Welcome to the website of St Albans Diocese Mothers’ Union (MU). My name is Kim Wilkinson and I am the Diocesan President for St Albans Diocese, a Diocese consisting of all of Hertfordshire and all of Bedfordshire. I hope you will find the following pages informative, inspiring and they will encourage you to want to find out more about MU and what we do, not just locally, but how we are working around the world to support and improve the lives of families facing adversity, and to join us.
At St Albans, our members work tirelessly to support families across generations at local hospitals, residential homes, immigration centres, contact centres, prisons and we are to be found in many more areas across the Diocese. Our members come in all shapes and sizes, mothers, fathers, grandparents, single people, married, divorced. Some members belong to branches, attached to their churches; some members are Diocesan Members, individual members attached to the Diocese; some are group members, meeting in cafés or each other’s homes. No matter where we meet or what we do, we all believe in families having the right to be together, creating a loving, caring environment for the children to grow and thrive.
Our theme for this year is ‘Building Hope and Confidence’ and it follows on from our MULOA (Mothers’ Union Listens, Observes, Acts) project where we looked at our own communities and the areas in which we could help make a difference. We have speakers on the subject (and on many different subjects) who would be delighted to speak to you or your group. Please contact our office for further information.
Last year MU became a partner with the Clewer Initiative fighting against Modern Day Slavery (MDS), a subject we are all involved in one way or another, although we may not know it. In England alone in 2017, the National Crime Agency received 5145 Potential Victim of Trafficking referrals and that is believed to be the tip of the iceberg! Help us help those unable to help themselves.
We have a full diary shown on our diary dates page and I would like to highlight a few. We have three Diocesan meetings each year, Spring and Autumn Sharing Days and our Annual Meeting. At these meetings you will learn more about what we are doing around the Diocese, new projects taking place, interesting speakers on subjects we are involved in plus fun activities and a form of worship closing each meeting. You are welcome to come along and join in any of these events and please make yourself known to me; I would love to meet you. In May many of us will be going to the Thy Kingdom Come Global Movement Service being held at Coventry Cathedral and on Sunday 9 August many of us will be holding special events in our churches to celebrate Mary Sumner Day (our founder). This year on Thursday 16 July we are holding a Global Connections event, this event is where we will be hosting the spouses of the Bishops visiting the Diocese before their Lambeth Conference. This conference happens approximately once every 10 years and our event will involve taking over St Mary’s Church in Hitchin for the day. Our Worldwide President Sheran Harper will also be speaking and we will be holding a grand celebratory service to finish the day. It would be marvellous if you could join us. As a community MU always holds a vigil for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence from 25 November to 10 December, please find out what events are happening locally to you and support them.
MU is a wonderful organisation, working at grassroots level to make a difference. And we do! If you go onto our national website www.mothersunion.org you will be able to find our how we are making a difference around the world. If you would like to join us please contact the office or come along to any of our events, we would love to meet you and have you join us in making a difference to families around the world.
