Category: St Mary’s Parish Church News
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Church Christmas Services
Wednesday 15th December at 7.00pm
Carol Service at St. Mary’s Church. This to be an ‘inhouse’ service for all those who wish to attend, but we are NOT inviting participants from any organisations to take part.
December 19th at 3.00pm
Carol Service at St. Lythans Church.
December 24th
5.00pm Lighting of the last Advent Window at St. Mary’s Church with carol singing around the cross.
11.30pm Eucharist with Carols at St Mary’s Church.
December 25th at 8.30am
Said Eucharist at St. Lythans
December 26th (St. Stephens Day) at 9.30am
Eucharist at St. Mary’s Church.
At all services we follow the Welsh Government rules of sanitising hands, the wearing of masks and social distancing. There are no services online.
Farewell To Jon And Sheonagh
Farewell To Jon And Sheonagh
A large tea party to say farewell to Jon and Sheonagh was held at the Old School in Sully on the afternoon of October 30th, followed on the Sunday with Jon’s last services in the three parishes. It was an emotional occasion spiced with many humorous asides and a series of wonderful tributes from members of the congregations. There was also a truly wonderful video presentation from Gwenfo Church in Wales school entitled ‘Farewell to Vicar Jon’ set to music. Jon was presented with a leaving gift of a new black preaching scarf, replacing one he had lost in recent months. It is generally thought that his seven year ministry among us was a most successful one, and he will be a hard act to follow. Preparations for our new priest have begun with the preparation of a profile of the churches in the new Ministry Area of De Morgannwg, including the three churches the new priest will be responsible for. He or she will be known as a Team Vicar in the Ministry Area, and will be licenced across the nine churches being brought into being by the Bishop’s Decree on 1st January 2022.
At that point we will lose our status as a parish and will be known as St. Mary’s Church in the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg, with a devolved church council to look after the day to day running of the church and its financial responsibilities. This will be the last church news to bear the title of ‘Parish’ and the Bishop’s Decree will rob the Diocese of our parish status that even King Henry VIII failed to do in the 16th century. I have no doubt that we will continue to refer to the Parish of Wenvoe, despite the ruling from Llandaff.
The other major event during November was the marking of Remembrance Sunday with an outdoor service at the Wenvoe War Memorial. A procession from St. Mary’s to the War Memorial met the crowds of people who had gathered, while the Vale Brass Band played solemn music. The Wenvoe Scouts and Beavers were on parade with their 
banners flying in the breeze. The leaves falling from the large beech tree was very reminiscent of the poppies that fell from the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance in the Royal Albert Hall the previous evening. The keeping of a solemn act of worship at the War Memorial is a highlight of the year, as we remember not only the men who lost their lives in WWI but also those in WWII and the many wars and conflicts since then, together with the many civilians who died as a result of enemy action in our towns and cities. The Royal British Legion celebrated its centenary this year and the number of wreaths and tributes were the largest in recent years.
On Armistice Day, the senior class from Gwenfo School met at the War Memorial to observe the 2 minutes silence and a short prayer service took place. They were introduced to the outline figure of ‘Tommy’ purchased by the Wenvoe Community Council as a reminder of the caring nature of the Legion in looking after the survivors and the injured and their families in the past 100 years. There is also now a QR code where you can log in with your smartphone to reveal details of all the names of the fallen inscribed on the large upright stone. The War Memorial is now classed as a Listed Structure for its unique design reflecting the huge amount of quarrying in the Wenvoe area; stones from the Alps Quarry were used in its construction.
St. Mary’s Church is now the responsibility of the Rev. Andrew James Tel No. 029 20512555 where all inquiries should be directed. All services are being covered by a rota of retired priests up to the end of December when fresh arrangements will be made. The weekly newsletter is being produced giving details of the Sunday services in church. There are no midweek services planned at present, and the Christmas Carol service will be a scaled back version on Wednesday December 15th. The Christmas services are detailed on page 4.
The solemn season of Advent starts on November 28th and the Advent Windows will begin to be lit up from 1st December. The final display at the church will, weather permitting, be followed by carol singing.
Christian Aid Week. A very positive result UK wide with an income of over £5m! This of course includes our ‘walking’ and donations which came to £326.20p from our three churches. Plans are going ahead for 2022 and I have been invited to a Zoom call to find information about the next theme.
We continue to support the Barry Food Bank with collections and deliveries on Thursday mornings. The Big Wrap will be going ahead during December with the emphasis on gifts for teenagers, as they consider that the younger children are already well provided for. Cash donations can be given so that the organisers can buy the things that teenagers need. Please use the letter boxes at the Church Hall and the church porch clearly marked Big Wrap. Christmas goodies are also welcome for the food bank to bring a little festive cheer to those who are finding it difficult to manage this year.
