Local charity, Home for Good Leicester has resources for churches planning services for Mothering Sunday.
Last weekend, the charity hosted a group of adoptive parents met with author and adopter Elena Holmes to share their experiences of adoption.
Elena is the author of the book “Adopty Mum”, the story of “what happens when you can’t give birth to children of your own and you take on kids whose start in life has been...difficult.”
The book is a readable, laugh out loud memoir of adoption that will encourage and resonate with adoptive families and provide valuable insight for those considering adoption or supporting others in their journey.
Bishop Martyn attended the event and spent some time chatting with adopters.
He is Patron of Home for Good: Leicester, which is a local movement of the national Home for Good charity who seeks to find a home for every child who needs one, by encouraging people to foster and adopt and by equipping the church to be a supportive community around these families.
Debbie Hill, chair of Home for Good: Leicester, said: “There are children in Leicester waiting for a foster or adoptive family. The children who wait the longest are often older children, those in sibling groups, from Black, Asian and minority Ethnic backgrounds and have additional needs. We would love to see people inspired and equipped to care for these children and we can support them by providing peer support, events, activities and socials so that they become part of an extended community. The church has a big part to play in this.”
In order to help churches celebrate different types of families, Home for Good has produced resources, including service plans, films and prayer ideas, for Mothers Day, which this year takes place on 22nd March.
The theme is “Today is about you”. We want to encourage everyone to see that Mother’s Day is not just for birth mothers but all those who show motherly love to children.
Debbie said that for some, Mother’s Day is a wonderful day of celebration, but for those in our congregations with difficult stories, journeys of infertility, challenging relationships, or a hundred other experiences, Mother’s Day can be a painful reminder of who is missing.
Home for Good wants to equip churches to be great places for anyone to come to on Mother’s Day – whatever their experience of motherhood.
The resources can be found here.