Meeting in the Great Space

Liverpool Cathedral

The General Meeting of the MU was held on 21st June in Liverpool Cathedral. This Cathedral or ‘The Great  Space’ as it is known locally, was built over the course of the 20th century. Liverpool Cathedral’s awesome scale and beauty is inspiring.  Sir John Betjeman famously called it ‘one of the great buildings of the world.’

  It was here that the MU members assembled for a Service of Celebration on the Eve of the General Meeting.  About 14 or so had come from Portsmouth Diocese. The theme was ‘Faith in Action’. Banners were presented from the Diocese of Liverpool and the Provinces of Canterbury, York, Wales,  Scotland and Ireland. We were welcomed by the Acting Dean, Canon Anthony Hawley.  The Rt Rev. James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool preached the sermon and there was a brief presentation by members bearing chains, reminding us of Liverpool’s former involvement with the Slave Trade. TV screens had been positioned around the cathedral to enable 2000-3000 people to see all that was happening.

  A new General Trustee, Thandi Xundu, was commissioned by the MU Central Chaplain, the Bishop of Bedford, to fill a vacancy that had occurred on the Board of Trustees. The singing by so many voices was very moving.

  The Great Space was also the venue for the General Meeting, held the following day. Opening prayers were led by David Jennings, Bishop of Warrington.

Rosemary Kempsell, the new Worldwide President, welcomed us.  Her talk was entitled ‘It’s Not Fair’. It reminded us of the appalling conditions under which some of our members and their families exist.
  The main item of the morning was called ‘Outside the Box’. The four Unit Co-ordinators (Faith and Policy, Finance, Marketing and Action and Outreach) together with the Chief Executive, Reg Bailey portrayed the work which had been undertaken over the past year.  It was made memorable by the numerous items which Reg Bailey, (using his skills as a magician) produced from the seemingly empty box.  One example, an egg, represented chicken farm projects in Africa and an impregnated mosquito net illustrated a necessary and life saving gift.

  The keynote speaker for the afternoon was Jonathan Aitken, former MP. He spoke,  without notes, of his time in prison and of how opportunities became apparent to share his hesitant belief in God.  Gradually a group developed of 20 plus men who wanted, with the help of God, to make a new beginning on leaving prison.  Amazingly of that group only 2 have re-offended.  One  of those men was in charge of sales of Jonathan’s books and he was performing that duty in the cathedral.

In all it was an enjoyable, memorable and yet humbling occasion and it had been very well presented.

  Naturally John and I explored the cathedral and were very impressed by some of its wonderful stained glass windows. Perhaps more of that next time...

Margaret Symonds