Bishop calls in for centenary celebration (From Ilkley Gazette)
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Bishop calls in for centenary celebration
10:04am Thursday 5th July 2012 in Local news
The Bishop of Bradford, Bishop Nick Baines, right, with members of the Mothers’ Union at St Margaret’s Church in Ilkley, which is celebrating its centenary
A Mothers’ Union group has celebrated its centenary with a visit from the Bishop of Bradford.
The Right Reverend Nick Baines attended a thanksgiving Eucharist to support the Mothers’ Union at St Margaret’s Church in Ilkley.
About 200 members of the union from across the area attended to hear the bishop speak about St Irenaeus and how it was possible to make a connection between this early evangelist, who proclaimed the truth of the Christian gospel, and the work of the Mothers’ Union worldwide.
He spoke of dreadful social conditions he had seen in the Sudan where, while others were still debating what should be done, the Mothers’ Union was getting on with the job of making lives better, in whatever way it could.
The bishop said it was the same approach that had led Mary Sumner to set up the first Mothers’ Union group in 1876, and there are now 3.7 million members throughout the world.
The collection taken at the service was for the Wheels Appeal, which enables Mothers’ Union workers in overseas dioceses to get around their areas and carry out vital support work.
The workers travel vast distances in places, such as Sudan, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa.
