Thoughts for the Day

* Picture of Mary Sumner

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Today we think about the work of Mary Sumner who was the founder of the Mothers' Union. As a Deaconess in Gloucester in the 1980s I knew nothing of the Mothers' Union, but I attended a talk by the Worldwide President of the MU to Clergy, and she said "You get the Mothers' Union you want. If you want cakes we'll do that; but if you want mission work we can do that." With hundreds of women on a new upmarket estate, and an ecumenical church in a Community Centre, but little congregation, I went back to start a new MU branch. The first meeting of 30 young women and their babies in my house was amazing. We couldn't have a cup of tea as there were over 35 babies and toddlers present, and the young speaker (from the Samaritans) was quite horrified at what faced him. However, this group of women went on to start two MU groups, and a Kids' Praise Service for dozens of parents and their children.

I looked at this reading about Martha and Mary recently (17th July) and were reminded that we needed to be both Martha and Mary. In Mary Sumner we see someone who totally agreed with this. The wife of the Rector of Old Arlesford in Hampshire, she established what would become the Mothers' Union when her eldest daughter gave birth in 1876, to encourage women of all classes to support one another, and to make prayer central to their family life. This movement quickly spread to other parishes and became a Diocesan official organisation. After seven years there were 60,000 members around the world. Today the MU has over 4 million members, men and women, in 84 countries, and its emphasis on prayer and action continues.

Heavenly Father,
we thank You for the vision
that Mary Sumner had for
growing strong Christian families,
that would support one another.
We also thank You
for her emphasis on prayer and worship,
as the basis for good family life.
We pray especially for the work
of the Mothers' Union around the world,
and for their mission and outreach.
Amen.