelly for making the banner pole for the

Branch. Valerie Browne

Minster Abbey in Sheppey

In the Faith and Policy Watch leaflet for February there was a piece on

Marriage Week UK and it made me smile as I thought of our Wedding

Preparation Day held on 17th January for couples getting married this year.

The Mothers’ Union were asked by the clergy if they would put on a

cream tea for the couples in the Abbey Hall, which they did laying out 10

tables for the event. In the Abbey about 100 people were given soft

drinks or champagne on arrival. They were all seated as the vicar started

to welcome everyone when the the lights went out as the electric failed,

so it was held with the sunshine coming in the abbey windows.

But in the Abbey Hall we poor MU ladies, no electrics, were trying to get

the urn to boil for cups of tea. Thinking quickly we decided to give the

couples soft drinks or wine with their cream tea, by candlelight, as it was

now late afternoon and getting dark, and all enjoyed it.

Of course just as the MU were cleaning up, lo and behold the lights came

on. What an afternoon it was, but I do think the good Lord was really

testing us, don’t you? Pam Edworthy

Holy Trinity, Milton Regis

Two new members were enrolled by Di Sabel, Diocesan President, on

11th May and they were Gary Byrne and Joan Thatcher seen in the photo.

FROM THE EDITOR… Caption Competition

Suggestions for a caption for this photo, came from me ‘They ain’t heavy, they’re my brothers’ and ‘Don’t mess with me’, and, ‘Margaret’s MU recruits' from Aileen Gardham and ‘Thank you, Lord’ from Revd Lesley Valiant.

David Horwood.

Sometimes it is good to have a

bit of family time and that is just

what I managed to do over Christmas. But last autumn was

very hectic, very enjoyable and

inspiring.

Each Province in the Anglican

Communion, where there is a

Mothers’ Union presence has a Provincial President, or at least

an MU representative. That is 34

Presidents around the world. In

2014, for the first time for five

years, we had the opportunity to meet in the UK for a conference.

As a result, 26 Presidents and

representatives met at High Leigh

in Hertfordshire, for a week in

October. Our theme was “A Goal

to Celebrate”, and the purpose was to foster closer ties between

the provinces and to understand

better how we all work together

for Mothers ’ Union. An

organisation that exists in 84 countries will inevitably work in

different ways and have a

different focus in each place, and

one of our strengths is that we

respond to local needs. But we

still need to be faithful to the same Aim and Objects.

Presidents came from as far

away as South Korea, Melanesia,

Canada and Argentina, and there

were many languages spoken. But we only had two translators,

all the rest were able to

communicate in English, which

is quite an achievement in itself!

We were put into family groups,

so that we had a smaller number

of people we could each get to

know better, and it was in these groups that we took a turn to

lead evening prayers before

bedtime. The range of styles and

content within my group of six

was wonderful. We also exchange gifts – I have a lovely

wall hanging from the USA of the

Gifts of the Spirit, a locally made

string bag from Argentina and a

beautiful silk purse from Korea,

amongst other things. While we were there, we

discussed many different things,

from how we count our members

a n d w h e t h e r t h e y p a y

subscriptions, to whether we could get Families Worldwide to

every member (in fact, many

would not be able to read it even

if we could!), and how we can

What does a Provincial President do?

Three members at the Conference

better share the stories and

projects that are going on around

the world. We heard about the successes, challenges and

struggles of other provinces. We

sang together, laughed together,

even cried together, and

developed strong bonds of love

and respect. One of the highlights was our

visit to Lambeth Palace and Mary

Sumner House. We were hosted

at the Palace by Caroline Stock,

the wife of the Bishop at Lambeth. The Archbishop was

away on a trip with his wife, but

she had previously come to High

Leigh to tell us about her

experiences of MU overseas. At

Lambeth we were privileged to share Communion in the

Archbishop’s chapel and during

lunch we heard something of his

strategy for the Church, in Reconciliation, Mission and

Education.

A week is a very short time to

get to know people, but the

internet is a wonderful way of

keeping in touch, and we all came away inspired to work

harder for MU and to share our

experiences and our message

with more people.

There is more feedback from t h e c o n f e r e n c e a t

w w w . m o t h e r s u n i o n . o r g /

provincial-presidents-meet-uk

Felicity Hawke Provincial President,

Canterbury Province

Big

Wheels

Appeal

Get Baking

and

support

this with

some MU

cup cakes.

The logo

can be obtained through the

MUeshop.org to put on your

cupcakes.

This magazine is produced by Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Canterbury. We welcome items

from members and other organisations related to the ethos of Mothers’ Union. All items must

come with a note of the contributor’s name and contact details. The editor reserves the right to

edit or not publish anything received. Items are not intended to represent the official position of

the Church of England, nor the official position of the Mothers’ Union.

“Bake someone happy” Get together for our next “Big Wheels

Appeal” and organise a cake sale/coffee

morning to raise money to help people,

at home and abroad, who are refugees,

survivors of abuse or living in poverty.

