August and September 2018 the Parish Magazine for Dowlais, Pant
The Link
The Parish Magazine for Dowlais, Pant and Penydarren
All Saints Church Dowlais, and Christchurch, Pant
August and September 2018
Rector: Rev. Caroline Owen The Rectory, Gwernllwyn Road, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil CF48 3NA Phone: 01685 558660 Email: [email protected]
Rector’s Warden: People’s Warden Barbara Edwards and PCC Secretary: Dorcas Cox Home 01685 387 665 Home 01685 554 995 Mobile 07810400068 Mobile 07807264009
Dear Friends,
The Church’s seasons move rapidly in the first part of the year, Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and so on, each bringing their own excitement and celebrations. We’re now in what Sir John Betjeman described as the long green days of Trinity. The coloured hangings and altar frontals are green and we remain green until November. Green is the colour of hope, life and growth. The natural world around us is springing back into the fullness of life. In the church, it marks the period in which the church began to grow and to spread the Gospel to all nations. This time in the Church’s year is known as ‘ordinary time’. That’s not a good name, as no day is ordinary. Every day is someone’s birthday or anniversary and most importantly, every day is a gift. We don’t have tomorrow as a right. This prayer is used in the service of Morning Prayer.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind. As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever. Amen
Let’s rejoice in the gift of each new day of this glorious summer. Every blessing, Caroline
What’s on in August?
Holy Communion each Wednesday at 10am in Christchurch, Pant.
August 5th - 9.30am - Christchurch - Holy Eucharist - 11.00 am - All Saints Church - Holy Eucharist
August 7th - 2.30pm - Mother’s Union
August 12th - 09.30am - Christchurch - Holy Eucharist - 11.00 am - All Saints Church - Holy Eucharist
August 19th - 09.30am - Christchurch - Holy Eucharist - 11.00 am - All Saints Church -Holy Eucharist - 4pm - Christchurch - PET SERVICE
August 26th - 09.30am - Christchurch - Holy Eucharist - 11.00 am - All Saints Church - Holy Eucharist
What’s on in September?
Holy Communion each Wednesday at 10am in Christchurch.
September 2nd - 09.30am - Christchurch - Holy Eucharist - 11.00am - All Saints - Holy Eucharist
September 4th - 2.30pm - Mother’s Union
September 9th - 9.30am - Christchurch - 11.00am - All Saints
September 16th - 09.30am - Christchurch - Holy Eucharist - 11.00am - All Saints - Holy Eucharist - 5pm - All Saints - Service for Peace
September 23rd - 09.30am Christchurch - Holy Eucharist - 11.00 am- All Saints - Holy Eucharist
September 26th - 7pm - Ladies Group
September 29th - Diocesan Conference
September 30th - 09.30am Christchurch - Holy Eucharist - 11.00 am- All Saints - Holy Eucharist
Looking ahead - some more dates for your diary…
Cowboys and Indians Night at Christchurch Hall, Friday September 14th. Blow Dry and Bubbles Night, Wednesday 7th November at All Saints Church Hall. Christmas Tree Festival at Christchurch on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th December. This is something like a Flower Festival: we will fill the church with trees lit up and decorated with Christmas themes - eg angel tree, bell tree, cracker tree, poinsettia tree, Santa tree, Rudolph tree, present tree, toy tree, 12 days of Christmas tree - the list is endless. We will ask groups in the community to contribute trees, and make this a real community Christmas Festival. Pop in to your local charity shop, and stock up on trees, then let your imagination run riot!
From the Parish Registers:
Baptism: 19th May - Eli Gareth Morgan
We welcome Eli into the family of the church.
Wedding: 30th June - Melissa Hopkins and Gareth White
Every blessing on their lives together.
Funerals:
21st June - Cherrill Thomas 6th July - Norman Howells
May they rest in peace.
A Summer Prayer: Great God, you dress the world in summertime, and paint the sky with stars. You write your story on our lives, and guide the ways of all. Give us a wider sense of wonder, that we may unwrap the world like a gift, always thanking you for your goodness, and living in peace with our neighbours. Amen.