As for the future, the setting up of the Ministry Area will not affect the pattern of services in church. The work on the tower is planned for Spring. A new and exciting lighting scheme has been selected for St.Mary’s using a recent bequest. We look forward to a new priest who will be given a great welcome, and will continue to reside at the Rectory. So much to look forward to.
A happy and blessed Christmas to all readers and a Happy New Year – Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.
Parry Edwards
Advent Windows Programme
ADVENT WINDOWS
A St. Mary’s initiative for the whole community
We are delighted to invite you to view the Wenvoe Advent windows again this year. The windows will be decorated from 1st – 24th December, lighting up from 5pm until 9pm. Each evening an additional window is added until all 24 windows are displayed. They begin at 29 Venwood Close (5:00pm), and the Telephone Box (5:30pm). The final window is at St. Mary’s Church on 24th December with help from Gwenfo School. If the weather is fair it is planned to have some carol singing outside the church when the church porch is lit. Please bring lanterns or torches.
All the windows will be numbered and can be viewed from outside the property. Most are within walking distance; however, 3 may need transport (see map below for details). You may need a torch if walking to number 12. Torches are also needed to read the display in the phone box.
We hope you enjoy the windows. We are very grateful to all who are taking part in decorating their windows and inviting us to enjoy them. Maps are available in Springfield Stores, The Wenvoe Arms and the Church Porch.
LIST OF WINDOWS TO VIEW
1st December (a) 29 Venwood Close
1st December (b) Telephone Box, Walston Road
2nd December Springfield Stores
3rd December Wenvoe Arms, Old Port Road
4th December Cresta, Burdon’s Hill
5th December 71 Walston Road
6th December 73 Walston Road
7th December 52 Walston Road
8th December 4 Greenwood Close, Twyn-yr-Odyn
9th December 4 Venwood Close
10th December 9 Walston Road
11th December 15 Old Port Road
12th December 4 Station Terrace
13th December 40 Walston Road
14th December 3 Tarrws Close
15th December 12 Walston Road
16th December 38 Burdons Close
17th December 13 Gwenfo Drive
18th December 24 Old Port Road
19th December 15 Grange Close
20th December 2 Grange Close
21st December Pinetrees, Walston Road
22nd December Gwenfo School
23rd December 6 Walston Road
24th December St Mary’s Church
September 200 Club Draw
Thank You For Your Support
Dear All,
I would just like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your support and encouragement over the last 7 years while I have been the Priest in Charge here of the Parishes of Wenvoe and St Lythans.
I have been most fortunate to serve in such a beautiful place but especially to serve in such a lovely community. It has been a privilege to serve with you and to be involved in different aspects of village life. We are lucky in Wenvoe to still maintain our shop, pub, library, halls and school, and of course all the clubs and societies and What’s On that plays such a wonderful role in keeping people connected. I would just like to make a special mention for Gwenfo School, for the children, parents and staff associated with it. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed coming and being with you at school assemblies and inviting you into St Mary’s and a couple of years ago leading a pilgrimage to St Lythans.
The last 18months have been difficult for everyone, but the way the community has pulled together and supported each other has been inspiring and thank you to the special people who have done so much for others.
I have many highlights of my time with you all. Christmas is always a special time and having the community gathered together with Vale Village Church was always a favourite moment. As was the Waiting for Jesus gathering we used to have on Christmas Eve with people of all ages coming dressed as angels or shepherds (plus the occasional king!). We have enjoyed the Scarecrow Festivals and of course the Vicar in the Stocks and the Teddy Bear Parachute Jump off the Tower. We have had candidates for Confirmation and recorded two programmes for Radio Wales Sunday Worship Celebration.
None of this would have been possible without the magnificent congregations. I don’t know what people were expecting when I first arrived but we have been on a good journey together. What people outside of the church don’t realise is how much all churches rely on volunteers, and here Wenvoe, St Lythans (and Sully – my other church) are in the Premier League. So a special thank you to our Reader Emeritus and local historian and editor (the list could go on), to all who have served as Church Wardens, the Treasurers, the leaders of the Building Committee, the Secretaries to the PCC’s, all PCC members, the people who put together the weekly Newsletter and edit the Magazine those who lead worship and read in church, my clergy colleagues, the people who provide the music, those who organise the refreshments and the social occasions we all enjoy as a community, the leaders of Pebbles and all who have worked with the children and young people in the past, the fundraisers, the 200 Club and those who donate through the various ways to the Church, the Flower arrangers, the clock winders, the people who sort out Foodbank and charity collections. Those who clean the churches and polish the brasses and those who keep and have kept the church grounds looking so good. I hope I haven’t left anyone out, but if I have, I apologise. It is because of these wonderful volunteers that our churches have stood for 800 years and will continue to go for centuries to come.
