Worldwide President of Mothers' Union visits Cathedral for Ely 900
29th March 2009Hundreds of Mothers’ Union members from across the diocese together with invited guests, including the Mayor of Ely, gathered in Ely Cathedral to hear their Worldwide President this weekend. The service, which celebrated Lady Day – the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin – was led by Dr David Thomson, the Bishop of Huntingdon, for Ely’s 900 year celebrations. The Mothers’ Union Worldwide President, Mrs Rosemary Kempsell spoke about the Annunciation and how the Virgin Mary had accepted God's life-changing challenge given her by the angel Gabriel and how Christians should also be ready to respond to God’s challenges. Mrs Kempsell has recently returned from an official visit to the West Indies. She also spoke about Baghdad where there are a thousand Mothers’ Union members at St George’s, the only Anglican church in Iraq. According to the Vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White, the Mothers’ Union are the most important group in the city, giving help to families and orphans of all faiths. She has also visited Kenya, where the Mothers’ Union is running healing workshops and giving financial aid to the displaced persons' camps. Since the year 2000, Mothers’ Union delegates have attended the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women. Here, they can speak out against injustice and help to hold governments to account, especially for the international Millennium Goals for reducing poverty, which the UN member states have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. The service ended with the traditional recessional procession of branch banners led by the diocesan banner carried by a young family from the Cathedral Mothers’ Union branch.
For details and more information:
Ken Fletcher
29th March 2009 |
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