Mary Doyle retires

www.MothersUnionManchester.org

Page 12

CandlemasPage 4

Page 8P 8Bishop welcome

CymbalSpring 2011

Supporting you and your church in working with families

www.MothersUnionManchester.org

National Marriage WeekHere at St Mary and All Saints Goodshaw we celebrated marriage by laying a table with a centre candle surrounded by tea lights.

As Branch Leader I was invited to light the centre candle and after Revd Jenny said a Blessing prayer the congregation was invited to light a small tea light to celebrate their marriages, including those who no longer had their partners. There was a good response and by the end of the service all candles had been lit.

To round off, our Sunday School children had been busy writing prayers and making up small gift bags suitably containing symbols of love for St Valentine’s Day. These were then distributed to the congregation. All in the name of love.Margaret Royle – Branch Leader

DisplaySt Ann’s Church, Belfi eld marked National Marriage Week with a display of members’ and parishioners’ wedding photographs. Everyone enjoyed looking at all the wedding pictures and trying to match up the photos with how we all looked nowadays! There was also a display around the Church of artefacts of the various wedding anniversaries – fi rst paper –second cotton – third linen continuing up to ruby, crystal, china, pearl, emerald, golden and diamond. We didn’t have any real diamonds on show though! Think about this for your Church next year. Margaret Morris

So long! – Farewell! –Auf Wiedersehen! – Good Bye!Our many congratulations go to Robin Morris, Chaplain for the past three years of Rochdale Archdeaconry, for putting up with us!

You have always been our good friend, willing to partake in our various activities and taking part in many offi cial duties. You will be sadly missed. Now you will have more free time for walking the hills and dales and with your paint brush and canvas. God Bless you and once again many many thanks. Mary Helliwell – Rochdale Archdeaconry President

Dates for your diaryMay 4th Eccles Deanery Festival, St. John the Baptist, Little HultonMay 9th Rossendale Deanery Festival, St Mary RawtenstallMay 12th 15th – Visit to Salisbury LinkMay 17th Radcliffe & Prestwich Deanery Festival, Christ Church AinsworthMay 26th Quiet Day–Manchester Cathedral May 30th Manchester & Salford Annual Procession of Witness

June 9th General Meeting – EdinburghJune 14th Bolton Deanery Festival, St. Catherine FarnworthJune 28th Walmsley Deanery Festival, St Maxentius, BradshawJuly 9th Salford Archdeaconry Festival St Phillip’s Church, Chapel Street, Salford

Aug 2nd Eucharist, St. Georges Mossley – 2.30pmAug 9th Worldwide Day of Prayer Aug 9th Bolton Archdeaconry Festival, St Anne EdgesideAug 5th-22nd - Offi ce & Shop closedAug 20th Day Retreat

Sep 16th-23rd - University welcome project Oct 5th - Diocesan Festival, Cathedral – 7.30pm

Cover picture: Archdeacon Mark, Links committee Chair, greets Bishop Ise-somo see page 8)

January is hectic at work; hence a reminder in early February. Maybe I should wait until worldwide council - whatever made me think that? No time at all before we welcomed our Episcopal visitor. Now it is weekend, Bob has followed his favourite football team to London, I am home alone and it is time to put pen to paper (or whatever the technological term is).

Bishop Ise-somo of Nord Kivu, our link in the Congo, was a delightful guest. Consecrated in December, he was in England for the annual training for new bishops. (32 bishops from as far afi eld as Mexico and Australia met in Canterbury.) Asked where else he would like to visit, the Bishop said Manchester. At very short notice a programme was arranged and there is a report and photos in this edition and also on our website.

PlanningIn October 2010, Robert and Sarah from

Mary Sumner House attended a strategic planning workshop in DRC, held by the provincial Mothers’ Union in line with a major church review. Their vision is of the “holistic development of society” and an important, strengths-based programme is “Ensemble Pour Nouvons” – “together we can”.

