Category: St Mary’s Parish Church News
June News
In last month’s “What’s On” mention was made of the “French Drains” being dug on the south side of the nave to cure the dampness creeping up the walls inside the church. That was delayed but the good news is that it is now happening. Talking to Mike our “digger” and Justin the archaeologist in attendance, during the “dig”, an amount of bones were found in the excavations, which is not surprising in a churchyard, but it revealed that years ago it was common to dig a new grave where burials had been interred before. When this happens the bones are collected together and re buried in the ground adjacent to the fresh burial. There has been talk of “French Drains” for some now and the name originates not from anything to do with the country across the English Channel, but to an American, Henry Flagg French 1813 – 1885 of Concord, Massachusetts who designed the trenches filled with a perforated drain pipe and different grades of aggravate to drain water away from penetrating the walls of buildings.. We know they work, as the similar drains dug around the base of the tower some years ago, has made the interior walls much drier than they were.
At the recent visit of the Archdeacon, Peggy Jackson, she raised the possibility of opening the church during the week for visitors to call in to look around. Our insurer the EIG is in favour of keeping church building open wherever possible and while the PCC expressed an interest in pursuing the matter, a number of concerns were raised regarding security and safeguarding of the building when it was left unsupervised. This will be discussed further as the concensus was that it would be a good idea to keep the church open rather than locked up.
The “Evening Entertainment” in the Wenvoe Community Centre was well attended and thanks must go to Johnny Tudor and Olwen Rees, who during the evening entertained the audience with showbiz details and songs. The evening raised a goodly amount towards the fund to enable Miss Helen Ormrod to be on The Mercy Ship helping to provide health care to impoverished parts of the world. The next event will be the Silent Auction on July 7th , when the marine artist Nick Rees has kindly donated a signed limited edition print “The
early evening light, The Holms, Bristol Channel” .
A forthcoming event will be another evening on June 23rd in the Wenvoe Community Centre with weatherman Derek Brockway and Nicola Smith will again be sharing lots of funny and entertaining things that have happened in their careers with the BBC. Nicola was born in Wenvoe and raised in Walston Road. Her Grandmother, Margaret Barton will be remembered by many in Wenvoe when she and her husband Thomas Barton farmed at Garn Farm
A Family Fun Quiz is planned for Saturday July 14th at 6 pm in The Church Hall, Tickets are £10 per family or £3. Single. Tickets on sale soon.
The Food Bank in Barry continues to be well supported
, and the Tussel Trust thanks the churches for contributions to the Food bank. In short supply this month are tinned potatoes and tinned meat in gravy. As always every item of food is very gratefully received. The Food Banks have been in the news recently as more calls are made on their resources where Universal Credit has been rolled out, and so many people have difficulties in making ends meet while awaiting their welfare payments.
Christian Aid appeal for 2018
The count of all the monies raised in the house to house collections, gift aid, Lent lunches and the funds raised at the Gwenfo School non uniform day came to £2,670.38 which is a wonderful result. Many thanks to the organisers, the collectors, the Lent Lunchers, and Gwenfo School for their support in helping to raise this amount of money for Christian Aid, Da Iawn Diolch.
John Custance R.I.P
We were saddened to hear that John Custance had died suddenly. He had been in hospital and released home when he had a relapse and was readmitted to hospital. John was a regular communicant in church and he helped in so many ways. His technical background with the sound systems in the BBC enabled him to install the loudspeakers for the playing of a recording of church bells in the tower of the church. He devised the automatic machine for drawing the winning numbers of the 200 club. He was also involved in the Christmas Post with the Wenvoe Scouts and in recent years had helped with the Chattery meetings in the Church Hall. He will be sorely missed by Jackie and his family and with all his friends in church and community. “Well done thou good and faithfull servant”
Now that summer is officially with us, we wish all readers a happy holiday and a return, refreshed for the Autumn programme of activities in planning in church and in the community
Parry Edwards
Family Quiz Night
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
200 Club – March & April Draw Winners
April Report
Our Easter celebrations began with a memorable Palm Sunday procession from the Church Hall, complete with music from pipe and drum and singing “Make way, make way for Christ the King”. This was our way of re-enacting Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, where he was greeted with palms and garments strewed on the ground. The only thing missing was the “ass the foal of an ass”..so maybe next year – who knows. (Jon take note). With our palm crosses blessed and held high we began that journey into Holy Week with special services, the Agape Supper, the Good Friday services where at the children’s service in the morning they decorated a bare wooden cross with daffodils in bud which had opened by Easter day itself. As in previous years the church was beautifully decorated with flowers and Easter lilies donated by members of the congregation in memory of loved ones, no longer with us. A special thank you to all who prepared the church for the most important service in the church’s calendar.
Another major event in the church’s year is the Annual Vestry Meeting, where the Parish Report is presented to the congregation as an account of what has taken place during the year. It is also the time when the Churchwardens and Officers of the Church and Sidespeople are appointed. This year we have had a change of wardens, Jenny Ford has stepped down and was thanked for all the work she has done in her years of office, and Carol Wyllie has been appointed as Rectors Warden, Sandra Dicks was re -elected as People’s Warden. The compilation of the Parish Report falls on many shoulders, covering all aspects of the happenings in the Church’s Year, and thanks go to Jenny for taking on this task as she prepared to hand over her work to Carol.
