Diocesan President Mrs Christine Brain

"....I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of rugged mountain ranges, of drought and flooding rains..." These words, penned by Dorothea MacKellar long ago still aptly describe the country of the Armidale Diocese. An area of roughly 180 000 sq.kms , the diocese sits in the North of NSW, between the Great Dividing Range and the Pilliga Forest. Most people in the region are engaged in some agricultural pursuit, with wheat growing, cattle and fine-wool sheep raising the main products. Lightning Ridge, our western-most town, is world famous for its opals while Armidale, the seat of the diocese, is a university town as well as being the centre of the fine wool industry. Those who know anything about country music will know that Tamworth hosts Australia's largest Country Music Festival every January.

Our 34 parishes are located right across the diocese, in towns as small as Bundarra, with its 450 residents, and as large as Inverell, Moree and Gunnedah (10,000), Armidale (23,000) and Tamworth (35,000). MU branches can be found in six parishes, and at last count there were about 150 members, including 6 Lone Members, at least one man, and three generations in one branch!

As one would imagine, in a diocese as large as this, opportunities for members to gather are precious, and members look forward to meeting annually at our Thanksgiving Service and at other regional events such as Bible teaching and fellowship days. One branch has developed a friendship with a branch in a neighbouring diocese, and enjoys meeting with those members each year. Special MU Projects such as the "Four wheel drive appeal" have been strongly supported, as MU members strive to assist others in their efforts to promote Christian family life.

Life in rural Australia can be difficult and lonely, but as has been the case since the first MU branch opened in the parish of Uralla in 1895,MU members continue to seek to support one another, their churches and their communities in the development and strengthening of marriage and Christian family life.

Christine Brain