PARTNERS The Ministry Area Newsletter EASTER 2019 Llantrisant

Llangybi

Llanbadoc

Usk

Coed-y-Paen

Tredunnock

Wolvesnewton

Kevin’s Easter Message

Dear Friends, As I write this having just watched the news of the fire that ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral my thoughts have turned to the many challenges and difficulties that seem to face the Church and undermine our faith and our beliefs in this secular world in which we now live. No doubt Jesus’s disciples, following his trial and crucifixion felt something similar. All seemed to be lost – the things that were so dear, destroyed; hope itself obliterated. As we watch the television news stories of the Paris fire and the burning of age-old treasures and see the now crumbling masonry settling into the dust, we can only wonder if this is some kind of metaphor for Christianity and our faith itself.

However, as well as the inspiring stories of faithful individuals and groups praying and singing hymns during that conflagration we also saw that wonderful picture of the Notre Dame altar cross illuminated by sunlight, golden amidst the debris, destruction and smoke filled the interior of the building.

There is a reason we call the Christian story: the Good News. There is a reason why this Easter season is so life- changing. That reason is a person – Jesus Christ.

God identifies with all our pain and suffering because his son Jesus suffered the worst that humanity could throw at him on that first Good Friday.

He suffered that unspeakable death on the Cross so that each one of us might have the opportunity to know God intimately and live lives of true freedom and justice. Lord Rowan Williams wrote: “Wherever you are, however lost you are, however much darkness there is around you, you have not gone beyond the reach of God.”

What we remember and celebrate about Jesus this Easter changed everything. His death on the cross and glorious resurrection gave to humankind a true and certain hope for the future. Not just a hope, but a promise. A promise that one day all will be well.

Revelation 21: 4 declares: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

In the meantime, though, we have work to do, joy to bring, goodness to share. Our divine challenge is to accept Christ’s invitation to follow him and bring a taste of God’s Kingdom here now. To be hope and light. To be kind and generous. To be forgiving and slow to anger. We are all God’s work progress and we can all make a difference whoever we are, wherever we live.

The cross is a powerful symbol of truth over falsehood, hope over despair and life beyond death. St Paul writes, "The message of the cross is sheer folly to those on the way to destruction, but to us, who are on the way to salvation, it is the power of God."

I wish you a truly joyful and life-changing Easter. Kevin St Cybi’s Church Llangybi

At St Cybi’s we continue to try to mark the church’s special festivals with something out of the normal run. Since the previous edition of Partners, have we celebrated Candlemas with a Christingle service which raised funds for the Children’s Society’s work with disadvantaged children and young people. On Mothering Sunday a small number of children engaged in our activities centred on the discovery of Moses in the bulrushes and congregation members received a gift of a flowering plant for their gardens, thanks to the generosity of Morris’s Garden Centre. On Palm Sunday we kept up our tradition of the Palm ceremony and a dramatic rendering of the Passion Gospel. Holy Week saw the third of our Bring and Share Fellowship Suppers, marking the time Jesus shared with his friends in the Upper Room before submitting himself to the Cross. We have a valued, long tradition of marking the Last Hour of the Crucifixion on Good Friday with readings, poems and sacred music. Yet again this year we and our friends from St Madoc’s were privileged to have the beautiful singing of the Byrdsong choir to enhance our remembrance. On Easter Day our family service of Holy Eucharist will be followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for children, in churchyard or church, depending on weather.

Our one time “experimental” Drop-in Café is now into its third year, having only once failed to be open on a Wednesday, on Boxing Day 2018. It is also proud to have helped to spawn the Pop-Up Post Office that arrives in Llangybi every Friday morning.

Now that the long drawn out travails of our big building renovation project have just come to some sort of closure, a friendly dog-walker unlocks and locks our church every day. This has certainly increased the names in our Visitor’s Book and our wall paintings continue to attract interest. The conservator who kept watch on the medieval paintings during the work, uncovered what we knew was on our chancel arch, damaged medieval bits and pieces and a damaged Royal Arms. What to do about this and stopping the damp ingress on the south wall remains a dilemma. More pressing, to our minds, is trying to halt the decline of interest in Christian worship in rural areas, a problem not confined to this Deanery, Diocese or Province we understand.

Rev’d Pamela Love.

SS Peter, Paul and John, Llantrisant Regular Worship The pattern of service since the highlights of Christmas have been a bit of a challenge, although a joint service with in February went well. We look forward to joining them on Palm Sunday. Mothering Sunday We made a special effort this year to encourage the attendance by local families: children, parents and grandparents – in total 8 young children and 19 adults, most of whom do not attend regular services. We might have had one other family had Mum not been on Air Ambulance Duty – she received her flowers on Monday. A simple service, songs from school, a potted flower for mums and a colour-in drawing (courtesy of Tredunnoc for each child. Refreshments and chats were enjoyed after the service. Looking Forward of course to Easter Day – service at 11.15. Then there is much work to do in our two churchyards and more thinking needed about the style and pattern of our worship and witness. We are still awaiting action by the RB on the future use of St Llywell’s church.