Visits to and by links are very important as they enable us to better understand each other’s lives, countries, needs and mission. At worldwide council I was delighted to meet Eunice Lucas, provincial president of Southern Africa, which comprises fi ve countries, including Manchester’s Anglican link of Namibia.

Worldwide CouncilIt is not possible here even to list what took

place at worldwide council, from the point on Wednesday afternoon when I led opening prayers to Fleur’s fi nal worship on Friday lunchtime. Just one item: names were drawn for representation at the fourth Special Regional Meeting – the president of Manchester will

have the opportunity to go somewhere, sometime, although for reasons of fi nance, it has not yet been decided just when or where this meeting will be held!

Mothers’ Union is not immune from the current fi nancial climate and your Trustees decided that writing to each member was the best way of ensuring that each heard the same message. I do hope that you have been able to respond positively to that letter, so that all the work of Mothers’ Union, locally and globally, can continue – supported by prayer, action and fi nance.

I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming months, at festivals, etc. and please do invite me if I have not yet had the opportunity to visit your branch or deanery.

With my love, and my prayers for all you are doing in the name of Mothers’ Union.Barbara

Jolts and opportunitiesby The Diocesan President

Barbara Taylor with Bishop Nigel

“Visits to and by links are very important”

Page 3 Cymbal

As a member of the congregation at Stand All Saints’ Church, Whitefi eld, and as a non-member of Mothers’ Union, I was pleased to be invited to a service arranged by the Archdeaconry of Bolton on the afternoon of 2nd February. ‘Candlemas’, ‘The Presentation of Christ in the Temple’, one of the most ancient feasts in the Christian Church. On this day, being 40 days after the celebration of Christmas, we are reminded of how, in New Testament times, a 40 day-old baby would make his fi rst ‘public appearance’.

Mary, like all faithful Jewish mothers, obeying the Law of Moses, went to the Temple in Jerusalem to redeem her fi rst-born son, who by rights belonged to God. Being poor, Mary and Joseph’s sacrifi ce was that of two turtle-doves rather than the usual lamb. So here we have the reason for one of the names of the festival – ‘The Presentation of Christ in the Temple’.

However, before Mary could present Jesus to God, she would have had to complete the ritual cleansing after childbirth. Here is the root of one of the other festival titles – ‘The Purifi cation of the Blessed Virgin Mary’.

On a personal note, in a quiet time of refl ection during the service in church, thinking of Mary’s thankfulness for the birth of her child, I also thought of my own mother, who used to tell me of being ‘churched’. The Churching took place before I was presented for baptism as a tiny baby; my mother was led, by the priest, from the font to the front of the nave, where prayers of thanks were given for the safe delivery of her child – me! That was a long time ago, and this short time of formal thanksgiving seems to happen no more; but I am sure that there are many new mothers who will offer their own private prayers of thanks for the safe arrival of their newborn baby.

Warming Celebration of Candthoughts of non-member Ann Marshall

Now, what about the festival title ‘The Meeting of the Lord’? I like to think of it as the meeting of the Lord God, in the fl esh of the Lord Jesus, with the man who publicly recognised Him as the Messiah. That man was Simeon.

Simeon – the devout old man who was present in the Temple when the Holy Family arrived; the man who would not see death until he had seen Christ.

Imagine the marvellous joy Mary would have felt when Simeon gently cradled Jesus in his arms and declared Him to be the Messiah, the Redeemer not just of Israel, but the Saviour of the world. How would Mary then have felt when Simeon foretold the sorrow she would suffer, in years to come, in an event that would change the world?