Congratulations, and Celebrations!
Oliver Berry, grandson of Paula and Delwyn Jones, will be popping up on our screens again soon - watch out for the Nutella advert...
Happy birthday to Anne on the 18th September, with love from Colin, Robert, Sharon and Amy Parker. xxx
Congratulations to Eric James, who resides in our parish, on becoming the 79th President, in its 90th year, of the Rotary Club of Merthyr Tydfil.
Congratulations to Carwyn Cox , son of our warden Dorcas Cox, who was sworn in as Recorder at Preston Crown Court, on 22nd June.
Oliver Thomas Samuel Congratulations to our has arrived! darling granddaughter Menai Gwen Richards on Congratulations to the graduating from Swansea Samuel family on a new baby University with a 2.1 honours brother for Shannon, Isla and degree in Psychology. Best wishes Freya. Best wishes to David Menai for success in your pursuit and Rebecca. of a Masters, again at Swansea Margaret and Lyndon. University. Love from Gran and Gramps. xxxx
Congratulations Adam and Stephanie on your Wedding Anniversary on the 25th August. With love from Mam and Dad xxx
The Parish Walk—Rhydycar to Ss Peter and Paul Church Abercanaid
The day was baking hot, but an intrepid group of walkers walked down the Taf Trail on the canal bank to the newly renovated church for a service on the theme of pilgrimage. We’d planned a longer walk on Abercanaid mountain, but common sense prevailed and we stayed under the trees. We received a warm welcome - and even more important, cold drinks! - from members of the church congregation, and a formal welcome at the beginning of the service from Rev Mark Prevett, priest in charge of Merthyr Tydfil. We were most impressed with the work that has been done in the church, some of it, as you may see in the photos, similar to the work that was done in our own All Saints, but also some new ideas we’ll be bringing back with us.
What’s a Pilgrimage?
A pilgrimage is a journey made in faith, journeying from the known to the unknown, from the everyday to the special, or to the holy. There are pilgrimages in all religions: Muslims go to Mecca, the Jews go to Jerusalem and from the early days of the Christian church, pilgrimages were taken to lots of different places.
For Christians, particularly in the Middle Ages, the pilgrimage, the journey, became a metaphor for life itself - in our time on earth we’re on a journey ‘pilgrims and strangers … seeking a homeland… ’
For the family of Jesus, pilgrimage was part of their way of life. Luke’s gospel tells us ‘Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover’. When we engage in pilgrimage, Jesus the pilgrim is our companion; in fact, he is the companion who is himself ‘The Way’.
August 11am 18th - 4pm
SUMMER FÉTE PANT AND DOWLAIS —and all of Merthyr Tydfil! We’re planning to have a Parish Stall 50p for adults, at the F e. We’ll be collecting Teddy ét free for children. Bears of all shapes and sizes (no other cuddly toys) and everyone who pays £1 will draw a raffle ticket and win a Teddy. Please check out those teddies at the end of your bed, and donate one or two to a great cause!
My Favourite The day thou gavest Lord is ended The darkness falls at thy behest’ Hymn To thee our morning hymns ascended, The Day Thou Gavest Thy praise shall sanctify our rest. Lord is Ended Written around 1870 by John Ellerton, a priest in the Church of England and a significant Victorian hymn writer. Evening offices, or Evensong in the Anglican Church, were times to thank God for the light and blessings of the day and request rest and safety throughout the night. One of the leading hymn writers of his era, Ellerton has carefully crafted a prayer of thanksgiving for the expansion of the church around the world so that “the voice of prayer is never silent, nor dies the strain of praise away”. It is a hymn which has often topped the charts in the BBC's Songs of Praise poll, much admired for its beautifully managed geographical progression and structure. Another of its ‘claims to fame’ is that Queen Victoria selected it as the hymn for her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, when it was sung in thousands of churches throughout her domains – 'As o'er each continent and island, the dawn leads on another day.' Even more poignantly, it was sung exactly a century later when Britain handed control of Hong Kong to China in 1997, closing a final chapter in the imperial story. The lovely waltzing tune, 'St Clement', is usually credited to the Revd. Clement Scholefield, and was commissioned by Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) for a collection of new hymn tunes. However, there are suggestions by some that Scholefield's other compositions are so feeble that Sullivan might have acted as more than editor, and written the tune himself! While definitely a product of its age, I think this hymn lives on due to its beautiful and moving words set to a gentle, lilting melody.
