Menter Esgobaeth Tyddewi . An initiative of the Diocese of St Davids

Pobl DewiPobl Dewi

Am ddim Free

Tachwedd/November 2005

Menter, the new diocesan course: see page 3

This edition’s lead editor was Revd Nicholas Calenickthevic@parishofwiston.co.uk.

The next edition’s lead editor is Revd Hywel Davieshywel33@btinternet.com

Final date for articles, not more than 400 words, is24th February 2006

Queries about the wider work of the Communications Teamof the diocese can be sent to the chair: jh@steynton.org.uk

To contact us by post please address correspondence to:The Editor, Pobl Dewi, St Davids Diocesan Office,Abergwili, Carmarthen SA31 2JG.

The Next Edition

‘‘‘‘‘Go and makeGo and makeGo and makeGo and makeGo and makeDisciples . . . Disciples . . . Disciples . . . Disciples . . . Disciples . . . ’’’’’THIS WAS The bishop’s clarion call at this year’s Diocesan Con

ference. It came as the new nurture course “Menter,” was intro-duced to the Diocese.

The well attended conference followed a by-now familiar pattern. Themorning was taken up with the eucharist, followed by workshops anddiscussion groups. In the afternoon the business meeting led to the bish-op’s presidential address. The theme of the address summed up the moodof the whole day. This is a time to plan how to grow.

Bishop Carl outlined what hesaw as obstacles to growth – re-stricted vision and reluctance tochange – whilst noting that allchurches said that they wanted togrow. The new course was one wayto encourage those on the fringes ofour churches to become more in-volved and committed, throughlearning more about the faith. Expe-rience had shown that courses of thiskind did have a part to play in growth,especially if, as in this case, they were“home grown.” However, the coursewas neither a quick fix nor a cure-all, and the bishop looked forward to

the continuing Venturing in Missiondiscussions in parishes, to generatenew local ideas.

The Menter course has been puttogether by a diocesan team, and iscurrently being tested in a numberof parishes throughout the diocese.Speakers at the conference includedthose who had been responsible forthe course as well as those from par-ishes which had tried it. Menter willbe generally available next year, andsome parishes have already decided

to adapt it for use as a Lent course.The conference was also toldabout the rapid progress beingmade towards fair trade statusfor the diocese.

by John Holdsworth

Why isn’t the Church growing?

There’s too much emphasis on “myfaith” and “my church” and notenough emphasis on

• How we can be more accommo-dating and welcoming to those out-side our church doors. This attitudecripples growth and merely makesus an insular club existing for no onebut ourselves.

• To those who are not in the knowour liturgy can be inaccessible andoff putting, like some kind of secretcode. When people feel excluded inthis way they generally keep away.

• We need to be more like trawlersand less like cruise liners – moreconcerned with fishing, and lesswith being served.

Why should we want to grow?

• We want to see our churchesgrowing because we are loved byGod and in turn want to share thatlove with others. When we are

wrongly motivated, by just wantingto maintain our church buildings andto enough raise money just to pleaseourselves then we shall remain stag-nant and insular.

• It is easy to see when somethingis aflame. It ignites other material.Any fire that does not spread willeventually go out. A church withoutevangelism is a contradiction interms.

How can we grow?

• By engaging with the Venturingin Mission process in theparishes,

• By taking advantage of the oppor-tunities which Menter/Venture (thenew diocesan process evangelismcourse) affords for evangelism inour communities and,

• By remembering that this is aprocess and not an overnight magicwand. Making new Christians takestime and care, love and patience.

Three important questions from the Bishop…

Revd Ann Howells is looking for people who might be interested in forging personallinks between their parish and the diocese of Kigezi in Uganda.

For further details see her article on page 8

Could you join Ann in Lango?

2 Pobl Dewi, November 2005

MAE’R gair pererindod wedidod yn ffasiynol eto dros y

blynyddoedd diwethaf a’rpererindodau – a’r pererinion – yndod ar sawl ffurf a siap. Ym misAwst eleni, aeth yr ArchesgobBarry Morgan yntau ar bererindod– i Taize, pentref bach ymmherfeddwlad Bwrgwyn ynFfrainc, gyda grwp o bump arhugain o bobl ifanc o Gymru. Hwnoedd ymweliad cyntaf yrArchesgob â chymuned Taizé er eifod, wrth gwrs, yn ymwybodol ohanes y lle ac o bethau megis ypatrwm addoliad a’r gerddoriaetha’r ffaith eu bod yn denu poblifanc. Ond, fel y dywed yrArchesgob “mae gwybod amrhywbeth a mynd i rhywle yn ddaubrofiad cwbwl wahanol.

“Un o’r pethau a’m tarodd i yngyntaf” meddai’r Archesgob, “yw’rymdrech y mae pobl yn ei wneuder mwyn cyrraedd yno ac yna’rymdrech y mae bod yno yn ei olygui bobl. Yn y lle cyntaf, mae’r daithar y bws er mwyn cyrraedd yno ynun hir ar y naw. Yna wedi cyrraeddy pentref bach bach ‘ma yngnghanol Bwrgwyn, does na ddimcysuron amlwg – gwersylla ymae’r rhelyw o bobl, mae angenciwio yn hir am fwyd a’r bwydwedyn yn ddigonol ond heb fod ‘naddim byd ffansi amdano, ac maedisgwyl i’r bobl ifanc gynorthwyogyda pharatoi’r bwyd, golchi’rllestri ac yn y blaen.

“Ac eto, mae ‘na rhywbetharbennig iawn am y lle fel y maepresenoldeb hyd at 4,000 o boblifanc yno yn wythnosol dros yr hafyn ei dystiolaethau – a’r pethamlycaf efallai yw’r pwyslais araddoliad. Mae’n brofiad ysgytwol adweud y gwir i’r ymwelwyrymuno gyda’r gymuned o o ddeutucant o frodyr wrth iddyn ‘nhwymgynull yn y capel – capel sy’nmedru dal 5,000 o bobl gyda llaw– ac addoli. A ‘does ‘na ddimcyfaddawd i bobl ifanc – hynny ywdoes ‘na ddim newid mawr wedibod ar ffurf y gwasanaeth ersdyddiau cyntaf y gymuned. Mae’rpatrwm yn debyg ym mhobgwasanaeth – canu siantiau, deng

Taizé – y gwanwyn bychan –Argraffiadau’r Archesgob Barry

munud o ddistawrwydd, darlleniada myfyrdod byr. Mae’rgwasanaethau yn para rhyw drichwarter awr, ac yn ystod ydistawrwydd, er gwaetha’r ffaithfod cynifer o bobl yno, fe allech chiglywed pin yn cwympo. Mae’rffaith eu bod yn medru denucynifer o bobl ifanc o bob rhan o’rbyd, ond yn enwedig o Ewrop, yndangos nad yw’r elfen grefyddolddim wedi diflannu o gwbwl.Hynny yw, mae pobl ifanc ynchwilio am elfen ysbrydol i’wbywydau o hyd.

“Nid nod gychwynol cymunedTaizé oedd creu rhyw fath oganolfan i bobl ifanc. Mynd ynoaeth sylfaenydd y gymuned, yBrawd Roger, yn gynnar yn y 40augyda’r amcan o sefydlu cymunedfynachaidd aml-enwadol oedd â’rnod sylfaenol o hybu cymod –rhwng Cristnogion a rhwngeglwysi. Pobl ifanc ddechreuoddheidio yno rai degawdau yn ôl. A’rhyn y mae’r gymuned wedi eiwneud wedyn yn sgîl y datblygiadhwn yw addasu eu gweithgareddnhw er mwyn llunio rhaglen oweithgareddau ar gyfer y bobl ifanc– astudiaethau beiblaidd, grwpiautrafod, gweithgareddau fel glanhauac ati - yn ogystal a’r addoliad tairgwaith y dydd. Fe fues i’n crwydro

o gwmpas er mwyn gweld bethoedd yn digwydd yngngweithgareddau’r bobl ifanc achael tystiolaeth, trwy’r cwestiynaua oedd yn cael eu holi, fodysbrydolrwydd yn bwysig o hyd ibobl ifanc. Yn anad dim arall, maeymagwedd ac ymwneud brodyr ygymuned a’u gilydd yncyfathrebu’n fwy clir nag unrhyweiriau egwyddorionsancteiddrwydd ac haelioni.”

Prin ddau ddiwrnod wediymadawiad yr Archesgob o Taize,lladdwyd sylfaenydd ac arweinyddy gymuned, y Brawd RogerSchutz, yn ystod yr hwyrol weddiyn y capel. Nos fawrth 16eg Awst,ymosododd gwraig 36 mlwydd oedo Romania ar y Brawd Roger ganei drywanu â chyllell. Bu farw’nfuan wedyn. Bu’r newydd yn siocaruthrol i’r Archesgob:

“Roedd hi’n anodd credu’rnewyddion pan glywais am y trocyntaf am ladd y Brawd Roger.Roeddwn wedi bod yn cael ciniogydag ef a brodyr y gymuned ar ydydd Sul, ac yna ar y nos Fawrthganlynol roedd wedi ei ladd. Foddbynnag, bu hyd yn oed ymateb ygymuned i’r gyfalfan hon ynenghraifft arall o’r sancteiddrwydda’r haelioni sydd wrth ei hanfod.O’r cychwyn cyntaf, a hwythau yn

by Siôn Brynach

eu galar, roedd gweddiau’rgymuned yn cynnwys y llofrudd ynogystal a’r Brawd Roger, acychydig ddyddiau wedi’r drassiedi,o ddod yn ymwybodol fod mam yllofrudd o Romania ar fin caeltriniaeth law-feddygol fawr i drincancr,S fe anfonasant flodau ati.

“Mae’n anodd gwybod sut ybydd y gymuned yn esblygu dros yblynyddoedd i ddod heb y BrawdRoger wrth y llyw, ond wrth gwrsef – yn hytrach na’r gymuned – aoedd yn gyfrifol am ddewis eiolynydd sef y Brawd Aloïs (51mlwydd oed). Mae’r gymuned ynamlwg yn agored i’r ysbryd ac ynbarod i dderbyn arweiniad Duwynghylch y trywydd y dylent eiddilyn yn y dyfodol.”

“Un o’r gwersi amlycaf i fi oymweld â Taizé yw nad yw hi arben ar y bywyd ysbrydol! Rwy’ngwybod ei bod hi’n swnio’n‘corny’ ond yn sicr mae ‘na rhywawra o sancteiddrwydd yn perthyni’r lle. Mae jyst gweld y capel ynllawn yn hwb i’r galon. Pwy sy’ndweud nad yw pobl ifanc yn medrueistedd yn dawel a myfyrio? Maenhw yn medru gwneud hynny – fely gwelais i yn y capel yn Taizé aoedd yn cael ei gadw ar agor ddydda nos. Pryd bynnag yr awn i mewnyno, roedd ‘na bobl ifanc yn y

capel, yn addoli yn dawel.”Felly, ydy’r Archesgob yn

bwriadu mynd i Taizé eto? “Ydw”yw’r ymateb diymdroi.

This is an articleabout ArchbishopBarry Morgan’spilgrimage to theTaizé community inFrance this summer,as co-leader, with theRev Jan Gould, of agroup of 25 youngpeople from all partsof Wales.

Taizé – key facts:

The community wasinitially established in Taizé,a tiny village in Burgundy,by Roger Schutz in 1940,but he was forced to leavein 1942 after being de-nounced to the Vichyregime as a result ofhelping Jews who werefleeing persecution by theNazis.

Brother Roger was theson of a Swiss Protestantpastor and it was duringhis own theologicalstudies at Lausanne thathe decided to establish anecumenical community.The community’s statedaim remains “the recon-ciliation of all Christians”.

The community recon-vened in 1944 with sevenbrothers. The communitynow has around 100brothers, both Protestantand Roman Catholic.

Taizé is geographicallyclose to the great medi-eval monastic centre ofCluny.

Pope John XXIII referredto the community as “thelittle spring of Taizé ”.

Brother Roger died amartyr’s death on Tuesday16th August this yearfollowing his stabbing duringthe evening prayer serviceby a 36 year old mentallyunstable woman fromRomania. He was 90 yearsold. The community re-sponded to this tragedy byincluding the murderer aswell as Brother Roger intheir prayers. Shortly afterthis tragic event, theybecame aware that themurderer’s mother wasshortly to undergo surgeryto treat cancer. Theirresponse was to send herflowers.

Brother Roger himselfnamed his successorsome eight years ago –Brother Aloïse, a GermanRoman Catholic.

Around 100,000 pilgrimsfrom all parts of the globevisit Taizé each year.

SATURDAY 17th Septembersaw the annual Vocations’ Day

for the Diocese held at LlangynnorChurch and hall. This year we werejoined by 16 people at various stagesof exploring their vocation. Eachyear it amazes me as to how variedthese people are in ages and back-ground – each with their own storyto tell. As well as those who are al-ready in training for the ordainedministry and those about to begin

training we had lay readers andthose who are training for lay read-ership, those who are heavily in-volved in various aspects of churchlife, those who are studying at Uni-versity, those who are in full timepaid employment, those who are fulltime parents, musicians, account-ants, rugby players – a mixed bagof very interested and interestingdisciples.

Along with Bishop Carl and

Aled Griffiths (Director ofOrdinands) there were also othermembers of the Diocesan MinistryTeam there to share in the discus-sions and to try to answer any ques-tions people might have.