So where does the ‘Candlemas’ bit come in? Jesus is described in the New Testament as the Light of the World, and early Christians developed the tradition of lighting many candles in celebration of this day. The Church also fell into the custom of

Page 4 Cymbal

‘A fl ame that cannot by put out by darkness, or gales or doubt’I was invited to join Bolton Archdeaconry to celebrate the special day at Stand All Saints Church. The service was led by Revd Alison Hardy, chaplain to the Archdeaconry. Also present from around the Diocese were Lily Critten, Faith and Policy Co-ordinator, Peggie Gathergood, Bolton Archdeaconry President, Mary Helliwell, Rochdale Archdeaconry President, and me fl ying the fl ag for Manchester Archdeaconry together with members from various churches throughout the Bolton Archdeaconry.We gathered in the large, beautiful church to celebrate and remember Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, humbly showing us the way. We celebrated the Eucharist together and then with our lighted candles we processed round the church, passing the stable to the font and fi nished the service with prayers. It was a lovely simple service to remember Jesus beginning his Ministry and we fi nished our afternoon in typical Mothers’ Union fashion with cups of tea and fellowship. A lovely afternoon. ‘The fl ame is steadfast, it is full of hope and new beginnings. Darkness or gales or doubt cannot put it out’.

lemas

by Barbara Hill

blessing all the candles to be used during the year in church at this time – hence the name ‘Candlemas’.

During the service, we listened to the story of this event in Jesus’ early life as told in Luke’s Gospel; and we shared in the Eucharist and made our thanksgiving to

God. We all had been given a candle and after a short time of quiet refl ection, the Rector lit her candle from the Easter candle and the light of Christ was shared around the congregation as each of us lit the candles of those nearby. Carrying our lighted candles, we then processed, for the last time until next Christmas, past the stable, with its fi gures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

This reminded us that Candlemas is a pivotal time in the Church’s year, when we stop looking at the Incarnation and start preparing for the Passion of Christ and Easter – we have left Bethlehem and start to move towards Jerusalem. It is now the time to think of the man – prophet, priest, shepherd, teacher – who walked the earth, who mixed with all and sundry, who performed miracles and annoyed the establishment. When we reached the font, before the blessing and dismissal, we said together Simeon’s great declaration of faith and recognition:

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: according to thy word.As I held my candle close and the fl ame

shone brightly, I could also feel the heat. Not only was I reminded of the light of Christ but also of the warmth of God’s love for us.

Page 5 Cymbal

CongratulationsMuriel and Ronald Hillary from St John’s Church, Shuttleworth, celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary, on the 3rd December, 2010. (Kathleen Coop) Hilda and Fred Lord from Christ Church, Ainsworth, celebrated their Diamond Wedding on 11th November. (Enid Horrocks Joint Branch leader Christ Church Ainsworth) Beryl & Stanley Colls celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary on the 2nd December 2010. Two members of St Peter’s Westleigh, Mothers’ Union have celebrated 90th birthdays. Iris Marsden, who joined the branch in 1988/89, was 90 on 21st January. Joan Moses, who moved into the parish 22 years ago, from Liverpool, joined our branch in 1992. Joan, who had not been a member in Liverpool, celebrated her 90th birthday on February 18th. Both Iris and Joan are now indoor members of the branch, but are always interested in what we are doing. Two members of St. Mark’s Worsley Mothers’ Union, Nancy Wall and Thelma Smith, celebrated being members for 50 years.

Deanery NewsBolton Deanery Festival will be on Tuesday 14th June at St. Catherine’s Church Farnworth, celebrating 100 years of Mothers’ Union in the Deanery; and our Conference will be on 21st September at Christ Church Heaton. Everyone is welcome to attend either of these events - Christine Faulkner.

Wheels AppealThe Wheels Appeal is repeated this summer, from May to September, in support of funds for transport. Could you organise an imaginative fund raising event that would support this very worthwhile project whilst promoting the work of the Mothers’ Union? Thanks to all who helped towards the 2010 total of £27,000. (See the back page)

Soup at the UniversityTeams of Mothers’ Union members continue to serve soup to grateful students and staff every Wednesday during term time. We are fulfi lling a vital service and enjoying ourselves at the same time. If you want to join this band of helpers, and we do need more people, please get in touch with me. I can guarantee you will fi nd it very rewarding. Margaret Morris 01706 642846.