Maureen Prothero p.s. If you have a favourite hymn, please let me know and I will try to include it in one of our Sunday services.
Tony’s Tea-tastic.
Strawberry scones with jam and cream, chocolate brownies, fondant fancies, welsh cakes, bara brith … I’m still dreaming about all the wonderful cakes we enjoyed at the Tea party at the Rectory to raise money for Prostate Cancer Research. We called it a Cupcake Party, but when it comes to cakes, I’m not fussy. I’m very grateful to everyone who donated cakes for the party and particularly to Timothy the manager of Iceland, who donated four trays of cupcakes.
June 30th was 10 years to the day since my lovely husband Tony died of Prostate Cancer, and we wanted to do something to celebrate his life. What better way than to hold an event to raise money to combat the disease that killed him - and to raise the money by eating cake? How he would have enjoyed that, he did love a party. The sun shone on us that day, as it had done for several weeks, so much so that you can see the yellowed grass in the picture. But despite the heat, most of our intrepid party goers stayed out in the garden rather than retreating to the house.
Tea in the sunshine and shade.
All Saint’s Church Ladies Group. s How much do you know about the Royal Family? Do you know the Queen’s two middle names? Who wrote the book Budgie the little helicopter ? Who did Autumn Kelly marry? What was the name of the first man Princess Margaret wanted to marry?
Our May meeting was just after the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and we celebrated the occasion with a special Royal Quiz - featuring the questions above and a lot more. The group split into four teams, and though no team got all the answers right, it was a close run (and hard fought ) contest. The winning team shared a box of Cadbury’s Roses.
And the answers? Peter Phillips, Peter Townsend. Peter Phillips, Peter
Alexandra Mary, Sarah, Duchess of York, York, of Duchess Sarah, Mary, Alexandra
June meeting The quiz went down so well that in the following month we had another one! We began with a business meeting to plan and organise our coach trip to Oystermouth on July 12th (photos on following pages) and our Coffee Morning on July 25th for Cancer Aid Merthyr Tydfil. The meeting was close to the Feast of Ss Peter and Paul, on June 29th, and so the Rector opened with a short talk on St Paul’s life and handed out a leaflet (also reproduced in following pages) before setting a quiz on St Paul. This time, every answer was correct - well listened ladies!
The Ladies Group who Lunch!
It was a sunny day but luckily the temperatures dropped a bit for the Ladies Group Summer Trip to Oystermouth - coffee, lunch and a little light shopping.
…. And then the coach took them on to the Langland Bay Brasserie for coffee. Sadly, I’m told there are no photos of the brave paddlers!
St Paul Paul was born at Tarsus in Cilicia (Turkey), lived around the time of Jesus but never met Him during his earthly life. Paul’s Hebrew name was Saul. A tent-maker by trade, as a young man he was a devout Jew - in fact, a Pharisee. He hated the Christians, and persecuted the followers of Jesus. He even helped at the stoning of St. Stephen. In the Book of Acts, we read about Saul's amazing conversion. Paul was on his way to the city of Damascus to hunt down more Christians. Suddenly, a great light shone all around him and he was knocked to the ground. He was struck blind; and he heard a voice say, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Saul answered, "Who are you, Sir?" And the voice said, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting." Saul was shocked and confused. After a few seconds, he asked, "What do you want me to do?" Jesus told him to continue on to Damascus and there he would be told what to do. At that moment, Saul received the gift of faith in Jesus. Weak and trembling, he reached out for help and his companions led him into Damascus. His sight was restored and he became devoted to Jesus. He was baptized and changed from Saul to the Roman name Paul. He became one of the apostles and travelled over 10,000 miles with boundless energy all over the world, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is through his missionary efforts that Christianity, originally a sect of Judaism, became a world religion.