In the morning our thoughts anddiscussions were guided by TheRevd Dr Peter Sedgwick, Principalof St Michael’s Theological College.He gave us some insightful obser-vations regarding the ordained min-istry and asked us to discuss somechallenging questions about ourown perception of that ministry.

I found myself in a group of twomen and two women of varyingages, at different stages in theirjourney with God and with impor-tant questions to ask. Three of thefour were seeking more guidanceon the Non-Stipendiary ministry(NSM) or self supporting ministrywhich it is sometimes called.

The NS ministry is a very im-portant part of the Church’s provi-sion of ordained ministers and is aministry which needs to be encour-aged in all areas of our Diocese.

Due to the fact that there were

many seeking guidance in thisdirection at the Vocations Day andalso our need as a Diocese to pro-mote such ministry we are hopingto organise a day on Non-Stipendi-ary ministry in the Diocese in thenew year.

If you are interested then pleasecontact me to let me know, or if youare unsure as to what this ministryentails but would like to know morethen please email me at

mandywp@churchinwales.org.uk

or telephone 01267 236597.

Vocations Dayby Mandy Williams-Potter

Pobl Dewi, November 2005 3

IT IS NOT possible in this article to cover all the matters

raised and discussed at themeeting, but these are a few ofthe points raised by our MP forour further thought:* The enormous generosity shown

by people throughout the worldfollowing the Tsunami disaster(£200 million raised in the UK inless than 3 weeks), points to avery real understanding by peo-ple in the richest countries of theneeds of the poorest people in thepoorest countries.

* We must build on the response tothe Tsunami so that lasting changein tackling poverty, debt and dis-ease is achieved.

* Five years ago virtually everycountry, world leader and inter-national agency signed up to a setof “Millennium DevelopmentGoals”. The promise in 2000 wasthat by 2015 every primary agedchild would be at school; worldpoverty would be halved andavoidable infant deaths wouldhave ended.

What progress has been madeon these goals? Sadly, not a lot;

Today, 130 million boys andgirls still have no schooling; 30,000children die every day from prevent-able diseases; in sub-Saharan Af-rica, at the current rate of progress,primary education for all will beachieved in 2130 – 115 years late.Poverty will be halved by 2150 –135 years late. Ending infant deathswill be achieved by 2165 – 150years late. Africa can’t wait thatlong.

Ten years ago aid to Africa was$33 per person per year, now it isjust $27.

Reality:* Total spending in sub-Saharan

Africa $50 per pupil per year; $1per week for teachers, books,equipment

* 25 million infected with HIV/AIDS

* 1 in 10 children die before theyreach age 1

Global poverty and trade justiceAs part of our developing witness in the area of trade justice, theCastlemartin Deanery recently held an Open Discussion Evening withthe local MP, Nick Ainger.

* only $12 per person is spent inpublic health which is 500 timesless than is spent in the UK

* today throughout the developingworld at least as many people dieeach week from avoidable diseaseas died in the Tsunami on BoxingDay

* lack of piped water means that 40billion working hours are spentsimply collecting water.

Mr Ainger went on to say how-ever, that that the picture is not allgloom; progress is being achievedin countries given debt relief;

Uganda: 4m more children in school;

Tanzania: 31,000 new classrooms,18,000 new teachers, a place forevery primary age child;

Mozambique: ½ million childrenvaccinated against tetanus, whoop-ing cough and diphtheria.

The solution, said Mr Ainger, isa ‘Marshal Plan’ for DevelopingWorld Goals, with full debt relief fordebt burdened countries and a newtrade round that brings fair trade todeveloping countries.

There must be an end to unfairtariffs and subsidies. Rich countries’

protectionism and dumped surplusproduce stops the poorest countriestrading and undermines their ownagriculture and industry.

The development of Good Gov-ernance in developing countriesmust be encouraged and supported,enabling them to devise their ownpoverty reduction plans and tacklecorruption.

A new International FinanceFacility is proposed. Each countryto pledge 0.7% GDP. This will raisean extra $50 billion every year forthe next 10 years. With a predict-able flow of aid over many years,urgently needed funds can be raisednow from international capital mar-kets. Life saving medical facilitiesand essential infrastructure could beprovided now, and not have to waiton the uncertainties of charity.

What can we do? KEEP LOB-BYING, says Nick Ainger. Not justthe British Government, but inter-nationally too. Governments of theG8 have to deliver on their prom-ises – it’s our job to ensure they do.

Lobbying can also work inpersuading Supermarketsand Stores to stock a largerrange of FAIRTRADE goods!

IN THE St. Davids ‘Fairtrade Diocese’ leaflet and ‘Parish Pledge’

forms parishes are reminded that weshould see the adoption of the basicFairtrade Foundation standards asa ‘first step’ in developing our wit-ness in the area of trade justice andpromoting awareness of these issuesin our communities.

Fairness towards those whowork to provide our food and to meetour daily needs should be a naturalpart of our Christian witness. Whenwe buy goods which carry theFAIRTRADE logo we can be reas-sured that the producers have re-ceived a fair return for their labour.

The FAIRTRADE movementhas expanded rapidly in recent years,and as a result there are many pro-ducers around the world whose fami-lies now enjoy a better standard ofliving.

But sadly there are still many sto-ries of exploitation and poverty be-hind many of the bargain prices wesee in our high streets. A low pricefor us can mean that someone elsehas paid a very high price in poor

working conditions and unacceptableliving standards to provide our foodand goods.

The constant demand for lowerprices also affects our own localfarmers and producers who oftenfind themselves having to meet everincreasing standards, while receivingever decreasing income.

In this diocese, the need to sup-port our local producers is beinghighlighted by events such as the‘Harvest Extravaganza’ at Carmar-then Livestock Centre, organized byRevd. Eileen Davies (Diocesan Ad-viser on Rural Matters), where themeal included only food from thethree counties within this diocese.

Our concern in the area of tradejustice should be for fair treatmentfor all who produce our food and thegoods to meet our daily needs,whether overseas or here at home.

All parishes are asked to supportthe aims of the FAIRTRADE Foun-dation, and to support our local Farm-ers and producers. The two aims arecompatible. The Labourer deserveshis wages” (1Timothy 5, 18).

Being a ‘FAIRTRADE CHURCH’ – It’s not just your cup of tea!

by Vic Millgate

LET’S take a serious look in ourshopping trolley, and ask where

do the contents originate from?Does the food comply with

stringiest rules and regulations andis it Farm Assured?

Every piece of meat from thelocal butcher can be traced from thefarm gate to the plate. The local fruitand veg man knows the fields hisvegetables have grown in, remem-bering that the fruit and veg in sea-son will have that true taste. Thecow that produces our fresh milkhas to be Farm Assured as well ascomply with the dairy inspectorate– UK rules are financially demand-ing as well as spiritually demoralis-

ing. “Give us this day our dailybread” – from our local bakerplease.

We live in a society that de-mands the best, and why not, thetrue taste of the highest quality foodscan only be sourced from the peo-ple who care – our neighbour.

As Christians we are encour-aged to “love thy neighbour” – whomight well be the producer of thatprime joint of beef – let’s show oursupport – source the best locally andin so doing, ensure a reasonable re-turn – fairer market!

“Who is my neighbour?”Everyone around us – as Fair

Trade and justice is sought for all.

by Eileen Davies,Diocesan Adviser on Rural Matters

Talking Shop Has your churchsigned up to theSt.Davids

FAIRTRADE DIOCESE

Campaign yet?

One hundred have, butthat leaves over twohundred churches stillto sign the

FAIRTRADEChurch Pledge!

If you need furtherinformation pleasecontactRevd. Vic Millgate,

The Vicarage,Manorbier SA70 7TNTel: 01834 871617

‘MENTER’ – ‘Venture’ is the namewe have given to the new DiocesanEvangelism course which will beavailable early in the new year.‘Process Evangelism’ doesn’t ex-actly sound exciting but at least ithas the virtue of telling us what thecourse is actually about. It’s about‘becoming’. It describes a way ofcoming to believe in God that rec-ognizes the journey we make fromwherever we start to where Godcalls us. There’s a lot of good senseabout all of this - after all, most peo-ple will want to take a good hardlook at the claims of Jesus Christ,and the Church too, before they signup to anything. And their own com-mitment may be gradual, with sig-nificant steps along the way, ratherthan a single leap. Of course somepeople come to faith just like that,but sometimes a drip feed invites anequally wholehearted response andunequivocal commitment.

The course is being tested at themoment in our three archdeaconriesso that feedback to the authors willallow them to take on board obser-vations and suggestions. One of thegreat strengths of process evange-

lism courses is that they can begrounded in the environment inwhich they are being run. This canbe demanding on the leader of thegroup, and possibly on those whoare there in a supporting role, butno one ever said that evangelismwould be easy, certainly not the LordJesus, just that it was a part of fol-lowing him – a command and a joytoo.

‘Menter’ lies firmly within theVenturing in Mission initiativewhich means that it is not a quickfix or panacea. It will ask a lot fromus, and demand an investment fromlocal congregations in terms ofprayer, planning and a willingnessto reach out to people where theyare; to walk with them at their pace;and to continue to love them even ifthey reject the ‘Word of Life’. If thetask seems great and daunting wealso have the hope and encourage-ment that Jesus Christ still fascinatesand attracts people. There is noth-ing more glorious and more impor-tant than when people believe inHim and commit their lives to Him.It’s this which makes ‘Menter’worthwhile. – Andy John

Menter – Venture

THIS year’s Clergy School provided clergy with an answer to

the question many have been asking:we want our churches to get thor-oughly involved in Venturing in Mis-sion, but how do we set about it?Over three days, with the help of aformer evangelism director for theChurch of England, Canon RobertWarren, clerics were inducted intothe process of growing healthychurches.

There has been a resurgence ofinterest in these Schools over the lastthree years, to the point where theyhave become a can’t-miss event for

most clergy. That is partly to do withthe development of Venturing in Mis-sion as a direction that clergy wantto own. It also has something to dowith the quality of speakers engaged.The success is undoubtedly also dueto the opportunity these occasionsgive for modeling good practice withregard to worship, and for sharingideas at a time of high morale amongclergy here.

Now congregations can look for-ward to being part of a process,which will enable all church mem-bers to share in this sense of opti-mism and excitement.

Healthy Churches and Happy Clerics

4 Pobl Dewi, November 2005

THE NEWSPAPER headlines are regular and dispiriting: Church Numbers falling . . . The Church is in Decline we read and they match our

experiences. Official church reports often dwell on similar evidence – Confir-mation numbers falling, communicants falling –Woe is us!

The Church Building, Tourists and Mission

would like to use the building – as arefuge from the hectic pace of 21stcentury life, as a place for prayer, forwider spiritual reflection. Perhapsthere are people who would welcomethe opportunity to work in the build-ing – artists and craftspeople for ex-ample.

Other projects have demon-strated that where the church build-ing is “shared” with a wider com-munity, the wider community ben-efits and so does the church com-munity in so many different ways.

Some people would be con-cerned that there is a huge risk toopening the church from a securitypoint of view.

Two answers to this: Our religion is based upon risk

– there is a risk that someone mightenter the building for reflection andbe connected in faith to JesusChrist. Where churches have taken sen-

sible precautions in consultation withthe building insurer the risk is verysmall – it would appear that mostthefts and vandalism occur to lockedchurches.

Churches are a community as-set – if we allow the community torecognise this.

If you would welcome assistancewith the process of becoming anOpen Church, please contactJohn Winton on 029 2041 7196or johnw@ctnw.fsnet.co.uk

A friend reflected recently thatwere Jesus to return to the worldin Wales in 2005, he would be mostunlikely to join in the preaching ofthis message of doom.

There is good news! An OpinionPoll in 2004 found that four out offive adults in the UK had visited aplace of worship during the last year.The British Tourist Authority sug-gested that 35 million people visitplaces of worship in the UK duringany one year. St Davids Cathedralwelcomed just under 300,000 visi-tors last year. The Saints and Stonesproject in Pembrokeshire undoubt-edly attracts people into the churchesthat would not otherwise darken thedoors. Rejoice, rejoice, as a PrimeMinister once said.

There is so much more that thechurches and chapels of Wales coulddo – how many more could be open?What sort of experience will the visi-tor have? How aggressively is thechurch building, as an attraction,marketed?

Responsible church usage

We are constantly being asked to be“responsible shoppers, responsiblemotorists,” etc – encouraging all ofus to care for our environment. Aschurch people are we responsiblechurch building managers? Is theamount of church money that is an-nually invested in the building beingused responsibly? The “responsible”message is of course found through-out the Bible and is a core messageof Christian Stewardship – we are thecurrent custodians of all that we havearound us – God requires us to actwith responsibility. This extends tothe use of the church building – if itis only open and used for two or threehours a week and costs thousands ayear to maintain and keep, is this re-sponsible Christian stewardship? (Itis quite a salutary experience to di-vide the amount spent on the build-ing by the number of hours open ina year.) If it is being kept, main-tained, heated and lit for a couple ofservices a week and for a small con-gregation, what is the justificationfor this?

Evidence shows that there areboth visitors and local people who

Enhancing thechurch visitexperienceTOURISM attractions throughoutthe land are constantly looking tofind or create the “Wow” reactionfrom their visitors. Most churchesdo not have to look for this or to cre-ate it, the building is so often a placethat invites the reaction “wow” fromthe first time visitor.

