In this occasional series we talk with several of our own Chaplains here in Hereford Diocese, offering a window into this fascinating and often moving role. For our Year of Engagement, we have been exploring ways that we as a Church take the message of a loving God out to those communities. For a Chaplain, The community where they work could be a place, such as a single school or care home, or it could be a dispersed community bound by a common thread, such as the local agricultural community – and there is a wide range of these communities in our diocese. As the national church says, “because chaplains are present with the 95% who will not regularly visit a place of worship, many people do encounter them and journey with chaplaincy as they explore questions of life and faith.”
Rev'd Penny Littlewood is Mothers' Union Chaplain for the diocese. As she observes here, there is a lot wrapped up in the Mothers’ Union strapline ‘Christian care for families’. She says, “We’re caring for young and old, at home and far away, who make up the family of Christ.” Next year, the Mothers’ Union will be 150 years old. It is now a global movement with around 4 million members in 84 countries and consultative status at the UN. Its vision is to be a diverse and inclusive community working together for a future where everyone thrives. They are increasingly known for RISE UP, their ongoing campaign against gender-based violence (pictured above outside Hereford Cathedral).
L: How does the MU manifest here in our diocese?
P: I’m told that one past Bishop, in asking a prior MU Chaplain about their work, wondered if it meant ‘being nice to old ladies’. And there is an aspect of that. The members actively engaged with the MU tend to be ‘more mature’ let’s say, because, like everything else, these are the people who have more time and perhaps have gained considerable worldly wisdom. But these ladies fundraise like mad and are out on the street with placards campaigning against domestic violence, raising the profile of this important issue – one that affects primarily younger people.
L: Where do the funds go that are raised?
P: We have a Crisis Intervention Fund for the diocese – for example, to provide household goods when families escaping abusive situations need to start a new home. And we send money to our national Overseas Fund for distribution to resource MU branches in troubled nations such as Uganda, South Sudan, Nigeria and other parts of the world where it literally changes lives. It goes into literacy programmes so people can read contracts for farming or micro-loans, and into programmes to teach people how to improve their crop yields. These are programmes that resonate with our own parishes that live close to the land.
L: What are the challenges for the MU here?
P: Reaching a younger audience is always difficult, but the national team have come up with new tools and channels that make the movement more accessible to younger people who are both digital natives and busy working. For example, the MU has a tradition of Midday Prayers – and we still say these in Hereford Cathedral once a month – but the national team now shares them everyday, from Mary Sumner House in London. I contribute a prayer once a month and it’s amazing to see the comments piling in from all over the world, for the next 24 hours as the prayer rolls around the globe. You get a sudden awareness how many people are joining in, praying with you, from Papua New Guinea to the USA, Canada, Africa. It blows my mind when I see them popping up! It’s a real privilege to be part of it. We also have online conferences and Zoom meetings now, including a quarterly Zoom for all MU chaplains. The other challenge is to connect with clergy to get them to support new groups in their parishes. So many clergy have never heard of the MU, or don’t realise it’s such an enormous Christian organisation.
L: What is the role of the MU in the parish?
P: This is what we’re trying to get clergy to understand, that we are – or can be – a pastoral resource in their parish. We visit ‘indoor Members’ as they are known – people who are home-bound. We do hospital visits, we send baptism cards to children on the anniversary of their baptism until they are five years old, trying to maintain that precious family connection with the parish church. And we’re a sounding board for the community, we hold open coffee meetings all over the diocese, north and south, where people can come and share their experiences – good and bad, talk about their difficulties. This year we are holding a Blue Christmas service, on the 17th November at 11.00 am at the Mascall Centre in Ludlow, to support older people and those who are widowed, whose families have perhaps moved away, who might not see anyone over Christmas for days at a time except on Facetime, people living in deep isolation – I like to say they would ‘go to the opening of an envelope’! Some of us may be ‘old ladies’, as the Bishop said, but we’re ‘doers’ and we really do take on a lot of pastoral care!
L: What does this chaplaincy mean to you?
P: I support the network and my particular role on the Board of Trustees (besides being Treasurer) is to look after the faith side of things. The MU ethos is underpinned entirely by prayer, with no meeting beginning without prayer, and I try to help branches with prayer resources for their needs, with one place, Cusop having collected and published a great selection of prayers and poems into booklets, which are now being sold to raise more funds. It is a lot of work, but the work is hugely nourishing to me too. The MU in this place is a web that spans the diocese, connecting people ‘heart and soul’.
For more information about the MU in Hereford Diocese, please visit our dedicated web page here or email Rev’d Penny. You can access online Midday Prayers and more information about the global MU on their website here.
ENDS