Industrial Mission
There were 8 people including Andrew and Fr Ray at our April meeting.
Fr Ray spoke on the subject of Industrial Mission.
His background had been in industry - firstly mining and then as an industrial potter, before he trained as a Priest and became ordained in Derby in 1971.
He was able to combine these when he became part of the North East Industrial Mission Team.
When his Bishop moved him to a Parish in Newcastle, as part of this team he spent two days a week at the Wills Embassy Co. Fr Ray said this was a good company to work for, which cared for its workers providing healthcare, leisure facilities and sports activities.
He was able to talk to workers especially at lunchtimes in the canteen and was sometimes invited to the executive restaurant with the bosses. Gradually he gained the trust and respect of both sides and people began to confide in him about their lives, families, faiths and problems.
The bosses respected his opinions and he became involved in discussions and planning meetings. Later he moved to St Cuthbert’s parish near the Port of Blyth where he became Industrial Chaplain to the workers there. He also volunteered for Lifeboat duties.
The area became divided by the coal miners strike and there was much hardship. It must have been a challenging but very rewarding ministry.
MU Theme for the year
Our May meeting opened with a few moments of quiet reflection remembering Wendy and Margot (two members who have recently passed away). Pauline Wale our speaker began with prayers.
The subject of her talk today was the MU Theme for this year - M.U.L.O.A. - Mothers’ Union, Listen, Observe, Act, with God.
Mary Sumner’s aims were necessarily narrower due to the times in which she lived. We have a broader outlook with global coverage of events and situations, therefore we are made aware of people’s suffering all over the world. For example natural disasters and conflicts.
How can we respond?
Though our MU membership in 84 countries we can do far more together than on our own.
There are members who have no voice in many parts of the world, and see or suffer themselves from injustice or violence.
But we also need to be more aware of concerns in our own area, observing if something seems abnormal or wrong: does someone need help.
Gender based violence, modern day slavery, trafficking and exploitation are not just problems that occur overseas, but also in areas in our own country. Is there anything we can do, whilst still keeping ourselves safe.
A thought provoking and serious subject.
Tea at Christchurch, Portsdown
On 4th June we were invited to Christchurch Portsdown branch for their afternoon tea party. Fiona, Margaret, Inara, Peggy and I were able to go.
There was a table quiz of collective names of different animals and birds, which proved to be very difficult, some names I had never heard of before.
There were tables for MU merchandise, plants, toiletries, bring and buy and a raffle. We had a lovely buffet tea of sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes and trifle.
It was a really nice afternoon, and as always we were made very welcome.
Wave of Prayer
Our annual Wave of Prayer date this year co-incided with the last day of the Music Festival and also Fathers Day.
We gathered in a corner of the church after the 10am Eucharist for our service to pray for our fellow MU members around the world, particularly for the Dioceses with which we are linked.
These are Bukava, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Nyahururu, in Kenya: Gboko, in Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and the New Guinea Islands and for our own Diocese of Portsmouth.
The Wave of Prayer theme for 2019 was “The Mothers’ Union Listens”.
Life as a Muslim Mother
We were invited, with others, to a talk given at the RC Church. The Ladies of the Union of Catholic Mothers welcomed us and introduced Nazia and her friend from the Peace Centre in Leigh Park who spoke to us about life as a Muslim Mother living in the Havant area, and especially about the important month of Ramadan.
Afterwards they were happy to answer questions from the floor. To finish the afternoon tea and cakes were served.