We are planning our bi-ennial Church and Community Party for 7th July – for fun and fundraising. There is to be a village wedding in August – best wishes to Emma and Sam Sandy Blair The Priory Church of St Mary, Usk

Lenten Lunch

On Sunday 7th April members of St Mary’s attended a Lenten Lunch in support of Raven House. Guests enjoyed homemade soup together with cheese and pate followed by an informative talk by Maggie Smith from Raven House. Thanks to the generosity of Church members, in addition to the donations of food, a donation of £150 will be passed to Raven House.

Looking forward to the summer, the team are planning a strawberry tea and hoping for a sunny day to share with members of the church, their families and the Usk community Debbie Harper

St Mary’s Church Choir

A few weekends ago, Usk reverberated with the harmonious sounds of many voices taking part in the inaugural Usk Choral Festival. Twelve months before, the St. Mary’s Church choir heard that their application had been successful and that they would be participating. This was a big step out of our comfort zone – singing in front of the screen and so near the audience??! Help!!

Preparations began in January and we narrowed down our programme to include five modern sacred items which we had previously sung in church. However, a concert performance was an ideal opportunity to open up our repertoire so two secular pieces were added…Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Barbershop Blues (complete with Swanee Whistle) ….another first!

The weekend of the festival duly arrived and we were fortunate not only to be singing on our home turf but also to be the first choir on the Saturday evening programme. Robes were dispensed with and a new all black concert strip was adopted with our new cowls adding a blaze of colour. Our vestry warm ups took an even more lighthearted route than usual (if that’s possible?!) mainly to dispel the sudden onset of nerves mixed with excited anticipation. ...and we were on.

The choir really pulled out all the stops, taking all the tips (and cajoling) from rehearsals to give a very special performance. So many lovely compliments were later received from members of the audience ... “a lovely sound” ...”a truly polished performance” ...” great enthusiasm combined with a very musical performance” . All I can say is that I hope our lovely ladies were as proud of their performance as I was – they rocked!

I should like to take this opportunity to thank our choristers for their hard work and dedication to the choir, not only for this concert but throughout the year. Many thanks must also go to our wonderful, patient accompanist Peter Alan. Thank you all! Judith Lee St Andrew’s Church Tredunnock

Advent and Christmas services were well supported by the community and friends of St Andrews. We were delighted to see so many of our village children at our festival of Nine Carols and Readings. Following the service it was a great pleasure to join together and catch up on family news and village life when the mulled wine and mince pies were served. The children discovered the hibernating ladybirds at the north door!

The PCC enjoyed a 12th night evening of song and refreshments kindly hosted at the home of Mr and Mrs David Kenny. We are thankful to Mrs Thelma Cantelo who entertained us and led us in our impromptu community singing. Wedding

Alan Treverton and Sally Jenks were married in St. Andrew’s on the 9th March 2019, by Reverend Graham Oppenheim. Mr Treverton once lived at Croesenen. Bell Ringing at Tredunnock

The bell ringers continue to rehearse and ring their peals out on Friday evenings. Our bells are considered by many to be suitable for new ringers. We are so pleased to assist the ringers of , who are in the process of developing their talents in campanology. It is planned to build a stronger link with Llangattock Lingoed.

If you would like to join the ringers or come along for a taster session in bell ringing please contact Mr. Richard James at Little Ton Farm Tredunnock, 01633 450598. You would be most welcome.

Mothering Sunday Our family service was well supported by many mums and mums to be!

We are grateful to all those who spent many hours preparing beautiful posies of spring flowers.

Future Events We plan to involve the children of our community in developing a wild life garden in the churchyard. Wild Life are going to help us get started!

Lent and Easter Services On Palm Sunday St Andrew’s hosted the Combined Service. Our service on Easter Sunday April 21st commences at 10:00 am. This allows Reverend Graham time to lead three services in three different churches on Easter Day.

Tredunnock Village History Mr David Kenny has carried out extensive research into the history of the village of Tredunnock and the fruits of his labour have now been published in a small book, “Time was in Tredunnock A Miscellany of Village Life”.

Copies are available from David at a cost of £6:50. You can contact David at “Ty Coets” (next to the church) in the village.

Rowena Brace Faculty

During the last year a considerable amount of repair work has been undertaken on some of the churches within the Ministry area and there will always be work planned and much to do in order to maintain all our churches for future generations.

Our Churches are buildings of historic and architectural importance and it is essential that these buildings are handed down intact to future generations. This means that preservation is of key importance and every effort must be made to preserve the original fabric and only in circumstances where this is impossible will new work be allowed. Any new work has to be in character with the old, and this eliminates many modern methods of construction.

Work on our Churches will differ from the normal modern construction in that it will have to last for centuries and to bear the criticism of future generations and to stand side by side with the loving craftsmanship of the existing building. In repairing an ancient building the skill of the tradesman is of outmost importance.

