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Mother's Union more
than 100 years old
"NT
I^IOT another union!" was the
reaction of the family butcher when
told that the letters MU on a cus
tomer's blue and white enamel
brooch stood for Mothers' Union.
The thought of mothers holding stop
work meetings, demanding penalty
rates for weekend work, or striking for
better pay and conditions is an intrigu
ing one.
Actually the Mothers' Union is prob
ably the oldest and largest association
of women in the Anglican Church. It
was founded in 1876 by Mary Sumner,
wife of the Reverend George Sumner,
Rector of Old Alresford in Hampshire.
It started with a small group of
mothers meeting at the Rectory when
Mary Sumner spoke of the ideal of
Christian marriage as a lifelong union,
of the responsibility of parents for the
training of their children and the build
ing of Christian family life.
The movement quickly spread. In
1886 it became the recognised organisa
tion for Anglican women in the diocese
of Winchester. The first overseas
branch was formed in New Zealand in
1887 and 28 dioceses were represented
at the first General Conference in Lon
don in 1892. Since then it has spread
throughout the world, to every part of
the Anglican Communion.
In the Diocese of Canberra and
Goulburn, there are Mothers' Union
branches at Canberra and Qucanbcyan,
Albury and Holbrook.
The Mothers' Union observes Lady
Day (the feast of the Annunciation of
the Blessed Virgin Mary), on March 25
as its annual festival. This year, because
of the concurrence of Easter, the ob
servance has been deferred. The Can
berra and Qucanbcyan branches will
keeD the festival in conjunction with the
Canberra branch's regular meeting on
Thursday, April 13.
A servicc of Holy Communion in St
Paul's Church, Manuka, at 11am will
be followed by a luncheon in the Parish
Hall at 12.15pm. The guest speaker at
1.15pm will be Mrs Marie Robinson,
wife of Bishop Donald Robinson of
Parramatta. All members and friends
are invited to attend. The president of
the Canberra branch is Mrs Dorothy
Bates, 27 Badgery Street, Macquarie
(telephone 511842).
— Contributed
Christian groups in
schools discussed
A.N address and dis
cussion about the ra
tionale of voluntary
Christian groups in
schools was held this
week in Canberra.
The address was given by
the general secretary of the
Australian Fellowship ol
Evangelical Students, Mr
Tony McCarthy, at Burton
Hall, and was attended by
more than 30 teachers.
He said the estab
lishment of Christian
groups in schools de
manded very real attention
to what went on at the
tertiary level. "Until the
recent cutbacks a very
large number of our
tertiary graduates were
destined for teaching of
one kind or another", he
said. "So if we get teachers
who are clued, concerned
and helped, that should
make some contribution to
the schools". A large
number of people going
from schools went to
tertiary education and a
cycle could be set up.
Most people had a stake
in education, either be
cause of their professions
or as consumers or parents.
For Christian groups in
schools the totality of work
among students must be
taken seriously.
Regardless of whatever'
activities teachers did in
special groups in schools,
they were able to minister
to students in their own
professional relationships,
in their classes and subject
areas. "I suspect that if we
are concerned for volun
tary groups in the schools
teachers' participation
loses a great deal of
credibility if there isn't
that basic recognised pro
fessional competence in the
obvious area of being a
teacher", he said.
Variety
Each person, in a
teaching situation, had
gifts and there was a tre
mendous variety in the way
they could be expressed.
"If individual teachers
have opportunities of min
istry, there are tremendous
opportunities for corporate
activities by teachers,
however they express it",
he said.
The first Teachers Chris
tian Fellowship in Aus
tralia had been formed in
Hobart, Tasmania, in the
1930s after a Lieutenant
Colonel Bjelke-Petersen
(uncle of the Queensland
Premier) had told a group
of teachers about a TCF in
Denmark.
They had been very suc
cessful and one of the vi
sions they had had was to
encourage teachers to min
ister overseas. "For that
reason the TCF no longer
exists in Tasmania", he
said.
There was now quite a
variety of voluntary groups
within schools. At the sec
ondary level there were dif
ferent types of groups. The
ones which appeared to
complement curriculum
areas, such as natural his
tory, craft and physical
education groups and
groups which centred on
commitment, of whatever
kind. These may include
students concerned with
environmental questions.
There often seemed to be
problems with religious,
and particularly Christian
groups.
Words, such as 'indoctri
nation' or other kinds of
argumentation were put
forward. "! wonder wheth
er we capitulate to this too
readily", he said. "The fact
that there is debate about
it, I think is a jolly good
thing because that gives
opportunity to give rea
sons, to explain, on educa
tional grounds, I would
suggest, why such groups
are appropriate. In fact,
more than pcrmissablc but
quite consistent with the
kinds of school that we
have around about us".
Mr Tony McCarthy Help
Mr Tony McCarthy
To advance the oppor
tunity of Christian groups,
people should work on
educational grounds which
would mean the groups
would be open to all. On
some tertiary campuses
there had been criticism
that some religious groups
were not open to all.
The Inter-Schools Chris
tian Fellowship was open
to all and was concerned
for evidence. "If people are
going to reject a Christian
position they must do it on
a basis of evidence and if
it is to be accepted I think
it ought to be accepted on
the basis of evidence", he
said.
Commenting on a ques
tion after his address, Mr
McCarthy said it was true
that some parents were
concerned that schools had
taken over some areas
which families had once
seen as their areas. He
asked though how teachers
should respond when fami
lies were doing nothing for
children.
One teacher was con
cerned that if voluntary
Christian groups could be
established in schools,
many other voluntary, and
possibly undesirable
groups, could also be estab
lished. Mr McCarthy be
lieved this problem could
be overcome by only allow
ing groups which were
educational.
Asked if it might be
claimed that almost any
groups could be educa
tional, he said, "I think you
could rule out a number".
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