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What is the Mothers' Union?
Mission Statement
The Mothers' Union is a Christian organisation which promotes the well-being of families worldwide. We achieve this by:
1. Developing prayer and spiritual growth in families
2. Studying and reflecting on family life and marriage and its place in society
3. Resourcing our members to take practical action to improve conditions for families, both nationally and in the communities in which they live
4. In 60 countries around the world Mothers' Union members are carrying out work in support of our shared belief in the importance of family life. These projects range from small scale farming initiatives in Uganda to a network of family support groups in prisons around the United Kingdom. What is special about all these projects is that they involve women and men working in their own communities, whether in Aberdeen or in Zambia.
Our Union
What makes us unique is our shared global experience of membership. A member may be in Tunbridge Wells or Tanzania but all are equal, all have something to offer and, something to learn. Personal links between members around the world are strong, as are the common ties of action and prayer.
Our Voice
The Mothers' Union is active in influencing issues that affect our members around the world. Legislation and social policy are monitored and we seek to get our voice heard in the public debate on marriage and family life. On a global scale we are calling for the abolition of Third-World debt, which affects the daily lives of our members and their families in developing countries.
Our Spirituality
The spiritual life of our members is central to the Mothers' Union. Members worldwide are united in prayer, worship and fellowship. Every day in the 'Wave of Prayer' members pray for their fellow members in diocese across the globe.
Our Work
At the Mothers' Union we are proud that most of our work takes place on a small scale, tailored to meet the needs of the community by those members living in that community. This grass-roots work is as true in the UK as overseas where we have 250 Mothers' Union workers. These are people indigenous to the communities they serve.
In developing countries our work includes:
1. Running seminars on issues affecting members' evereyday lives, such as widowhood, civil and legal rights and family life.
2. Providing vehicles such as Land Rovers and boats. These enable our workers to reach the remote areas where many members live.
3. Encouraging and funding self-help initiatives such as small livestock holdings, soap making, and other craft co-operatives.
4. Funding provincial workers and trainers who may work with street kids or educate members on HIV and AIDS.
In the Uk and Ireland our work includes:
1. Parenting courses
2. Running mother and toddler groups and creches
3. Supporting refugees
4. Running homeless projects
5. Supporting the clergy with baptism and marriage preparation
6. Supporting Child Contact Centres
7. Raising awareness of how the family is affected by the media
8. Making gowns for still-born babies
9. Visiting in hospitals
10. The Support for Children and Families Affected by Imprisonment (SCIP) project has members involved in over 70 prisons. Support provided varies, including supervising children in play areas in the visits hall and leading parenting courses for residents.
11. The Away From It All (AFIA) project offers families experiencing financial hardship or stress a holiday - mostly applicants are referred by social workers, the probation service, clergy and teachers.
Our History
No organisation with a heritage as long and rich as ours could have survived without evolving within the changing societies which it serves.
But throughout its history the Mothers' Union has had its primary aim as the promotion of a Christian understanding of family life.
The Mothers' Union was started in the village of Old Alresford, near Winchester, in 1876 by Mary Sumner, the wife of the Rector of the parish. Becoming a mother made her aware of how little preparation and support women received for motherhood. She believed that the solution to many of society's problems lay in the nurturing of the next generation. She invited 30 or 40 local mothers from all backgrounds to meet together. Prayer and practical action were at the heart of this union of mothers. By the 1890s the Mothers' Union had developed into an international body with branches springing up throughoput the British Empire.
WQithin the Church the Mothers' Union has given the experience of female leadership, teaching and a deep spirituality to ordinary lay women. With our emphasis on nurturing women's skills we were among the first organisations working overseas to replace our British workers with local women. The Mothers' Union has frerquently been on the cutting edge of social change. In the early twentieth century in Britain, before women had the vote, it tried to influence parliamentary legislation on marriage, divorce and the selling of alcohol. This challenged the idea that women's primary responsibility for the family should mean exclusion from public decision-making. In the 1950s the Mothers' Union condemned the apartheid lows in South Africa which were splitting up black families.
Our Leadership
The Mothers' Union is a member-led organisation. Principal decisions in the governance of the Society are made by members elected by members. The cebtral trustee board is chaired by the World Wide President and through this, and other forums and committees, the affairs of the organisation are managed and policy agreed. Every diocese also has its own trustee board. At the world-wide headquarters, Mary Sumner House, a professsional staff strategically implements policy and decisions. From here also comes training and resourcing of members and co-ordination of projects and campaigns.
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