The main item in the report is the Incumbent’s Report, where the parish priest gives his take on the events during the past year. Thanks were given for all the willing help Jon has received during the year and he in turn thanked many people for their support and willingness in preparing the church for the wide range of services we now have week by week. Jon then read his report to the 9.30am Eucharist congregation on the 3rd Sunday of Easter when the Commissioning of Churchwardens, the PCC, Officers of the Church and Sidespeople took place.
The Building Committee recently met with our newly appointed Architect, Richard, with a site meeting to discuss the proposed drainage scheme in the churchyard along the South wall of the Nave, and East wall where there are two table tombs dating from the 18th century were considered to be in the way of adequately draining the proposed “French drains” into the “soakaways”. After much discussion and exchange of views, and an inspection of the internal wall adjacent to the Altar, it was decided not to proceed with an additional faculty as walls appear to be dry. There was a collective sigh of relief as this would have put a strain of our available building funds, and the enormous amount of permissions needed to move gravestones and even exhumations.
The churchyard is looking at its best, despite all the snow and cold winds, we experienced during March, this is due to the work Mike Tucker has put in since he started work in January. During a recent visit from our Archdeacon, she was not very happy with all the lovely daffodils planted in the graves, as in her opinion, they are not suitable according to churchyard regulations. Long may they remain there I say.
The PCC has had a response from Wenvoe Community Council to the ongoing saga of the sycamore tree, near to our churchyard boundary wall and have offered to lop some of the overhanging branches, this will be up for discussion and response at the next PCC meeting in May.
Lent Lunches and Agape Supper – An item in the in church weekly newsletter in April is worth sharing with our wider number of readers….. “Grateful thanks to everyone who contributed to making this year’s Lent Lunches and Agape Supper a success. To all who worked hard setting out the hall, making and serving delicious homemade soups, then of course washing up. Also thanks to everyone who supported the lunches and gave a total generous donation of £396.95 to Christian Aid.”
A timely reminder… the annual Christian Aid Appeal will be launched with a “Big Breakfast” on Saturday 12th May in the Community Centre. The following week will see the house to house collections. Please give generously to this appeal, so many people far worse off than we are really depend on the support they are given from your giving.
Thank you for taking time to read this.
Parry Edwards
Coffee Morning
Parish Events for March
This year the month of March came in like a lion and hopefully will leave as a lamb. The heavy snow fall, and the consequent drifting, confined a lot of us to our homes until we dug ourselves out. Thanks to Mike for doing a great job clearing the path to the church porch to enable access to the church for the Sunday morning services. Mothering Sunday was made all the more memorable with the presentation by our “Pebbles “ children on what their mothers meant to them. So a big Thank You to their leaders for organising this time in church in place of the sermon.
A recent meeting of the P.C.C revealed that we are still awaiting a reply to our request to the Wenvoe Community Council for the ash tree at the entrance to the Community Cemetery to be taken down as its roots are affecting the stone boundary wall. Also that when in full leaf it overshadows the 18th century headstone of Mary Morgan who died at the grand age of 109 years. This grave at present has a lovely show of daffodils in full bloom. The PCC Secretary has now sent a reminder.
Our financial situation is in good health, and donations to maintain the Building Fund are always welcome as we have quite an extensive programme of work planned for the year ahead.
BBC Radio Wales recordings…The Ministry Area has been chosen to record two programmes, to be broadcast on 28th October (Bible Sunday) and 6th January 2019 (Epiphany). The recordings will take place in St. Mary’s on October 8th 2018 and the support of all the congregations across the ministry area is needed to make this worthwhile.
More information about the formation of a Rectorial Benefice will be made available (but not to be discussed) to the Annual Vestry meetings before submitting it to the next ordinary meeting of the PCC on the 14th May.
A faculty will be presented to the Diocesan Care of Churches committee to allow us to improve the drainage at the East end of the Chancel by digging additional French Drains, a complication are the two box tombs which are in the way, which may have to be removed and re-erected close to their original position.
The Social Committee reported that 2017 had been a
busy year, and that this year the Annual Fun Quiz was a great success. The Lent Lunches have continued each Wednesday in Lent and the Agape supper on the evening of Maunday Thursday was also well supported. There has been no charge for these meals and donations were given for the Christian Aid appeal. The “Chattery” continues to be a friendly, enjoyable occasion on the 2nd Thursday of the month. Heartfelt thanks to the faithful small band of people who work so hard to make these occasions happen.
Messy Church – Messy Easter—The first session of Messy Church took place on Saturday 10th March in the Wenvoe Community Centre. The theme was the miracle of Easter and the Resurrection. There was a range of Messy Craft activities which included handprint Easter Chicks, edible Easter gardens, nail and wool woven crosses. Families also contributed to creating two large cross pictures by dipping their fingers in paint and printing their fingerprints onto the crosses which will be displayed in both churches over the Easter period. Many more activities also took place and the session ended with a delightful afternoon tea donated by the congregations of both churches. Messy Church regularly attracts between 50 – 60 people of all ages, so there is clearly a need in the village for this kind of worship.
A reminder and an invitation to the Easter Day Services at St Mary’s on Sunday April 1st. Please see the notice on the church gates and in the “Connections” parish magazine. Easter is known as the Queen of Festivals and a welcome awaits all who come to worship the Risen Lord.
Blessing to all our readers.
Parry Edwards.
