Annual General Meeting
Our AGM on 21st February was chaired by Fr Colin. As no-one volunteered to become Leader we will be “Committee led” for another year. After the meeting there was a rather belated “Get to know Fr Colin” session.
Coffee Morning
On 27th February we held a coffee morning in aid of the MU “Away From It All” - AFIA - holiday fund for disadvantaged families. £77 was raised from a Bring & Buy table, a Raffle and the sale of tea/coffee and cakes.
World Day of Prayer
Eight of us went to this year’s World Day of Prayer (formerly the Women’s World Day of Prayer) which was held at St Wilfrid’s Church, Cowplain, on Friday 1st March.
Entitled “Come Everything is Ready”, the service had been prepared by the Christian Women of Slovenia. There was time to chat and mingle afterwards with mugs of tea and cakes.
Lenten Meditation
Our Lenten Meditation was led by Fr Colin, following the teachings of St Ignatius of Loyola.
St Ignatius was born in the Basque Region of Spain in 1491, the youngest of 13 children. His mother died soon after he was born.
He liked the heroic mythical figures when he was young and he decided to become a soldier.
He suffered a serious injury to his legs while on duty which finished his military career. Whilst recovering he felt a calling to a monastic life. Later he founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), now one of the largest monastic orders in the Catholic Church. His society was eventually given the blessing of the Pope.
Our Meditation was in three parts.
First Fr Colin read us a passage from St John’s Gospel. Then after a period of quiet relaxation, we were encouraged to imagine ourselves in the Upper Room with Jesus at the Last Supper, to follow him as he left to walk through the dark streets up to the Garden of Gethsemane, to wait with him there, till Judas came with the soldiers to arrest him, exploring our feelings of fear and uncertainty at what might happen next - without the benefit of hindsight.
A very different Lenten Meditation to what we had had in previous years, but a very thought provoking experience for us all.
Lady Day Service
This year’s Mothers’ Union Lady Day Service on 25 March was at Holy Trinity Church, Blendworth. The service was conducted by the Ven Dr Trevor Reader and themed “In Step With God”.
Exploring the World - Part 1 encouraged us to imagine the feelings associated with being “chosen” or “left out”.
Exploring the World - Part 2 with “congregational participation”. Volunteers (complete with costumes) represented a Ruler, a Religious, A Fisherman, a Tax Collector, a young Mum and a Child. Our Angel Gabriel bypassed all the supposedly important people and chose Mary - a humble young girl, illustrating that “nothing is impossible with God”.
There were readings, prayers and some beautiful hymns including one of my very favourites “Brother, Sister, let me serve you”, which seemed particularly appropriate for the ending of this service.
Annual Women’s Fellowship Anniversary Service
On a warm sunny afternoon we gathered together, with many others, at the Waterlooville Baptist Church, for their annual Women’s Fellowship Anniversary Service and tea.
The speaker was Mrs Sue Smith and the theme “Celebration”. The hymns etc were displayed on large screens, there were prayers in sections - for the World, our Country and Ourselves. The solo “Make me a Blessing” was sung by Angela Perry and Sue Smith’s message included intriguingly “gardening” and “moving house”.
After the Blessing we moved to the adjacent hall where a delicious tea with lots of sandwiches and cakes was enjoyed by all. As usual we were made very welcome and had a most enjoyable afternoon.
Janet Johnson
