Category: St Mary’s Parish Church News

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June 2022 News Update

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H.M. The Queen’s 70th Jubilee, called the Platinum Jubilee was celebrated in great style in Wenvoe, with the streets and houses decorated with bunting and flags; the only jarring note was the piles of green bags of garden waste littering the streets as the local authority had failed to collect the previous weekend.

The four day programme of events kicked off with the lighting of the Jubilee Beacon and the unveiling of the Toposcope at the Quarryman’s Tribute at Twyn yr Odyn on the Thursday evening. Friday saw many coming to the informal service of thanksgiving followed by a picnic in the church grounds, with fun and games for the children. Saturday the Community Centre was packed almost to capacity with a Bake a Cake and Eat party, with an exhibition of “Old Wenvoe Memorabilia” with many Oh’s and Ah’s. On Sunday many street parties took place in spite of a down turn in the weather All the arrangements were spearheaded by Glenys and Mike Tucker and a great show of thanks is due to them for doggedly making sure that all went so smoothly. So well done everybody who helped with setting up the various crowns on the post boxes and telephone box, the planting of the flower beds in red, white and blue at the War Memorial, the Wenvoe Community Council for the setting up of the beacon, toposcope and allowing use of the Community Centre. Some people were asking can we do this next year. There will never be another celebration such as this in our lifetime, but the next coronation of Charles III could be such an occasion.

At long last the work on the exterior of the church has started with the porch looking very good with the lime mortar applied to the joints between the stones. The tower is a much bigger job and the scaffolding will be in place until the Autumn while raking out of the old cement mortar. Fresh stone has been brought in to replace that which has degraded over the years, and hopefully the work will be completed before our new priest arrives.

The new interior lighting scheme was also completed and how different the church looks. We have a range of nine different scenes for use at normal and alternative services. The system is all LED and colour coded to bring out the colours of the frontals and vestments and has been provided by the generous bequest of the late Mr Ron Thomas who was a faithful worshipper at St. Mary’s when he lived in Walston Rd. Thank you Ron; your bequest has been well spent.

The earliest we can expect to see our new priest take up his position as Vicar in Wenvoe, St. Lythan’s and Sully, will be in September. The delay has been in due part to the confirmation of a sponsor and the necessary application of a visa. These things take time and we have been patiently awaiting the release of his name etc. In the meantime the Rev. Kevin Barry will be leaving us with his last joint Eucharist service for our three churches at St. John’s church in Sully on July 24th, when he will join the East Vale Ministry Area and serve his time at Llancarfan and other churches. Plans are in hand for a farewell get together at Sully following the service on that day. We wish Kevin every blessing on his work, having been with us as an Ordinand some three years ago.

PEBBLES for young children

Alyson who has run this group on Sunday mornings for many years has decided that she wants to work in other areas of the church in becoming a Reader, so is stepping down and we are looking for a replacement in September to keep this little group of young children and their parents together. This is important work in the life of the church, when stories from the Bible and craft work can do so much to bring the words to life. Also singing is a means of children working together and growing together, so please think about this and if you are able to help please talk to the churchwardens.

JOINT CHURCH COUNCIL

Mr Ken Mathews has also decided that it is time for him to relinquish the post of Secretary to the council and Mrs Jennifer Ford has agreed to be our new secretary. We wish to thank Ken for the time he has given to St. Mary’s over the years and he will continue to lay out the weekly newsletter, and keep an eye on the heating system in church. At the same time we wish to welcome Jen to our deliberations on the JCC and will be watching her grow into the job.

CHRISTIAN AID APPEAL

The grand total raised from the appeal this year came to £2,597.67 including gift aid, with contributions from the “Coffee, Cakes and Books,” Gwenfo School and St. Bleddians and St John‘s churches and the house envelope appeal in Wenvoe. We must thank Jude Billinham and her team for the work entailed in presenting this appeal, to raise funds for those in Africa who are not as fortunate as we are.

