St.Peter's Church, Kinver, in South Staffordhsire

Theme for 2008 – 'Time for Relationship'

Kinver's Mothers' Union meets at St Peter's Church Hall on the third Thursday of each month at 2pm. Everyone is welcome.

Mothers' Union is a Christian organisation with more than 3.6 million members in 78 countries worldwide. The backbone of the Mothers' Union is its worldwide network of grassroots volunteers. Whatever their individual backgrounds, members are united in their commitment to supporting marriage and family life. They give their time to generously help others, whether by running local projects, supporting international campaigns, or fundraising. Mothers' Union also employs over 300 paid workers around the world. These are women drawn from local dioceses, so they speak the language, understand the culture and customs and have first-hand experience of the problems their neighbours face. Mothers' Union workers provide vital leadership for efforts in the community. They enable people to gain essential skills, develop and encourage sustainable self-help projects, and run training seminars for local Mothers' Union members and the wider community.

Our Vision
A world where God's love is shown through loving, respectful, and flourishing relationships.

Our Aim & Purpose:
To demonstrate the Christian faith in action by the transformation of communities worldwide through the nurture of the family in its many forms.

Our Mission

To promote and support married life
To encourage parents in their role to develop the faith of their children
To maintain a worldwide fellowship of Christians united in prayer, worship and service
To promote conditions in society favourable to stable family life and the protection of children
To help those whose family life has met with adversity

Our Values:

Mothers' Union is firmly rooted in a voluntary ethos. Its governance, leadership, and programmes are driven by and undertaken through members around the world as they respond to God's call to faith and action.

Our Beliefs:

We believe in the value of each individual and their unique qualities
We believe in the value of relationships. Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself."
We believe in the value of the family in its many forms as a source of love and support for individuals and the basis for a caring community

Prayer is the ministry all members share. TheWave of Prayeris an offering of prayer from and for Mothers' Union around the world. It is something that concerns every member as all take part in prayer for Mothers' Union in each diocese of the Anglican Communion in turn. Specific days in the year are therefore allocated to each diocese when prayers are focused on their work and needs.

The Mothers' Union Prayer
As a young woman, Mary Sumner (founder of the Mothers' Union) took a special interest in women and their families. When she started meeting with mothers of the parish in 1876, Mary wrote the first Mothers' Union prayer. The current prayer, like the original, focuses on the real concerns and needs of women throughout the world.

"Loving Lord, We thank you for your love so freely given to us all. We pray for families around the world. Bless the work of the Mothers' Union as we seek to share your love through the encouragement, strengthening and support of marriage and family life. Empowered by your Spirit, may we be united in prayer and worship, and in love and service reach out as your hands across the world. In Jesus' name. Amen"

The Mary Sumner Prayer written in 1876 by Mothers' Union founder, Mary Sumner.

"All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live. Amen."

And some very special words of wisdom from Mother Teresa:
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centred.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful you will win some false friends and some true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you.
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone might destroy overnight.
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
But give the world the best you have anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is all between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

And another way you may be able to help us with our ministry - Cash for Cartridges
You can now support us by recycling your empty printer cartridges! Raise funds and help the environment by sending your cartridges to The Recycling Centre for FREE. Mothers' Union will receive a payment based upon the value of the cartridges collected.
For your free postage bag email MU@themothersunion.org