“You don’t get a second chancefor a first impression” runs the wellworn but nevertheless appositesoundbite.When visitors approach the churchwhat will they find –An obvious entrance?

Well maintained and cared forgrounds?A welcoming and informative no-tice board? (What use is a sentencesuch as “Services as usual” on theboard?Welcoming people?Is the literature well presented –does it look professional – will theaverage person want to read it?Is the building warm and well lit?What is being interpreted and forwhom?

Many churches have used a leaf-let or even a welcome card with amessage to give a very brief summaryof the Christian message and the corepurpose of the church building.

More and more churches interpreteach place in the church building andlink it to prayer – often using a lami-nated “cheese board” at each place.

There is always a danger that thechurch building could become a pagein an architectural handbook. Thereare people though for whom the ar-chitecture of the church building isvery important – I would suggest thatthis niche market would be preparedto buy a guide book which can gointo detail.

A common pitfall for people writ-ing literature for churches is to aimthe language at the higher end of thereading level range. There is a veryuseful “Tool Kit” commissioned bythe Herian project in South EastWales which is called a Local Inter-pretation Toolkit – many of the ideasand suggestions in this are well worthchurches considering.

For more information on thisand all matters of interpretation con-tact CTNW on 029 2041 7196 orjohnw@ctnw.fsnet.co.uk

Most churches would benefitfrom putting together a simple “flier”which can be placed in the commu-nity – in shops, libraries, Tourist In-formation Centres, other churchesand chapels, other attractions and inaccommodation providers.

A “flier” needs to be:Professionally designed to the

highest standards, strikingly illus-trated, and not too “wordy”

Bilingual in English and Welsh,either with the two languages onopposite faces or possibly producedas separate Welsh and English pam-phlets. I am not keen on the two lan-guages being juxtaposed on thesame face, a confusing device which

CreatingPartnershipsTHERE is no way the heritage andculture of Wales can be properlytaught and told without significantreference to the story of Christian-ity. The recent “Bread of Heaven”series presented by Huw Edwardson BBC 2 was well received by thegeneral public and even those “aca-demics” who observed seriousflaws in some of the material, ac-knowledged that it was likely tohave a stimulating effect on theviewer.

It would be almost impossiblefor the churches to play their full partin the Heritage, Culture and Tour-ism agendas of Wales without liais-ing with other organisations.

As far as Tourism is concernedany church which recognises theneed to engage with tourists (visi-tors and pilgrims) would usuallyfind help, support and ideas fromtheir local council’s tourism depart-ment. Even the best presented, in-terpreted and marketed church isunlikely to bring hordes of visitorsto the area just to see the church.What the church can do is keep thevisitor in the village or area for a lit-tle longer – in this way more moneymight well be spent in the localeconomy.

The church, of course, alreadyplays its part in the local economyby employing people to maintain thebuilding and fabric – this can beenhanced if it can attract visitors.

The Diocesan group attending Greenbelt this year celebrated twobirthdays during the weekend. Pictured are Matthew Goolding andleader Vanessa Hope-Bell celebrating their 16th and 60th birthdaysrespectively, together with other Diocesan ‘Greenbelters’.

Wales is divided into four re-gions for tourism. The Tourism Part-nership for South West Wales isTourism South West Wales. TheirVision for tourism in the area is of aregion which: Is recognised as a premier, all

year, accessible, UK domestic des-tination. The churches can play areal part in this as they are not de-pendent on seasons of the weatherto attract people.

Another aim of TSWW is: To responsibly develop and sus-

tain the infrastructure and uniqueenvironmental and cultural re-sources of South West Wales for thebenefit of visitors and residents.Again the churches can play theirfull part in this.

Churches are usually very goodat being reactive to requests for vis-its from educational establishments.Many churches are now workingalongside local schools and collegesand offering the building as place atwhich learning can take place rightacross the curriculum.

The Church throughout the ageshas been a significant Patron of theArts – many churches have concertsin their church building – but whatabout other Arts? – even small coun-try churches are now having an art-ist in residence for three or fourmonths at a time – the space givesthe artist more scope than the gar-den shed – it is often excellent forexhibitions and the artist can beenencouraged to leave a permanentlegacy of their work at the end ofthe contract. An artist in residencewould give visitors another reasonto visit the church.

When looking to increase thenumber of visitors to the churchbuilding – What other attractions arein the neighbourhood? – Can theybe encouraged to promote thechurch as a place to visit? – and thechurch can reciprocate.

Are there any walks/cycle paths/bridle ways that pass near thechurch? Most people following suchpaths are pleased to find somewhereto stop and enjoy. The local RamblersAssociation would welcome an in-quiry. Perhaps a group of churchesand chapels could get together andcreate a walk between the churches.

Some areas have a local TourismAssociation which brings togetherattraction managers and accommo-dation providers who work togetheron areas of common interest – thechurch could play a part in such anorganisation.

many speakers of neither languagefind satisfactory

It must tell the story of thechurch, the building and the com-munity in an easily accessible form.The text of the story needs to be verycarefully considered and finelyhoned, since it could also be usedelsewhere, for example in collectivetourism publications, other hand-outs, and on any visual interpreta-tive displays in the future.

All visual information in a churchshould be “professional” and shouldbe at least as good if not better thanthat found in other attractions. Theready availability of personal com-puters with a variety of publicationprogrammes should make designingand printing such material relativelyeasy and inexpensive. Howeverchurches might consider workingtogether to employ a professionaldesigner – where this has been done,the benefits have been significant.

by John Winton, Church in Wales Tourism Officer

FOR the fourth time in a year,Bishop Carl has opened and

blessed a new Church School. Thelatest project to come to fruition wasat Laugharne. Staff, pupils, parents,governors, local authority and churchrepresentatives were present for this

important celebration. Mr Tom Rees,the head teacher, Mr V. Morgan,Director of Education for Carmar-then and Mr John Jenkins, chair ofGovernors, spoke.

The children sang a song,specially written for the occasion,

Bishop opens fourth new Church schoolby Mandy Williams-Potter

which described how the new schoolhad developed. A cake, made by oneof the staff, was cut by Bishop Carlwith help from two pupils – theyoungest and oldest in the school –was enjoyed by everyone.

Spare a Thought

MANY people are reporting thatthey have opportunities to

broadcast ‘Thoughts for the Day’,but feel that they need some help andtraining. So the CommunicationsTeam has organized a Training Dayfor potential thinkers. It will take

place at the Halliwell Centre, Car-marthen, on November 29th from10.30 – 3.30. There will be inputfrom Jonathan Copus, a former Re-ligious Affairs Radio producer; JohnHoldsworth, regular broadcaster, aswell as an author and trainer in thefield; and Siôn Brynach, the Church

in Wales Communications director.Numbers will be limited and

places will be allotted on a first comefirst served basis. For details pleasecontact the secretary, Rev RogerHughes at the Vicarage Llangathen,on 01558 668455 or atroger@plantdewi.co.uk

Pobl Dewi, November 2005 5

PLANT DEWI Families TogetherGroups have enjoyed a fun

packed summer. Members have beenvery enthusiastic about the largenumber of activities on offer, whichinclude T-shirt painting, outdoor play,crafts and pizza designing days. Dur-ing August the Groups celebratedNational Play Day with a series ofstreet parties at various venuesthroughout the county. Parents andchildren enjoyed a bring and sharepicnic and had great fun playing tra-ditional games together. The high-light of the summer was a trip toMargam Park, where the Groups mettogether for the first time.

Plant Dewi-supported Familycentres report a very busy summerwith many and varied activities. Ten

Plant Dewi celebratesFamily Fun

Family Centres gathered atBronwydd hall for the biggest eventin their history with over 300 peopleattending. The day began with thechildren from each Family centreperforming a nursery rhyme wear-ing hats that they had made especiallyfor the occasion. Entertainment wasin the form of a puppet shows andcircus skills workshops as well asbouncy castles, face painting andparachute games, each Family Cen-tre had prepared craft activities andcompetitions for the children’samusement. The Fire Service andPolice were able to support the event.The day was rounded off with a cir-cus show after which each tired buthappy child was served with an icecream prior to departure.

THE Lampeter/CarmarthenGroup of The Alister Hardy So-

ciety, which supports the ReligiousExperience Research Centre at theUniversity of Wales, Lampeter, areseeking new members. Perhaps youwould like to join us? Full member-ship costs £25 per annum, with re-ductions for senior citizens orunwaged, and with a special studentrate of £10.

The Society aims to provide afocal point for people interested inthe study and nature of spiritual, re-ligious and psychic experience, andto promote public awareness of theirmeaning and value. Members re-ceive newsletters giving informationabout lectures and seminars, andcan make use of the centre’s spe-cialist library of 2,500 volumes.The newsletter of the Society, DeNumine, provides a forum for thespread of information, and the ex-change of ideas.

The Lampeter/CarmarthenGroup attracts members not onlythroughout Wales, but also the bor-ders, with most meetings takingplace at the University of LampeterDepartment of Theology. The Chairof the Group is Dr. Pat Craig, ofHope Cove, Druidston, Haverford-west, SA26 3NE, telephone: 01437781053, who would be delighted tohear from you, should you be inter-ested in becoming a member.

The Religious ExperienceResearch Centre was founded by SirAlister Hardy FRS in 1969. He

TTTTThe he he he he Alister HarAlister HarAlister HarAlister HarAlister Hardddddy Societyy Societyy Societyy Societyy Societybegan to put together an Archive,which now holds around 6,000accounts of first-hand religious orspiritual experiences. Findings showthat people reporting these experi-ences do not necessarily belong toany particular religious organisation.For the most part they are from main-stream society, from a variety ofbackgrounds, and more likely to beabove average in emotional stabilityand concern for other people. TheCentre is interested in the results ofthese experiences, and whether or notthere might be a common core re-gardless of differences in culture. Itis thought that more than half theadult population of the British Islesmay have had some kind of spiritualexperience. This may be an aware-ness of a transcendent presence orpower; a meaningful patterning ofevents; extra-sensory perception; afeeling of guidance or answer toprayer. Some see a brilliant light;some feel overwhelming love andjoy, warmth and comfort, or a senseof oneness and knowledge. Theseexperiences can give meaning, hope,strength and purpose and be of im-mense personal significance, oftenaltering the course of people’s lives.The Society studies these phenom-ena, and seeks to understand theirmeaning.

We extend a warm invitation toreaders of Pobl Dewi to join theLampeter/Carmarthen Group of theAlister Hardy Society.

’Ello ’ello wot’s going on ’ere then?

WE NEEDN’T have been insuch a hurry as we could

have waited for further guidancefrom the Diocese. However, the en-ergy and enthusiasm were there soit seemed a good time to start ad-dressing our Venturing in MissionAction Plan. At our Holy TrinityChurch Committee meeting in Julywe had begun to realise that thisneed not be intimidating – but,rather, it should be about God lead-ing us to work in ways that fittedour character as a church – particu-larly as some of our new projectsand plans were already starting tobear fruit.

We had our church Awaydayearly in September at Plas Dolau, justa couple of miles outside Aberyst-wyth. After opening worship and set-ting the scene we broke up into sepa-rate groups with roughly eight peo-ple in each. Group leaders had beenprimed to lead the discussions and

Preparing for Actionby Ian Aveson

not time to go through every report.What next? Our committee sec-

retary typed out all the flipchart re-ports: we now have a complete listof all the points raised and the Churchcommittee has had a chance to makeinitial responses. Some things havealready been acted on – a prayer andpraise evening and the inclusion, inthe weekly news sheet, of short notesrelating to decisions taken at com-mittee meetings are two examples.The working party will go throughthe suggestions and classify themalong the lines of “Should do – coulddo – fine if somebody wants to do it– not for us now.” The Church Com-mittee will then review it and we trustthat the final list with give us a cleardirection for our part in Venturing inMission.

For me, the best comment ofthe day was “It’s amazing to be ina church where you are asked whatyou think!” We believe that theHoly Spirit is at work in theChurch, and so we should expectHim to guide us as we share ourthinking together.

each group was allocated abouttwenty to thirty minutes to considerthe five headings of the Action Plan:a Worshipping Church, an Evange-lising Church, a Co-operatingChurch, a Collaborating Church anda Serving Church. The working partythat planned the day had alreadylisted some questions under eachheading – for example, we wantedsuggestions on how to improve ourmonthly family service – but groupswere free to consider or discusswhatever aspect they wished.

One of our ground rules was that“neither attending nor contributing tothe day commits anyone to anything.”This meant that people were free tocome up with suggestions in theknowledge that they would not beforced into doing something at a laterdate. Scribes filled flipchart sheetsfor each group. After lunch we re-viewed the suggestions on ‘A Wor-shipping Church’ together: there was

So, you think you know all about me!You read about it in the newspapers.You gossiped about me in the town.You made up the parts you didn’tknow.I was judged and condemned –Long before the court found I hadno case to answer.I thought my nightmare was overAnd then I made a dreadful mistakeI dared to go into your church.I thought I would find kindness andunderstandingThe very things I needed.Most of you just didn’t look at me.Some of you looked and turned away.I felt uncomfortable before you evenuttered a word.Your conversations stopped orchanged as I approached.Prejudice clouded your views.