Those Who Have Died Canterbury Archdeaconry

Archdeaconry Member: Elizabeth Pearce

Dates for your Diary Thursday 2nd July Trustee Board meeting 10.00 am to 2.00 pm

Diocesan House boardroom

Wednesday 8th July Canterbury Archdeaconry BBQ at lunchtime

Wednesday 8th July Maidstone Archdeaconry Garden Party

Saturday 18th July Saying Goodbye Service in Cathedral at 12.30 pm

Thursday 30th July Cathedral Prayer Time, 12 Noon St Gabriel’s Chapel

Saturday 1st - 8th August Away From it All holiday, please pray for all those attending

Saturday 1st August Copy deadline for Newsletter

Thursday 27th August Cathedral Prayer Time, 12 Noon St Gabriel’s Chapel

Thursday 3rd September Trustee Board meeting 10.00 am to 2.00 pm Diocesan House boardroom

Sunday 13th September Maidstone MELA at Mote Park

Wednesday 16th September Maidstone Archdeaconry Quiet Day 10.30 am - 3.00 pm at Staplehurst Church

Thursday 17th September Canterbury Archdeaconry branch officers meeting 10.30 am, St Mildred’s Parish room

Thursday 24th September Cathedral Prayer Time, 12 Noon St Gabriel’s Chapel

Friday 25th September - Canterbury Food & Drink Festival in Dane Sunday 27th September John Gardens Canterbury

Copy for the next Newsletter to be with the Editor, David Horwood, by

Saturday 1st August 2015. Please let me know what is happening in your

area. Send to: 27 Abbey Gardens Canterbury CT2 7EU or email:

boycieboycie@icloud.com.

Diocesan Contact List Diocesan President Di Sabel 01303 863239 E-mail: dpcanterbury@gmail.com

Deputy President Nikki Sweatman 01227 713111 E-mail: nikki.sweatman@btinternet.com

Diocesan Administrator Susan Bradley 01303 864289 Wingmore, Brady Road,

Lyminge CT18 8EU E-mail: susan-bradley@tiscali.co.uk

General Trustee & Godmother Margaret Horwood 01227 455080 E-mail: apcanterburymu@gmail.com

General Trustee & Godmother Jayne Spicer 01304 812825 E-mail: jayne.spicer13@talk21.com

General Trustee & Godmother Daniele Ligneau-Wilton 01227 454230 E-mail: ligneauwilton@gmail.com

General Trustee Paul Williams 07855 514805 E-mail: paulw6166@hotmail.co.uk

Finance & Diocesan Services Nikki Sweatman 01227 713111

Coordinator E-mail: nikki.sweatman@btinternet.com

Membership Revd John Sweatman 01227 713111 E-mail: johnsrev@btinternet.com

Diocesan Treasurer Paul Williams 07855 514805 1 Dene Court, 189 Ufton Lane,

Sittingbourne, ME10 1EU

E-mail: paulw6166@hotmail.co.uk

Faith and Policy Coordinator Sue Spillett 01227 456100 E-mail: suespill@tinyworld.co.uk

Social Policy Officer Liz Deane 01622 204569 E-mail: lizdeane123@btinternet.com Diocesan Chaplain & Godmother Revd Lesley Valiant 01843 293964

E-mail: ljvaliant@gmail.com

Indoor Members Marjorie Wyatt 01227 456532

Emergency Prayer Chain Beth Walton 01580 765701

F & C Marketing Coordinator Marianna Poliszczuk 01622 751243 E-mail: marianna2@compuserve.com

Diocesan Literature Representative Betty Heppenstall 01303 255523

Maidstone Archdeaconry Rosemary McArragher 01622 831007 Literature Representative

Families First & Diocesan Marylyn Collins 01227 367651 Newsletter Distribution

Diocesan Newsletter Editor David Horwood 01227 455080 E-mail: boycieboycie@icloud.com

Action and Outreach - Home Vacant

Overseas Erika Catchpole 01622 761378 E-mail: erikacat41@gmail.com

Ashford Archdeaconry President Vacant

Canterbury Archdeaconry President Margaret Horwood 01227 455080 E-mail: apcanterburymu@gmail.com

Maidstone Archdeaconry President Jean Sweetman 01622 728233 E-mail: jeansweetman@blueyonder.co.uk

Diocesan Website: www.muenterprises.org/canterburymu Mothers’ Union Website: www.mothersunion.org

Registered Charity No. 250124

Mothers’ Union Diocesan Sharing Days

Those attending

in Canterbury

Archdeaconry

Note: To all branches having new members, please try to take a photo

and send it to me with names and a few lines, and I will include it in the newsletter. We are also thinking of a special feature on all the

glorious banners that you have in your branches, so please over the

next few months take a photo of your banner. The banner photo

needs to be reasonably close with either the banner alone or someone

holding it

Presentations from the unit coordinators at

the information sharing days led to some

lively questioning! Thank you to all who

attended. Copies of the talks can be

requested from the Administrator.

Those

attending in

Maidstone

Archdeaconry

Diocesan Council Meeting

Marian Pope, Diocesan Development

Training Officer presenting Eddie Vincent

with first certificate for Parenting Training.

Marian split

people up

into groups

to draw their

ideal

Mothers’

Union

person.