Category: St Mary’s Parish Church News

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October 2022 News Update

October continued to be a busy month, following on from September that saw things pick up after the summer holidays .The Harvest Festival at St. Bleddians was very well supported with the largest numbers in the congregation for some time. The sun shone and the refreshments were able to be taken outside, thanks to the hard work by Pam and Ann not forgetting Terry in the background. Vicar Lyndon was able to meet and chat with new faces as he settles in with the congregations for which he is responsible.

St Mary’s in October, we had in addition to the Sunday Eucharist services, the church was able to host, Baptisms, a Wedding and a Funeral, a good indication that after the trauma of Covid we are gradually getting back to some kind of normal. Not all things are back in place yet, such as a collection taken with the plate being handed around, sides persons are not able to bring up the Offertory as was once the practice. Vicar Lyndon has enhanced the reading of the Gospel for the day with a Gospel procession and the dismissal at the end of the service takes place at the Font in the body of the people before the choir retire to the Tower vestry for final prayers. Little touches like these help to make worship at St. Mary’s more meaningful and thoughtful of what we are about when we gather to hear the Word of God and to celebrate the Eucharist.

All Saints and All Souls are very important festivals in the church’s calendar, and on November the 3rd at 6.00pm a Service of Calm and Reflection will take place to remember all who have died during the COVID crisis and were not able to have the funerals they wanted, together with a remembrance of loved ones who have passed into greater glory in recent years. Names of those who wish to be read out and prayed for are requested, please use the letter boxes in the church porch or the Church Hall, with names clearly printed or hand to one of the two Wardens, Carol or Sandra. All are welcome to attend, and an invitation to non-church members who have lost a loved one are invited to be part of the service..

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY November 13th

This year after a break of three years a Community Remembrance Service will begin at 10.00am in church with representatives from organisations from the village taking part in the readings and prayers, to be followed with the Act of Remembrance at the Village War Memorial. The Vale of Glamorgan brass band will be in attendance and a procession led by the Cross bearer and choir and the congregation will be in place in good time for 11.00am. Refreshments of tea/coffee/soft drinks and biscuits will be available in the Church Hall following the proceeding, all are welcome.

A date for your diaries THE CHATTERY will be meeting on November 10th at 10.30am in the Church Hall for coffee/tea/posh biscuits and a chat of course, to catch up on what has been happening around us at home or in the world at large. It’s very friendly and informal and it’s good to come out and meet up with people you may not have seen for some time. For

some it is a warm place in these days when the weather is getting colder, a great welcome to all for the little cost of £2.00, and plenty of coffee refills plus free raffle.

A session of MESSY CHURCH is planned for November 26th with an ADVENT theme in the Church Hall. This is open all families to share some quality play time with each other and to meet up make new friends, so let’s get busy and let’s enjoy each others company.

ADVENT WINDOWS has had a good response and will take place as advertised during the dark nights of December. This is a St. Mary’s initiative for the village, Free to enter, just light up your windows when your evening is allocated, the theme can be Christmas or any alternative that will give pleasure to the onlookers, the final “window” will be at St. Mary’s on Christmas Eve..

COMMUNITY CAROL SERVICE will take place at St. Mary’s on Wednesday December 14th at 7.00pm. Representatives from village organisations are being invited to take part and will follow the traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and carols made popular over the years, broadcast from King’s College, Cambridge.

The JOINT CHURCH COUNCIL met on the 26th October in the Church Hall under the chairmanship of Vicar Lyndon for the first time. Apart from a “catch up” on what has taken place since the previous meeting in June, the budget for the church was discussed and approved. In accordance with Church In Wales practice each of our nine churches in the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg has to produce a budget for next year. Estimating the amount of income is a difficult one to assess, Expenditure is subject to the cost of inflation raising prices of goods and services and similarly to our own budgeting at home, the end result can be very uncomfortable in making ends meet. However, any budget is but a guide to the future and good housekeeping practises will keep St, Mary’s in good shape in the year ahead.

Thank you for reading what has been happening and what is being planned at St. Mary’s.