Bits and Pieces. Congratulations to Rev Charlotte Year of Pilgrimage Rushton, curate of the Parish of Merthyr
The Church in Wales in Tydfil, Llandaff Diocese is who was embarking on a Year of ordained Pilgrimage to priest in reinvigorate its work and Llandaff worship as part of the Cathedral Church’s 2020 centenary in June. celebrations. She will continue And to launch the to work in programme, the Bishop Merthyr, and we hope to see more of of Llandaff, June Osborne, her in our parish in the next year. has announced that the next ‘Clergy School’ will Prostate Cancer Research take the form of a pilgrimage. Priests from At the moment, your wonderful the more than 100 response to the idea of a Tea Party churches in Llandaff will means that we have raised an travel to Santiago de amazing £1,000 for PCR, but we Compostela in Northern haven’t finished yet. Spain – the location of the Mairwen Hagerty shrine of St James the has made and raffled Apostle, which for many this beautiful fox, centuries has been the and at the time of destination of pilgrimage going to print, routes known as ‘The she has raised Camino’. more than £50! Thank you This regular clergy Mairwen, school, in May 2019, will and thank you all be used to train and so much for your kind generosity. equip priests to teach and And gentlemen—make sure you lead pilgrimage in their know the signs of this very treatable own communities. disease.
More days in the sun.
The Trefoil Guild who meet in Christchurch and have a number of our church members enjoying a trip on Brecon canal.
The Great Get Together - Picnic in Cyfarthfa Park.
GERMANY & FRANCE: A SUMMER’S SOJOURN: Before: Part 1 - Huw Williams After much planning, Dowlais branch of the Royal British Legion embarks on its second European trip. The first was in October 2014 to the Ypres Salient, as that area of not more than fifteen kilometres surrounding the medieval cloth town in Belgium is known. In the first week in August a similar trip – well, similar in that we have booked the same battlefield local guide, the same coach driver and Mainline coach firm, leaving at the same time – midnight on Sunday - but this time to northern France to stay at Amiens-Albert due north of Paris. Don’t you wish you were with us?! We have the blessing of the branch’s padre, our very own Rector Caroline, for the journey. But for me Germany beckons first, a few days before I meet up with the incoming Dowlais ranks at Albert. I am going via train to Speyer, south of Mannheim, where at the fine cathedral, the kings and queens of the Germanic dynasty of the Hohenzollerns lie buried. On the night of 16th and 17th April 1943 a Halifax bomber of 76 squadron, RAF Bomber Command, flight number DK 165 on returning from a large scale coordinated raid on the Pilsen’s armaments factory just within the Czech borders was shot down. All but one of the crew of six was lost and one of them who perished was the Sergeant Navigator, my uncle, Kenneth Rees George Williams, of Garden City at Penydarren, my dad’s older brother. A month later squadron 617 comprised of Lancaster bombers took off to raid German strategic targets: that flight has gone down in history as “the dambusters”. The municipalities of Lachen-Speyerdorf and Hassloch are funding a formal reception and dinner to celebrate the unveiling of a stone inscribed in commemoration of the crash site. So I am representing my wider family at this gathering of descendants of all the crew at Speyer. I have visited the collective grave at Rheinberg several hundred kilometres away from this crash site in August 2008 with my late friend, John Smith. In memory of that dear friend, who provided the detailed tour notes accompanying the first visit, I have penned some notes of that theatre of war known as The Somme Campaign.
