May News and Events

 

The month of May opened with the feast day of St. Philip and St James, known to many as the feast of “Phil and Jim”, and May Day brings to mind the young maidens of the village dancing around the May Pole. How things have changed, with May Day being associated with parades, gatherings of working people to air their grievances and demand better working conditions, and the Bank Holiday transferred to the first Monday of the month. This year the weather was glorious and many a picnic or barbeque was organised to take advantage of warm sunny days after the long cold winter.

The good weather continued until Messy Church on the 5th May was held in the Gwenfo School grounds, when the theme of the afternoon was the Exodus of the Isrealites from Egypt to the “Promised Land”. Much fun was had in the children’s painted footprints being printed on a roll of paper symbolising the long trek all those years ago, and the inners of toilet rolls were made into representations of Moses who led the people out of slavery into freedom. The session ended with food and toasted marshmallows around the camp fire. All in all, once again a good gathering of parents and children who would not normally attend the more formal services in church.

Early in the month, Jude Billingham, gave a presentation in church, to introduce the Christian Aid appeal this month, featuring the building of homes in Haiti and other islands devastated by hurricanes and storms, which are strong enough to withstand the force of the winds and rain. We heard how one such house sheltered over 50 people during the storm, when their flimsy houses were destroyed, saving their lives and keeping them safe while the storm raged. These are simple houses that can be built quickly for around £50.00, and the appeal is focused on provided as many of these homes as quickly as possible. The house to house collection took place in the week commencing the 13th May and the result will not be known until mid June. This year the planned Big Brekkie did not take place, but the school has arranged a Big Breakfast at Lunch time and a no uniform day on Friday 18th May to raise money for the appeal, plus the money raised at the Lent Lunches and Agape supper there was also a collecting box in the local shop, the end result could be greater than last year.

Work started on digging the “French Drains” on the South side of the church, which means digging down at least a metre in depth. Archeologists were on hand to supervise the excavations for any artefacts and bones that might be found in the trenches. A new “soakaway” was also constructed under the path to the porch, to drain the rain water from the roof. This work was carried out by Mike who also dug the other drains last year. This work in necessary to eliminate damp creeping up the walls of the Nave, and is being funded from our Building Fund, using money received from the appeals made from time to time to top up this fund. St Mary’s is a

Grade 2 listed building in constant need of work to keep it in good order. Contributions toward future work will always be acceptable.

The Feast of Pentecost was celebrated on May 20th, this is commonly known as the “Birthday of the Church” when the Holy Spirit descended on the Disciples gathered in the Upper Room and is 50 days after Easter. A week later Trinity Sunday began the long season of “Sundays after Pentecost” lasting until The Kingdom Season” in the Autumn.

The three parishes have been responding to the appeal for Helen Ormrod SRN to raise money for her to be on The Mercy Ship which provides health care to impoverished place around the world. Helen has to raise £3000 to be able to be part of the team on board. Already there was the “Guess the Weight of the Simnel Cake” and “How many mini eggs was in the jar” and on the evening of Friday 25th May an “Evening of Entertainment with Johnny Tudor and Olwen Rees” was held in the Wenvoe Community Centre to help swell the fund.

St. Mary’s needs a new Gift Aid Secretary. Allen Oliver and Lynn are retiring after 16 years in office. This post is very important to St. Mary’s and St. Lythan’s churches to enable tax rebates to be collected from HM Customs on gift aid donations. At the Annual Vestry Meeting Allen and Lynn were thanked for the contribution they have made over the years. Now we seek a replacement Gift Aid Secretary to continue this work, for without the tax rebates our church finances would be not be as healthy as they are.

Thank you for taking the time to read this

Parry Edwards

 


 

Christmassy Messy fun

 

The joint congregations of Vale Village and St Mary’s Churches look forward to welcoming families from Wenvoe and the surrounding areas to our third Christmas Messy Church event.

You can expect a warm welcome for the young and old with plenty of Christmassy Messy fun, mess, paints, craft, cooking and creativity- come and spot the themes beginning with “S”!

We will enjoy activities followed by a time of celebration/worship which includes songs, story and a warm meal together and don’t forget our recent addition of singing the “Messy grace” together to the tune of the “Adams family”.

So much to look forward to- see you there!Saturday 2nd December 3:30-5:30, Community Centre, Wenvoe

 



 

Church News for October

 

Looking back into October we seem to have been celebrating the HARVEST FESTIVAL for most of the month. Following on from the highly enjoyable Scarecrow Festival, we began by giving thanks for the Harvest at St Mary’s on Sunday 29th September, when the “Pebbles “ children gave us a presentation of the colours of the rainbow, with fruit and vegetables to line up with the colours of the rainbow. They also brought to the altar the gifts of tinned goods and other foods for the foodbank in Barry, whilst the fresh vegetables were taken to the Salvation Army for use in their kitchen to feed the homeless in Cardiff. In addition the money we raised from the weekend’s activities and the morning collections in church came to £324.27 which was donated to Christian Aid for the East Africa Appeal. This amount was further increased by the giving in Church to the appeal over the past weeks.

The Harvest celebrations continued in St. Lythan’s and Sully churches over the weekend of October Ist, with beautifully decorated churches and more money donated to Christian Aid. On October 16th St. Lythan’s held a Harvest Lunch at Dyffryn Springs in aid of their church funds, and a goodly number settled down to a hot lunch and super desserts in the lovely surroundings of the fishing lakes.

