Remaining In a Vacancy
We remain in a vacancy at the present moment, and during January we had to revert back to booking places in church for our Sunday morning worship.
We are finding our way in the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg, and have produced our first quarterly Ministry Area magazine. At present it is only online, but we hope to be able to print hard copies for those of the congregation that are not IT minded.
Our representative on the Ministry Area council (MAC) will be Jude Billingham, who will report back to the local church council, the decisions arrived at and will present any local concerns that need to be addressed, by the council on our behalf.
Jude has kindly allowed me to include the items she wrote in the latest MA Magazine here:
Ministry Area Connections: St. Mary’s Church Wenvoe
We said farewell to Rev. Jonathon Ormrod, our parish priest for the last seven years in the Autumn. Jon, as he wished to be called had 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 (with a simple gift of a new Preaching Scarf) and his final services on the 30th October he bade us farewell. Those of us who were able to join him in his investiture in Worle were pleased to see him wearing his new preaching scarf!
The parish is now in the care of the Area Dean, the Rev. Andrew James of Dinas Powys, who with our assistant curate the Rev. Kevin Barry, will be the Ministry team until we enter the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg on the 1st January 2022. During this time other priests have been welcomed in to lead services until a new Vicar is appointed.
The Harvest Festival service took place and was well attended within the Welsh Government’s recommendations. At that time there was no need to book places to attend services, but the sanitizing of hands and the wearing of face masks remained mandatory. Singing was allowed and it was great to include the Pebbles group helping to lead the worship 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 which amounted to £326.00.
In the run up to Christmas we held the carol service in St Mary’s Church. This was a scaled down version of previous years, but still very moving with hope for the future. The midnight service was sparsely attended welcoming in Christmas more quietly, but enjoyed by those present. The Christmas Day service was at St. Lythan’s and the following St. Stephen’s Day was at Wenvoe. Thanks to the visiting priests who made this possible.
Christmas Appeal: Sully joined Wenvoe to take a Christian Aid collection for the Christmas Appeal. This year they featured how they could help women in obtaining clean water. The example was a woman called Adut in Southern Sudan who had no choice but to give her children dirty water to drink. Their water supply came from the local river where cows and goats drink and where villagers wash. With help from Christian Aid they now have a pump for clean water from an underground water source. With further funding other villages can have this too. The collection raised £116 and this has been sent to Christian Aid.
Donations to the Vale foodbank have continued from Wenvoe and Sully throughout 2021. Additional Christmas goodies were readily donated. Many thanks to all who donated for this Christmas Appeal and to those who give regularly.
Alongside foodbank donations many gave generously to the ‘Big Wrap’. This initiative helps families in the Vale who are experiencing difficulties to provide gifts for their children. This year the Big Wrap decided to concentrate on collecting for teenagers as other organisations often provide gifts for younger children and the older ones miss out. This proved quite a challenge! However, many thanks for all the imaginative ideas and gifts which filled the car boot, with an additional £312 to enable the Big Wrap to provide gifts.
A number of Faculty applications have been submitted to the Diocesan Advisory committee (DAC) for work we wish to undertake in the future. They are for the new lighting scheme, the disposal of 2 pews, the removal of the “snail creep” mortar within the porch and for the restoration of the reredos at the altar. These are on display on the church door, for inspection and comment.
Our curate the Rev. Kevin Barry, was priested by Bishop June in a ceremony at St. Peter’s church in Dinas Powys. on the 30th January. This church is the largest in the MA and to accommodate all who wished to be present it was decided to move the event from Wenvoe. This means that Kevin will be able to celebrate the Eucharist in our churches without the need for a visiting priest.
The church is open in line with the Welsh Government regulations. A warm welcome to all.
Keep safe and wear your mask.
Parry Edwards