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Mothers' Union Diocese of Lincoln

Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Lincoln covers the county of Lincolnshire

Groups
32
Members
480
Projects
10
CONTENTS
  • Dates for your Diary 2023
  • Spring 2023 letter from your Diocesan President
  • Contacts
  • New Lincoln Diocese Facebook Page - MU Chaplain Carolyn
  • A New Diocesan President for Lincoln Diocese
  • About Lincoln Diocese Mothers' Union
  • MU Spring Newsletter 2023 - click on link at the bottom of the page to open the Newsletter
  • Map and Groups in Lincoln Diocese

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Dates for your Diary 2023:

Sunday 19 March Mothering Sunday

Saturday 25 March Lady Day

Sunday 9 April Easter Day

Saturday 6 May Coronation of King Charles III          

Monday 22 May 10am Trustee and Officers meeting by Zoom 

Saturday 24 June 10.30am-3pm Summer Council and Members’ Day with packed lunch followed by a Celebration Service. Speaker Kathryn Anderson MU Provincial President for Canterbury, at Horncastle Methodist Church

Wednesday 9 August Mary Sumner Day

Monday 11 September 10am Trustee and Officers meeting by Zoom

Friday 22 September MU Provincial Gathering, York

9-13 October Prisons Week of Prayer

Thursday 12 October Autumn Retreat - Location tba

Wednesday 18 October Slavery Day

Friday 3 November 10 for 10.30am Winter Council & Celebration Eucharist at Washingborough (Note new date)

16-18 November Wave of Prayer

25 November - 10 December Days of Activism against Gender Violence and Global Day Walk(?)

Wednesday 13 December 3pm Carol Service by Zoom

A Spring letter from your Diocesan President:  Hello!  With some Spring flowers to see and enjoy, I hope you are feeling the uplift of this time of year.  Resurrection time, after a long and cold winter.  Mothers' Union news in the Diocese is encouraging.  Lots going on and I hope you feel part of it.  Diocesan Membera are invited to join in with Branch and Cluster meetings.  It has been so lovely to meet up with friends again in our local communities and churches and also across the Diocese.

I hope you may be able to join us for our Summer Council and AGM in Horncastle on Saturday 24 June from 10am.  After brief essential matters on the Agenda, Kathryn Anderson, who is our Provicial President, will address us.  Kathryn is a lovely person, very enthusiastic about Mothers' Union, and I am sure you will enjoy meeting her.  Please bring your own packed lunch.  Teas and coffees available in the usual MU way!!

I am pleased to announce that our November Winter Council will be held at the Methodist Church in Washingborough - more about that later!

Soon it will be Mothering Sunday and Lady Day and I know you are planning wonderful events in your churches, branches and clusters.  Then Lent and Easter followed by the Coronation of Charles III.  Lots to look forward to.  Enjoy!  And please let us know through the newsletter and Summer Council what is happening in your part of the world.  Encourage us, inspire us, and share the fellowship!

My husband has been ill over the winter, but hopefully he will be back with us all soon and join me in visiting branches and clusters.  I am delighted to be invited and look forward so much to being with you.  Please invite me if you haven't already.  I don't mind about numbers!!  And I am getting used to driving myself around this beautiful county.

Richard's illness has made me realise how difficult it is to live alone.  If you are on your own, please be assured of a warm welcome in your church and local branch, and may you feel the spiritual umbrella of love and prayer over you constantly, as I have done.

May God bless you.  With love, Sylvia Rice-Oxley

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Contacts

Diocesan Administrator:  Elizabeth Page: ldmu1100@gmail.com

Diocesan Chaplain:  The Revd Carolyn Bailey: lincolnmuchaplain@gmail.com

Diocesan Faith Co-ordinator:  Kate Brown: kabstg@btinternet.com

Diocesan Members:  Jenni Honisett: dandjhonisett@btinternet.com

Diocesan Fellowship and Reimagining MU:  Sue Kerridge: kerridge.sue@gmail.com

MULive:  Mary Brown:  m.brown2345@yahoo.com

Safeguarding:  Christine Jackson: christinejackson1@btinternet.com

Diocesan AFIA Representative:  Vacant

MSH Website and Data:  Cathie Whenman: cathie.whenman@hotmail.com

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New Lincoln Diocese Facebook Page

Hi Everyone

I’m Carolyn and I have the honour of being the MU Chaplain for the Diocese! How did that happen? I just wanted to say hello and to share some thoughts with you.

I know that Sylvia Rice Oxley our President has a vision for the next triennium but I wanted you to know that I have a vision too, that we will have a higher profile and will become more visible in our communities, in the Diocese and in our churches.

We are blessed in having the support of Bishop Nicholas and we have so many branches doing great work in our communities, we have our website and our newsletters, so now I am adding the Facebook page. If you use FB please pop on to our page and like it, let’s spread the news of what we get up to, it is a great way to see what we are all up to and if you are a Diocesan member it will help you to feel a part of the community..

If you would like to post but not sure what to do send your news and photos to me at lincolnmuchaplain@gmail.com  and I will post for you.

Let’s get going and spread the joy!

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A NEW DIOCESAN PRESIDENT FOR LINCOLN DIOCESE

The Bishop of Grantham commissioned our new Diocesan President, Trustees and Postholders at a wonderful service in St Peter at Gowts Church in Lincoln.

We had the Diocesan Banner there and our hymns were accompanied by our new MUzic group. Bishop Nicholas encouraged our membership and showed he was proud and inspired by all MU does in the diocese and worldwide.