The Church in has a great responsibility to ensure our churches are repaired and maintained correctly, they also have Ecclesiastical Exemption which means that the Government has granted the Church in Wales an exemption from certain secular controls i.e. Listed building consent and Conservation Area consent. This exemption was granted because the Government considered that The Church in Wales has a very rigorous and robust permission system which is the Faculty system.

Most people have heard of a faculty and some even despair, however it is the process we must follow and it will protect us and our churches. What is a Faculty?

A faculty is an ecclesiastical licence which gives permission to make physical alterations. It is the Church in Wales’ mechanism for controlling and approving works and changes to its church property. It is a permission system which seeks to carefully consider proposals before changes are made and includes provision for expert advice and external consultation in arriving at a decision.

In January 2018 the Representative Body of the Church in Wales introduced a new online Faculty system which now processes three types of Faculty application: List A List B and full. Previously there was only one type of faculty application (full) for all types of work which was submitted on paper form. List A and B applications are reduced forms of Faculty which covers routine maintenance, like for like repairs and straightforward works that have little or no impact on the historic fabric of the church or churchyard i.e. Boiler replacement.

Who Grants a Faculty?

A list B Faculty is granted by the Diocesan Registrar. A full Faculty is granted by the Chancellor. Both are legally qualified (although the Chancellor is usually a Judge) and asses each application for a faculty on the basis of the “evidence” presented and the application’s compliance with the Faculty rules

What does the Diocesan Advisory committee do?

The DAC is the principal body which advises the Diocesan Chancellor. It consists of clergy (Archdeacons) as well as specialists in areas such as architecture, archaeology, history, bells or organs. The committee is voluntary and the Church in Wales relies on their expertise John Harris Praying for our Grandchildren

Lillian Penner is the author of Grand parenting with a Purpose: Effective Ways to Pray for Your Grandchildren and is the National Prayer Coordinator for Christian Grand parenting Network. Here are some extracts from her article entitled Four Incredible reasons to pray for our Grandchildren:

1. Our prayers have the power to change lives - I realized that my prayers for my grandchildren had been too vague and general: “Keep them safe,” “Help them in school,” “Open their heart “When we pray according to God’s Word, we are in line with His will, enabling us to pray with power and wisdom. The praying changes not only the lives of our grandchildren, but us as well. We gain a fuller perspective. 2. We Learn to Trust the Faithfulness of God - It’s easy for us grandmothers to worry about our grandchildren. They are faced with choices and challenges we could never imagine when we were their age. Many movies, music lyrics, TV programmes, video games, and the Internet are de- sensitizing our grandchildren. But instead of wringing our hands in distress, we can pray—regularly, intentionally, specifically—trusting them into God’s faithful care. 3. We are Given the Opportunity to Join with others - We have a grandmothers’ prayer group in my church. We meet monthly and pray for our grandchildren, our children, and each other. We encourage each other to love our grandchildren, even when they disappoint us with their music choices, their appearances, and sometimes their body piercings. It’s a “safe place” to share our heavy hearts. We have seen God answer prayers in some remarkable ways. As we age, we may sometimes feel that we are no longer useful. The truth is, God has a significant purpose for us. Just as the Old Testament Queen Esther stood in the gap for her people when their lives were threatened, we can stand in the gap for our grandchildren and their parents as their lives are threatened spiritually. Perhaps at no other time in history is a call to prayer more urgently needed than it is today. Together we can link arms in prayer for the sake of the next generation.

A few years ago on a sunny autumn day, my husband and I were travelling in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Mesmerized by the reflections of the rugged snow-covered mountains and golden aspen trees on a pristine lake, I could not help but ask myself: Do my children and grandchildren see God’s love reflected in my life in the same way? Do they see Jesus in me?

Pondering the answer to these questions led me to realize that the sun must shine on the mountains and trees to create a reflection. In order for God’s love to reflect from my life, the love of Jesus Christ must be shining in my heart, which means that I must be reading and obeying His Word.

4. Grand-parenting Honours God - My husband and I thank God he has given us an opportunity to be prayer warriors for our twelve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Serving Him in this way and leading the cause through Christian Grand-parenting Network’s prayer ministry has given my life purpose and significance. May the light of the Son reflect in you, and may you know the joy of serving as God’s prayer warrior for your grandchildren and future generations.

Father Graham

N.B. for a full transcript of this article please contact Father Graham or the editor

A note from the Editor.

Thanks once again to all who have contributed to this newsletter, which I hope you have enjoyed reading and that it continues to fulfil its purpose of communication across the Ministry Area. I repeat my request for suggestions regarding format and content – there is always room for improvement!! Contributions for the next edition in ‘Word’ format please (as an attachment rather in the body of the e mail is helpful) to [email protected] no later than 1st September 2019.

I wish you all a Happy and Blessed Easter

Sarah Byford