Welcome week for studentsThe welcome week for students this year is 19th-23rd September. The sorting and bagging will be on Thursday, 15th and Friday, 16th September. The welcome for the International students is Saturday, 17th September. Please put these dates in your diary and encourage everyone to begin collecting dried goods or toiletries. The list for helpers will be out later in the year. Do come along and enjoy yourselves.

Page 6 Cymbal

Virtual Baby Project

I am sure that many members will want to know where the virtual babies are this year. One boy baby is at St Paul’s RC School in Wythenshawe and two girl babies are with “Status” based in Middleton. The article below, written by Sue Smith will explain about Status, what its aims and hopes are and how our babies are going to fi t in with its plans.

by Jennifer White

Action & Outreach

Get Clued

up

The Get Clued Up project is run by STATUS, a community-led organisation based on Langley, Middleton and will be delivered at Demesne Community Centre, Asby Close, Langley.

Because we are running the project in a community centre and not in a school, we have the opportunity to work with those young people who do not attend school, and may be excluded from school, for whatever reason; therefore they would not take part in similar projects delivered at school. We work with the hard-to-reach young people in our community and aim to ensure every young person is given the opportunity for a bright future.

The Get Clued Up project uses the skills of our mentors to engage boys and girls in activities by focusing on the positive and inspirational things in life.

We have been given virtual babies from the Think it over team, to help us to deliver workshops based around teenage pregnancy

prevention and the pitfalls of becoming a teenage single parent; this could be the mum or the dad. The project is based around the responsibilities of parenthood, the emotional, fi nancial and social skills needed once you become a parent.

In other words we want them to look forward to becoming a parent one day, but not just yet.

The mentors who will run the programme are local people who have been trained as mentors, but most importantly have been single parents themselves at one stage in their lives and understand the responsibilities you have to take on when dealing with raising a child.

We ask them questions before the programme starts on what they feel being a parent entails, then once they have been on the programme we ask them the same question hoping their views have changed once they have taken part in the Think it Over Programme.

Any questions please ring Sue, Jacky or Claire on 0161 653 6635. Thank you.

I am excited that Mothers’ Union is able to be involved in such an important project. I have been invited to go to some of their sessions and look forward to sharing their progress with you. If any members who live fairly locally to Langley would like to come with me, then please let me know. My phone number and email address are in the directory or obtainable from the Mothers’ Union Offi ce.

Page 7 Cymbal

The Bishlet

We enjoy a strong link with the diocese of Nord Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and were delighted to host a brief visit by its new bishop.

The Rt Reverend Ise-somo Muhindo was consecrated in December 2010 and visited England in February for the annual ‘new bishops’ conference’ in Canterbury.

The fragment of St John’s Gospel at the John Rylands Library was viewed with great interest. Dean Rogers welcomed the Bishop who wished to see our magnifi cent cathedral, and we ‘dropped in’ at the Booth Centre where an opera rehearsal was in full swing.

Revd Terry Biddington, at the Chaplaincy, Manchester University, invited the Bishop to speak at the weekly Eucharist. Afterwards Mothers’ Union members served our guest with soup and bread.

by Barbara Taylor

Claire Dowding and John Probhudan of the chaplaincy team kindly showed us around a few of the university buildings and we learnt from the Bishop of the importance to the Democratic Republic of those fortunate to be educated in Europe rather than in the corrupt system at home.

Christians are forced to send their children outside the country as they are not prepared to pay for their children to move up to the next class. Church schools are trying to educate those whose parents cannot afford to pay for the building, teacher’s salary, resources and uniform. Teachers share text books across the city, children copy from the board and a child could go through school without ever holding a book.

Bishop Mark and Bishop Ise-somo discussed the provincial initiative, with which staff at Mary Sumner House have been closely involved, Ensemble Nous Pouvons (literally “together we can”) helping the Church to be relevant to communities.