So, you think you know all about me!A reflection on another’s pain

You sat away from me . . .Too far to share the peace!Others who didn’t know me arrivedWithin weeks you made sure theyheard the gossipAnd they began to look at their shoestoo.I know how the Pharisees treated thefriends of Jesus now.The Bible teaches of repentance,forgiveness and acceptancebut what about your Church – do youreally care?And I mean you, reading this,You who sit in the pew.I f your Church was a shop ,I wouldn’t buy thereBut this is the house of God – thebody of ChristAnd it is my church too.And I need God just as much as you.

If you treat me, an innocent victimlike this thenWhat about those who do commitcrimes and are repentant?Christ calls us all and Jesus said:“Those who are well have no needof a physician,but those who are sick;I have come to call not the righteousbut sinners to repentance.”I know it is difficult and fear makesus suspicious . . .But you really don’t know me at all!Please pray for my healingAnd for your ownThat as a Church we may wake upto the challengeTo welcome and accept allAnd live out the gospel withhonesty. – Heather Cale

Venturingwith animals

The people of St. John’s Church, Pembroke Dock, extended the scope of venturing last monthby holding an Animal Service. Posters for the service announced that “well-trained humansare also welcome”, and, although there were indeed plenty of humans present, the servicewas attended by a wide variety of God’s creatures. And there was serious point to the service– the pets brought to church a number of new humans – real venturing was taking place, andthere was a clear sense in St. John’s that day of being truly a holy cat-o-lick church.

6 Pobl Dewi, November 2005

WHAT d’you think of the showso far? That’s the question the

BBC put to a public meeting inCarmarthen – and got some surpris-ing answers.

Some 55 people gathered in StPeter’s Civic Hall to watch a compi-lation video of some of BBC Wales’offerings on television, and hear howRadio Wales and Radio Cymruaimed to reflect the life of Welsh peo-ple at both national and local level.

The exercise in ‘getting close toyou’ was part of a two-month projectduring which the good people ofCarmarthen have the chance to meetthe Daleks, practise reading the newsand weather, and even audition for apart on the BBC’s longest-runningsoap opera, Pobl y Cwm.

Meanwhile, programmes such asGood Morning Wales, Post Cyntaf,the Look up your Genes Roadshowand a whole host of favourites oldand new are being broadcast fromCarmarthen, some from the new stu-dio in Market Square. That’s wherepersonalities Nicola HeywoodThomas, Grav, Hywel a Nia, JamieOwen and Roy Noble could be seendoing their thing, while the BBCWales bus toured the surroundingarea.

Wonderful inventionThe public meeting gave listenersand viewers a chance to quiz seniorBBC Wales staff and to put theirviews to members of the Broadcast-ing Council for Wales – among themBishop Carl of St Davids. He quotedSir David Frost’s definition of theCorporation as ‘a wonderful inven-tion which enables us to be enter-tained in our living rooms by peoplewe wouldn’t want in our homes’, andsaid the Council’s job was to advisethe BBC in Wales, enhancing ac-countability and listening to grass-roots opinion.

Karl Davies, Secretary of BBCWales, said the Corporation’s aimwas to connect with its audiences andproduce high-quality programmes –such as the new Dr Who, written,produced and filmed in Wales. TheHead of English Language Pro-grammes in Wales, Clare Hudson,revealed that a second series is dueto go out next spring, and went on tolist an impressive tally of contribu-tions from Wales to the UK networks

Could Wales soon be enjoying truly local televisionprogrammes? Will the transmogrified Dr Who beback to defend our hills and valleys? JonathanCopus has been finding out.

‘SHOW us yer pants, then!’ That’sthe unlikely cry heard in theMaenclochog, Llandissilio andMynachlogddu area in recent weeks.

The preferred response was notto call for the police but to drop yourwaistband just enough to reveal a pairof stylish briefs bearing the namePreseli FM – West Wales’ newestcommunity radio station.

The brainchild of Huw George,Minister of Blaenconin Chapel inLlandissilio, the station set up shopin the chapel’s vestry, with one on-air studio and another for pre-record-ing and editing. Passers-by were en-couraged to drop in and air theirviews and experiences – and collecta set of the infamous underwear dur-ing their ‘brief’ visit.

Preseli FM’s avowedly Christiansub-text was deliberately kept low-key, although the Bible readingswhich punctuated the sometimes re-lentless pop music were a bit of agiveaway.

Largely through the efforts of theDiocesan Communications Team,the Church in Wales was well repre-sented: the Bishop spoke passion-ately about Venturing in Mission. TheRevd Kingsley Taylor popped infrom his vicarage down the road totell listeners about the joys and chal-lenges of being a parish priest. Morn-ing Thoughts on everything from theanxieties of being a young mum toworld poverty were delivered by theRevd Mandy Williams-Potter (theBishop’s Chaplain and Communica-tions Officer), the Archdeacon of StDavid’s and the Revd Ann Howells,Vicar of Clydau, Llanfyrnach andLlanglydwen. She spoke in Welsh,underlining the station’s bilingualpolicy – the main plank of its appli-cation to the regulator Ofcom to pro-vide a service in an area where theexisting commercial station broad-casts exclusively in English. And itwasn’t just the speech content thatwas bilingual: popular and religious

Underwear boostsCommunity spirit

songs in Welsh – many of them bylocal groups – also flew the flag.Sports reports, regional paper re-views and interviews with prominentmembers of the community added toa rounded picture of local life.

Something of a ‘regular’ was theRevd Anthony Bailey, a retired priestfrom Llangolman, who shared someof the fascinating tales from his bookson the myths, legends and history ofthe area.

Preseli FM has attracted atten-tion throughout the UK and evenworldwide out of all proportion to itssize, with pieces appearing on BBCNews Online, The Independent, Bap-tist Times, Premier Christian News,Western Telegraph, CarmarthenJournal, Tivyside, and Cardi Bach.Wedi 3, the Welsh language pro-gramme on S4C, devoted a lengthypiece to the station’s activities. It hasalso been mentioned on at least twoforeign news websites, one in Chinaand one in Czechoslovakia.

Given that the operation wasmanned exclusively by volunteers,the sound was highly professional,marked by polished and friendlypresentation and seamless junctions.Green campaigners were doubtlessdelighted by the fact that the trans-mitter, sited high in the Preseli hillsto achieve maximum coverage, wasmainly powered by sun and wind.Only occasionally did an ominoushiss from the loudspeaker make itseem that the sun had gone down andthe wind dropped.

The hope now is that the prodi-gious effort poured into the opera-tion by team members like ChrisWalters, Sarah Fosters and MarcTierney will be rewarded by Preselihaving its experimental, month-long licence converted into a per-manent one.

– including input from the CardiffNewsroom, the largest in the UKoutside London.

Q & A

The question-and-answer sessionproduced some good-humoured andlargely supportive comments –though with quite a few complaints.Why, asked Carmarthen TownCouncillor Mike Elias, was Carmar-thenshire perceived so much as aWelsh-speaking community, whenthe majority were English speakers?This question sparked a heatedpolitical debate which chairmanRhun ap Iorwerth deftly divertedonto a complaint that Freeview ‘set-top-box’ owners could only receiveBBC 2W, not regular BBC 2 pro-grammes. ‘Historical reasons” wasthe answer.

Local TV for Wales?‘If the BBC is so interested in get-ting close to the community, whydoesn’t it give us truly local radio likeEngland?’ ‘Radio Cymru does opt into various communities,’ repliedCathryn Allen, Head of StrategicDevelopment; and Editor of RadioWales Julie Barton promised to workclosely with groups setting up com-munity radio stations, offering train-ing and even content such as newsfeeds and Top 40 lists. And she wenton to unveil plans for a nine-monthexperiment in local television in bothlanguages in the five regions ofWales, starting in December. If thisis successful, the new services couldbe rolled out as early as 2007/8.

Summing up, National Governorfor Wales Professor Merfyn Jonessaid one of the main thrusts of theBBC’s case in the current CharterReview was to allocate more re-sources outside London. Wales al-ready fared better than the North ofEngland, which currently enjoys only£7 per head of population comparedwith London’s £122. He was confi-dent, though, that the future wouldsee this imbalance largely corrected,and the BBC would invest largesums in its operation in Wales.

by Jonathan Copus

WITH NUMBERS of listenerson the increase, we are being

encouraged to think of ways in whichfaith-based programmes can be in-tegrated into radio station schedules– particularly at local level.

So, when it was decided tohold a ‘Festival of Praise’ at HolyTrinity Church, Aberystwyth, on28 August, we contacted Radio

Venturing on Airby Tessa Briggs

Ceredigion to see if they would beinterested in broadcasting theservice.

The introductory letter includedas much information as was avail-able at the time and the unlikely-named ‘Bodyshaker’ called by re-turn to say that they would, indeed,like to record the service, for trans-mission on 18 September. At that

stage, Radio Ceredigion merelyasked for an advance copy of theorder of service as soon as it wasavailable and access to the churchapproximately 2 hours beforehandto set up their sound equipment.

Focused

In the run-up we were able to ad-vertise the fact that RadioCeredigion would be recording theservice and our committee focusedon timings to try and ensure we didnot run over one hour. Participantswere also briefed to be in theirplaces, ready to begin, before theend of the preceding item so thatthere were no lengthy pauses orawkward silences. Hymns andreadings were fairly easy to timebut our interviewer had the moredifficult task of trying to keep histhree interviews within the four-minute parameter. This was, ulti-mately, achieved with remarkableaccuracy.

On schedule on 28 August at 4pm, Bodyshaker arrived to set uphis recording equipment. He ransound tests during the pre-servicerehearsals for choir and partici-pants, which was all done without

fuss and without intrusion into theflurry of preparation and organisa-tion.

Afterwards, as he was leaving,Bodyshaker advised that, whilstthere is always some editing to bedone, this time there would be verylittle and this proved to be the casewhen the service was aired. Anadded bonus is that we have nowforged links with the local radio sta-tion and they have confirmed theywould be pleased to hear from usagain in relation to future services/events. Furthermore, our churchand the Festival of Praise werepromoted, on air, by the radio

station in the run-up to the broad-cast and many of the 200 peoplewho were part of the congregation,plus their friends and families,tuned in to listen.

Radio Ceredigion will bepleased to hear from any churchesin the county who think they areholding a service/event which maybe of interest to listeners:

Radio Ceredigion,The Old Welsh School,Alexandra Road,Aberystwyth, SY23 1LK.

Tel: 01970 627999

Preseli FM’s Huw George

Pobl Dewi, November 2005 7

IT’S NOT every day you get asked to compete in a race to theMagnetic North Pole, and I had no hesitation in agreeing to

take part in the 2005 Polar Challenge. I met my team mates Samand Felicity whilst working for the British Schools ExploringSociety and I knew it wouldn’t be long before an adventure suchas this would come to tempt us. My family weren’t really sur-prised at my decision to enter; having been born in a blizzard Ithink I’ve always been destined to enjoy polar environments, butthe reaction from others was quite different – they thought wewere mad, stupid and some people even laughed in our faces.

Polar Challenge 2005by Tori James

Tori was born and brought up in Pembrokeshire and wasbaptized and confirmed at St Mary’s Church, Wiston whereshe was an active member of the Church Choir for over10 years. Tori currently works as Office Manager at BSESExpeditions and is based at the Royal Geographical Societyin London. She competed in a race to the North Pole, as amember of the three-woman “Pink Lady ® PoleCats” team

The Polar Challenge is anannual 360-mile race in the Cana-dian Arctic, to the Magnetic NorthPole. In the 24-hour daylight,teams of three race against eachother on skis over frozen sea ice,dragging all their supplies behindthem, enduring temperatures aslow as –40°C and facing up to theever constant threat of Polarbears. There was every incentiveto enter this race because no all-female team had ever completedit and we were determined to bethe first.

EnduranceOur 10 months of preparation con-sisted of raising the £40,000 re-quired to take part in the race as wellas focussing on a demanding andrigorous fitness-training pro-gramme. None of us had ever taken

part in an endurance event of thiskind before and I couldn’t even ski!

At only 5 weeks to go until de-parture and after several financialsetbacks, we had a lucky break andsecured the support of Pink LadyâApples who became our titlesponsor.

The race began on 23rd April2005, with all 16 teams having al-ready walked over 50 nautical milesto reach the start line. We had be-come accustomed to the cold tem-peratures, avoided frost-bite andwere confident that we could lookafter ourselves in this extreme en-vironment but could we face up tothe demands of the race?

The landscape was clean andbeautiful, with so many differenttypes of ice and formations ofwind-blown snow. Clear blue

skies enabled us to cover a con-siderable amount of ground usinga GPS as our navigation system.We would walk in single file for aminimum of 12 hours each day,stopping for only 5 minutes every90 minutes to re-hydrate, nibble anenergy bar and go to the toilet. Itwas too cold to stop for any longer.Food had to be kept in pocketsclose to our body so that it didn’tfreeze and our water had to bekept in vacuum flasks. We wouldspend up to 3 hours in the tenteach night melting snow to drinkthe following day.

We had to be constantly alert forPolar bears and would check over

TO CELEBRATE the 125th anni-versary of the consecration of St

John’s Church, Penrhyncoch, in2006, the PCC has commissioned aParish Painting by internationallyknown artist Margaret Jones, wholives in Capel Bangor. In the paint-ing the artist has depicted the villagefrom Roman times through the vari-ous periods including the time ofDafydd ap Gwilym the 14th centurypoet who lived in the Parish, the eraof lead and silver mining with the de-velopments of Sir Hugh Myddletonand Lewis Morris, the building ofGogerddan Mansion and the Church,and so on to the establishment of theGrasslands Research Station after thesecond world war.