It is now time for a new chapter for me, and a new chapter for the churches. As we enter into Autumn, we are reminded that there is indeed
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: Ecclesiastes 3.1
With my thanks to you all for the time we have spent together and my continued prayers to the wonderful people of Wenvoe and St Lythans
Blessings
Jon
Wenvoe Advent Windows
ADVENT WINDOWS
A St. Mary’s initiative for the whole community
The plans are going ahead for the Wenvoe Advent Windows. Many local people have volunteered to decorate a window to be revealed during Advent on a given day from 1st until 24th December when all windows will be decorated for everyone to view.
The windows will be lit each day from 5pm until 9pm and can be viewed at a safe distance so that no one need go onto someone’s property. Some will have a collecting box for their specified charity that will be emptied each evening.
A map with the plan of all windows will be included in the next Wenvoe What’s On, with maps available in the Church Porch and, with their permission, in the Village Shop and the Wenvoe Arms. The first window to be revealed on 1st December is at the home of Glenys and Mike Tucker at 29, Venwood Close.
There are a few spaces left if you would like to join in to make sure Advent this year is as enjoyable as in 2020.
Please get in touch if you would like further information or would like help by decorating your window.
Jude Billingham
judebillingham@yahoo.co.uk 07516112897
Farewell to the Rev. Jonathon Ormrod
Rev. Jonathon Ormrod
By the time you are reading this we will have already said farewell to the Rev. Jonathon Ormrod, our parish priest for the last seven years. Jon, as he wished to be called has accepted the position of Priest in Charge of the church of St. Martin’s in Worle, outside Weston super Mare, and we wish him and his family every blessing in his work there. During his tenure here, together with the parishes of St. Lythan’s and Sully, much has been achieved under his shepherding, the congregation has swelled, our “Pebbles” group has grown, and during the past 18 months with the COVID-19 virus, he has been a rock to so many people, and he leaves the parish of Wenvoe in a better state than when he and Sheonagh arrived. Jon did not wish for any “fuss” when he left, no presentation was his wish, for he realised that in today’s uncertainty of the rising costs of living, he would rather people give to far more worthy causes than his leaving for another parish. So it was with a final tea party at Sully and his final services on the 30th October he bade us farewell.
The parish will be in the care of the Area Dean, the Rev. Andrew James of Dinas Powis, who with our assistant curate the Rev. Kevin Barry will be the Ministry team until we enter the “De Morgannwyg” Ministry Area on the 1st January 2022. During this time which is now called a Vacancy, other priests will be brought in to lead services until a time when a new priest will be appointed to serve in the Ministry Area, with responsibility for the churches of St. John the Baptist in Sully, St. Bleddian’s in St. Lythan’s and St Mary’s in Wenvoe.
The Harvest Festival services took place over three weekends and were well attended following the Welsh Government’s “Zero” zone recommendations. There is now no need to book to attend services, but the sanitizing of hands and the wearing of face masks remains mandatory, singing is now allowed and we have reverted to using the hymn books once again. The appeal for tinned or dry goods brought in a huge response and was taken to the Food Bank in Barry. A collection for the Christian Aid Harvest appeal was also taken in all three churches which amounted to £326.00. The Churchwardens wish to thank all who decorated the churches and brought the gifts of food etc and also supported the collection for Christian Aid. Well done. Da iawn
Remembrance Sunday
This year we will resume the commemoration at the Village War Memorial at 10.55 on Remembrance Sunday14th November. There will be no service in St. Mary’s prior to the service at the War Memorial, and a procession will leave the church to be in place at 10.55 am. The Vale of Glamorgan Brass Band will be in attendance and those organisations in the village who wish to lay poppy wreaths are asked to assemble at the church to join the procession. Order of Service leaflets ae being printed and will be available on the day. Donations for the work of the Royal British Legion, which has celebrated its centenary this year, can be posted in the letter box in the church porch or in the church hall.
The Tower Appeal
The Tower Appeal remains open, and we are near to reaching our target figure of £61.000, then we have to face the cost of repairing the church clock on the tower, so we are very grateful to all who have donated money towards the repair and upkeep of the church fabric to make it fit for purpose for the next 100 years. The church officers have for some time been concerned at the continuing failure of the lighting system in the church. The present installation needs constant attention and it is thanks to a generous lighting engineer, who has always replaced and tweaked the system when necessary, who has kept it going at no cost to the church. Church lighting experts have been called in to inspect and suggest a lighting scheme that will enhance the architectural features of the interior and will be an added aid to worship. The demonstrations have shown how light when directed at specific areas, and the shadows thrown up can really lift the soul, and the realisation that we have a lovely church in Wenvoe, and it can be made more lovely with a suitably designed lighting system using the very latest LED fittings and lighting tapes.
Keep safe God Bless
Parry Edwards