Archdeaconry presidents Jill, Eileen and Mary, were among Trustee members who welcomed the Bishop.

hop has arrived.. t’s welcome him

Bishop Ise-somo had no need to apologise for his excellent English. Members gathered at Christ Church Walmersley to hear him speak had no diffi culty in understanding, despite it being his FIFTH language! After briefl y addressing us the Bishop answered a number of questions before circulating and addressing individual concerns.

Only the very rich, we were told, would eat more than once a day. Members were shocked to hear that a mother could be forced to feed half her children whilst the others knew that tomorrow it would be their turn.

It is impossible to say how many girls and women have been raped by the militia – many will not say as they know their families will reject them. Members will remember that after Bishop Nigel’s Lent Appeal in 2009 we sent £4000 to help these women.

With a diocese approximately 350 by 300 kilometres, Bishop Ise-somo delights in his motor-bike but often travels by bus and by plane. It is a predominantly Christian country but Anglicanism is the fi fth denomination. 100 priests have been joined in the past couple of years by 50 deacons. All, including the bishop, are self-supporting, earning a living from the land, by teaching, etc.

These are a people who need our prayers but it is good to know that they pray for us too. In particular we asked that they pray we may show the same zeal, the same urgency as Bishop Ise-somo showed when he spoke of the need to plant churches in unchurched areas of the country and to spread the word of our Lord Jesus to all we meet.

Bishop Mark and Bishop Ise-somo discussed education.

Mothers’ Union members served our guest with soup and bread.

Quiet day reportOn Thursday November 18th 2010 a Quiet Day was held in the library of Manchester Cathedral. The Quiet Day commenced with coffee at 10.00am and the fi rst presentation was at 10.30am. Our break for lunch was 12.00 until 1.00pm, we held a Eucharist in the Chancel at 1.10pm and the second presentation was at 1.50pm to 2.30pm.

The day was led by the Sub Dean at the Cathedral, Canon Andrew Shanks, and in his fi rst talk Andrew introduced us to his two main topics, The O.T. Book of Amos and Beautiful Poetry. We learnt that the book of Amos was the fi rst book of the Old Testament to be written down in about the year 760 BC. It tells of an angry God who was not keen on being worshipped or being fl attered. Like a lot of the O.T. the content was written in separate stages and most of the predictions did not come to pass. Amos gave the people a new vision of God. He shook them out of the familiar and exhorted them to fi ll their lives with righteousness.

The beautiful poetry Andrew introduced to us was the work of Nelly Sachs. Nelly was born in Berlin of Jewish parents in 1891. She fl ed Nazi Germany with her mother in 1940 and lived in Sweden till her death

in 1970. Her life in Germany under Hitler gave her many experiences which later found expression in her poetry. She was also subject to depression and other types of mental illness. By digging deep into her memories of repression and the Holocaust Sally wrote some very moving verses and produced an emotional representation of tragedy.

Her writings became well-known and were distributed throughout the world. In 1966 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. We were able to read a selection of Nelly’s poems which Andrew had copied for us.

During the Eucharistic Service Andrew took the opportunity to introduce us to St. Elizabeth, whose day it was.

In his second talk Andrew returned to Amos and pointed out parts of Chapter 4 which could be interpreted as amusing and sarcastic but repeating the theme that any worship had to follow the terms set out by God.

He ended with some general comments on the teachings of St Augustine, the nature of the human brain and his own experiences as a young man teaching in Ethiopia.

We appreciated his depth of scholarship, his breadth of knowledge and his careful preparation for the day.

Coming up... Two Quiet Days have been arranged for 2011: Venue Manchester Cathedral. a) Thursday, May 26th led by The Dean, The Very Revd Rogers Govenderb) Thursday, Nov. 24th led by Canon Dr. R. Buckley, Mothers` Union Archdeaconry Chaplain for Salford. Refreshments will be available in the Cathedral Library from 10amStart Time: 10.30a.m.-2.30p.m. Please bring a packed lunch and £2.50 to cover expenses. We need to know how many will be coming so please notify me beforehand 01663 741070.

