MU Newcastle

Over 130 years ago a middle-aged English clergy wife, Mary Sumner, invited a group of women from the local village to meet together to support each other in the task of raising their children in the faith and life of the Church.

Little did she realise that by 2007 this small beginning would have grown into an organisation with 3.6 million members in 77 countries, including over 900 active members in Newcastle Diocese.

Did you know:
• 400 Christian women meet in the secure “green zone” in Bagdad
• 1000 volunteers reach out to men and women in UK prisons.
• Hundreds of women participate in literacy circles in Burundi, Malawi and the Sudan.
• A group of Trustees and staff travel to the United Nations in New York each year.
• Women in PNG are involved in HIV/AIDS education and prevention.
• Newcastle members assemble “baby bundles” for John Hunter Hospital.
• Women lovingly sew  grieving gowns for babies  who do not survive
• Hundreds packed the Cathedral for Lady Day.

All of these women are members of The Mothers' Union (MU) carrying out their mission to share Christ's love by encouraging, strengthening and supporting marriage and family life.

Recently the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke about The Mothers’ Union: "When I've said in the past year or so that the Mothers' Union is the fifth instrument of unity in the Anglican Communion, I'm not joking.

“I think it is the most powerful lay movement in the Anglican World; it is one which does far more for education and development than any other agency in the Anglican Communion and, more than any other agency, it builds relationships at grass roots level between ordinary believers working for change. If that isn't an instrument of unity, I don't know what is," he said.

As well as encouraging local groups in parishes around the world the Mothers’ Union worldwide focuses on the big issues of poverty, world debt, basic human rights, environmental concerns, justice and peace.

Over 300 local paid MU workers assist members involved in leadership training, community building, health and education projects in many parts of the Anglican Communion.

MU attempts to influence government policy and is accredited at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.  All MU work is undergirded by prayer with members linked across national and cultural boundaries through the Wave of Prayer.

In the difficult times facing the Anglican Communion, Mothers’ Union remains committed to maintaining unity.  MU leaders from 31 Anglican Provinces have affirmed that what unites the members of MU is greater than that which threatens to divide.

MU members in Newcastle and around the world pray together “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.”