Category: St Mary’s Parish Church News

Dear All,
I hope you are all well and that you and those you love are staying safe at these trying times.
On Saturday 16th May, I was sent an email by Llandaff Diocese outlining the Welsh Governments strategy on how Places of Worship may emerge from lockdown.
In essence there are four phases:
Black Phase – where we are at the time of writing
Closure of places of worship.
Red Phase – Opening of places of worship for private prayer under physical distancing
Amber Phase – Limit services and size of congregations linked to ability to ensure physical distancing
Green Phase – All places of worship open for full services, alongside physical distancing
We are obviously a long way from being in the Green Phase, but it is good that myself and the church councils of Wenvoe and St Lythans can begin to make plans about how we can proceed to move initially into the Red Phase. I obviously do not have a time scale for this, but it is important that we do start to make plans so that we can open our buildings as soon as possible.
St Mary’s in Wenvoe and St Bleddian’s are there for you, whether you are a person of faith or not. When we open our doors again you are very welcome to come in and just soak up the peace and atmosphere of the buildings, and remember that these places have stood for hundreds of years and have been through wars and plague. These are buildings that will be there for you and future generations to come to.
I look forward to seeing you and sharing time with you once this period of self-isolation is concluded.
Take care, and many blessings to you all.
Jon,
Vicar of Wenvoe and St Lythans

 

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The Strangest Of Times

 

We have been through the strangest of times in the past month. The virus COVID19 has affected so much of our lives, with Government advice to STAY IN OUR HOMES, in other words we have faced a “Lockdown” only going out for essential shopping, for medical reasons, some exercise and above all to “WASH YOUR HANDS”.

This meant that gradually all our public buildings closed down including St. Mary’s church in Wenvoe. For the first time in living memory we were unable to gather as a congregation to worship during Lent, Palm Sunday and the glorious feast of Easter. Jon , our Parish Priest has worked tirelessly in preparing digital acts of worship on our parish ”face book” page, which has been seen by many hundreds of “likes” recorded. We have set up “contact groups” to keep in touch with members of the congregation facing isolation in their homes, with weekly telephone conversations. The Parish magazine “Connections” has been printed and is available digitally on line, and as the cartoon above states “while we appear to be closed we are in fact open in so many ways, to be there offering a message of HOPE that things will get better and that we will get through this”.

Did you see the Cross of Hope in the churchyard at Easter. The churchyard cross was decorated with flowers in memory of past loved ones and friends as a sign that Easter is time of HOPE. It was our way of celebrating the “Risen Lord” as a visible reminder that the virus cannot stop the work of the church and that life in all its richness remains with us. We have to thank Glenys and Mike for their work in setting up the flowers and also to thank Sandra and Brian for the Easter garden within the church porch.

All church activities stopped as soon as the “stay in your homes” advice was received, this has severely affected our financial position with our “cash flow” being cut off. We are still expected to continue our contribution to the “FAIR SHARE” which supports the work of the Diocese, we have immediately reduced as many of our outgoing costs as we are able to, but we are raiding our reserves to pay for those items that cannot be put off. We want to maintain the church grounds and keep the grass cut, that is a COST, the church clock needs to be maintained, that is a COST, the church building has to be insured, that is a COST. We have recently completed work on the church doors, that is a COST. The members of the congregation are being encouraged to convert their weekly offering on the collection plate to Gift Direct, Standing Orders or Direct Orders. So we appeal to the wider community around us. If you have had your child baptised, a son or daughter married or a funeral for a loved at St. Mary’s now is the time to consider making donation, in gratitude for the church being there when you needed it.

For the present the Church in Wales has decreed that no Baptisms, Marriages or Funerals can take place within its churches, until the restrictions imposed by the Government are relaxed, and we look forward in HOPE to a future time when we can resume our church activities and our pattern of worship with Jon’s care and guidance.

Mr Philip Morant RIP

The congregation and the community were saddened to hear of the passing of Phil in the care home in Barry. Phil was a faithful member of the church and was in his seat Sunday by Sunday. He was a most willing and helpful person, reaching out to anyone who he thought he could help. Whether in the school, the environment group, community council, the village work party and his much loved allotment. We missed him when he moved to Barry, and our thoughts and prayers are with Margaret and his two daughters at this sad time in their lives, “may he rest in peace and rise in glory”

God Bless Us, and keep us safe.. and WASH YOUR HANDS

Parry Edwards

This Month’s Parish News

In last month’s Parish News, we were looking forward to a glorious Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord with colour, flowers, great hymns and full churches. How so much has changed since then. The coronavirus has changed all that, with most of the world’s nations withdrawing from contact with each other as they close their borders in an attempt to combat the virus, and to protect their people from the ravages that we have seen on our T.V. screens for the past month.