A further Retreat Day has been arranged for Saturday August 20th, venue: Bolton Road Methodist’s Church, Bury from 10am – 4pm. Please let me know if you would like to attend this event. The June Thursday Prayer has been re-arranged from the 9th to the 2nd June, to enable members to attend the General Meeting in Edinburgh.

by David Andrew

Faith and Policy

by Lily Critten

Page 10 Cymbal

Blooming Lovely

Pat Cooper has been a stalwart member of St. Anne’s Church, Royton, and a member of their Mothers` Union Branch for twenty fi ve years. She represents Oldham West on our Diocesan Prayer Chain, receiving and relaying names of people in urgent need of prayer.

A communal garden lies close to where Pat lives in Bamford Street and one day she decided to improve a patch of ground sorely in need of some tender loving care.

After months of digging, hoeing, sowing, planting and watering she was rewarded with a beautiful garden which, last year, was entered in the Royton and Shaw’s best gardens competition and, to her surprise, scooped fi rst prize and automatic entry into a much wider contest organised to fi nd the `Best City in the North West in Bloom` Campaign. Oldham achieved the `Best City` award, and Pat’s entry came third in the Overall Winners` Section.

The awards were presented in a glittering ceremony attended by the Mayor and Mayoress and Joe Swift, presenter of the BBC Show `Gardeners World`.

Mothers` Union congratulates Pat on creating a visually attractive picture for all those passing by or pausing to rest in the garden.

Marketing

How you can help...

The Bye Buy Childhood Campaign has attracted the attention of the government and our Chief Executive Reg Bailey has been asked to chair the ‘Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood’.

The review which has been commissioned by Sarah Teather MP, Minister for Children and Families will look at the concerns of Mothers’ Union and other interested bodies including members of the public who were requested to send their concerns to Reg.

Huge sums of money - £350million in the UK is spent on advertising to children each year. Product placement, pester power and peer to peer sales all encourage children to spend, spend, spend. Our report shows that the materialism this promotes in children can harm their wellbeing. As individuals, we can feel small against the power of commercialisation.

But together we can make a difference. Many of you signed the petition that was sent to the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, but we can do more: we can write to our MP, we can think before we buy – is it needed? – will it be used? can we afford it? What will happen if we don’t buy it? More information can be found on www.byebuychildhood.org

by Lily CrittenThe petition being delivered to Downing Street.Photo Andrew Baker

Page 11 Cymbal

Mary Doyle retiresEarlier this year Mary took the decision that the time had come for her to stand down from the many jobs she does in Mothers’ Union and we couldn’t let this moment pass without thanking her for all the many years of loyal active service.

Mary was enrolled into Mothers’ Union on Mothering Sunday 1957. Eventually she became Branch Leader and later Withington Deanery Leader as well as Deanery link in the Prayer Chain.

I personally have never known a time when Mary wasn’t there in the Diocese doing something. She was the person many of us turned to when we wanted to talk things through and her sound advice was always very much appreciated. Not surprising then, she became a Trustee President shortly after the changes were made in the constitution in 94/95.

Mary with her clear thinking was a great help to Marlene during the various stages of that major change. As Trustee President she served Dorothy Edwards, myself, Barbara Hill and Barbara for a triennium.

A very articulate quick thinking person, Mary became my media spokesperson and on many an occasion frequented the BBC studios on Oxford Road. An excellent organiser, she organised for many years our Diocesan trips to various venues up and down the country for the General Meeting.

Often she was off to London to sit on unit committees and such when other people were unable to attend and she always returned to give excellent detailed reports. More recently she kept us up to date with her social policy reports. She was also one of our training offi cers.

