Lowton St. Mary's Mothers Union

General Information about Mothers’ Union:
The Mothers’ Union was founded by Mary Sumner, the wife of the Bishop of Winchester in 1876.  In 1897 Queen Victoria became the first royal patron.  We celebrated our 125th anniversary in 2001.

The Mothers’ Union is a worldwide organisation with over one million members in sixty countries.

It is an organisation built on prayer and is an extension of our church life.

The purpose for the Mothers’ Union is to be especially concerned with all that strengthens and preserves marriage and Christian family life.

Its aim is the advancement of the Christian religion in the sphere of marriage and family life.

The Mothers’ Union has five objects:

Information about our branch:
The St. Mary’s branch meets in the church hall for worship and fellowship every month.  At the meetings we usually have a speaker either from the Mothers’ Union or the community.  The programme is varied incorporating topics which cover our aims and objects – programmes are available from the branch leader who is Carol Leigh (01942 606757).

The meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month from 7.30pm to about 9.00pm depending on the speaker.   We also arrange trips and outings which are part of our fellowship and these are open to family and friends.   Coffee evenings, Afternoon teas, Jumble Sales are also organised - these events raise much needed funds for the work of the MU both here in the UK and worldwide. Our branch, like all the other branches of MU, has a committee which meets a couple of times of year to discuss and plan the programme of events, and to help organise the monthly meetings.

We welcome new members.   If you are interested in joining MU or just want to see what goes on at a meeting you are welcome to come to any of our meetings.

Becoming a member:
If after a while you want to join then there are a few requirements laid down by the Mothers’ Union.

The central constitution says that to be a member a person must:

• Have been baptised in the name of the Holy TrinityDeclare their support of the Aim and Objects
• Have had instruction on the Mothers’ Union during a period of preparation
• Have signed a membership card
• Pay an annual subscription to the centre

Enrolment takes place in church and you will be given a card to commemorate your enrolment.

The MU publishes a magazine called Home and Family four times a year, there is a charge for this but it is delivered to your home and is a very interesting read.  It has articles about the work being undertaken all over the world by the MU.   Liverpool Diocesan MU also publishes a magazine, which is free to members, and comes out three times a year.  This magazine covers events in the diocese. The annual subscription is payable to the diocese, most of this money is paid to the central office at Mary Sumner House in London, with a small proportion being kept by the diocese to cover their expenses.

Additional Information:
The Mothers’ Union central office is in London, ideas and information are sent out from there to the diocesan MU office in Liverpool, and then to the various deaneries.   Our branch belongs to the Winwick deanery, whose president is Pat Keegan.   When our representative attends the deanery meeting she gets the information about what is happening in both the diocese and worldwide.

This information is then passed onto members at our monthly meetings.  Our aim is to ensure that all our members know what is going on at diocesan and deanery levels, and to be encouraged to attend events put on both by the deanery and the diocese.

We have a Deanery Prayer Circle with representatives from each of the branches.

If you would like further information about the Mothers’ Union why not visit the MU website: Mothers Union Website.

For further information about our branch events either look in the church magazine or here on St. Mary’s website.

We look forward to seeing you at our meetings.