LLANDAFF UNLOCKED CHURCHES FESTIVAL.

St Mary’s church was opened for visiting on Saturdays the 18th and 25th in support of the festival and an opportunity to see our new lighting scheme.

Thank you for reading the News of St. Mary’s. The church door is open on Sunday for our morning worship at 9.30am; a warm welcome to all.

Parry Edwards

 

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May 2022 News Update

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At long last we can report that work on the repointing of the tower and porch is now underway. The porch has already been completed and it is certainly an improvement on the previous cement mortar. This has all been removed and conservation lime mortar used for the repointing. Work on the tower will continue during the summer months for completion in the autumn, before the frosts set in.

The new lighting scheme has been installed and was trialled on the congregation on Sunday 15th May. Reactions were varied, but generally the new lighting is far superior to the old set up and is easily managed by means of a small keyboard, with pre-set combinations for us in our normal services and the occasional ones of baptism, weddings and funerals. All the light fittings are LED which will give us long life in use and are very economical. We were able to install this scheme due to the generous bequest made to St. Mary’s by the late Mr Ron Thomas, a former resident of Walston Road and a faithful worshipper at St. Mary’s.

The sound system has been checked over and closed circuit television has been installed, with a monitor screen in the transept. The unobtrusive camera is focused on the area of the nave in front of the Rood Screen and Lectern so that when sat in the transept the priest and readers can be seen. Over the years since the transept was built in 1991, people have often felt cut off from the main service as they could not see what was taking place. Now it is hoped that the TV monitor will help them be part of the service. A facility has also been built into the system allowing us to transmit recordings of our service on Facebook. However, no decision has been taken at the present moment.

During the time all this work has been taking place, we have not forgotten the need to provide toilet facilities/catering facilities in the church, and our church architect has been in discussions with the Diocesan Advisory Committee as to what form of extension they will support. We will await their decisions and will work on the advice they have to give as we attempt to bring the church building into a worshipping space fit for use in the 21st century. The question on what we do with the church hall remains on our wish list with regard to selling the site. The present kitchen/toilet facilities need updating and dampness of the building needs work to rectify it, but we continue to use it for church activities.

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CHRISTIAN AID APPEAL

This year the appeal was launched in church on May 1st when Jude Billingham, the organiser for fund raising, gave a presentation during the morning service. This was followed on Saturday May 14th with a Coffee and Cake and Book event in the church hall. This brought a lot of people together and showed Jude and her team of helpers great support for the time they had spent preparing for this event. Appeal envelopes have been delivered to the streets in Wenvoe and Sully to raise money for this most

excellent cause to help those in Africa who are not as fortunate as we are. The results of the appeal will not be known until some time in June when all the results of the various activities taking place will be collated.

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CHURCHES UNLOCKED JUNE 18th – 26th

This is a programme organised by the diocese to open 10 churches considered to be well worth visiting for their historic and artistic features. We will open St. Mary’s on Saturday 18th and Saturday 25th June between 2.00- 4.00 pm. So a date for your diaries. You will get a great welcome and a demo of our lighting system.

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H.M. THE QUEEN’S PLATINUM JUBILEE FAMILY PICNIC –

Details of Picnic

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The appointment of our new priest has been made, but the official announcement has been delayed by reason of obtaining a visa from the Home Office. We know he is married and will be bringing his wife to live in the Rectory in Wenvoe. He is joining us from Canada and his name will be released at the appropriate time. In the meantime, we hold him and his family in our prayers. We will make them very welcome and who knows, we may even fly the Canadian flag from the flagpole on the tower.

See you at the picnic and you are welcome to our Sunday service.