God bless and peace

Parry Edwards

 

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September 2022 News Update

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Death of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle

The lowering of the flag to half-mast on the church tower announced to the village the sad news received on Sept. 8th at 6.30pm. Our new, King Charles III spoke most emotionally of the Royal Family’s loss of a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother in his first address to the nation that same evening. He ended his address with the most memorable words: “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

Looking back, September was a busy month. The work on the Tower has been completed and it is looking much improved. The church grounds have been cleared up of the builders debris. The church clock is back ‘tick-tocking’ away, keeping time and striking the hours, much to the satisfaction of neighbours who are used to hearing the hours struck during the day. The clock face and hands have been affected by the heat waves we have experience this Summer so for now, no further expense needed there.

Plans to welcome our new priest into the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg were placed on hold until a definite date could be agreed on. Eventually the service to License Lyndon was led by the Archdeacon of Llandaff the Rev. Rod Green on Sunday 18th September at 3.00pm. In the meantime Vicar Lyndon and Chris have been settling in and took the opportunity of a holiday break in Mid Wales before they enter into the busy life of the M.A.

The Licensing service for Lyndon was a very splendid uplifting service with superb singing of both Welsh and other hymns. Our three churches were represented with invited guests and clergy from within the Ministry Area. Well done everyone.

Our Harvest Celebration was held on Sunday 25th September and was the first occasion that our new Vicar has officiated. The decoration of the church was markedly different this year to previous years as we decided to use all the contributions to the Barry Food Bank to fill the windows with, dry goods, tinned vegetables, tinned meats etc which the food bank have asked us for. This year they are finding the need is greater than ever due to the rocketing living costs and rising food prices in the stores. So in place of fresh vegetables and flowers we had the appearance of a food store, knowing that there is no waste and all the goods will help those who are not so fortunate as we are. We also held a retiring collection for the Christian Aid East Africa appeal which is ongoing as they face the most disastrous famine in that part of the world.

In the afternoon a BYO picnic in the church grounds was arranged with activities for the children, to give an opportunity for Lyndon and Chris to meet up with as many people who wished to greet and welcome them into our community

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Live Streaming of our Services

Further work on the camera system in church has now resulted in 24/7 streaming of a live feed which can be accessed on ipcamlive.com/stmarywenvoe This will mean that the church building is covered should we have an intruder in the premises outside of service times, and that anyone can log in to our services on a Sunday morning. Lyndon’s licensing can now be watched by his family in Canada which will be of great comfort and assurance to them. Some reservations have been raised and further work on the system will try and give the assurances needed to make the congregation comfortable in its use.

Vicar Lyndon has said that he intends to keep the same pattern of services as they are at present, as he tries to get a ‘feel’ of what each congregation needs. However, that is not to say that there won’t be any changes in the future.

Harvest Celebrations at St. Bleddian’s will take place on Sunday 2nd October with the usual morning service at 8.30 am followed by a Harvest Festival Service at 3.00pm.

Thank you for your time reading this. You are most welcome to join us and our new priest Lyndon at any of our services.

God Bless and peace

Parry Edwards

 

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August 2022 News Update

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After many trials and holdups our new priest The Rev. Lyndon Hutchison-Hounsell and his wife Chris finally made it to the Rectory on the evening of the 8th August after a gruelling journey from London, Ontario Canada. They were welcomed with many useful gifts to help furnish their home as well as messages of welcome and greetings. It has been heart-warming to see the response from all over our three churches to make them feel at home in Wales and that they are among friends. Before Vicar Lyndon can take any services in our churches he will have to be licensed by the Bishop, and this hopefully will be in September at a date yet to be announced. He is anxious to meet as many people as possible and has been around the village, with visits to St, Mary’s, the Wenvoe Arms, The Hub and other places, so please make yourselves known to them.

The latest edition of the Ministry Area “Connections” magazine was available during August and a copy has been placed at The Hub in Wenvoe, during the library opening hours. Lyndon wrote a letter for the magazine as follows

“Hello, De Morgannwg Ministry Area!

