Mothers' Union speak at the Albany Conference, USA

The Diocese of Down and Dromore has been linked with the Diocese of Albany in up-state New York for over twenty years and each year a delegation from the Diocese in Northern Ireland travels, with their Bishop the Rt Rev Harold Miller and his wife Liz, to attend the annual Albany Diocesan Convention which is held at a Christian centre called "Camp of the Woods" a wonderful setting!
This year over 1000 people attended the Convention to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Diocese and the main guest and preacher was the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Revd Michael Curry. The theme of the weekend was "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow", based on Hebrews 13 v 8. Over the weekend there were various services and 30 different workshops for the delegates to attend according to their own interests. 
I was at the Convention for the second time and was asked to lead one of the workshops in my role as Mothers' Union Diocesan President. The workshop was about the work of Mothers' Union in Ireland with a focus on my attendance in 2017 at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and the lessons to be learned from listening to the issues of importance to women worldwide.

I ran the workshop twice and both times they were attended by men and women who were interested to find out more about Mothers' Union - which is little known in the USA -  and particularly about its worldwide projects. There were lively discussions about certain issues which the Albany delegates felt were important in their lives and which I had identified from my time at UNCSW 61 including; 

• Unpaid care work;
• Basic financial skills and health education to be on the school curriculum;
• Lack of essential services for women and girls living in rural areas;
• The financial plight of elderly women and widows;
• and physical and emotional violence against women, both in the home and in the workplace. 

There was also discussion about the differences between Mothers' Union and The Order of The Daughters of The King which is the organisation for women in the episcopal church and others affiliated to it. One focus which both bodies have in common is prayer and we plan to work with our colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic to develop the connection between the Dioceses of Down and Dromore and Albany by establishing a prayer link.