The church is delighted with thework and is offering prints for saleto defray costs and raise money forchurch maintenance. The originalwill eventually hang in St John’s tobe “unveiled” by the Bishop whenhe visits at Pentecost next year.

– Glyn Collins

PCPCPCPCPCcommissionscommissionscommissionscommissionscommissions

paintingpaintingpaintingpaintingpaintingbbbbby Margarety Margarety Margarety Margarety Margaret

JonesJonesJonesJonesJones

teams. We skied for 18 hours,stopped for 3 hours in the tent, thencontinued for a further 19 hours tothe Magnetic North Pole and on tothe finish, securing 6th place andbeating several male teams on theway. It was sheer relief when wecrossed the finish line! We’d doneit in 13 days – we were the first everall-female team to complete the raceand had secured over £20,000 forour two charities, BreakthroughBreast Cancer and the BritishSchools Exploring Society.

For more information or torequest a talk please visitwww.pinkladypolecats.com

‘Llaeth’, nid ‘llefrith’; ‘crwt’, nid‘hogyn’; ‘allwedd’, nid ‘goriad’!Dyna i chi rai o’r newidiadauieithyddol mae’n rhaid i mi eu cofiowrth ddychwelyd i’r de ar ôl drossaith mlynedd yn gweinidogaethuyn Esgobaeth Bangor. Er ein bod nifel teulu yn dal i hiraethu am BenLlwn a’i bobl, braf yw cael bod ynagos i’n gwreiddiau teuluol yn SirGâr, Sir Benfro a Cheredigion.Braf hefyd yw bod mewn cyd-destun creadigol a chyffrous felColeg y Drindod lle y clywir yGymraeg yn hollol naturiol arwefusau nifer o’r staff a myfyrwyra lle y dethlir ein diwylliantgodidog ochr yn ochr â chyfoeth yrholl genhedloedd a gynrychioliryma.

Mae dechrau ar fy ngwaith felCaplan Coleg y Drindod wedi bodbeth mae’r Saeson yn ei alw’n‘steep learning curve’ gydagambell her ymarferol fel sut i ddodo hyd i bethau angenrheidiol felcyfrifiadur a pholyn hir i agorffenestri uchel fy swyddfa! Ondllawer mwy na hynny, mae’n gyflei ymdrochi ym mywyd y Coleg ynei amrywiaeth wefreiddiol – celf,cerddoriaeth, drama, y cyfryngau,addysgu a mwy – pethau mae’rEglwys wedi eu defnyddio’nhelaeth iawn dros y canrifoedd

maith. Un her i mi fel offeiriad abugail yma ydy gofyn sut fedr yGaplaniaeth ddefnyddio’r doniauarbennig hyn er mwyn cyhoeddi adathlu Efengyl Crist ym mysg rhaisydd heb unrhyw gysylltiadystyrlon â’r Eglwys. Buaswn ynfalch iawn o glywed eich syniadau!

Fodd bynnag, ‘does dimsynnwyr i hyn i gyd heb bobl! Dynapam y mae hi mor bwysig i middod i adnabod cymaint o’r staffa’r myfyrwyr ag y medraf yn ystody misoedd cynnar cyn hyd yn oedmeddwl am lansio unrhywstrategaethau uchelgeisiol. I bawbohonom, trwy gysylltiad personol ydaw cariad Crist yn fyw ac ynamlwg. Gan fod Coleg y Drindodwedi cynyddu 85% ers 2000, gydarhyw 2,500 o fyfyrwyr erbyn hyn,ac yn dal i weithio’n effeithiol iehangu mynediad i Addysg Uwch,mae gen i ddigon o waith yn fynisgwyl!

Gyda’r holl gyfleoedd mae cyd-destun egnïol fel hyn yn cynnig,mae angen gofod sanctaidd iymdawelu ym mhresenoldeb Duwa derbyn y gras a’r gallu iweinidogaethu’n effeithiol. Dynapam yr wyf wedi penderfynu rhoisylw arbennig ar y cychwyn iddatblygu’n bellach rhythmrheolaidd o weddi a mawl yn y

Capel. Y nod, trwy ras Duw, ydycreu cymuned ewcaristaidd wrthgalon y Coleg sy’n rhoi maethysbrydol i fyfyrwyr a staff ynghydwrth iddynt gyfarfod y Crist bywmewn Gair a Sacrament. O’ncymundeb y daw cymdeithas – aco’r canolbwynt hwn y llifa’r gwaitho efengylu, gwasanaethu, gofalu amentro mewn cenhadaeth.

Mae Coleg y Drindod ynymfalchïo yn ei statws arbennig felyr unig coleg eglwysig yng

Nghymru ac yn awyddus iawn ifod yn adnodd addysg unigryw agwerthfawr i’r Esgobaeth a’rDalaith. Gall gynnig arbenigedd afydd yn cefnogi mentrau cyffrousfel Plant Dewi a’r canolfannauteulu neu drwy ddarparuhyfforddiant priodol ar gyfereglwysi lleol wrth iddyntddatblygu gweinidogaeth oansawdd uchel i blant neuieuenctid. Mae croeso i chigysylltu os oes ydych chi’n creduy gall y Coleg gynnig mewnbwngwerthfawr gydag unrhywagweddau penodol o’chcenhadaeth a’ch gweinidogaeth.

Cer i’r Coleg! Dere i’r Drindod!gan Ainsley Griffiths

Rev Ainsley Griffiths, who was recently installed chaplainof Trinity College Carmarthen and diocsean ministerialeducation coordinator, with the Principal of the college,Dr Medwin Hughes.

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our shoulders every couple of min-utes. I thought that worrying aboutbears at night whilst in our tentwould affect our sleep, but we weresimply too tired to worry, and sleptwith whistles, flares and the shot-gun close to hand in case of such avisit. We spotted a bear on our sec-ond day but fortunately for us‘PoleCat’ wasn’t on the menu!

Towards the end of the race wewere falling asleep on our skis. Theweather had deteriorated and visibil-ity was poor. The conditions madeyou feel claustrophobic and loseconcentration but we decided tomake a final push for the finish lineand try to overtake some of the other

8 Pobl Dewi, November 2005

Plant a phobl ifanc Chernobyl

IN OCTOBER 2002 I had theprivilege of travelling to Uganda

as part of a group from BangorDiocese. We visited two Church ofUganda dioceses: Lango in the Northand Kigezi in the South West. Ouraim was to strengthen the links whichalready existed between ourchurches, and to show our love andconcern for our brothers and sisters.Some members of the group hadbeen to Lango Diocese before, andwere involved with a project to

support orphans and offer themeducation and training. Followingour visit a link between the diocesesof Bangor and Lango was set up,when the Bishop of Lango, the Rt.Revd. John Charles Odurkamivisited Bangor Diocese. Severalparishes have already linked withparishes in Lango diocese, andanother visit to Uganda from Bangoris planned for the end of this year.

My connection with Ugandabegan when I was training for

STRANGE things are happeningin some Carmarthen schools,

children are giving up play time tolearn about God. It may sound ex-traordinary, but 10 and 11 year oldschool children want to learn moreabout God, Jesus Christ and to de-velop their faith.

The Scripture Union based clubis called Y-God and the material usedis usually from the Scripture Union,Y-God course for children. It is nowhighly successful in two schools inthe Carmarthen area.

Y-God first began in this diocesein September 2003 in the ModelSchool. The results were amazingwith numbers of up to 25 children.The Club is restricted to years 5 &6. Then in September 2004 the ideawas repeated in the primary schoolin Johnstown, with the same amaz-ing response.

Y-God is an idea born in an ecu-menical setting in Scotland. It wasoriginally envisaged that these chil-dren’s fellowship groups should runfor two or three years and then befollowed up in senior school. Theaim: to have a number of childrenwho will become the foundation onwhich to build, but that is in thefuture.

Y-God has been running on £100per year plus a wing and a prayer forthe past two years, so developmenthas been hard. For this reason PlantDewi is now developing the conceptof Y-God into a project.

It is not run for the purpose ofincreasing numbers on pews but toplant the seeds of faith in children

To Lango with love . . .by Ann Howells

ministry at St Michael’s College,Llandaff. The college had a link withBishop Tucker Theological College(now Uganda Christian University),and several students came over fromUganda to study with us. Amongstthem was the Rev. George Katwesigye,who has since become the Bishop ofKigezi Diocese. My first visit toUganda was in January 1998 when Iattended his consecration servicewith the Revd. Philip Johnes and hiswife Gill. We were given a tremen-dous welcome everywhere we went,and made lasting friendships. Weexperienced the joy and vibrancy ofthe Ugandan Church. Ugandan

Christians certainly know how tocelebrate their faith and love singingand dancing.

I have been back to Kigezi Dio-cese several times since. My formerparish in Bangor Diocese formed alink with the parish of Ibumba, andraised money to help build a newchurch (the existing one was toosmall). During one of our visits Euryland I baptised 45 children in 3 days!One of the children I baptised wasMair, the daughter of the pastor ofIbumba, the Rev. Winston ChristmasMufumu. He invited my parishion-ers to choose a name, so we namedher after our church. When I last vis-

ited Uganda I was thrilled to see heragain.

Visiting Christians in anothercountry has given me a different per-spective on life, and helped me onmy own faith journey. We have somuch to learn from our brothers andsisters, and they appreciate the loveand concern we show to them. I amplanning another visit to Kigezi Dio-cese some time next year. If youwould be interested in coming withme (I can thoroughly recommend theexperience), or if you would like toknow more about it please contactme on 01239 832050 (office) or01994 484335 (home).

who otherwise would not know thelove of God. Any increase in num-bers in churches is a bonus not theaim.

People talk of the lost generationsof the church; generations that havebeen and are currently being broughtup with little or no knowledge of theChristian faith. But the church canno longer just sit and complain. Whatis needed is for Christians to go outand teach the basics of the Christianfaith to children; to plant the seed. Ifa child does not have any understand-ing of faith, it is harder to turn toChrist.

The work at this level is stimu-lating and rewarding in a way youcan never imagine. So think . . . couldyou plant the seeds of faith in yourarea?

Contact Vicky at Plant Dewi, 3Red Street, Carmarthen, or Jane,Curate of St David’s & ChristChurch, Carmarthen, for furtherinformation.

WHAT an honour it was towelcome Mrs Hyacinth

Bucket to Llanddarog Vicarage onFriday, 30th September! Resplend-ent in a striking floral hat, she openedthe annual coffee morning in supportof the Macmillan Nurses Appeal withall the finesse and charm that comesso naturally to this pillar of suburbanrespectability. Having arrived in goodtime, Mrs Bucket, or “MadamFwced”, as one wag called her, en-tertained us all morning. Even Ra-dio Cymru just couldn’t pull the plugon her as she addressed the nation infull throttle.

Later, guests at the highly suc-cessful coffee morning organised bythe parishes of Llanarthne andLlanddarog, were able to meet theperson behind the character. AnwenCoffey, originally from Carmarthenand now a professional actress liv-ing in Cardiff, was a totally credibleHyancinth. We roared with laughteras she berated her hapless husbandRichard (Patrick in real life) and ban-

What on earth is Y-God?

tered with the Vicar. Cakes andChristmas cards sold all the morereadily as Hyacinth encouraged us allto part with our cash. Last year’sevent raised well nigh on £1,000 forthe local Macmillan committee, andthis year again we look likely to

Coffee by the Bucket!by Hywel Davies

achieve a similar amount. Manythanks to all who helped prepare andclean up afterwards. After all, onejust couldn’t expect Hyacinth to donrubber gloves that didn’t match herhat.

WHAT goes on in otherparishes? Have they got good

ideas to share? Have you? In theReal Life page in the Church TimesI try to reflect Anglican church lifein all its variety all over the UK. ButI am entirely dependent on peoplesending me their news by email,letter or press release, either directto me, or to the Church Times office.

I am always on the look out forparishes – or dioceses – that have agood idea, whether to get morepeople involved in the church, toattract the children, an original wayto raise funds, or simply good localchurch news. I also like quirkystories that people enjoy reading.A lot of Anglican clergy areextraordinarily inventive….

The Church Times comes out everyFriday, and the Real Life page is notfor advertising your forthcomingevents; stories are more interestingwhen they are about something thathas already happened, or is part ofyour ongoing life. And, because Idon’t get many stories from Wales,I particularly look out for them. Dolet me know when you do somethinga bit out of the ordinary. What I likebest is to have all the facts by email,with a telephone number to enable

me to come back to you and ask formore details. And of course I likecolour photographs, also by emailif possible, to margaret.duggan.t21@btinternet.com

If you don’t have email, thenwrite to me at the

Church Times,33 Upper Street,London N1 0PN.

I look forward to hearing fromyou.

