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BINGHAM BRANCH MOTHERS' UNION |
Greetings to all our members and anyone who would like to join us. We have an interesting programme for 2011 and you are warmly invited. If you would like to know more contact Joan Kerry on 01949 875 632
A HISTORY OF MOTHERS’ UNION
SHEILA ALLTON –
(Finance and Admin Co-ordinator and Training Officer)
During the talk a number of items were passed around for members to look
at and handle whilst Sheila took us through the history of the Mothers’ Union.
A book of minutes showing the handwritten accounts of early meetings brought
those pioneering women into the room with us. From one small voice to a national,
then international voice for families with the physical and spiritual needs,
at times, taken from our homes to the leaders of our nations.
Receiving a letter from an elderly lady connected past and present by her enclosed
gift. The lady had no one to hand on a small memento to, so she was sending
it to Sheila for safekeeping of its meaning and memories. Wrapped in tissue
paper was a broach of bronze colour with the raised image of a mother and child.
The lady’s mother had been a founder member of Mothers’ Union and
had passed on to her daughter this lovely piece of history.
Travelling closer to the present we heard about the start of the Bingham branch
in September 1937; the numbers of members and branches; the changes to rules
of membership – divorcees and men, publications from leaflet to magazine.
Mary Sumner was still giving talks and travelling around the country well into
her eighties. Her energy, drive and passion were seen on a page showing her
commitments for one month. It looked exhausting!
So ladies, if you have papers, documents, photographs connected to your local
branch or about the Mothers’ Union further afield, hold onto them or
pass them into the care of the Mothers’ Union archives.
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ANNUAL OUTING 20th JUNE 2011
CITY OF YORK
On the 20th June, we had our Mothers’ Union yearly outing. We invited
our friends along too, so there were 49 of us and we spent our day in the
city of York. It was such a lovely day, not too hot. We left Bingham just
after 9.00 and arrived in York about 11.20, giving us nearly 6 hours there.
There is so much to see in York. Quite a few of us went down to the river
for a little cruise, which was nice. Then visited the Castle Museum, so many
things of your childhood in there …..
Then, of course, there is the Minster to see and nearby all the little shops
of the shambles. Also the Railway and Jorvik Museums, and plenty of places
to eat in, not forgetting the walk all round the city wall, which gives you
quite a view of the city, very interesting.
I’m afraid the time went by very quickly but I’m very pleased
to say everyone enjoyed his or her day very much and look forward to next
year (when we hope to visit the Norfolk Lavender fields and Hunstanton).
Our arrival back in Bingham around 7.30 marked the end of our great day out.
Our speaker for March was Anne Fell who came to tell us about “Flying
for Life”: the work of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).
Anne began by asking if we had hobbies and then warned us about where hobbies
can lead you. Plane spotting led Anne and her husband to an airfield with a
small Cessna plane and MAF representatives where they found out about MAF’s
work. They shared with us their experiences of flying with MAF in the ‘field’ seeing
just how the work is done. Everything and everyone is weighed before going
on the plane. Costs, especially with fuel prices being so high and training
of mechanics are all rising, thankfully so are prayers for those needs to be
met.
This is a Christian organisation that flies small planes across large distances
and isolated communities where any other means of transport would take days,
weeks or be impossible to travel. It began in 1945 and now works in 30 countries.
As well as day-to-day activities such as transporting doctors to clinics, patients
to hospital, delivering building supplies, ministers to congregations, teachers
to schools and supplies of books, pens, paper etc and emergency calls, sometimes
they receive requests from governments in times of disaster, such as in Haiti.
Pilots and engineers receive specialist training to prepare them for the variety
and rigours of living and flying in isolated areas. We were shown two short
DVD presentations of the planes in action and the greetings the planes receive
on landing.
MAF makes a difference.
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MONDAY, 7TH MARCH 2011 AT 10.30 A.M.
It was a bright, almost spring-like morning that found members from across
the diocese gathered in St. Jude’s hall at Mapperley to hear the Revd
Dr Anne Noble talk to us about her journey of faith.
Anne began with a description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation, the stones
and rocks transformed from the ordinary to extra-ordinary. She told us of her
love of God as a child and her passion for geology and how beauty is seen in
strange places. Rocks that look dull and uninteresting, plain and rough on
the outside have so much beauty inside when sliced and polished.
Whilst looking at a slice of rock (65 mil years old) she saw a cross section
of a sea urchin’s spine that glowed and shimmered in a multicolour, stained
glass effect in a tiny, bottom of the food chain creature. Across time she
saw God and his creativity.
Anne told us how inclusions in real emeralds reminded her of how we grow, our ‘inclusions’ being
wounds that have healed and of the wounds that Jesus suffered and his transformation
when he rose from the dead. Samples of different types of rocks were passed
around and she spoke of meteorite 4.6 billion years old and how we were holding
a piece of the universe in our hands.
Pointing out that the Bible mentions rocks and stones quite a lot, as in Jesus
as the cornerstone and people of his church as living stones. Anne showed us
how a rough, dull piece of rock when polished reflected flashes of light, brilliance
and colour just as each of us, polished up through life, reflect God’s
glory in the world. The talk ended – all too soon, with a quote from
Genesis …. “and God saw that it was good”.
There was an opportunity, whilst having lunch, to look at other rocks that
Anne had brought with her and to see the colours and shapes that some rocks
and fossils had taken.
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| pictures by courtesy of “British Geological Survey” |
An inspiring morning.
SURE START – Children’s Centres
Clare Core gave us an informative talk about the work of Sure Start, a government
initiative set up in three stages to help areas of most deprivation, first
stage, to areas of least deprivation, third stage. Parents seeking help come
from all kinds of backgrounds, from single parents (mums or dads), young
parents, families who have moved into a new area with no close family to
advise or help in the bringing up of children. Mums who have had busy working
lives and suddenly find themselves at home with young children and feel isolated.
Our local branch in Bingham has a thriving group of‘fathers’ and ‘young
parents’.There are more than 3,600 children’s centres in England.
Sure Start brings together different support agencies to offer a range of
services to meet parent and child needs. The centres are developed in line
with the needs of the local community and provide: child and family health
services, ranging from health visitors to breastfeeding support; offer high
quality childcare and early learning - those that don’t can help advise
on local childcare options; advice on parenting, local childcare options
and access to specialist services for families like speech therapy, healthy
eating advice or help with managing money; help for parents to find work
or training opportunities, using links to local Jobcentre Plus offices and
training providers.
The talk was followed by a lively question and answer session after which refreshments
were served.
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Joyce and Clare
Our January meeting began the new year with an act of worship and reminder of the role of the Mothers' Union within the Church and our community. Our branch has a new deanery member to whom we extend a very warm welcome.