Diocesan News
Mothers' Union Celebrations, Camlough & Mullaglass
Celebrating 60 years of Mothers’ Union at Camlough and Mullaglass Branch
Camlough and Mullaglass Parish recently celebrated 60 years of Mothers’ Union in their Parish, with an Anniversary Service of Thanksgiving in St Luke’s Parish, Mullaglass.
At the service, l-r: Canon Terry Scott, Revd William McCracken, Mrs Irene Lawson (new member) and the Ven. Raymond Hoey
The Revd Canon Terry Scott, the Diocesan Chaplain, preached the sermon, Mrs Nuala Kernaghan and Mrs Eileen McVicker read the lessons and Mrs Florrie Revels, the Armagh Diocesan President lead the prayers.
The celebrant for Holy Communion was the Rector, the Venerable Raymond Hoey, ably assisted by the Revd William McCracken, the Curate assistant.
Canon Terry Scott started his address by reminiscing about 1950, the year that the Revd Stewart and Mrs Ethel Redpath held the first Mothers’ Union meeting in the Parish.
Terry kindly provided excerpts from his sermon:
Events of 1950
• Followers of “Strictly” on BBC1 might be intersted to know that “Come Dancing” was first broadcast by the BBC on 29 Sept
• A pilot episode of “The Archers” first broadcast on BBC radio on 6 June, still going 60 years later. The same year the Children’s programme “Andy Pandy” was first broadcast on 11 July
• Earlier the same year, 13 May, the first Formula 1 British Grand Prix was held at Siverstone, and on 9 September post war soap rationing ended!
• It was the year that saw the publication of “The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe” by CS Lewis, the 1st of the Narnia Chronicles
Some well known people died that year:
• the author George Orwell, 1984 and Animal Farm, died on Jan 21st aged 46
• the Scottish Music Hall singer and entertainer, Harry Lauder, “Roamin in the Gloamin”, “I love a lassie” and “Keep right on to the end of the road” died on Feb 26th aged 79
• the Irish playright and co founder of the London School of Economics, George Bernard Shaw, author of amongst many other works Pygmalion (My Fair Lady), died on Nov 2nd aged 94
Births in 1950 included:
• The present Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, (June 14th); the entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, (July18th) and Anne, the Princess Royal on August 15th.
As well as reminiscing about 1950, Terry looked at the milestones of other great events in the Mothers’ Union Branch at Camlough and Mullaglass. He reminded us that while it is important to celebrate past achievements we must look to the future, to the vision of the Mothers’ Union of a world where God’s love is shown through loving, respectful and flourishing relationships.
So how to we do this?
Canon Terry told us not “ to spend all our energy and time on the small stuff, material things, or we will never have room for the things that are truly most important.” “Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life, those God has given us. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing or dining. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and attend to those endless “odd jobs around the house”. Set your priorities.”
In conclusion, we should thank God for all achieved by the members of the branch over the past 60 years and pray that God will bless, encourage and strengthen every member as they continue their good work.
New Member enrolled at the Memorable Service
At this point in the service a new member, Mrs Irene Lawson, daughter of Armagh Diocean President, was enrolled as a member of the Mothers’ Union.
Following the service all the guests and members were treated to a delightful supper in the Church Hall. A celebration cake was cut and members were given service certificates to commemorate the number of years they have been members of the Mothers’ Union.
ENDS
For further information, contact Iris Suitor on [email protected]