The Church Timesby Margaret Duggan

AROrffennaf 1af eleni glanioddgrwp o ddeuddeg o bobl ifanc

o wlad Belarus ym maes-awyrGatwick yn barod am wyliau ynne-orllewin Cymru. Roeddent ar euffordd i ysgol y Fenhines ElisabethCambria, Caerfyrddin am fis owyliau, pob un ohonynt yn dioddefo gancr oherwydd yr hynddigwyddodd yn atomfa Chernobylyn 1986. Gyda nhw roedd Oksana,y cyfieithydd, a oedd yn gwneudhyn fel gwaith gwirfoddol i elusen‘Children in Trouble’. Roedd yngyfle i hithau hefyd ymadael âgwlad Belarus dros dro a mwynhaubwyd ac awyr iach Cymru fach.

Dyma’r pumed tro i Ysgol

Cambria groesawu grwp o’r fath.Daeth y grwp cyntaf yma yn 2000.Mae treulio mis oddi cartref yngallu ychwanegu dwy flynedd at eubywydau, yn ôl arbenigwyr. Taithhir yw hi lawr yr M4, a da oeddcyrraedd Caerfyrddin a chyfarfodâ’r teuluoedd oedd wedi cytunoagor eu drysau a‘u calonau i‘rgrwp.

Yn ystod y mis teithiodd ygrwp o gwmpas yr hen Ddyfed ynymweld â chestyll, trefi glan môr,yr Ardd Fotaneg a llu o leoedddiddorol. Profiad cyffrous oeddcael gweld y môr mor agos, ahynny am y tro cyntaf i niferohonynt. Diwrnod bythgofiadwyoedd y daith i Ynys Byr a rhyfedduat y golygfeydd godidog y byddwnni yn eu cymryd mor gyniataol.Cafwyd cyfle hefyd i ddysgu tipynam ddiwylliant Cymru a mentro ar

gan Jean Voyle Williams

ddawnsio gwerin yng nghwmniDawnswyr Llanarthne. Buparodrwydd gwahanol fudiadau,busnesau ac unigolion i helpu ynrhyfeddol.

Dysgais dipyn wrth fod yngnghwmni pobl ifanc Belarus acwrth groesawu Oksana i’n cartref.Er cyn lleied eu heiddo, maent yngyfoethog eu llawenydd a’udiolchgarwch. Braint oedd cael bodyn eu cwmni a chael chwarae rhanfechan yn eu bywydau. Diolch ibawb a gyfranodd mewn unrhywfodd at lwyddiant y fenter.

The above is an accountof the visit of 12 Belarusstudents to Queen Eliza-beth Cambria School,Carmarthen and their ex-periences during theirmonth’s stay.

by Vicky Thomas

Pobl Dewi, November 2005 9

The Church in the Pembrokeshire County Showby Nan Warlow

WE ALL remember the nurseryrhyme and on July 21st I felt

rather like the pussy cat, having hadthe privilege to be invited to a RoyalGarden Party at BuckinghamPalace. I had been nominated as oneof the six members of the Mothers’Union to receive an invitation andthere was great excitement as we allgot dressed up.

Leaving Mary Sumner House(headquarters of the Mothers’ Union)we hailed a taxi to take us to Buck-ingham Palace. After tight securitychecks we entered the quadrangle tothe main entrance, through the hall-ways and out into the sunshine on theback lawns. We watched the otherguests arriving in beautiful dresses,morning suits and magnificent na-tional costumes.

The Yeomen of the Guard thenmade way for the Royal party - theQueen and the Duke of Edinburgh,the Princess Royal and PrinceEdward, with Princess Alexandraand the Duke of Kent – who were

Garden Partyby Gwendoline James

“Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat,where have you been?”

“I’ve been to Londonto see the Queen.”

introduced to those who had beenspecifically chosen to be presentedto them.

We then went to the tent for asumptuous tea, with sandwiches andcakes of all descriptions; it was warmand I thoroughly enjoyed my coollemonade. We walked around the 40acre grounds, and listened to thebands playing but all too soon weheard the National Anthem and it wastime to go.

We made our way slowlythrough the palace rooms, lookingat the beautiful paintings and furni-ture. The guardsmen were chang-ing duty and I stood and looked atthe Palace storing up the wonderfulmemories I would have of this day.

EARLIER this year, the Office ofNational Statistics reported that

over half of all UK households hadan internet connection, comparedwith 9% in 1998. Figures in Walesreveal that nearly 20% of us use theinternet “most days” and thatbroadband take-up in Wales jumpedby 10% between March 2004 andMarch 2005.

As the Archbishop reminded therecent Governing Body meeting,“we need to communicate this goodnews that we have of God’s love”.Communicating this love in today’sworld gives us little excuse forignoring the world of the internet,where so many people search foranswers and information.

We do, however, have a prob-lem – we are now some distancefrom the so-called dot.com boomthat saw an enormous rise in thedevelopment and use of internetsites around the millennium. Alongwith many other organisations, oursites date from this period. Despite

A New Website for St Davidsby Matt Knight

the considerable work that goes intomaintaining them, they are nowshowing their age.

As such, I’m delighted that theCommunication Group in St Davidsdiocese have asked me to assistthem in creating a new website forthe diocese of St Davids. The Benchof Bishops have also recently agreedthat a redesign of the provincialChurch in Wales websitewww.churchinwales.org.uk can takeplace.

DevelopmentThe most important part of anywebsite development is taking timeto ensure that the content of the newsite is as easy to access as possible.The group will therefore be takingsome time to make sure that the newSt Davids site will prove reliable,easy to use, informative and attrac-tive.

Many websites inadvertentlystop some people from using them.This can be for a number of reasons– whether by failing to provide a site

that will run on older computers, fail-ing to allow users to access informa-tion in Welsh as well as English, ornot being set up to allow those withvisual impairments to view them. Itwill be a priority for the new sitethat, where possible, we avoid theseproblems.

We’re only just beginning thisprocess, so if you have any ideas orsuggestions for a new St Davidswebsite, then now is the time to sendthem to the Communication Group,care of the chair, the Ven. JohnHoldsworth, St Davids DiocesanOffice, Abergwili, CarmarthenSA31 2JG or email toarchdeaconjohn@yahoo.co.uk

Matt Knight is the Church in Wales Creative Resources Officer. He is responsiblefor looking after the Church in Wales website and for acting as a resource forDioceses and Parishes. He can be contacted at webmaster@churchinwales.org.uk

THE Church’s involvement withthe annual Pembrokeshire

County Show at Withybush beganwith the special service held this yearin the President’s Pavilion on theSunday Evening, which it was myprivilege to have been invited to at-tend by the show President, Mr BrianLlewellyn. Also present were offic-ers of the Pembrokeshire Agricul-tural Society, local dignitaries, rep-resentatives of exhibitors and organ-isers from all sections of the show,friends, neighbours and guests.

The service was arranged andconducted by Canon GeoffreyGwyther, Rector of Prendergast andRudbaxton, in whose parish the showground is situated. It was an oppor-tunity to give thanks and to pray forthe special needs of the rural com-munities in this time of change andstress in agriculture.

The guest preacher, Revd. EileenDavies, Rural Advisor for the Dio-cese based her address on the text,“One sows and another reaps”, tak-ing in all the current issues and prob-lems, and demonstrating the contin-ued presence of the Lord in Hisworld, troubled as it is, as well asoutlining her role as Rural Advisor.

This spirit was continued in the

Church tent over the three days of theshow. This year it was under newmanagement in the hands of RevMichael Rowlands. The cheerful in-formal welcome which has been thehallmark in recent years continued,with Michael, assisted by Mothers’Union members and friends servingFair Trade tea and coffee to gratefulguests, who were glad to relax andsit down for a while, away from thehectic crowds attending the show.

Many other church organisationswere also represented in the tent, of-fering good humoured fellowship towelcome visitors. These includedPlant Dewi, ensuring the childrenwere entertained; Christian Connec-tions with a wonderful stall sellingnativity models, a wide selection ofbooks etc.; the charity ‘Send-a-Cow’; and a beautifully decoratedFair Trade stall.

The Mothers’ Union also had asales stall with a wide variety ofcards, stationery and goods and theyalso staged a prayer corner wherepeople could write in items for inter-cessions which could be included inthe prayers at the daily Eucharist,when the busy comings and goingsgave way to a time of quiet contem-plation, prayer and worship.

The Revd Michael Rowlands, the Communication Team Event Organiser, takes a welcome break

Celebrating BroadcastingMORE churches in the diocese

are involved in broadcastinginitiatives now than at any time in thepast. The success of local radio sta-tions such Radio Pembrokeshire; thecommunity-based initiatives of theBBC such as the recent one inCarmarthen, and the extension oftemporary licences such as that at

Radio Preseli have all kept churchesbusy over the past few weeks.

Two Celebration services wererecently recorded at SteyntonChurch, for BBC Radio Wales.

The services were planned to bebroadcast at Harvest Festival (thefirst Sunday in October in the BBCcalendar), and on Remembrance

Sunday, November 13. Designingappropriate services gave an oppor-tunity to involve some local organi-zations, to celebrate some of the bestthings about worship in the church,and to think creatively about how togive these services a sense of place.

The Harvest service included acommissioned piece sung by theTiers Cross Young Farmers, some ofwhose members are a regular partof the congregation. A lesson was

read by one of them, Non Thorne,Pembrokeshire Junior Young Farmerof the Year. The other lesson wasread by congregation memberShirley Johns, the first womanpresident of the PembrokeshireAgricultural Society. Members of theJohnston Brass Band, some of whomare also church members, helped ac-company the singing. The Remem-brance Service included a specialbrass band arrangement of the last

post, against a background of ‘Nowthe Day is Over’. Prayers for peacewere read by young people. Otherparts were taken by the ministry teamat the church. Church members havea new sense of pride in what theirchurch can do, and a new awarenessof the quality thresholds whichinform the BBC’s work in this area,and which have something to say tochurches too.

Copy date for the next issue

isFebruary 24

10 Pobl Dewi, November 2005

WORDS of wisdom are like thestick a farmer uses to make

animals move. These sayings comefrom God, our only shepherd, andthey are like nails that fasten thingstogether. Ecclesiastes 12:11 (CEV)

About six years ago, I first con-sidered the possibility that God wascalling me to ordained ministry in theChurch in Wales. Those six yearscould easily have been a roller coasterof emotions, stresses and strains, butthey were not. Instead, as I look backon them, there is a clear trend of Godputting wise, kind and encouragingpeople in my path at regular inter-vals. Sometimes they provided amuch needed prod to help me takeanother step, other times they heldme back from getting ahead of my-self when it all might have fallenapart!

Initially, friends at church in Ab-erystwyth where I was a student andat home in Gloucester gave gener-ously of their time to listen and pray– and wonder what God would beable to make of me! Regular Rec-tory sandwich lunches with othersconsidering a similar vocation werea good opportunity to consider what‘ordained ministry’ might actually

Views of an ordinandby Richard Wood

mean. Apparently, there is work todo in the week, too!

My trail of counsellors contin-ued throughout the formal selectionprocess, and I am hugely gratefulto Canon Aled Griffiths (the War-den of Ordinands) for his supportand advice throughout this time.There was a lot to think about andattempt to understand concerningvocation and ministry, from a vari-ety of viewpoints, and several prac-tical implications to consider aswell. Eventually, I felt appropriately

prepared for the Diocesan SelectionPanel in Abergwili, and then theProvincial Selection Conference inthe grounds of Chester Cathedral.

Neither stages of the processwere as harrowing an experience asI was anticipating! Both groups ofselectors were keen to get to knowme as well as the time allowed, sothat they could prayerfully considermy vocation in as informed a way aspossible. My resultant recommenda-tion for training was very encourag-ing as well.

So now, I find myself as a fresh-faced(!) new student at St. Michael’sTheological College in Llandaff,Cardiff, with three years of trainingahead of me. My wife, Naomi, and Imoved at the start of September, andhave already been warmly (and re-peatedly!) welcomed to the commu-nity here. As the work begins, I amconfident that I have just met anothergroup of people ready to speak God’swisdom, kindness and encourage-ment into my life.

My child, I warn you to stayaway from any teachings exceptthese. There is no end to books, andtoo much study will wear you out.(v. 12!)

Richard Wood

Dennis Baxter“I AM SO PROUD,” said the Rev-erend Dennis Baxter, when we foundhim in his parish, of service in theRectorial Benefice of Tenby.

“I was not brought up in thechurch, in fact the complete oppo-site was true – my family were com-pletely unchurched, in fact until I was

twenty one years old and moved toWales, the only time I had been in achurch was for a cousin’s wedding,and that we could not avoid.”

Dennis told us during the inter-view that his Dad was very proud ofhim at his ordination on the 25thJune. “I saw my Dad taking com-munion.” He told us excitedly, “Ithought I would never see that hap-pen although I had prayed about thatfor a long time.” Dennis told us thathe was over the moon with how theservice in the Cathedral went. Hav-ing his wife Jennifer, and his fivegrown up children, Andrew, Mat-thew, Rebecca, Maria, and Leah, allat the service, made him really proud.He would like to say a big thank-youto all friends, who came from manyplaces, to celebrate with him.