The advice from the Church in Wales Bench of Bishops, is that all church services are to be suspended immediately. Baptisms can be held with only 10 persons present. Weddings are all postponed until 31st July 2020. Banns will not be called. Funerals can only be taken at the graveside, with a memorial service arranged later in the year. Confirmation services and Ordination services at the cathedral are also suspended. The Annual Church Vestry meeting has been postponed with all church officers remaining in office until formal elections can be arranged. The children’s ‘Pebble’ group on Sunday mornings is also affected by this decision, as is the monthly meeting of the Chattery.

The financial implications of these guidelines are enormous and church members are asked to maintain their weekly contributions to the work and maintenance of the church. This can be done digitally by the StM appeal or saved up until the time comes when our church will be open again for worship. Although the church may be closed for formal acts of worship, it is a lot more than just buildings. It is a community of believing people who have accepted Jesus Christ into their lives, bringing his message of salvation and hope to the wider world around them.

The church is duty-bound to reach out to all in the community of Wenvoe and elsewhere. The message of HOPE is there in the Gospel readings and the Psalms for all to read, and it is that hope that will carry us through in the days, weeks and months ahead as we self-isolate from the worst of the virus contagion. God Bless us all as we pray for the world and for all around us, especially the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Please read the letter Jon, our Parish Priest has written on page 4.

However it is not all such negative news, for we have completed the restoration of the historic floor tiles, and they are looking so much better. The painting of the chancel is also complete and the freshness really does show up the condition of the walls in the Nave… another job for the future. The next project is the re-varnishing of the West, South and Priest doors, with the metal work being cleaned and repainted; this will be followed in the summer with more work on the boundary walls.

Within the church, information panels have been set up with photographs, showing the work carried out on the floors, before and after, in an attempt to raise awareness of the costs involved. We appeal for donations to complete the programme of work as detailed in the last church building survey. The church is available for all in the community and the regular congregation have been very supportive in fund raising from the activities such as the Quiz Night and the Chattery. We also encourage those who use the church for occasional services to consider donating in memory of loved ones who may have had a previous connection with St Mary’s in the past.

The Annual Fun Quiz 2020 brought all eyes on the final scoreboard. Grateful thanks to Ian Moody our quizmaster extraordinaire and everyone who supported the sell-out event, especially the Sully contingent who battled through floods to join in! A most enjoyable evening and the excellent sum of £644.37 was raised for St Mary’s Church. Diolch

Future Plans….The many events we had been preparing for in the coming months are now postponed including the VE75 celebrations. Perhaps we should plan for a VE75+1 for 2021. Given the severity of the current situation, we must accept that for the foreseeable future our lives as we have known them are to be put on hold.

Please stay safe; follow the Government’s advice on all health matters. We will get through this. Keep washing those hands. Don’t panic and carry on.

Parry Edwards

 

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By the time you read this, so much has taken place in church towards the latter end of February. We are now in the solemn season of Lent, that period of 40 days before Easter, that the church keeps a low key as a preparation for the glorious feast of Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord in Glory on the first day of the week. Shrove Tuesday (pancake day), the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent was kept, when we joined in proceedings with our friends in Sully. St. David was not forgotten and he was remembered in our church school, with lots of leeks and daffodils in evidence. Our annual fun quiz took place on Leap Years day, and was well supported with all tickets sold out, and our quiz master Mr Ian Moody as usual had much head scratching among the quizzers with his thought provoking questions.

The restoration of the floor tiles meant the church had to be closed during the week so an alternative venue for Ash Wednesday was arranged, and having had a sneak preview of the work being carried on the tiles, the final effect will be a surprise to many people.

The wall plastering within the chancel and at the rear of the organ console is now complete and is drying out in readiness for the final coat of paint after the floor tiles have been cleaned and restored. The dossal curtains, on either side of the altar, have been to the dry cleaners, and will be back in their accustomed place for Easter. Just for the record these curtains were given to St. Mary’s by the Young Farmers many years ago when the Rev John Christopher was Rector, and they have served us well.

Work has continued in the churchyard, with more gravestones being stabilised, and the laurel hedge along Walston Rd/Clos Llanfair has been cut back and lowered. It was thought that this hedge was getting out of hand and was encroaching on graves, and of course being laurel it will all grow back. Many of the older historic memorial stones have been sprayed to remove the layers of dirt and Verdigris which was obliterating the carved inscription, and now are so easy to read.

There has always been a mystery surrounding a pile of dismantled gravestones in the far corner of the “new” churchyard to a family called “HEWINS” recording the death of a son of the family being killed in Cairo in 1942. Investigation on the Commonwealth Graves website has revealed that he was in the Royal Air force Reserve and that he was killed on active service and buried in the Heliopolis War Cemetery in Cairo, Egypt. His grieving family recorded his death here in Wenvoe as a mark of respect and an acknowledgement that he was not forgotten, even though he was buried in a foreign field so far away. His name is not on the Village War Memorial as his family home was in Sketty, Swansea at the time of his death and possibly the parents had moved away from Wenvoe when the war ended in 1945. The other mystery that remains

is why was the grave dismantled, so that the original site of it has now been lost.

