Lucille is a farmer’s daughter from Cornwall and remembers her own mother’s links with the MU. She said: “I know that my mum made some really good friends within the MU which she valued as we were growing up.”
After being confirmed at 13 in her local parish church, Lucille continued to attend church regularly, but says her faith became more personal during her time at University. She studied Physics at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and it was here that she met Bishop Tony Porter, who was a fellow student. “We became very good friends,” she explained, “Then we recognised it was something more serious!” The couple were married in 1974 after Lucille had gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. She went on to teach science and maths at a state comprehensive in Cambridge, while Tony studied theology nearby, at Ridley Hall.

After Tony was ordained, Lucille took on a supportive role as the wife of a clergyman. They moved from a parish in London to another in Manchester, where Lucille first joined the MU. She said: “I had three young children at the time and there were quite a few other young mums in our branch. We had some interesting speakers and the friendship and support from other young mums was so helpful.” Parish life in various different communities across the Manchester area gave Lucille an insight into the pressures facing families today. She was involved in Parent and Toddler groups and ran a Pre-school playgroup before returning to teaching.  She taught part-time in Adult Education, mainly ‘Silver Surfers’ and other IT courses. When she arrived in the Diocese as the wife of the Bishop of Sherwood in 2006, she quickly became involved with parenting courses in Adult Education as well as working with MU parenting groups. Along with being a trained facilitator for parenting groups, she is also a tutor for Acorn Christian Healing Foundation listening courses and believes listening to people is a vital part of the healing process for many.

Lucille believes the MU has a fantastic opportunity through its various activities and programmes in the local area. “I really believe we should seek to show God’s unconditional love to the community. Marriage and family life are under attack from all angles at the moment and the MU can and does offer help in all sorts of ways. Our members are involved in marriage preparation classes, parent and toddler groups and volunteering in local schools. I feel in this economic climate we have so many skills to share from managing money to home cooking! There is even a Children’s Centre that has asked an MU member to lead a knitting group.

MU is a worldwide organisation working to support family life in over 78 countries.  By prayer and fundraising, we in this country are actively involved in this overseas work.

Talking about parenting and her own children, she said: “I didn’t get everything right first time around. I was a long way from my parents, so I didn’t have my extended family around…I would have appreciated having a group to share ideas and to feel less isolated. I want to encourage and build up the self esteem of parents who are doing a brilliant job already but don’t always realise it.

Lucille and Tony have four children, Sarah, who is married to Anthony, Richard who is married to Adele, Jennie who is married to Matt and David who has recently graduated. They also have three grandchildren.
“Being a grandparent is wonderful. I didn’t realise how much I was going to love my grandchildren until they arrived. It’s a privilege to be involved and amazing to think our own children have children of their own!”

ends