June Church News
June Church News
Greetings to you all from the congregation at St. Mary’s Church.
The weather forecasters have said recently that this year the month of May has been the sunniest and warmest and driest for many, many years. The rainfall has been light and soon there could be calls to use our precious water carefully to conserve supplies. The churchyard is looking lovely this year with the flowering hawthorns showing an abundance of bright red flowers outside the church porch. However, we are missing the large cherry tree in flower. It is now the site of a carving of a leaping salmon, carved from the trunk by our ever-resourceful Mike who looks after the grounds so wonderfully. We get many complements on how well kept both the church and surrounding grounds are, and St. Mary’s is a real treasure in our village. Shortly we shall be working on the roof to replace some slates that have slipped and also replacing the ridge tiles on the Transept roof. These minor defects were reported in the recent Quinquennial inspection with other works needed to maintain the church fabric in good condition.
VE80 celebrations took place in the church and village over the Early Spring Bank Holiday, more commonly known as the May Bank Holiday. The longest period of peace in our country, was celebrated with the same joy that marked the ending of WWII in Europe in 1945, with prayers and hymns in church on the Sunday, a time of reflection at midday on Thursday, followed by the pealing of the church bells in the evening and the lighting of the Beacon of Hope at the village War Memorial at 9.30pm.
The Village Plant show brought the proceedings to an end, and we have to thank both Glenys and Mike Tucker for how well they organised, with their many helpers, a day marked with lovely warm sunshine. Events like this that make our community such a good place to live, a chance to meet up with other Wenvonians to chat about current news and reminisce over past times.
We continue the VE80 theme with an afternoon concert by the Sian’s Singers on Sunday 8th June at 3.00pm at St. Mary’s Church which will include a singalong of WWII songs. Sian’s Singers are a very talented group, and we are pleased to host them at this time. There is no admission charge but donations to church funds will be welcome, and there will be refreshments in the Church Hall following the performance. All are most welcome as we once again remember with gratitude the sacrifices made by our Armed Forces and the members of the civilian population during the years of 1939 – 1945.
The other big event taking place as I write is the Christian Aid Appeal organised by Jude Billingham and her team of helpers. The climate crisis is ravaging the farms of indigenous communities in Guatemala; your financial support
will help fund vital tools and training so farmers can support their community to escape hunger. Many events took place in the village during the week of the 11th May, the results will be reported in next month’s news.
St. Bleddian’s Church update: Those of us with large gardens know how difficult it can be when the lawn needs mowing, the edges trimmed and the weather can often be against you, well imagine the problem of keeping the churchyard at St. Lythan’s in a pristine condition.
Thanks to volunteers from the Friends of St. Lythan’s the maintenance of the churchyard has seen the grass cut, and a general tidy up done in recent days. The church is not being used for regular worship and is used as a festival church to mark those times of the year when special services are held to commemorate the great days in the church’s calendar. So, a big thankyou to all who have helped while the search for a more permanent gardener is made.
We are so grateful for the regular donations to the Vale Food Bank which appear in the collecting boxes in the church porch week by week. Due to your generosity, we are able to take a considerable amount every Thursday morning, thanks to Jude and Nigel, to Barry, and the staff are so pleased that our contribution to those in need, comes each week on a regular basis.
The items most needed at present are tinned potatoes, rice puddings, tinned fruit, meat products and carrier bags. Thank you, thank you! Your gifts are most needed. Alternatively a cash contribution is also welcomed to save carrying heavy items to the collecting boxes. Please place in an envelope clearly marked “Food Bank”.
It is good to have an opportunity to share the St. Mary’s news with the community. You are all held in our Sunday prayers, and if you need advice and help on family matters, please contact Vicar Lyndon on 029 2280 6018 (confidential phone).
Every Blessing to all readers,
Parry