21.09.2018
Mothers’ Union Festival Service Celebrates Campaigning Work and Support of Families
Mothers’ Union members from all over Dublin & Glendalough converged on Monkstown Parish Church last night (Thursday September 21) for the annual Diocesan Festival Service. Archbishop Michael Jackson presided at the service with the Rector, Canon Roy Byrne. He also commissioned the Revd Norman McCausland as Diocesan Mothers’ Union Chaplain and Amy Hourie as Action and Outreach Unit Coordinator.
The sermon was preached by the Chaplain who took as his inspiration the theme of Mothers’ Union worldwide for the coming year: ‘In Mary Sumner’s Footsteps’.
He pointed out that in 1876 when Mary Sumner started the first Mothers’ Union branch in her husband’s parish of Old Alresford, she was already a grandmother and “no spring chicken”. Neither were the other members of the first branch. He suggested that while MU members today may be concerned about an aging membership profile, they should remember that this group of women started a worldwide organisation.
He said Mary Sumner’s actions reflected the evening’s Gospel reading [St Mark 8: 27–38] in which Jesus said “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”. She highlighted issues which impacted families and children including child poverty.
“She was not afraid to raise the tough issues and do what she believed was right,” he said. “The world in which Mary Sumner lived was very different to the one in which we live where people have rejected institutional church. Mothers’ Union offers Christian care to people in parishes where there are declining numbers because people can’t afford houses and in places where there are huge new housing developments.”
He added that Mothers’ Union work to offer Christian care in communities where there are many different challenges and changes in our understanding. However, Mothers’ Union understands that each and every human being is made in the image of God, he stated.
“Life is often less than ideal. Sometimes it is wrong but it is always redeemable. In Mothers’ Union we campaign for people in difficult situations. We take on the tough issues. Around the world Mothers’ Union is working to end gender based violence and sexual abuse. I am impressed by the circle of prayer you make around family life and the work done by the Faith and Policy group which goes beyond the work of any group in the Church of Ireland,” he said.
Mr McCausland said that Mothers’ Union was more than tea and tray bakes and pointed out that Mothers’ Union contributed to upholding family life, campaigning on issues of the day and being a significant part of the life of Dublin & Glendalough. “In following in the footsteps of Mary Sumner there is a challenge to find new ways of supporting families… There is so much to celebrate and much still to do,” he concluded.
