Canadian Mothers' Union 2012 National Conference

A visit to Merry Old England!

2012-02-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

Greetings!
I was in London, England last week and had the pleasure of meeting with Reg Bailey, our Mothers' Union CEO and seeing the Mothers' Union Home Base: Mary Sumner House.

I spent quite some time in the attractive store housed under the blue canopies in the photo - some MU products are sold there but it's mostly a stationery/toys store -- surprisingly little overt Christian content but positive messaging and energy. I ordered a variety of MU products which the clerk was happy to bring from the warehouse.
The main business of MSH takes place through a door just past the left-hand blue canopy. If you walk through there, you get to a reception desk with a very busy lady attending. To increase funds to MU, the rooms on the bottom floors are now rented out for conferences and meetings. The MU offices are on the top two floors. There was a constant stream of attendees signing in for various meetings as I waited in the small reception area. Not to mention the phone ringing with various enquiries. Just behind the reception desk there is a chapel which I doubt gets rented out! The staff meet at noon each day for noonday prayers there.

I was too early for my appointment with Reg so took a stroll and it took less than 5 minutes to get to this bridge crossing the Thames. That's the Parliament buildings and Big Ben in the background. MSH is Very Downtown!! The couple that I randomly accosted to take my photo happened to be from Nova Scotia and were in town for General Synod!
And then I spent a lovely hour with Reg, getting to know him and covering conference details. I brought my camera specifically to take a picture of us together, and then completely forgot - argh.

Reg is very engaging and comfortable to talk to and all conference registrants will get to hear him speak at the opening business meeting when he delivers the keynote address and at the banquet on Saturday night. He will also be leading a workshop that you can sign up for on the Friday afternoon. He will be staying in the residence with us, so there should also be 'casual time' to chat with him as an extra bonus. He has been the MU CEO for 12 years and has travelled extensively for Mothers' Union so is a fountain of information and a really nice guy to boot!

Thank you Niagara!

2012-02-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to receive a lovely white scarf with an embroidered MU symbol at each end from the Diocese of Niagara this week. They have had 80 such scarves made by an MU group in Madagascar that has a long connection with their diocese. Niagara supplied the seed money for the project and then will send the profits back to the group when the scarves are sold. They will be available at the conference for $10 each.
I used mine to grace the worship center during our conference prayer session yesterday but it could be worn around one's neck as well -- perhaps with conference pins attached! For those who haven't been to a conference before, many members bring pins from their province, city or town to distribute to new friends. These can be quite the coveted items and would look smashing on a pristine MU scarf!

2012-01-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

Muriel Hostettler (who will greet you at the airport
if you're flying in to the conference) and Rona Cleland
(Banner Parade co-ordinator) stir up some stone soup.

Stone Soup
Legend has it that a pauper arrived in town and starting making soup with just a stone and water. How amazing is that? He did garner litle extras such as carrots, potato and onion from the townsfolk and they were all most impressed at how tasty stone soup could be!

Our National Conference is rather like stone soup: Carole is bringing workshops; Rona is bringing a banner parade; Rhonda is bringing music; Lynda is bringing bags...and the result will be soooo much better than if Katharine had only her own stone to put in the pot.

Our St. Barnabas Branch held a "Stone Soup Day Away" this weekend to explore the various vegetables being brought to the Conference pot and to start to come together as a whole soup.

Our rector, Francois Trottier, joined us for an interactive homily on breathing God's grace in and exhaling out that which separates us from grace -- this can be done anywhere, anytime as God is always in, around and amongst us. It was a most inspiring contribution to breathing new life in us!

A list of all those involved in organizing the conference and their duties will be posted shortly.

She's READY!

2011-11-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

Here's our Conference Registrar, Cheryl Rhodes, with both computers warmed up and ready to go! Cheryl is a member of the St. Barnabas, Deep River branch and a great friend. She is also one of the most organized people I know and juggles a full-time librarian position at the high school with her family commitments, presidency of the local cross-country ski association, church stuff AND fitness activities! She skis, plays tennis, bikes, walks and even gets on the Wii when it's a rainy day.

Cheryl will be the one accepting your registration forms and fees, so if you have a concern or question about that, send her an email or pick up the phone. Her contact information is on the registration form. You will also see her face at the registration desk upon arrival at St. Paul U residence.

Observant readers will notice that Cheryl is sporting a Conference t-shirt. Our first order arrived last week - most exciting!! I was impressed with the company's efficiency--from order to receipt was less than 2 weeks - pretty quick! The price was the cost of the t-shirt as advertised, plus shipping. There were no further taxes or brokerage fees added so if your branch does a bulk order, there's not too much to add to the cost as advertised. Check out the merchandise by clicking the tab "Shop for Gear" above.

furthering Mary Sumner's work

2011-11-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the first of our weekly prayer sessions being held Wednesday evenings 6-7 pm. These conference prayer times are being led by Hilary Angell and she has developed a theme for each week. Tonight's was on Mary Sumner and her vision of MU. Many of you will be familiar with her personal prayer which is one of my favourites:
All this day, O Lord,
let me touch as many lives as possible for thee;
and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken,
whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe,
or the life I live. Amen.
I thought touching as many lives as possible for God could be translated into compassion and prayed that Mary's work would be furthered at our national conference as we grow in compassion. This could be expressed as we consider MU outreach but particularly as we interact with each other, listening and accepting each other without judging.
Please join us in praying for the conference and add your prayers to the comments section below.
Shalom!

Katharine's MU Birthday Bash!

2011-10-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

My 50th Birthday Party was our St. Barnabas, Deep River branch's first meeting of the year -- what a lovely way to celebrate! I had asked for healthy eating tips and recipes as presents and wish to share a few of them with you here in order to keep you all as healthy as possible for the Conference which is only 8 months away. How time flies when you're having so much fun:)
Tip #1: Drink a glass of hot lemon water daily. Put about a tablespoon of lemon juice in a cup of boiling water and have it instead of tea on occasion.
Tip #2: Serve on smaller plates/bowls. The quantity we eat depends a LOT on what our eyes tell us -- a smaller amount will look like more on a smaller plate.
Tip #3: Heavy sauces are not needed on pasta -- try this one for example:

1/2 pound pasta (rigatoni or fusilli works well)
1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 each sweet red and yellow pepper, cut in strips
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 cup finely shredded fresh basil OR 2 tsp dried basil
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
6 black olives, sliced.

Cook pasta, drain and return to pot.
Meanwhile heat oil in a large skllet. Cook onion and garlic for a few minutes, add peppers, cook for a few more mninutes, stirring often. Add tomato and continue cooking until peppers are tender. Add to hot pasta along with basil, cheese and olives; toss well.
Makes 3 servings.