To round off the harvest, Messy Church met in the Community Centre on October 21st to explore the theme of “Messy Harvest” and once again the response was good and the children and parents enjoyed the craft activities and joined in the worship and all appreciated the meal at the end of the session. Once again thanks are given to all who help to organise and arrange these afternoons for a different kind of worship which are arranged with members of the Vale Church in Wenvoe.

On Sunday 29th October, being the fifth Sunday of the month, the congregations of sully, St. Lythan’s and Wenvoe churches came to together to celebrate the Eucharist. The morning began with a Parish Breakfast in the church hall, followed by the service in church. In the evening a “Songs of Praise” service was held in Sully to sing the Ministry Area Six Favourite Hymns. The congregations have been voting during the month in each church for their favourite three hymns, and the highest votes were then sung with great gusto.

 

OBERAMMERGAU Germany 2020:-

In 1633, the residents of the beautiful Bavarian village of Oberammergau made a vow, that if God would spare them from the plague which was ravaging Europe, they would produce a play thereafter for all time depicting the life and death of Jesus Christ. True to their word the first Passion Play was performed in 1634 and now almost 300 hundred years later the play is still performed once every 10 years between May and September. 2020 marks the 42nd Passion Play and we are beginning

to explore the possibility of running a coach trip with Edwards Coaches. In the meantime we would like to know how many people from the Ministry Area would be interested in being part of this trip. Expressions of interest – which does not at this point commit you to anything- should be made to Howard Rees, churchwarden of St Bleddians’ church. St. Lythan’s c/o The Rectory, Port Rd, Wenvoe. CF56DF

 

 

In Memorium :- The village of Wenvoe was shocked to hear of the passing of Carole Moody, a long time member of St Mary’s Church, from almost the day when she and Ian moved into the village. Carole was involved in so many activities in Wenvoe, from Scouts, Church choir, Wenvoe Ladies choir, the Sunday School, Mother Union to name but a few and she made many, many friends during her time here. Her health had been a concern for a number of years but she soldiered on despite the pain, and Wenvoe will be a little greyer without her cheerful take on life. Her funeral was held on October 25th at St Mary’s with many gathered to pay their respects and to support Ian and Kim in their loss. She was remembered in our prayers in church on Sunday 15th October, and the Bible quotation came to mind. “Well done thou good and faithful servant” Rest in peace Carole, it has been a pleasure to have known you.

With every Blessing

Parry Edwards

 



 

September’s Events

 

September saw a quickening of the pace in activity in the church. People are so used to thinking that the church is only used on a Sunday that it may come as a surprise at the other times that services take place. During the month the Eucharist has been celebrated on 10 occasions, Evensong has been held on the first Sunday of the month. There has been 2 baptisms when three children were added to the Christian family, 2 funerals have arranged for the faithful departed, and 1 wedding celebrated. In addition we have had 2 sessions of “Open Door”, 1 meeting of the “brass cleaners”, The Parochial Church Council has met in church, The Scarecrow Festival was held in the churchyard. The Chattery met as usual in the Church hall on the 2nd Thursday of the month The church was decorated for the Harvest Festival, Lots of people involved with lots of “goings on” in the church proves that our lovely building is in constant demand during the week. It is for this reason that our building fund is so important to maintain the building in as good a condition as is possible, by drawing the community of Wenvoe into as many of our activities as they feel comfortable with. Sunday mornings are busy but there always room and a warm welcome for all who wish to join in the worship.

What a joy it was to welcome our “Pebbles” back after the Summer break. They bring such a buzz with them, and they enjoy sharing with the congregation the craft work they have been doing in the Church Hall. New mums and Dads have joined their children and they are most welcome and valued for the care and concern that have for their children to experience something a little different on a Sunday morning. We are very fortunate to have sincere Christian leaders to monitor the group’s activities while the children are in their care. They have been preparing a special something for our Harvest celebration, which has been very carefully kept under wraps until the morning service. We will not be disappointed.

The joint parish Magazine “Connection” is a very high quality print, a number of people have taken up the offer of paying for year in advance, which will help us to plan the quantity we need for the month. We still send many copies to the waste despite trying to include as much news of Wenvoe and St. Lythan’s as is possible. The content of the magazine is open to all, and contributions and ideas are always welcome, whether it is some where you have visited on holiday. Something you have read in another church magazine you may have had in a church you have visited. The Sub Editor in Wenvoe would be most pleased to receive it to forward it to Lynda in Sully, who compiles the magazine for the printer. The copies are always in church on the first Sunday of the month to collect or purchase.

The congregations of all three churches have been invited to Vote for your favourite hymn by October 15th . It would be good to know why the three you have chosen are your favourites, so if you would like

to, please give a reason. There will then be a special service where we will sing the top six hymns as voted for by you on Sunday 29th October at 6 pm at St John the Baptist Church in Sully. So the invitation is there to vote for your favourite hymn and come along see if it has made the top six

Tea Party at the Rectory in Wenvoe for the children and families of the Parishes of Sully and Wenvoe with St. Lythan’s.

Jon writes – On Sunday 17th September all the children and young people who have been prepared for Confirmation in the last three years were invited along with families who attend Pebbles at Wenvoe, and the Sunday School at Sully to come to a Tea Party at the Rectory. The table “groaned” with cakes and the rain held off so we were able to go outside and those who wished to played in the garden with footballs and giant Connect 4 and Noughts and Crosses. Thank you to everyone who came and contributed to a wonderful atmosphere throughout the afternoon.

Next “Messy Church” on Saturday 21st October at 3.30.pm in the Community Centre, Wenvoe.

With every Blessing

Parry Edwards

 



 

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