All Saints' Parish Church, Hertford

All Saints' Branch of the Mothers Union Welcome to our webpage. The All Saints' branch of the Mothers' Union is closely involved with family activities within the Church and meets once a month to enjoy a variety of talks and visits, all relevant to living with our faith in the everyday life of our homes and families. Our meetings are usually held in the Curch Meeting Room beginning at 8.00 p.m. and are open to everyone, both men and women, whether married or not - all are welcome. We have a link MU branch, Holy Trinity, South West Rocks in New South Wales, Australia. The Mothers' Union is a worldwide charity providing Christian care for families. Click here for an introduction by Leslie Self. Further details and literature are available from Ann.

People

The All Saints' Branch of the Mothers Union was opened on 10th October 1993. Bill Kemm, our then Vicar, was present to open the branch, along with Jane Drew, the then Diocesan President and Rosemary Franklin the Diocesan secretary. A group of ex 'mums and toddlers' had been meeting regularly and felt that they needed 'new direction', Jean Kemm suggested that the Mothers Union might provide this.

As a new member back in 1993, I certainly had little idea of the size and diversity of the organisation into which I was enrolling. I am sure that many view the Mothers Union as a tea and chat organisation, an image which perhaps its title unfortunately helps to perpetuate, but how wrong can they be!

The Mothers Union is a world-wide organisation within the Anglican Church. There are 3 million members in 70 countries around the world, 122,000 of them in the UK alone. Its purpose is to be especially concerned with all that strengthens and preserves marriage and Christian family life.

Through Action and Outreach, the M.U. reaches the wider community. Prison visiting, running parenting groups, providing 'Away from it all' holidays for needy families, and running family Contact Centres to enable estranged parents to visit their children following relationship breakdowns, are just some of the ways the M.U. is achieving its aims.

Members pray regularly for their overseas contemporaries. An overseas fund supports projects in needy parts of the world. The M.U. recently received three-quarters of a million pounds from Comic Relief, to help extend and develop its literacy and development programme in Burundi, Maiawi, and the Sudan. Women are being taught to read and write, allowing them to have increased confidence and control over every aspect of their lives, to the benefit of their families and the wider community.

Closer to home, we at All Saints have had many interesting and memorable speakers and visits over the last ten years. The Mothers Union banner stands resplendent next to the altar, on two occasions we have been able to give it an outing and it has enjoyed its moments of glory as it joined a sea of banners parading through St. Albans Abbey, at M.U. Diocesan Festivals. Many events which have become firm fixtures of All Saints' calendar, including the Children's' Activity Days, the 'Traveling Crib', the Easter Cross, and the Teddy Bear's Picnic, were initiated by, or are supported by, the M.U. For the last nine years we have been joined by Gail Cramphorn who with much patience has taught us and supported us in making our now institutional Christmas Wreaths.

The numerous speakers, both 'home grown' and from further afield have provided us with a diversity of talks over the years, from seasonal meditations, to far flung corners of the globe, our meetings have catered for all tastes and needs. Brian Bromley even attempted the formidable task of teaching us to sing, when we became the Medieval Mums for Organ Aid 1999.

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