May News and Events
The month of May opened with the feast day of St. Philip and St James, known to many as the feast of “Phil and Jim”, and May Day brings to mind the young maidens of the village dancing around the May Pole. How things have changed, with May Day being associated with parades, gatherings of working people to air their grievances and demand better working conditions, and the Bank Holiday transferred to the first Monday of the month. This year the weather was glorious and many a picnic or barbeque was organised to take advantage of warm sunny days after the long cold winter.
The good weather continued until Messy Church on the 5th May was held in the Gwenfo School grounds, when the theme of the afternoon was the Exodus of the Isrealites from Egypt to the “Promised Land”. Much fun was had in the children’s painted footprints being printed on a roll of paper symbolising the long trek all those years ago, and the inners of toilet rolls were made into representations of Moses who led the people out of slavery into freedom. The session ended with food and toasted marshmallows around the camp fire. All in all, once again a good gathering of parents and children who would not normally attend the more formal services in church.
Early in the month, Jude Billingham, gave a presentation in church, to introduce the Christian Aid appeal this month, featuring the building of homes in Haiti and other islands devastated by hurricanes and storms, which are strong enough to withstand the force of the winds and rain. We heard how one such house sheltered over 50 people during the storm, when their flimsy houses were destroyed, saving their lives and keeping them safe while the storm raged. These are simple houses that can be built quickly for around £50.00, and the appeal is focused on provided as many of these homes as quickly as possible. The house to house collection took place in the week commencing the 13th May and the result will not be known until mid June. This year the planned Big Brekkie did not take place, but the school has arranged a Big Breakfast at Lunch time and a no uniform day on Friday 18th May to raise money for the appeal, plus the money raised at the Lent Lunches and Agape supper there was also a collecting box in the local shop, the end result could be greater than last year.
Work started on digging the “French Drains” on the South side of the church, which means digging down at least a metre in depth. Archeologists were on hand to supervise the excavations for any artefacts and bones that might be found in the trenches. A new “soakaway” was also constructed under the path to the porch, to drain the rain water from the roof. This work was carried out by Mike who also dug the other drains last year. This work in necessary to eliminate damp creeping up the walls of the Nave, and is being funded from our Building Fund, using money received from the appeals made from time to time to top up this fund. St Mary’s is a
Grade 2 listed building in constant need of work to keep it in good order. Contributions toward future work will always be acceptable.
The Feast of Pentecost was celebrated on May 20th, this is commonly known as the “Birthday of the Church” when the Holy Spirit descended on the Disciples gathered in the Upper Room and is 50 days after Easter. A week later Trinity Sunday began the long season of “Sundays after Pentecost” lasting until The Kingdom Season” in the Autumn.
The three parishes have been responding to the appeal for Helen Ormrod SRN to raise money for her to be on The Mercy Ship which provides health care to impoverished place around the world. Helen has to raise £3000 to be able to be part of the team on board. Already there was the “Guess the Weight of the Simnel Cake” and “How many mini eggs was in the jar” and on the evening of Friday 25th May an “Evening of Entertainment with Johnny Tudor and Olwen Rees” was held in the Wenvoe Community Centre to help swell the fund.
St. Mary’s needs a new Gift Aid Secretary. Allen Oliver and Lynn are retiring after 16 years in office. This post is very important to St. Mary’s and St. Lythan’s churches to enable tax rebates to be collected from HM Customs on gift aid donations. At the Annual Vestry Meeting Allen and Lynn were thanked for the contribution they have made over the years. Now we seek a replacement Gift Aid Secretary to continue this work, for without the tax rebates our church finances would be not be as healthy as they are.
Thank you for taking the time to read this
Parry Edwards