Parry Edwards

 

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April 2022 News Update

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Looking back over the years, the “church news” has tried to keep all the community up to date with what has been happening in the church during the seasons of the church’s year. Why do we wish to do that, for those who go to church regularly will know what is going on, what has taken place and what is planned for the times ahead of us. That is not always the case and in the 10 years or more that it has been my privilege to report of church matters, the whole community is given the choice of reading the monthly reports or not, for as has often been said on this page, the church is the church for all the community. It is the rallying point for those of faith or no faith, when occasions arise that the wider community need a place to gather to say farewell to a friend or neighbour, or when a child is brought to be baptised or a wedding to be celebrated. St Mary’s doors have always been open for those who seek to know more about Jesus Christ.

The reason we have a church here is simply because over many generations in the past 800 years, the church has been there to take care of the poor and oppressed. Somehow these earlier members of the community kept the faith alive and growing during the most difficult of times, in our country’s history. The past ten years have been fairly typical of what has been happening in the country at large. We have seen priests come and go, our congregation is often to be said to be made of very elderly worshippers, but young families bring their children to our “Pebbles “ group. When “Messy Church” starts up again, the opportunity will be there to bring young and old together, in an attempt to support family life and “family togetherness”. The “Chattery Group” is an opportunity for those to meet up and talk about all sorts of things, for hospitality in any form is part of the tradition of the church which is offered to friend or stranger alike. We have had two years of severe restrictions due to COVID, when our church was closed for a time, and then allowed to re-open under the Welsh Government rules for gatherings, and yet thanks be to God we have weathered the crisis and we can now offer a Sunday service at 9.30 am when singing is not only allowed but is encouraged. Do feel free to join us, you will be assured of a great welcome, and if you are new to the village, do come and say hello.

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The scaffolding has now been erected around the tower in readiness for the work of repointing to begin. The condition of the stone work of the tower was never great, and previous work over the years has revealed that many of the stones have been damaged by poor choice of materials and the application of cement based mortar, rather than a lime based mortar. It is thanks to the generosity of donations from local people as well as fund aiding organisations that we have been able to raise the money to carry out the repairs.

The contractors for the new interior lighting scheme hope to be on site in May to install the new and latest LED lighting units, which will completely change the way the church will be seen. This work has been made possible by the generous gift in the will of the late Ron Thomas, of Walston Rd, who with his wife, had been a worshipper at St. Mary’s for many years. His gift will greatly enhance the experience of worship in St. Mary’s as we will be able to highlight different parts of the church during the times of service, and once we get to know the different combinations of the lighting circuits, demonstrations will be possible on open days etc.

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During May we shall be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Christian Aid with a house to house collection and other fund raising activities which Jude Billingham has written about elsewhere in “What’s On” Please give as generously as you can, in these difficult financial times when we are all facing huge increases in the cost of living, but we are in a much better situation than those who rely on organisations like C.A. where their standard of living is much poorer than ours.

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The season of Lent came to an end with a glorious celebration of the Eucharist on Easter Day, when Kevin presided. The church was beautifully decorated with Lilies given in memory of loved ones and our organist Robert excelled himself with voluntaries and other pieces of music as well as the hymns, sung with much gusto. The preaching cross in the churchyard was once again decorated by Mike and Glenys Tucker, which announces to the world that there was something great happening, that Jesus has risen from the grave and is alive in the world. The Easter Garden in the porch was assembled by Brian Jones who with Sandra, his wife, arranged the supply of flowers for the church decoration. It is little acts like this that states that here is a live and active church, by no means a museum piece, also the flag flying from the tower and the bells ringing out all proclaim that here is a live breathing building with a welcoming church family awaiting to greet you all.

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The Annual Church Vestry meeting of the Joint Church Councils of St Mary’s and St. Bleddians has also taken place and the churchwardens were elected for another year of office. The arrival of our new priest has been delayed for various reasons and the successful candidate remains under wraps until the announcement is made by Bishop June, but we are promised we will not have to wait much longer than is necessary.

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St. Mary’s church is now part of the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg, all enquiries to Fr Andrew James of Dinas Powis, Tel No. 02920512555.