“I started attending church afteran experience of God in my caravanin Llandissilio,” explained Dennis,“So I feel very much that I was bornin Barking, England naturally, but Iam a born again Welshman, whichis why I choose to serve the Church

Ordinands

Lynn Chambers

THE Revd Lynn Chambers is thenewly ordained NSM curate in theparish of St Peter’s, Carmarthen andalso Diocesan Children’s officer.Lynn and her husband Mike live atBromihangel, Gwernogle wherethey open their home as a retreathouse for quiet days and retreats.Already, Lynn has been well re-ceived by the people of St Peter’sand St John’s and having spoken toher recently she too seems to be set-

tling into her new role. “Everythingis going really well and I am verymuch enjoying being Curate at StPeter’s. I was concerned before or-dination that the collar may get inthe way, but the opposite has hap-pened. I have had more conversa-tions about God and faith with peo-ple unconnected with church. Ad-justing to living and working in twodifferent parishes has been quite achallenge together with juggling myrole as Diocesan Children’s Officerand making time for home, familyand personal prayer. However, thepeople of St Peter & St John andthose living in my home communityhave been very supportive and en-couraging. To begin with it was dif-ficult to know what to do with theodd half hours between meetings,visits and services, especially thetime after Morning Prayer when itwas too early to go knocking ondoors but I now have my ownworkspace in St Peters where I canalso ‘chill’ with a cup of coffee, areal home from home”.

Derek DaviesDEREK has passed his fifty-eighthbirthday and he and his wife Berylare approaching their thirty-fourthwedding anniversary. Their three

lan Girling

“HAD someone said to me ten yearsago when I was first made redundantthat I would be a curate in 2005 min-istering in the Church in Wales, Iwould have laughed them out of theroom. I had been brought up in aBrethren assembly in Southend onSea (nearly as far east in the UK asyou can get) and now minister nearly

in Wales, and consider this a realhonour.”

He went on to tell us that he isreally enjoying serving God and Hispeople in Tenby, moreover, he looksforward to what he described as afruitful ministry. Dennis enjoyed theclergy school in September, hiswords were, “I am excited about thevision of our bishop and diocese.I was very encouraged meeting fel-low clergy in the diocese and I verymuch believe great things are goingto happen in St Davids.”

Dennis told us that the only sadnote for him was that his late mumcould not be at his ordination, but hedid say, “I believe my Mum wasthere in spirit.”

Dennis said he would like tothank all, including his fellow clergyin the benefice of Tenby, those whoare full time – Rector David Jenkinsand Vicar Michael John – retiredclergy, and all in the churches thathe serves, “You have all made mefeel at home,” he said.

as far west in the UK as you get inHubberston and Hakin.”

Ian’s working life began in Es-sex, eventually transferring toTrowbridge in Wiltshire withBarclays bank. With pressure ofwork, the family and God took sec-ond place, and Ian did not want any-thing to do with the church, but afterseveral visits from his Pastor he wasled back to the Lord. After about 9months Ian was made redundant forthe first time. He recalls, “My re-stored faith in Christ was taking abattering. It was as if God was test-ing us to see how firm our founda-tion of faith was.”

After a long period out of work,and after much soul-searching andprayer, Ian believes God first calledhim to ministry. Having made thefirst moves towards Readership min-

istry, through the Diocese of Salis-bury, a secular job was offered andIan took it up. But two more redun-dancies were to follow.

“At age 48 I had had enough.Life was just too complicated and soI set about the idea of early retire-ment and getting a part time job, sell-ing up the family home that the chil-dren had grown up in anddownsizing. God had other ideas.

“Having rejected the churchsome 10 years previously, I nowembraced it and rejoiced in the fu-ture that belonged to God. I went tocollege and appreciated more of thescriptures and their relevancy andmade some great friends.

“I consider ministering here inWales a great privilege. The parishhas welcomed us warmly. Alan ourRector, put me to work preaching and

children are out in the world – pur-suing careers in England whilst keep-ing strong links with West Wales.Before joining the Non-StipendiaryMinistry as a Curate at Steynton onthe outskirts of Milford Haven,Derek spent almost all of his earlierworking life as a Civil Engineer in arange of different roles in the WaterIndustry in West Wales, finally tak-ing early retirement in 2000. A pe-riod of study at UCW Lampeter fol-lowed, before training for ordinationbegan in 2003. He continues to liveat Ty Llosg near Clarbeston Road inmid-Pembrokeshire where he has,for many years, kept a small flock ofJacob sheep. His interests includeall forms of natural history and hesees himself following in very mod-est fashion the great Anglican tradi-tion of parson-naturalist/scientist.

Brian Jones

BRIAN JONES is the newly or-dained deacon in the parish ofGorslas, Crosshands and Carmel andis in the third year of his training onthe non-residential course at St.Michael’s Theological college. Hewrites “It’s over 3 months since myOrdination as Deacon and the timehas simply flown by. Retiring should

have meant more spare time, what-ever that means, but I find life is justas busy. However, I am far more re-laxed and happier in my new ‘role’as Curate. I am still committed to two(flexible) half days at school doingadministration work as ExaminationsOfficer leaving a few days for Par-ish work which I find particularlyrewarding. I’ve officiated at two bap-tisms, addressed two local senior citi-zens’ groups and preached at Har-vest Thanksgiving at Llandudoch. Tomake the community more aware ofthe church at Cross Hands, fourevents (before Christmas) have beenorganised: a BBQ, a Harvest Sup-per, a quiz night and a ChristmasConcert. Other events have beenpencilled in for the new year whichwill then quickly take me, God will-ing, to my Ordination as Priest nextPetertide.”

leading services, assisting at funer-als and weddings, home commun-ions and working on our response tothe Bishop’s vision. I have been veryfortunate in having Alan who hasmade some excellent suggestions asto how to improve sermons and heand the congregations have given usevery encouragement in ministry.

“I was asked about what I likedand disliked about the area? Likes:scenery, sea, boats, the people, pace

of life, green open spaces, fresh fish.Dislikes: time it takes to get any-where from Pembrokeshire, wind,rain and sea mist.

What of the future? God knowsabout that and I should not be con-cerned about it. God has placed mein Hubberston and Hakin for the timebeing and in that I am content. Thefuture is his, not mine. The Kingdomis his, not mine. The glory and praisefor all that is done is his, not mine.”

Pobl Dewi, November 2005 11

Andrew JohnsonBEFORE he was ordained, Andrewstudied for a two year BA in Theol-ogy and Ministry at Cranmer Hall,which is part of St John’s College inDurham University. Before that heworked for three years as a ChurchAdministrator at St Michael’sChurch in Aberystwyth. He alsoworked as a chartered librarian for acompany called Instant Library Lim-ited, which managed library and in-formation services for other compa-nies. His Welsh connections includemany happy holidays in North Walesas a child, a lifelong interest in theFfestiniog Railway, and a passion forclimbing Welsh mountains.

Since being ordained Andrewand his wife Nat have settled in wellto their new house in Carmarthen.Andrew has enjoyed preaching regu-larly and leading services at both StPeter’s and St John’s. He has also

John PlessisJOHN was born in Belfast, North-ern Ireland. He was educated at anInternational Anglo-Catholic schoolfounded by the Community of theResurrection (Mirfield) in Johannes-burg, South Africa. At the age of 14he believed that he was first calledto Ministry.

At the age of 18, he wanted tostudy theology with a view to enter-ing theological college; however, hisparents advised him that he shouldgo to university and experience theworld first before entering ministry.Consequently, he went to CardiffUniversity where he read mathemat-ics. He then trained as a Mathemat-ics Teacher and was given his firstpost at Reading Blue Coat Schoolwhere he taught for a number ofyears. John then turned his attentionsto researching the psychology ofmathematics and joined SwanseaUniversity as a Professional Tutorand Doctoral Researcher.

He studied for Ministry at StMichael’s College Llandaff, and waselected Senior Student in his final

GUESTS at a recent wedding atSt Mary Magdalene Church,

Wiston, were treated to an unex-pected performance by a visiting ce-lebrity. Katherine Jenkins has been afriend of the bride, Miss Katie Lewisof Wiston, for several years, sincethey sang together in the NationalYouth Choir of Wales, and have keptin touch since those days. To the greatdelight of the bride and groom, MrDaniel Durling, Katherine Jenkinsoffered to sing at their wedding inSeptember.

Wiston Church has long held anenviable reputation for the standardof music performed by their choirwho also sang during the wedding,under the direction of their MusicalDirector Mr Seimon Morris, whoaccompanied Katherine Jenkins forthis occasion. This reputation wasenhanced as Miss Jenkins followedthe choir’s moving performance of“The Lord bless you and keep you”and “A Claire Benediction” both byJohn Rutter.

Only a limited number of peoplewere allowed to know about the ce-lebrity visit in advance of the wed-ding, in order to avoid extraordinarypublicity on the day, and Katherineherself wanted to avoid her presencedistracting attention from the brideand groom on their special day. Nev-ertheless there was indeed much ex-citement as unsuspecting guests ar-rived in church to see the name,Katherine Jenkins, on the order ofservice.

Katherine sang two solos during

averaged one funeral service a weeksince he started, and finds bereave-ment ministry very rewarding. Hehas joined a number of local clergyon a rota to write a message whichappears in the Carmarthen Journal,and has also been involved in lead-ing an evening Bible study and plan-ning all age worship with a smallteam.

He has enjoyed parish visiting onfoot and by bike, and finds it hum-bling to meet parishioners who canremember at least six curates beforehim who have lived in the curate’shouse on The Parade! Andrew hasalso been practising his limited Welshwhile leading services, includingsinging the versicles and responsesin Welsh at the bilingual EveningPrayer service! He is looking forwardto starting an intensive Wlpan begin-ners’ course in Welsh at Trinity Col-lege, Carmarthen.

year. He thoroughly enjoyed his twoyears at St Michael’s College andwas most impressed with the excel-lent tuition, pastoral care, and ecu-menical opportunities offered underthe skilful leadership of the currentPrincipal and Warden, Rev. Dr.Peter Sedgwick.

Following his ordination, he hasrecently become a member of thenew Haverfordwest Collegiate, andis delighted to be part of a new modelof ministry. It is a highly collabora-tive venture that seeks to share goodpractice and resources in venturingin mission. John has particularly en-joyed setting up a new All-Age Wor-ship Family Service in Camrose andhe is pictured here with his latest re-cruits. He has very much enjoyed thewealth of experience that a Collegiatesystem is able to offer.

John is married to Rachel andthey have two children, 9 year oldRhiannon and Dylan aged 3. Theyare enjoying life in Pembrokeshireand the children have settled in wellinto their new school.

SurSurSurSurSurprise celeprise celeprise celeprise celeprise celebrity perfbrity perfbrity perfbrity perfbrity perfororororormancemancemancemancemanceaaaaat t t t t WWWWWiston Churiston Churiston Churiston Churiston Churccccchhhhh

Katherine Jenkins with Musical Director Seimon Morris

the signing of the registers. The first,a beautiful song entitled “The IrishWedding Song” written by IanBetteridge, the words of which wereso appropriate to the occasion, andwhich resulted in more than a fewtears of emotion being shed in thecongregation. The second, a stunningperformance of “Song to the Moon”from Rusalka by Dvorák.

All present agreed that KatherineJenkins is every bit as talented andas beautiful as she appears on televi-sion, and that it was a privilege tohave been present for this very per-sonal and exclusive performance.What was also nice to see was that,despite her celebrity status, when not

singing, Miss Jenkins was able tomix naturally and sociably amongfriends and family of the bride andgroom, as any other of the manyguests present.

Sadly, Miss Jenkins was not ableto stay long in Wiston after the wed-ding. Her busy schedule meant thatshe had to leave in the early after-noon, as she was booked to performin the Proms concert in SingletonPark that evening. Short as her visitmay have been, the people of Wiston,and in particular the choir, will lookback fondly at the day whenKatherine Jenkins sang in WistonChurch.

Classic Requiemby Jonathan Copus

A JEWEL in the British choralcrown – that’s how John

Rutter’s Requiem has been de-scribed.

And there’s a chance to admirethis jewel in the setting of the RoyalSchool of Church Music’s latest of-fering in their Choral Classics se-ries.

Choirs and individual singersfrom all over West Wales are invitedto come and sing this modern clas-sic under the direction of TimothyNoon, Organist and Master of theChoristers at St Davids Cathedral,with Assistant Cathedral OrganistSimon Pearce providing the accom-paniment.

The event is scheduled for Sat-urday 12th November in St Mar-tin’s Church, Laugharne, the workbeing therefore particularly appro-priate for the day between Armi-

stice Day and Remembrance Sun-day.

Singers are asked to assembleat the church at 1 pm, and after anafternoon of rehearsals the publicperformance will take place at 7 pm.

For further details – and to ap-ply for a place – please contactRSCM Area Secretary RichardStephens on 01437 760269.

ON July 9th parishioners inLlanarthne hosted a concert

given by Côr Meibion DyffrynTywi. The event was the first of aseries of fund-raising activitieswhich the parish has planned to helpmeet the costs of extensive repairsboth to the structure and the fabricof the church. St David’s church isan old foundation, periodically ex-tended or refashioned, but now in

serious need of restoration.The choir, which gave its serv-

ices free of charge, was led by itsredoubtable Musical Director,Betty Lewis-Fisher and accompa-nied by Maureen Chapman. Thisyear the choir celebrates its 30thanniversary. Since its inception in1975 many organisations in the dio-cese have had good cause to thankthe choir for its charity work. Ably

supported by guest soloist SaraJones, a Sixth Former at YsgolGyfun Bro Myrddin, Carmarthen,the choir delighted a large audiencewith a mixture of male voice fa-vourites and ballads with more ofan up-beat appeal. The presidentfor the evening was our MP, MrAdam Price, who spoke of the im-portance of preserving both theuniqueness of such an art-form andthe cultural space that parishchurches provide.

