June Church News
June Church News
Greetings from the congregation at St. Mary’s to the wider community of Wenvoe and St. Lythan’s. We invite you to join us online at ipcamlive.com/stmarywenvoe
By the time you are reading the church news, let us hope that Summer may have finally decided to stay with us and the cold winds of the Spring have moved away.
The month of May has been a busy time for the church in Wenvoe. On Sunday May 3rd a Confirmation Service was held when candidates from Wenvoe and Dinas Powys were presented to Bishop Mary. It was a lovely service filled with love and friendship, and we congratulate Maddie, Rebecca, George, Ada, Pheobe and Helledd in making their commitment to Christ with all the family around them. The service was followed with a reception in the church hall, kindly provided by their families. Well done everyone who helped to make this an occasion they will remember for years to come.
The Quiz Night was a sell-out on the evening of May 9th. The evening was entertaining and thought provoking and was enjoyed by all. The event was hugely successful thanks to the organiser Ray Harris who was ably assisted by Alun Jones as scorer. Thanks to all who arranged and to those who supported the quiz which raised the grand total of £515.00. This is earmarked for new chairs for use in the hall.
Rogation Sunday on the 10th May saw the congregation in procession around the centre of the village, when the water in the stream was blessed together with the plants and flowers in the garden. Rogation means “to ask” and so on this occasion a blessing is asked for a good harvest in the fields, sustainable fishing in the seas, looking after the good earth not exploiting the riches, and a fairer sharing of the world’s resources.
Christian Aid Appeal 10th-16th May: This year the appeal was centred around the situation in Nairobi. We were introduced to Fridah, a hard-working mother and grandmother, deeply committed to her family and her faith. Intense urban poverty in Nairobi is challenging her ability to provide for her family. But, with her unstoppable resolve plus skills training from CA’s partner Beacon of Hope, Fridah is growing vegetables in space saving vertical containers. Now, she can put healthy food on the table and sell her excess produce to cover school costs for her children and grandson.
Our team of volunteers to aid the appeal, led by Jude Billingham, ensured that every household in the village had the opportunity to support the fund raising. This will be put together with the amount raised at the Agape Supper earlier in the year, the Gwenfo School’s fundraising and the Cake, Cake
and more Cake coffee morning in the church hall on the 16th of May. Collating all these different streams of fundraising including the contribution from St. John’s in Sully can be quite a task and Jude is to be thanked for the encouragement she is able to pass on to all who expressed their wish to be involved. The total amount including Gift Aid will not be known for several weeks, but we hope that the community of Wenvoe and Sully will have been as generous as the results from last year’s appeal.
The Chattery continues to meet in the church hall on the second Thursday morning of the month at 10.30. The drawing of the FREE raffle is always a time of great hilarity. The wide variety of prizes are all donated, often very varied and the winners take their time in choosing their unexpected good luck. All this for the modest sum of £2.00 …. a real bargain for an opportunity to meet up with old friends and catch up with all their family news. The money raised is allocated to the Church Building Fund. There have been many comments recently about the fresh appearance and pleasant atmosphere following the refurbishment of the church hall last year.
The Food Bank: Due to the high cost of fuel to transport the items to the warehouse in Barry, the deliveries are now made twice monthly. The contributions we receive are most welcome and the donations are so generous and needed by families not as fortunate as we are. Last month 304 vouchers were fulfilled, there was an increase of 15% of those seeking help; 406 adults were fed, 206 children were fed; and 70 new recipients were helped. The most requested items this month include Tuna, peanut butter, jam, UHT milk, tinned meat for hot meals and cold meats. Many thanks for all your recent donations. They are gratefully received
Ministry Area Annual Vestry Meeting took place at St. Peter’s in Dinas Powys on Wednesday 13th May at 7.00pm.
Looking ahead…
Ordination of our Curate and Deacon: The Ordination of David, to the Priesthood will take place at Llandaff Cathedral on June 20th at 11.00am. A coach has been booked to convey members of our combined congregations to support David. The service will be reported in the July issue of ‘What’s On’.
Feast Days to come include Pentecost – the birthday of the church. Followed by the season of Trinity and lastly on May 31st a joint Eucharist service for our three churches at 10.00 am.
All are welcome to our services; you are assured of a very warm welcome.
Blessings to you all who read all about the activities at St. Mary’s Church.
Parry