St Andrew's, Dearnley and Smithy Bridge

St Andrew's, Dearnley and Smithy Bridge

Mothers Union

A new branch of the Mothers Union is up and running at St Andrew's, the parish church of Dearnley and Smithy Bridge. The inaugural meeting was held in the parish room last Monday evening (May 7) when 17 new members were enrolled.

"The attendance was extremely encouraging and I feel sure we will go from strength to strength," said Jean Townshend, who has been largely responsible for re-establishing the MU in a parish which used to have a thriving and exceedingly active branch until it lapsed many years ago.

The recruitment meeting was attended by two long-serving MU members from other churches, Margaret Morris of St Ann's, Belfield and Margaret Shewring of St James's, Milnrow, who each gave a talk outlining the Mothers Union's history, aims and objectives.

It was formed by Mary Elizabeth Sumner in England in 1896 and it quickly spread around the world. In more recent years, however, it has been considerably stronger in other parts of the world than it has in the land of its roots.

By all accounts it has a particularly strong and vibrant branch in our link parish of St Mary, Omboloka, Namibia and it was following a visit there that our vicar, the Revd Sharon Jones, herself enrolled as a member.

Added Jean: "The MU banner is still in Church as a reminder of days gone by. Apparently there was once a very active branch here and I am really looking forward to seeing our new branch grow and flourish.

"I'm sure our numbers will grow pretty quickly as we get established and on behalf of the branch I would like to thank those who were at Monday's meeting and extend an open invitation to others to attend our next meeting on Monday, May 28 at 7.30pm.

"We will meet monthly thereafter. The plan is to have a speaker every second month and at the other meetings to put into practice some of the many activities which have already been suggested by the membership.

"I would also like to thank the two Margarets from St Ann's and from St James's for giving us such a splendid and fascinating talk about the MU. It was more than interesting, it was inspirational."

Thank-you to Alastair Fitton

A big thank-you is extended to retiring church warden Alastair Fitton for services rendered during his term of office. He has served St Andrew's faithfully and diligently over the last few years, but he did not seek re-election at the recent parish meeting.

He was succeeded unanimously by another well-known member of the congregation, Ray Milligan, who has been on the PCC for two years and whose wife, Ann, is a member of the choir.

Ray, who is 66, deals in granite from India for a living and those who know him well say he will be just as hard and reliable as his imports when tackling his duties on behalf of the Church.

"I'll certainly do my very best, that's for sure," said Ray, who was brought up at St John's, Smallbridge, but who has been a regular worshipper and behind-the-scenes worker at St Andrew's for the past few years.