Behind the scenes, unknown to most of us, she met countless people on their arrival at Manchester Airport, offering them accommodation or fi nding it for them when they came to visit loved ones in our specialist hospitals. She was also good at accommodating our overseas members. She formed the Christie Link and often visited people in the hospital who were miles away from home as well as members from our own diocese.

As one of the governors of Trinity High, she enabled us to create excellent links with the school and for a number of years it was her vision and dearest wish to form a link with the students at Manchester University and she worked very hard to get the project off the ground.

Mary will still support us and uphold us in prayer and she hopes to turn up to events whenever she is able. She will always be there at the end of a phone to listen to us – as she says, “There is nothing wrong with my brain – it is just my legs which refuse to work properly.”

Thanks Mary for your work, support, and love for Mothers’ Union.

Manchester CathedralMonday 2 May, 11am - 5pm

Entry £5

www.thespiritoflife.org.uk

by Jean Williamson

Page 12 Cymbal

Spirit Life

of

The

An opportunity to engage with the Spirit of Life through meditation and mysticism, prophecy and Jesus-Deck Reading, massage and therapies, craft workshops and seminars, poetry, dance and creative arts, anointing and healing prayer, as well as ancient forms of Christian spirituality including Benedictine, contemplative and the Anglican tradition.

Manchester CathedralManchester CathedralMonday 2 May, 11Monday 2 May, 11amam - 5 - 5pmpm

Entry £5Entry £5

For more information visit

www.thespiritoflife.org.uk

God does not do wasteThere is very little waste in the Bible. Adam and Eve were not required to drag their wheelie bins through Eden and there is no record of Noah discarding snack wrappings onto the face of the deep. Joseph’s weird dream of fourteen cattle sees the seven lean cows eat the seven corpulent; yet again no sacks of bulging bony garbage.Moving swiftly to the New Testament and Jesus turns out to be very shrewd when it comes to matters of waste and taste. Water is turned to wine, fi sh and loaves are multiplied to feed fi ve thousand people and once more there is no litter. Jesus commands his disciples to collect all the scraps so there should be no waste: “When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ”Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted”. So they gathered them and fi lled twelve baskets with the pieces of barley loaves left over by those who had eaten”Fast forward a couple of millennia and land your time travel craft in England in 2011. We

by Robert Buckley

Chaplain’s cornerare offi cially a nation of wasters as evidenced by the amount of food we bin every year.•UK households waste 25% of they food they buy•The bread and other cereal products thrown away by UK households could lift 30 million of the world’s hungry out of malnutrition.•Between 24% and 35% of school lunches end up in the bin.Precious land is being turned into landfi ll in order to accommodate the waste food mountain. This gigantic purée releases gases into the atmosphere thus increasing the amount of carbon, making the planet as warm as toast. A “lose- lose” situation. Faced with this blemish, what can we do? Well, quite a bit. If you are conservative in your habits (and most of us are) then plan your meals, use a shopping list and buy less food. Experts say you could save a staggering £480 a year and save the planet at the same time.So the motto is very simple. “Waste not, want not”. Your purse will feel heavier and the planet might breathe a little easier too. God does not do waste so why should we?

St Clement’s new branch

A new branch will be offi cially born at St. Clement’s, Ordsall, Salford,

on Sunday 20th March, when 10 or 12 new members will be enrolled!

They are excited and thrilled at the prospect. Please pray that, at every

stage, membership of Mothers’ Union will be a blessing and not

a burden for them.-Jill Crofton

Page 15 Cymbal

Join us in raising money for vital transport by baking for

vvillage fêtescake stallsteasschool and church fêtes

coffee morningsbaking salesand summer fairs

you can send the money to Mothers’ Union wheels appeal,cheques made out to ‘Mothers’ Union’

posters for the wheels appeal available from Mary Sumner House, 24 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3RB or 020 7222 5533

registered charity 240531

www.themothersunion.org

ca kes for bra kes!When aid can’t get to them, families suffer.

Transport is vital.

Mothers’ Union worldwide transport

budgets have been cut by two thirds in

the global recession.