We begin a new Triennium with great joy and hope of spreading the Good News of Christ through our work and prayers, work of MU in our branches, clusters and amongst our growing number of Diocesan Members.

Our new Diocesan President is The Revd Sylvia Rice-Oxley who is a retired priest. Along with her husband Richard, also a retired priest, she hopes to encourage the work of MU in the diocese and build up membership. One of her aims is to inform and aid clergy and lay ministers in the work and value of MU, with the guidance of our Diocesan Chaplain, Revd Carolyn Bailey. Sylvia also hopes to visit branches and clusters as well as meeting with Diocesan Members.

We are grateful for the great work which Elizabeth Page did during the last 6 years as Diocesan President. Elizabeth is continuing to support Lincoln Diocese as Administrator, for which we are very thankful.

Everyone is welcome to join us in our activities and we welcome suggestions of new ministry and ways of doing and being MU in our beloved Diocese. (See bottom of page for photos of the event.)

ABOUT LINCOLN DIOCESE MOTHERS' UNION:  We are a small diocese whose members mainly live in rural settings. There are a variety of different memberships to meet personal needs.

We are organised geographically into 12 clusters overlapping deaneries. Each cluster has between two-six branches; the cluster leader often also being a trustee who feeds information back from meetings to members.

Clusters generally organise programmes for Lady Day, Mary Sumner Day and other special events.

Branches generally meet monthly for worship, sharing information and fellowship. They keep in touch with the indoor members in their parishes. The Indoor Members Prayer Circle (IMPC) coordinator keeps in touch with all IMPC members sending cards for Christmas, Easter and birthdays along with letters from the worldwide president or our diocesan chaplain or president.

Diocesan members can be part of a diocesan fellowship group or individual members who join through the diocesan office with a diocesan members coordinator keeping them in touch with Mothers' Union activities. Diocesan members are invited to join branches nearby, when they can, or diocesan activities.

Our work:

  • In January 2019 The Mothers' Union Centre moved to a new office at St Peter at Gowts Church Hall.  This office is currently closed due to COVID-19.
  • We support The Mothers' Union Wave of Prayer between 16th and 18th November
  • A diocesan contact with Stocken Prison Chaplaincy started in 2017 and involves members with the week-long Kairos Bible study, prayers and life reflections on a one-to-one basis for the inmates involved, also cooking hundreds of cookies for the course supported by many local churches
  • Members support the local refuges providing toiletries, towels, bedding, emergency rations and other requirements
  • Mothers' Union has linked with a local Lincoln-based baby basket charity, providing Moses baskets, knitted garments, toiletries, and everything needed for the new baby and mother in the first three months following delivery. Sent to any needy family recommended by midwives, social workers or Mothers' Union members
  • Mothers' Union support maternity units across the diocese knitting for premature babies and newborns, and knitting pockets and blankets for stillborn babies
  • Links with hospitals, care homes, nursing homes and at-home dementia sufferers are provided with fiddle blankets, muffs and aprons as required. The dementia coodinator works with NHS staff and provides talks for Mothers' Union groups
  • We provide student recipe books, Mothers' Union information at Freshers' Day at Bishop Grostesste University and support the chaplaincy-run "Tea and Toast" once a month in term time providing snacks and a listening ear if required
  • Members take part in the Thy Kingdom Come movement in the clusters and attended the diocesan service at the end of the initiative at the cathedral
  • In November members meet at the cathedral chapel for prayers before walking down Steep Hill  and High Street to St Peters holding placards and giving out leaflets supporting the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. 
  • Along with the majority of Church of England Dioceses, we are involved with The Clewer Initiative which seeks to bring recognition and support by raising awareness of all aspects of modern slavery and helping to mobilise the local church, both in detection and helping to provide victim support and care.  

To get involved, contact our Diocesan President to become a diocesan member. Following recent changes, all members will be receiving the prayer book, which has information about our wonderful global Christian organization and prayers for our members worldwide.  In addition, there will be an exciting new publication as part of membership subscription which will be posted to members of the Britain and Ireland zones directly twice a year with information of the many activities, work and life skills which are making a huge difference to our 4 million members worldwide.

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SO WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE MOTHERS’ UNION?

I think we need to remember that no two MU groups are the same and neither should they be. The purpose of a group or branch is to have a framework to meet together, to pray together and to get involved in making a difference to family life and our own communities in any way we are able. MU members meet together for Faith, Fellowship and Friendship. Being part of a group or branch should provide the opportunity to be actively involved in your local Community and Church activities and to discover more about what is happening to Mothers Union locally and globally, something we have found hard to do over the last year.

To help this aim, as from 2021 MSH will be posting to every member the prayer book, which has information about our wonderful global Christian organization to which we all belong, and prayers for our members worldwide.

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PHOTOS:
1.  Bourne
2.  Gift of Baby Clothes from Lincoln MU to New Mums in Kenya
3.  March through Lincoln against Gender Based Violence
4.  Baby's Basket
5.  Bishop of Grantham, Diocesan President and Chaplain
6.  New & Retiring DPs
7.  MUzic
 

MU Spring Newsletter

 

Support this Diocese

Contact details

34 Arnhem Way
Bourne,
PE10 9UD
United Kingdom
Primary contact: Sylvia Rice-Oxley
Telephone: 01778 394839
Province: Canterbury

Groups in Lincoln Diocese

Showing 31-32 of 32 results

Washingborough & Heighington

LN4 1SH, United Kingdom

Woodhall Spa

LN10 6TW, United Kingdom

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