The sheer number of books, recollections, histories and films on this series of battles which lasted from July 1st 1916 to mid November, staggers the mind. The casualties were not declared at the time: some 20,000 lost on the British side on the first day alone, despite a constant gun bombardment laid down to rid the approach, including through Mametz Wood, of German opposition. It did not happen. German losses were equally appalling, including by end of that year most of its officer high command. France, the British Imperial forces drawn notably from Australia, South Africa and Canada – in short, everyone who participated in those battles remained scarred for life – if he or she survived. Most who died were blown to bits and have only a name as a memorial, notably at the massive Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Thiepval. Captain Noel Chavasse, son of the Bishop of Liverpool, won the first of his two Victoria Crosses (one of only three men to ever do so) at the Battle of the Somme as a medical orderly. Siegfried Sassoon, war poet and serving with the Royal Welch Regiment, gained the Military Cross; he threw the strap off his medal into the Mersey at war’s end in disgust at the sheer horror of it all! Robert Graves, commissioned similarly in the Royal Welch, was reported as dead in 1916; The Times carried his obituary – wrongly, as he actually survived. His account of the war, Goodbye to All That is required reading on the First World War. By the end of the campaign into late autumn 1916, total casualties on both sides amounted to 1.3 million. Anglo-French troops had advanced in total six miles. Film footage was made by both sides to justify the campaign, and shown to millions at home in the cinema. The tank was deployed for the first time in late summer as a weapon of war. Recently the British high command especially General Haig have had their reputations somewhat rehabilitated after decades of vilification. The end was in sight by spring 1917 especially when the USA entered the war. David Lloyd George became Prime Minister, commissioning as his Minister of Munitions and Supplies D. A. Thomas, once MP for Merthyr Tydfil , later ennobled as Viscount Rhondda. But victory at 1918 came at an enormous price.
Plans are afoot to commemorate on Sunday 11th November 2018 at Pant the armistice a century on. Watch this space for further details and for Part 2 of this European account.
A Boring Bit… but Important. Let’s start with the GDPR. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on May 25, 2018, and was designed to modernise laws that protect the personal data or information of individuals. That’s why you’ve been getting lots of messages from companies asking if they can keep you on their mailing lists. 1. Your personal data – what is it? Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data. 2. Who are we? The PCC of Dowlais and Penydarren is a data controller. This means it decides how the personal data we keep is processed and for what purposes. 3. What data do we keep? Electoral roll data while it is still current (names, addresses, phone numbers, some email addresses); gift aid declarations and associated paperwork for up to 6 years after the calendar year to which they relate; and parish registers (baptisms, marriages, funerals) permanently.
4. Your rights and your personal data. The right to request a copy of the personal data which the PCC holds about you; The right to request that the PCC corrects any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date; The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary for the PCC to retain such data; The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time; The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request a restriction is placed on further processing; The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office.
5. So, what’s a DATA PRIVACY NOTICE? In each church there’s a notice pinned up with the information above, but in more detail. Please read it, and if you feel you don’t want us to keep your details in the records listed in (3) above, please let us know. In the first instance, contact the PCC Secretary : Mrs Dorcas Cox Home 01685 554 995 Mobile 07807264009
Cowboys and Indians Night at Christchurch Hall, 7pm Friday September 14th.
Time for a bit of a party again, and to raise some mon- ey for the churches. Following the success of last year’s Hawaiian Night, this year we thought we’d have a go at a Cowboys and Indians Night! Dig out your cowboy hats, and come and singalong to a bit of Roy Rogers and Tammy Wynette, while we enjoy our beans and sausages and swig a sarsaparilla—or a beer if you prefer!
Puzzle
Time
Crossword
Answers
Thirst
Lord
Rock
Moses
Water
Desert
Drink
Staff
“The Rector wants us to smile in church. You know how I hate to try new things.”
Fun
in the Summer Sun
All Creatures Great and Small….
Do you have a handsome hamster? A pretty pony? A cuddly cat? Bring them along - or bring a photo - to Christchurch Pant at 4pm on Sunday August 19th. Let’s celebrate God’s Creation together with a service in church, or outside if weather permits, and give thanks for the way our pets enrich our lives.