 

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March 2022 News Update

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March 2022 has seen the relaxation of most of the COVID restrictions imposed by the Welsh Government to safeguard the population against contracting this most awful disease. Churches were treated no differently from other organisations and the wearing of masks, social distancing, and lateral flow testing, became a part of everyday life. Now we are returning to a ‘new’ kind of normal. As of the end of the month, the wearing of face coverings in church will be up to the individual. Seating will be as before Covid and singing will be used during the services. The Easter Day Eucharist will be a sung eucharist to honour this most important day in the church’s year. The church will be decorated with the traditional Easter Lilies, donated by the members of the congregation in memory of loved ones who have passed into greater glory. Do please feel free to join us in this celebration. A most warm welcome is assured, ‘come old, come young, come those who are fearful to meet the risen Lord’.

This has been a time of anticipation and frustration in the church during March. Anticipation because we are awaiting the appointment of a new priest for Wenvoe, St. Lythan’s and Sully. The selection panel has met to assess and interview the three candidates who had applied for the position. The decision has been made and we await the timing of the announcement from the Bishop.

The frustration is due to the delay in the work on the tower. The exploratory work has revealed much more damage to the stone than was at first discovered. This has meant that extra costs will be involved, and then there is the discussion on the correct shade of lime mortar to be used. All this takes time and we are anxious that the work is put in hand as quickly as possible.

During the season of Lent, a series of Lenten talks have been held with church members in Sully on Zoom on the theme of ‘Growing Good’. This takes the analogy of a garden prepared for growth. Not just one season but many seasons are necessary for a garden to produce results. And likewise it is much the same with our churches. We have gone through two years of stagnation, and we, like many others have lost worshippers but are hoping that they will return to the fold in good time. Our future as a church will be to welcome our new priest who will lead us into fresh pastures, in the company of younger families from the community. We have a wonderful church school in Wenvoe and we look forward to a closer working relationship with the staff and the pupils in the months ahead. We have to nurture our children in every way we can and the church will be open to any ideas to help them grow into loving, compassionate members of the community. Likewise with the scouting organisations. All are welcome to use the facilities which the church can offer.

Christian Aid – During the month we watched on our TV screens the horror that is taking place in Ukraine. The school appealed for clothing, bedding

and other goods to be sent to relieve some of the suffering of the population. They were overwhelmed with the response. In church we decided to support the Christian Aid appeal for money and here is Jude Billingham’s report.

Collection for Ukraine – Many thanks for your donations that raised £200. The Church has topped this up to £500 and it has been sent via Christian Aid. A contribution was also sent from St.Lythan’s for £100. Thank you to all who gave so willingly.

Christian Aid Week 2022 – As part of our fund raising this year we will be holding a ‘Coffee, Cakes and Bookstall’ on Saturday 14th May. Any books you have surplus will be much appreciated for either adults or children. A box has been placed in the church porch for your donations which will be emptied regularly.

Regards, Jude

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The Ministry Area Council of De Morgannwg has met and have agreed the procedures for the setting up of Church councils. Here we will have a joint church council, with St. Lythan’s joining with Wenvoe for administration purposes. There will be no changes to the arrangements for services and the benefits from the new arrangements have yet to be seen. A new Electoral Roll of all members of the nine churches is being drawn up and application can be on line or on hard copies available in our churches. This remains an important part of church life as it gives an indication of the strength of the churches and the option of being a part of any voting that may be required for the positions of wardens who will look after the church buildings and with the Vicar will help forward the mission of the church to the community. The closing date for all applications is 30th March.

We are affected, like the rest of the nation in the cost of heating our homes and the church is no exception. We have kept the heating on during the winter months on a minimum setting to keep the building safe from condensation. The bills are very high and the decision has been made to lower the temperature even more during the week in the Summer months so that the thermostat will only bring the heating on, on very few occasions. Likewise our new lighting system will be by LED lighting and that will also help towards keeping our energy costs as low as possible.

On that cheerful note, we look forward to the future and welcome you all to be part of the journey together with our new Vicar.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Parry Edwards

 

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