Refreshments were provided inthe church hall following the concert.The Revd Hywel Davies thanked allwho had bought and sold tickets, aswell as everyone who had assistedbehind the scenes, especially theWardens, Mrs Plena Grey and MrsMary Bound. He also encouragedsupport for similar events in the fu-ture, so that St David’s church mightcontinue as a presence in the com-munity of Llanarthne.

– Hywel Davies

Llanarthne embarks on fund-raising effortLlanarthne embarks on fund-raising effortLlanarthne embarks on fund-raising effortLlanarthne embarks on fund-raising effortLlanarthne embarks on fund-raising effort

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Eisteddfod Yr Urdd,Sir Gâr, 2007

BYDD Sir Gâr unwaith eto yngyrchfan i eisteddfodwyr

Cymru wrth i‘r Urdd ymweld â‘rEsgobaeth ar gyfer ei phrifwyl 2007.Ar hyn o bryd does dim sicrwyddble yn y sir y bydd yr Eisteddofd yncael ei chynnal. Mae tri safle o danystyriaeth - yng Nghaerfyrddin,Llanelli a Llanymddyfri – ond mae‘rgweithgareddau sy‘n nodweddudyfodiad yr Eisteddfod i unrhywardal eisoes ar y gweill. Gyda 38pwyllgor apêl wedi eu sefydlu drosy sir, mae cyngherddau, boreaucoffi, sioeau ffasiwn, rafflau, a phobmath o wiethgareddau yn siwr ofyrhau‘r gaeaf i ni oll, tra‘n codiarian i osod yr Eisteddfod ar benffordd.

Cynhelir yr Eisteddfod rhwng28ain Mai a 2il Mehefin 2007; ondcofier hefyd am yr Wyl Gyhoeddi, agynhelir o‘r 3ydd i‘r 9fed Ebrill2006. Uchafbwynt yr wythnoshonno fydd pan fydd trosglwyddo‘rRhestr Testunau i ‘r Urdd gan MrTom Davies, Cadeirydd y PwyllgorGwaith lleol. Felly, chwi Eglwyswyrsir Gâr, trefnwch ddigwyddiad yneich plwyf all fod o gymorth i‘r Ei-steddfod, lle bynnag y‘i cynhelir yny diwedd. Ymhyfrydwn yngnghanolfan newydd yr Urdd yngNghaerdydd – ond cofiwn hefyd tawgwreiddiau lleol a chefnogwyr lleolsydd angen ar yr Urdd bob amser.

– Hywel Davies

by Nicholas Cale

12 Pobl Dewi, November 2005

Reviews

Notices received

Chasing the Dragon andCrack in the Wallboth by Jackie Pullinger(Hodder) £5.99 each

THESE are books to stop you inyour tracks. Together they are theautobiography of the most success-ful curer of drug addicts in theworld, and a healer of bodies. Butto her, these things are sidelines tobringing people to know Jesus per-sonally as Lord for themselves.

She was just an ordinary subur-ban Surrey girl who qualified as aMusic teacher and then felt calledby God to be a missionary, but shedidn’t know where to, and every

Missionary Society turned her down– “too young” etc.

Happily Richard Thompson, aVicar, said to her “If I were you Iwould go out and buy a ticket for aboat going on the longest journeyyou can find and pray to knowwhere to get off. You can’t lose ifyou put yourself completely inGod’s hands, you know.”

Crazy as it sounds, she did justthat, and suddenly felt called to getoff when they got to Hong Kong.There she found the “walled City”– a huge slum controlled by Triadgangs running extensive prostitutionand drug rackets. She proceeded by

trial and error, always trusting Godfor guidance (and maintenance).She started a Youth Club, and herethe story must be read – it would bespoilt by condensation. It ends withher, solely by faith in Jesus, convert-ing drug addicts and policemen,prostitutes and pimps to faith in Je-sus and incidentally healing massesfrom physical diseases of all sorts.

The story is thrilling – you mustread it for yourself. It raises in itswake serious theological questionsin view of her runaway success ascontrasted with the sedate declineof our Churches in the West. –

Bernarr Atherton

Theology Lectures 2005–2006 to be held at the Universityof Wales, Swansea. Everybody Welcome – Admission Free

6 December 2005, 7pm: ‘Proclaiming the Faith in a PluralistSociety’: The Most Revd Vincent Nichols. Faraday LectureTheatre.

23 January 2006, 7pm: Title to be announced. ProfessorI. Howard Marshall. Faraday Lecture Theatre.

31 January 2006, 7pm: ‘Anglican Models of Evangelism’.The Right Reverend Stephen Cottrell. Faraday LectureTheatre.

MU FESTIVAL SERVICE OF LIGHT, St Katherine’s Church,Milford Haven, Saturday 7 January 2006 at 3pm. All welcome

Adam the ManCD. Price £5

ADAM THE MAN is a new musi-cal work written by two very talentedPembrokeshire figures: poet PeterGeorge from Newport, Pembs, andmusician and composer SeimonMorris, organist and Musical Direc-tor at St Mary’s Church, Wiston. Thework was completed following thedeath of Adam Evans-Thomas, awell known charity campaigner, inFebruary 2004, who spent the yearsof his illness, not only fighting it andtrying to live as normal a life as pos-sible, but also campaigning tirelesslyto raise awareness of the need forblood and bone marrow donors.Despite his own campaigning and themany lives saved through his work,Adam himself never found a donorand ultimately he lost his fight againstleukaemia aged just 35.

Adam the Man was written inresponse to Adam Evans-Thomas’death, but it is more than that. Adamis the Hebrew word for ‘man’ and itis this theme of ‘everyman’, the

SCM Study guide to the OldTestamentJohn HoldsworthSCM Press 2005 £14.99(0-334-12985-6)

THE Archdeacon of St David’s haswritten on attractive user friendlyguide to the Old Testament. At thebeginning of each chapter we are toldwhat this chapter is about, whatbooks are helpful or referred to, howthe chapter is organized and whatshould we be able to do by the endof each chapter. There is an exercisein each chapter to encourage reflec-tion on experience and exercisesbased on specific OT texts. The bookis organised as a progressive courseand could be studied on one’s ownor better still in a group.

Starting with ‘Why read the OldTestament?’ the author introduces usto practically every book in this di-verse library. To assist us to get ahandle on such a rich variety of textshe concentrates on the theologicalinsights and aims of the post-exiliceditors who provided the final formof much of the material as we have itnow.

Using the historical and literaryskills of recent students of the OldTestament, Dr John Holdsworth suc-ceeds in bringing us up to date. Inhis opinion ‘there has scarcely beena more interesting or exciting timeto be studying the Old Testament’.That enthusiasm flows over into thisstudy guide and it is contagious.

Consequently the author is ableto engage in a dynamic dialogue be-tween the world of the Old Testamentand our world today. Times of crisisand bewilderment resonate with ourcontemporary situation. In the midstof painful experience, reflection onthe faith and practice of the past hasprovided the raw material for newtheological insights leading to pas-toral and practical encouragement inthe present. It is a questioning faithleading to a deepening of awarenessand hope. Instead of getting boggeddown with the lament ‘How couldGod let this (Exile disaster) happen?’Isaiah faces up to the key question,‘What does it mean, and what will itmean, to be the people of God in thefuture?’ A serious reading of the OldTestament might well inspire us toask the same question today and ven-ture in faith as we follow God’s lead-ing.

It was the relevance of the OldTestament to our present situationwhich struck the members of our dis-cussion groups at Cardigan andCilgerran as we read through partsof the Old Testament with the aid ofthis study guide. As well as speak-ing to the life of the church and thenation we found that it related to ourdeepest concerns. In his chapter onthe book of Job, John Holdsworthhighlighted the profound ‘contribu-tion to the problem of suffering whichpost-exilic theology unearthed’.

For those of us who have beenusing this study guide it has been likeshining a torch into the mysteriousworld of the Old Testament and find-ing that it is reflected back to illumi-nate our world today. We can heart-ily recommend it to other groups!

– Saunders Davies

The Da Vinci CodeDan BrownBantam Books, 2003THIS is a remarkable book. Unfor-tunately it is remarkably bad – andon so many levels. It is a thriller. Anda thriller needs to stop you suspend-ing your disbelief while it takes youout of your normal world – but thereare limits. And The Da Vinci Codegoes way beyond those limits. Amajor bad character, for instance, isan albino monk (you see a lot ofthose around don’t you?) with aweird taste in punitive underwear,apparently hired by a secretive andmassively-powerful Catholic or-ganisation to kill people who . . .Hang on a minute, Dan! You lost mesomewhere there. I want to suspendmy disbelief, but you do make ithard on a reader.

It is also a thriller with a mes-sage. It presents a dossier of evi-dence against ‘the Church’. ‘TheChurch’ is guilty of: distorting thetruth about Jesus; corrupting its ownscriptures and destroying authenticdocuments of its own origins; per-secuting women as part of a viciouscampaign to denigrate the ‘sacredfeminine’; oh, and generally tellinglies and killing people.

One character solemnly de-clares: ‘Sophie, the historical evi-dence supporting this is substantial’It is, of course, nothing of the kind.This book has about as much his-torical credibility as a Jeffrey Archernovel. But it dresses the story up inso much pseudo-scholarship andphoney ‘facts’ that its millions ofreaders reach the end with the con-viction that ‘there must be some-thing in it’.

All the discussion of academicsubjects sounds fantastic (I use theword carefully) but in fact is almostentirely bogus. Here’s a test of au-thenticity we can all try. Why notring Harvard University on 001 6174951000 and ask to be put throughto the department of ‘Symbology’in which the central characterRobert Langdon apparently is a pro-fessor? I think you’d get an inter-esting answer.

This book is essentially a Gnos-tic tract. The Gnostic movement ofthe second century taught that peo-ple could achieve salvation by ac-quiring secret knowledge about Godand the world. In The Da Vinci Codenot only are some characteristicGnostic ideas dusted off and putback in the window, but the wholenarrative is like a journey of Gnos-

tic illumination as the reader is takendeeper and deeper into the hidden‘truths’ which ‘the Church’ has triedto suppress for two millennia. It sug-gests that there is a body of enlight-ened people who guard this truth –and indeed that all truly enlightenedChristians realise that Jesus is notGod, the scriptures are merely hu-man products and the rest of it.

In reality however the Gnosticenterprise of the second century wasa huge confidence trick, hiding anempty promise behind high-sound-ing words. Dan Brown’s Gnosticenterprise is even bigger and evenmore of a confidence trick.

Read the story if you must.Enjoy it if you can. Just don’t be-lieve a word of it. – Will Strange

(The writer of this review hasproduced a brief critique of the ideasin The da Vinci Code. If you’d likea copy, send a sae to: The Revd DrW. A. Strange, St Peter’s Vicarage,Church Street, Carmarthen SA311GW, or emailvicar@stpeterscarmarthen.org

Y Llan, the Church in Wales Welsh language newspaper,welcomes your articles. Please send direct to the editor atpublications@churchinwales.ord.uk or for translation to theDiocesan Language Adviser at hywel33@btinternet.com

Pilgrimage. The archdeacon of St Davids is leading apilgrimage to the Holy Lands next Autumn. The party will leaveon Thursday October 19 and return on Sunday October 29.These dates include the half term week. The itinerary willinclude sites with Biblical significance, as well as visits topeople and places that will help understanding of the presentsituation in this area. The organization is being doneaccording to recognized best practice, that is, involving thelocal Christian communities as much as possible and makingarrangements through local Christian agencies. There isalready a considerable list of potential pilgrims from acrossthe Pembrokeshire area, and from different Christiandenominations, who have expressed interest and await finaldetails of the arrangements. The cost is likely to be in theregion of £850, including flights, good quality half boardaccommodation, transport, tips and local guide services. Ifyou would like to have information about the trip, pleasecontact the archdeacon direct at The Vicarage, SteyntonSA73 1AW, or email jh@steynton.org.uk

meaning of life, the shadow of deathand the problem of human sufferingwhich the piece explores. St Paulsays: “As in Adam all die, even so inChrist shall all be made alive.” Thepiece tells the story of Adam meet-ing his guardian angel, and as the twowrestle with many questions, thechorus reflects on the action, ratherlike a Greek Tragedy. Despite beingan extremely emotive piece, there isnothing mawkish about either thewords or music. Images of the nee-dle and the knife and pain are offsetby the joy of loving and living. Itopens with a raw burst of energy, andan honest, savage outpouring of an-ger against disease and the apparentunfairness of its progress. The mu-sic surprisingly blends many styles,from jazz to monastic.

Seimon and Peter collaborated

previously on a work about SuzyLamplugh which was recorded andperformed by the Pembrokeshirevocal group Tempus in aid of theSuzy Lamplugh Trust. It was toTempus again that Seimon andPeter looked to record Adam the Manwith the proceeds going to ;Adam’sBucketful of Hope Appeal,’ raisingmoney for a new cancer care dayunit in Withybush Hospital. Tempusalso performed the work at the‘Adam’s Festival of Hope’ in July2005, organised by Adam’s parentsin conjunction with the Welsh BloodService. It is a musical piece whichwill challenge you and move youthrough many emotions. The CD isavailable at a cost of £5.

For more information telephone01437 731266. – Heather Cale