Jon and his two churchwardens attended the inaugural 2020 Pilgrimage service at Llandaff Cathedral and brought back to Wenvoe the Pilgrimage Candle which will burn at every service during the year of pilgrimage. The “pilgrim bear” is making its progress around the diocese and will be in Wenvoe sometime at the end of the year. More of that later.

This year, it has been decided that the Lent Lunches will not be held on the Wednesdays in Lent as in previous years, due to falling numbers who attended over the past few years. The Agape Supper on the evening of Maundy Thursday will still take place. More details later.

Mothering Sunday on the 22nd March will be an All Age Celebration of the Eucharist at 9.30 am with a contribution from our “Pebbles” children. The church will be decorated with the daffodils grown from the bulbs given to the children at last year’s Harvest Festival celebration. As in previous years, if the bulbs fail there is always M&S or the garden centre to fall back on.

Christian Aid Update 2020 – This year Christian Aid will be addressing Climate Change and how this affects the most vulnerable communities. They are featuring some of the work they have undertaken in Kenya where families and whole communities have needed to change the way in which they produce their crops. Here families who are suffering the most with climate change have needed to work together to ensure they find ways to harness what rainfall they have so that they can water their crops, and secure their futures.

Count Your Blessings Lent Calendar: This helps us gain day by day information and challenges alongside prayer requests addressing life stories and examples of what can be achieved. The Calendars will be available in church from 20th February or contact Jude Billingham on 02920594708.

VE 75 – Preparations to celebrate and mark the 75th anniversary of the ending of WWII in Europe are in hand and will be announced shortly as we join in with the Community for the peace we have enjoyed since 1945.

Blessings to all readers, and a warm welcome awaits you at St. Mary’s.

Parry Edwards

 

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February Parish Church News

 

Last Christmas, the Parochial Church Council decided that the chosen charities for the collections at the Wenvoe Community Carol Service and the “Waiting for Jesus” service, would be shared between the Neo Natal Unit at the UHW and the Food Bank in Barry. The money given on these two occasions came to £900 and cheques have been sent to both charities. This was a wonderful and generous response and thanks are given for all who attended and gave so generously.

During January there has been work in the churchyard on the Jenner family graves. Mr David Randolph had been concerned for some time that the white marble crosses, placed there in memory of former members of his family, had become so discoloured that it was time for a restoration to their former pristine condition. This is a common problem when white marble is chosen as a memorial. The amount of rain falling and the surrounding trees continually dripping on the stone surface, creates a discolouring that is difficult to remove. Thank you David for making the churchyard that much cleaner and a pleasure to all who visit.

Since the carpeting in the nave, choir and sanctuary has been removed revealing the historic tile flooring, many have commented on the beauty of the designs and colours of tile used. The church will close for two weeks in the month to allow the restorers to remove the unsightly white deposits, replace broken tiles, clean and polish the tile surfaces. This will bring them back to what the earlier generations who had the care of the church building in the mid 19th century, when they decided to beautify the church.

The church is now kept heated, at minimum temperature, during the week in an attempt to cure the condensation on the walls and floors. This is a work in progress, and already the building is much warmer and much easier to raise the heat level on Sundays. To keep the heating on is costly as there is so little insulation in the building. The roof is not insulated, the windows are single pane stained glass, the main entry via the south door lets the heat out and the cold in. The walls are solid stone, so we know that there is a great heat loss to be expected.

Preparations are in hand for compiling the 2020 Parish Electoral Roll. This is a listing of all communicant members of the church over 16 years of age, who can then stand for the Office of Churchwarden, serve on the PCC and also be able to vote at the Easter Vestry Meeting, should a vote be called for. All forms to be returned to church by Mothering Sunday March 22nd.

2020 in the Diocese is the ‘Year of Pilgrimage’ which was launched at the service in the afternoon of January 12th in the cathedral. The current issue of ‘Croeso’ had a very interesting article on the idea of pilgrimage, as we explore our own personal faith together with an invitation to make a pilgrimage to

Llandaff Cathedral as it celebrates its 900th year of foundation. During the service Bishop June talked about ‘flying the flag for faith, supporting our communities and encouraging cooperation and friendship’ Presentations were made to schools and parishes of a faith candle, a pilgrim’s staff, a scallop shell and a pilgrim bear to be used during the year at services in the parishes of the diocese to mark the progress of the pilgrimage.

Events to remember during February:

Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) – February 25th

Ash Wednesday (First day of Lent) – February 26th

Fun Quiz in the Community Centre – February 29th

A warm welcome awaits you in St Mary’s.

Parry Edwards

 

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