Annual Meeting of Mothers' Union.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XIII, Issue 6, 1 December 1922, Page 423

Annual Meeting of Mothers' Union.

HELD 25th SEPTEMBER, 1922, IN - THE WAIAPU DIOCESE. The annual meeting of the Mothers '■ Union of the Diocese, of Waiapu was held m St. John's Schoolroom yesterday afternoon, when the Bishop of Waiapu presided oyer an. exceptionally large attendance. The various reports of the branches, showing the activities of the union m the diocese, were read and adopted. The position of the branches was acknowledged to be very satisfactory. The secretary's report is printed below. The Bishop said the Mothers' Union was a deep organisation and was a bigger thing than most people . imagined. It had an imperial mission and its idea was to bring Christ into every home.- There were, 'enormous possibilities for the union; but . it would have to extend- greater than ever if ■ the women of to-day were to retain their womanhood. The war had opened the doors to liberty for women, and that liberty was being abused by license. Lady Astor, the English M.P., advocated the .entry of women. into all high offices of State and departments of life, but, she said, if women were to lose their womanhood m so. doing, it was. better for them to di<op all -ideals, and retire

from. ; public .life. Sometimes he thought' that, the • young, irieri of today had the power with which to right things. No man could admire brazenness m the girl of ; to-day; and it was up to these men to awaken to their responsibilities, -There yas one danger that, beset the. uriiori; and, that was to centre m itself, too. mrich, arid' think that a large . membership. \yas the hallmark of success. '*. What., they wanted was quality .not quantity, and to do this it was necessary to .purge the rolls and remove useless members. "In concluding the Bishop referred to the excellent work accomplished by Mrs Henley, the secretary, who. had devoted much time to the 'deserving cause. • ' , ' The following officers, were .elected to the - Diocesan CounciL:— President, Mrs Sedgwick; vice-presidents,- Mrs C. H. Mac Lean (Hawke's Bay), Mrs H. Williams (Waiapu); Mrs Ruddock (Taurangaj ; secretary and. treasurer, Mrs Henley; literary secretary, . Mrs Henley; member of. the council ex officio, Sister Brands • . . REPORT FOR SEPT., 1922. In presenting the annual report and balance-sheet- of the past .working year of the M.U., I -have been,, greatly struck with returns- from some, of the branches at the number of members returned. Some branches have a paper membership of 50 or more* -while only returning fees for about half that number/ This, m conjunction with^he fact that 250 new members' cards have been applied for,' .shows the .necessity ', of purging the -rolls, as financially our numbers do not show that increase; and it means while our new members are growing considerably," some of the. old ones are either gone or no longer. . attend meetings.- V I would- suggest that other branches purge their lists this coming year, as, ■ m spite ;of continued calls for cards, [ the membership does not- rise m proportion. • ' In many ways the past . year has shown progress." The appeal,from.the Women of the diocese to Parliament re. the Divorce Act,, was riot without effect,, and will . show, the fioriiiriidii that the M.tJi is a live organisati&i

and that concerted action-may achieve great ends. This appeal was all financed without touching branch funds, and we are greatly indebted to Archdeacon Simkin for his help arid interest m the matter. It was thought advisable, by the Council to print new copies of the Wave of Prayer owing to demands, and also as Home Council decided to continue it for another year. During the past few months I have visited Takapau, Dannevirke and Gisborne, and was greatly encouraged by the interest shown and the desire, to go forward. . In Gisborne, while there was a large meeting, Canon Packe referred to the falling off m numbers of members which used to be 90,. and. this year's returns show only 18 financial members (showing the need of revision of . roll as suggested ( but the new secretary is very keen and we hope before long to have a larger branch return. While m Gisborne I visited Wae-renga-a-hika and Addressed a large gathering of mothers and Mrs Morse is starting a branch at once there. Opotiki has restarted with a membership of 15, while Taradale is making rapid progress and keen interest is shown by members. , A fund has been started m the Post Office to enable all branches to send m subscriptions, however small, to the Mary Sumner Memorial; as all subscriptions are voluntary, anyone wishing to contribute may do so by sending contributions through branch secretary to me, to be placed m Post Office till sufficient is collected to send Home. With regard to Literature, the demand for "Mothers m Australia," edited m Sydney, has been great, and increaes each quarter, the present quarter's order reaching 152 copies. The demand for Moral Literature, too, shows a great increase and the little booklets issued by the Mothers' Union are a great help to many mothers. ,_ ' - . " As all papers have' to be paid for m advance I would ask the secretaries to advise those members who have not yet paid their annual subscription for Literature to branch, to do so at once, as otherwise we cannot receive publications. Diocesan Council. — President: Mrs Sedgwick. Vice-presidents: Hawke's Bay, Mrs C. H. Maclean; Waiapu, Mrs H. Williams; Tauranga, Mrs Ruddock. Secretary and treasurer : Mrs Henley. Literature secretary: Deaconess Esther Brand.