It is such a pleasure to be able to say hello and I so look forward to getting to know all of you. I’m sure you’re curious about who I am and, of course, you will get to know me over the course of the next few months, too. As an introduction, here’s a little bit about me and my wife, Chris.

We’ve been married for 33 years. We have lived in various locations in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba. My family is from Newfoundland. We have two adult children, Thomas and Emma. Thomas is studying architecture and has a passion for sustainability. Emma is an artist who enjoys working with textiles – especially knitting.

Chris and I love to travel. We spent two months in Italy in 2012 and four months in the UK in 2019. We enjoy visiting holy sites and places where other pilgrims have walked before. We are looking forward to spending many hours on the trails of the Wales Coastal Path and Brecon Beacons. We hope to share those walks with many of you.

We also enjoy music and dancing, reading historical and mystery novels, and local food and drink. I enjoy singing and playing some guitar. Chris enjoys knitting and researching her genealogy. We are looking forward to being introduced to cricket, rugby, and football, (as spectators) and would like try our hand at bowls and croquet.

I have been a professed member of the Third Order of the Society of Saint Francis for more than 20 years. There’s lots to talk about but suffice it to say this means I have a keen interest in caring for the earth and those in need.

I was ordained priest in 1993 so I’ve been at this for a while. But that’s not to say I don’t have anything to learn. I most certainly do and I look forward to

continuing my spiritual formation alongside the good people of De Morgannwg Ministry Area.

Peace and many blessings,

Lyndon

During the month of August our church services have been led by visiting priests and we have been enjoying the varying styles of worship they bring to the church. Being a holiday month we always expect a downturn in attendances with people away on holiday, but the number of worshippers has been very encouraging, and things can only improve once Lyndon is able to officiate and establish the normal pattern of services in our churches.

Work on the tower is progressing now at a faster rate than before with the mortaring gang applying the lime mortar as quickly as the weather conditions allow. The recent hot sunshine dries the mortar out too quickly and causes cracks, delaying the final mortaring to be applied. So hopefully the work will be completed in September, the scaffolding, removed, the clock restarted, and the ground around the tower cleaned up in time for the Harvest Festival and BYO picnic in the church grounds to meet up with our new priest. So watch for the announcement on the church notice boards and the community pages.

The Rev. Kevin Barry, our former curate will be licenced to the East Vale Ministry Area on Sunday 4th September at Llancarfan church at 6.00pm and members of our three churches will be there to support him and to acknowledge the time he spent with us. Our best wishes and prayers go with Kevin and his family for this next stage in his ministry in the Church in Wales.

We supported the Christian Aid “East Africa Hunger Appeal” with retiring collections at our Sunday services. “After the worst drought in 40 years millions of people across East Africa are facing the threat of famine and dying. With the war in Ukraine causing global food prices to rocket, we are facing crisis on crisis. Due to climate change many families are now homeless, identified as displaced” Faced with a situation like that we have no option but to try and help with whatever money we are able to raise to ease their situation especially in the provision of water purification kits, dispersing animal feed and medicine. Christian Aid is supporting over 300,000 people and more help is needed. Thank you to all who supported this appeal in our churches.

Looking ahead we are planning a number of events to meet up with our new priest during September. They are all in the planning stage and no firm dates have been agreed at the time of writing, so keep your eye on the notice boards in church and on the weekly newsletter.

Thank you for reading this, the very latest news from St. Mary’s and we invite you to join with us during the month as we celebrate a new chapter in the life of the church here in Wenvoe. God Bless.

Parry Edwards

 

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July 2022 News Update

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July has been a busy month in the life of the church. Sunday services have been well attended. A wedding, a memorial service and two funerals have kept the churchwardens busy making the necessary arrangements for these events to go ahead smoothly. The Joint Church Council met during the month under the chairmanship of Howard Rees. We also had a school visit and Kevin explained the vestment colours used during the seasons of the church’s year.

