MOTHERS UNION ANNUAL REPORT 2009
The Mother's Union theme for 2009 was "The Caring Cost of Relationship." We began our year with our Wave of Prayer on February 8th. Also in February on the 17th, we held our Branch AGM in the Church Hall.
Our fund raising table top sale on March 7th raised £265 - an excellent result considering the financial difficulties in general being experienced at the time. Margaret Holyoake was our speaker on March 17th. We all received a Mars bar and heard how Mothers Are Really Special.
Branch members were very pleased to welcome the Revd Smitha Prasadam back as our guest speaker on April 21st. April also saw the visit of the World Wide President to Birmingham.
A number of members attended the Edgbaston Deanery Service at St. Gabriel's, Weoley Castle on May19th.
At our meeting on June16th, we were taken on a "Journey with Tea Towels". Our speaker, Fiona Lucas has travelled the world with the Guide movement and uses her collection of tea towels from numerous places to form a backdrop to her talk.
Our annual outing this year on July 21st was to Evesham Country Park and the Ginny Ring craft centre .In spite of the rain we had an enjoyable day. There was lots of 'retail therapy' to be had undercover, and after lunch we moved on to the Ginny Ring for afternoon tea, and a little more shopping for those members who felt the need.
On the 15th July at an evening Council meeting, it was decided that following a regrouping of M.U. branches, as from January 2010 St. Paul's, Blackheath will belong to the West Birmingham group with Allen's Cross, St. Bartholomew - Northfield, St. Lawrence - West Heath, St. Anne - Bartley Green, St. Michael and Weoley Castle, St. Gabriel. It is been planned to hold a 'get together' meeting of these branches on April 13th.
A number of members attended the Open Day at St. Peter's, Maney, Sutton Coldfield, where our Deanery Paper Stall took £78. Overall the total for the day made just under £1000.This was an enjoyable day of good fellowship.
Our first meeting after the summer break on September15th was very well attended, when our own branch member and St. Paul's Reader Mary Evans was our speaker. Mary spoke of a memorable trip she made to the Gambia with a party of young people visiting a Christian Church in a predominantly Muslim country.
On the 20th October Sister Phoebe spoke to us about "The Bad Girls in the Bible", and in November we were pleased to welcome a number of visitors, to join us for a creative evening, making jewellery and learning about the work being done in Bulgaria by Krasif Aid to support the Blue House Day Hospice there. Mrs. Jill Bromley was celebrating a special birthday and everyone enjoyed the special 'birthday party' refreshments she provided. It was also in October when we received the urgent appeal for a donation to the East African Appeal. The harvest in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania had failed for the third time, and people were dying. Our response was a hastily organized table top sale, held on November14th. As a result of this we were able to send off a cheque for £250.
A Quiet Day was hosted by St. Peter's, Balsall Common on 21st October.
Our Christmas meeting on December 15th began with a fish and chip supper, followed by readings on a Christmas and Advent theme, interspersed with the singing of carols.15 members attended and we were joined by 11 guests and our vicar, the Revd Mike Sermon. This brought our programme for the year to a close. Elaine Darby
MOTHERS UNION Report for 2008
The theme for 2008 was 'A Time for Relationships'
The year began with the Wave of Prayer on February 7th followed on 20th February by the A.G.M. Throughout the year we had a variety of speakers, one of which was Mr. Eugene Schellenberg who told us bout the Ifakara Bakery Project in Tanzania; it was a most enjoyable evening and personal donations to the project amounted to £55. The Table-top sae on February 23rd raised £309.35. St. Paul's Church hosted the Edgbaston Deanery Festival Service on Jube 5th and this was attended by the Diocesan President Margaret Fulford. At this service three new members were enrolled. St. Paul's also hosted the Quiet Day on October 18th, the day led by Revd, Heather Flack. The Annual day trip this year was to Royal Leamington Spa and then on to Hatton Country Park. The final event of the year was the Christmas Party on December 16th and was a 3-course hot meal catered for by Anddor and attended by members and guests, 33 in all.
Jean Beckett
St. Paul's Mothers' Union: Report for 2007
The Mothers' Union theme for 2007 was "Faith in Action" and the year began with our 'Wave of Prayer' on 6th February followed by our Branch AGM held in the Church Hall on 13th February after a splendid fish and chip supper. The Branch Committee was elected with Carole Christensen (Chairman), Rita Jones (Treasurer), Jean Beckett/Joan Ford (Joint Secretary), Iris Dickens (Hospitality Co-ordinator) and Doreen Roberts (Speaker Co-ordinator).
