Mothers' Union is the largest international Christian organisation with over 4 million members in 83 countries across the world.
Within this worldwide organisation we are part of the Anglican Province of Canterbury and based in the South West of England above Bristol, bordered by Wales in the West and the Cotswold Hills to the East.
Led by our Diocesan President, Doreen McLellan for the triennial 2025-2027 we have 26 branches across 8 deaneries and about 600 members working towards the Mothers' Union vision to strengthen and preserve family life and marriage, by our Christian faith through practical action.
This practical action can be seen through the giving of self, in prayer, in voluntary work, and in helping those less fortunate than ourselves in whatever ways we can.
Following the links, please take the time to discover how we respond to our Mothers' Union vision of a world where God's love is shown through loving, respectful, and flourishing relationships.
Are you a Facebook user? If so, please join the Mothers' Union Diocese of Gloucester facebook page.(Search in Facebook groups for MOTHERS' UNION GLOUCESTER DIOCESE)
Every day, the prayers from our Prayer Diary are published, together with the Wave of Prayer. Also any items of interest to Mothers' Union members which appear on the Church of England social media sites.
The national Mothers' Union website is a source of information about the worldwide organisation, national projects, monthly prayers and resources for members.
http://www.mothersunion.orgMidday Prayers are live on their Facebook page at 12:00 noon daily.
https://www.facebook.com/MothersUnion
Doreen was re-commissioned as our Diocesan President at a service in Gloucester cathedral on June 20th, alongside the Trustees.
Dear Fellow Members
I hope that you managed to cope with the extremely hot weather earlier in the year. Obviously I write these letters a little while ahead of publication and by the time you receive this we will be into Autumn and those hot, dry days may seem a long while ago. We could be experiencing all sorts of weather by September as we seem to have a range of unseasonable experiences as the weeks pass.
While I was watching Pointless recently one of the things asked for was words of four or more letters in the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. I was pleased that I had a couple of 'pointless' answers but dissappointed that more people didn't seem to know the words. The final words, 'speak through the earthquake, wind and fire, O still small voice of calm', seemed appropriate as there were strong winds battering Scotland and the north of England at the time(the begining of August). There are many things in the world, not just natural events, which create a lot of clamour and it is hard to hear the voice of God. Our faith means that we listen for that voice and the actions of Mothers' Union members show that we heed it. Among other things, members raise funds for AFIA holidays and to help with parenting courses both here and across the world, campaign against domestic abuse through Rise:Up, provide help and support to people in their communities and underpin everything we do in prayer.
Watching the news we can sometimes feel that there is little we can do but as Kathleen Snow, our Worldwide President, has said, we are 'stronger together' and our actions can, and do, make a difference. Since the last letter I have attended events as varied as coffee mornings, branch meetings, our Mary Sumner Day picnic and a gathering of Diocesan Presidents from Britain and Ireland held in Liverpool but,at all of these, there has been discussion of what Mothers' Union is doing and what else we can do to help others. At the gathering of Diocesan Presidents we were told that Mothers' Union projects had made a difference in the lives of 2.5 million people over the past year, which is a truly remarkable achievement - it shows that our work and campaigning is as relevant and needed now as it was when Mary Sumner started Mothers' Union back in 1876.
It was lovely to see lots of members at the Mary Sumner Day picnic at Down Hatherley. Many thanks are due to Elizabeth Reay for organising thw day and to her family for sharing their home and garden and to everyone else who helped to make the day a success. I hope that all those who attended had a good time and enjoyed catching up with friends.
With love and prayers
Doreen