During the month we acknowledged the twelve years that Alison has been the leader of the “Pebbles” group of children who have been meeting at 9.30 am on a Sunday morning in term time, and then joining the congregation at the Eucharist service. Alison has now stepped down from that role in order to pursue a different journey in her faith as she prepares to train to become a Reader. This is a calling I received some 47 years ago and I know from experience how that will enrich her life as it enriched mine. A presentation of flowers and lots of goodies was made to Alison following the Eucharist on Sunday 17th July to acknowledge with great thanks the work she has put into her role as leader. Da Iawn Alison.

For the moment the “Pebbles” will not be meeting until such time as a new leader comes forward, or even if a grouping of the young parents can be formed to take the work forward. We feel that this is the right thing to do until our new Vicar is in post, who we know is eager to be part of our worshipping community, and especially in making contact with the school and becoming their Vicar as our last priest was so well known and loved as “Vicar Jon”.

It was also with sadness that we said farewell to our Curate Rev. Kevin Barry who is leaving us to join the Ministry Area of East Glamorgan. His farewell service was a joint celebration at St. John the Baptist in Sully on Sunday 24th July. A presentation was made to him marking the time we had joined with him on his faith journey as Ordinand, Deacon and Priest. We also remembered Kim and Olivia who in their quiet way came among us, supporting Kevin in the life changes required when preparing for the Priesthood. We wish them well for the future role he will now take on, and trust that they will recall with pleasure the times spent in our three churches.

Work on the tower proceeds ever so slowly and the contractors have asked for an extension of the time originally agreed. We are very much in the hands of our architects and we want the work done to the correct standard, as that of the completed work on the church porch. As the Bishop told me when I raised the delay in announcing our new Vicar “Patience is a virtue and will bring its own reward”

The announcement we long waited for about the arrival of our new Vicar was revealed in the morning services on Sunday 17th July. He is the Rev. Lyndon Hutchison-Housell and his wife Chris. They arrived in the Rectory in late July and will be taking the month of August as a holiday as they buy a car and set up house. He is hopeful of taking services in September, but he will have to be licensed first by Bishop June. He is very much a people person and wants to get involved in the community, to get to know “church people” as well as “non church people”. So our patience has been rewarded and we look forward to welcoming them both into the community.

On the afternoon of Sunday 17th July, at St. Bleddian’s Church a service of dedication of the refurbishment of the churchyard path and gates took place in memory of the late John Bird. John’s generous bequest has funded the work and will fund further work within the church.

Sunday 10th July was Sea Sunday. A retiring collection for the Mission to Seamen amounted to £73.00. In our prayers that day the work of the Mission to all who work at sea, was commended to God’s grace and protection, for without those brave men and women, who so often work in the most dangerous conditions to bring us the goods we need, our lives would be greatly impoverished.

We continue to support the Barry food bank with items donated every Thursday morning. The need is greater than ever, with falling donations due to the high cost of living we are all experiencing, and the greater demand they are experiencing from impoverished families in Barry and the Vale. There is an up to date list in the church porch of items that are most urgently needed and can be safely left in the porch. All items gratefully accepted.

The CHATTERY coffee morning has been restarted and the next one will be at 10.30am on Thursday August 11th in the church hall. All are welcome for a chat and catchup on what has been going on whether at home or on holiday. It is good to meet up with those not seen for some time, so do come along, a great welcome, posh biscuits and a free raffle.

Sad news of the passing of Mrs Doreen Searchfield was received during the month. Doreen was a faithful member of the congregation when she and Raymond lived in Whitehall Close. When left a widow she moved to sheltered housing in Cheltenham and latterly to residential care. Her funeral has been arranged at 12.00 noon on Tuesday 2nd August followed by interment in the Community Cemetery. Our thoughts and prayers are for her family at this sad time.

We are making tentative plans for a Messy church session in the Autumn, a BYO picnic at the time of the Harvest Festival, Remembrance Sunday, All Saints and All Souls Day, Community Christmas Carol Service, Advent Windows whilst keeping in mind that COVID and its variations have not gone away. So watch this space.

St Mary’s Church in Wenvoe is your church, ready to serve you in times of joy and of sorrow. God Bless and thank you for reading this news.

Parry Edwards

 

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