Our MU Diocesan Festival Service was held at St. Philip's Cathedral on 10th March when the installation of the new President, Margaret Fulford, and Trustees took place, including our Chairman as Faith and Policy Unit Co-ordinator. Our branch meeting also took place on 10th March and was a very special evening when we were wonderfully entertained by Mr. Les Postlethwaite who gave a talk and slide show on Worcester Cathedral.
Members enjoyed an evening of 'Favourite Readings and Music' on 17th April and our table top sale fundraising event on 28th April achieved the excellent result of £355.
At our meeting on 15th May, Mrs. Jacqueline Eldred gave us a very interesting account of her experiences in Papua New Guinea and her work with leprosy sufferers. It was a surprise to learn that cannibalism was still practised and the fact that larger persons were preferred was a real incentive to our Chairman to lose some weight!
June 9th was our MU Diocese 'Quiet Day' held at the historic Aston Parish Church centre: the theme was 'Healing and Reconciliation'. The day, led by Carole Christensen and our friend and regular contributor Sue Langley, proved a great success. The event concluded with a lovely service of healing presided over by the MU Chaplain, Revd. Canon Michael Caddy, and led by our previous MU Chaplain, Revd. Val Hicks.
The branch meeting on 19th June was one of fellowship and discussion for members owing to our planned speaker, Revd. Canon Jemima Prasadam, being unable to attend. On 28th June, our Edgbaston Deanery Festival took place at St. Michael's, Bartley Green, the parish church of our new Deanery Co-ordinator, Mrs. Vivian Cooney.
July 17th was the day of our annual outing when we visited Lichfield Cathedral for a guided tour followed by lunch at the Chapter House, and then free time in Lichfield: a really enjoyable day for all despite the inclement weather. The 'Family Fun Day' was held on 9th August (Mary Sumner Day) at Hodge Hill when our Deanery table raised £131 towards the total raised of £1,258 and the event concluded with a service of worship led by Carole Christensen and at which the sermon was given by our Chaplain and included an address by our President.
As usual, there was no branch meeting in August and it was decided not to hold a fund raising event in September because of heavy commitments including our Branch Chairman commencing Ordination training. At our meeting on 18th September, we were delighted to welcome our Vicar, Revd. Mike Sermon, to give a follow up talk on 'Personality and Prayer' based on Myers Briggs personality types: a most thought provoking evening.
Anthony Page gave us some interesting insights into the history of Blackheath on 16th October and on 18th October our Diocesan 'Quiet Evening' was held at the church of St. James the Great in Shirley and attended by some sixty people. Revd. Simon Mackenzie gave an inspiring talk on 'Icons as Images of Worship' and brought along some wonderful examples on which to reflect.
November 20th was a fellowship evening where final preparations for our December meeting were discussed. Then, of course, our final event of the year was our Christmas meeting on 18th December when we enjoyed a delicious glass of wine followed by an excellent three course Christmas Dinner catered for by Anddor. Committee members led our traditional after dinner readings and carols with our good friend, Les Postlethwaite, at the piano: a lovely evening in good company with which to round off our year.
It's been a year of 'Faith in Action' for St. Paul's MU as the Committee and members have worked faithfully in supporting our Branch, Diocese and our Church. Though a small branch, St. Paul's remains a stalwart and greatly respected branch membership: in addition to Carole Christensen as a Trustee and unit co-ordinator, Denise Woolley has taken over co-ordination of collections in the Edgbaston Deanery and Handsworth for our Birmingham & Solihull Women's Refuge project and Doreen Roberts continues to support the Overseas arm of Birmingham MU. Our members are active in supporting the 'Faith & Policy' Unit MU emergency prayer group and the newly formed prayer ministry for those suffering long term or chronic illnesses. In addition, our members are very active at St. Paul's in flower arranging, cleaning, providing children's activity bags and participating in the gentle and much appreciated Friday morning prayer service.
A sincere 'thank you' to all members and friends who have supported our efforts in 2007 and we look forward to welcoming new members in 2008 when we make 'Time for Relationship'.
Jean Beckett
Joint Branch Secretary: St. Paul's MU
