In view of the Coronavirus situation no services will take place until further notice.  Further information is given 

on the www.churchinwales.org.uk website.     

 

 

JULY and AUGUST  2020         Worship and Meeting times on Zoom

Sundays           at 10am           Worship with hymns

Wednesdays    at 9.30am        Holy Communion

                         at 2.30pm        Prayer Study Group

Thursdays        at 10am           Methodist Chapel Prayer Meeting

Fridays             at 10.30am      Coffee Morning

 

We celebrated Sea Sunday on 12th July in style, wearing ‘something blue’ and seeing on our screens some ‘interesting’ head gear, including an admiral’s and a naval officer’s hat..   Passers-by at the Knelston Rectory will have noticed that Justin, with Heather and Rebekah had earlier created at the entrance, a 3D tableau for Sea Sunday, with a wooden cross and a Mission to Seafarers sign, along with sea bird and fish (balloons). This can be seen in the nearby photograph.                                                                                       

 

Sincere thanks are due to the Headmaster, Phil Jenkins, and his staff at Knelston School for their hard work in helping our children keep up with their schooling during the past months and for the preparations they are now making to meet the extra demands of the new term in September.

 

REPORTS FROM THE CHURCHES  

                                             
St David’s, Llanddewi                                                                                            

 

While plans are afoot to reopen churches for worship and for special occasions, regulations are such that it is unlikely that many of our churches will re-open for regular services of worship for at least another month.  Before that happens the church will need to be cleaned, put in order and made welcoming again! A call will be sent out in advance, but anyone not normally on the ‘list’ is welcome to offer help; please let me or any other church member know. Meantime, the virtual church meetings have enabled us to continue to pray, learn and worship together, and the gathering together in this way of our family in Christ across the normal boundaries of denomination in Gower has provided wonderful encouragement and even spiritual  growth.  I encourage everyone to be faithful in prayer, asking for wisdom and vision for the future life of the church: for spiritual awakening, for new, relevant and better ways in which we can love and serve the Lord and the people around us, and that God’s Kingdom will grow in Gower.                                                                                 

 Penny Henderson   

 

 St Illtyd’s, Oxwich

Although the Church in Wales is allowing the opening of churches for private prayer, we regret that this is not going to be possible in Oxwich. We are a congregation of vulnerable people and the preparation that would be required, the cleaning between sessions and the need for someone to be in attendance would not be possible. We hope that those in need of this facility will find comfort and prayer space in God’s beautiful creation, evident all over Gower.
Before the lockdown it had been decided that in an effort to make our church more comfortable and welcoming we would replace some of the chairs. As a result, we have surplus wooden church chairs to dispose of and would be pleased if anyone could make use of them. There might be a small charge.
Rev. Justin continues to Zoom a Sunday morning service, a midweek quiet communion and a discussion, prayer meeting and coffee morning. The members of St. Illtyd’s, as part of the parish, much appreciate the lengths to which Justin goes to provide this continuation of worship and fellowship for us and we thank him as he keeps contact with us all. Anyone who is missing Sunday worship in their own church would be very welcome to join any of these services and should contact Justin to be helped to do this.
Here is a poem written by Kathleen O’Meara in 1869 after the Irish Potato Famine which I find very relevant for today.
       And people stayed at home and read books and listened and rested
       and exercised and made art and played and learned new ways of
       being and stopped and listened deeper.
       Someone meditated, someone prayed, someone danced.
       Someone met their shadow and people began to think differently
       and people healed.

       And in the absence of people who lived in ignorant ways,
       dangerous, meaningless and heartless, even the earth began to heal.
       And when the danger ended and people found each other, 
       grieved for the dead people,
       and they made choices and dreamed of new visions.
       And created new ways of life and healed the earth completely
       Just as they were healed themselves.                                          

Rosemary Wigley

 

St Andrew’s, Penrice  

                     

As we approach August and the arrival of friends and family there is a feeling of mixed emotion, delight at seeing everyone but slight feelings of apprehension as we merge into the rest of the world again.

At Penrice we have several visitors who usually attend our services but it is sad that this year we cannot welcome them back into the Church, maybe they will Zoom on a Sunday morning.

Cathy and William Dorran’s daughter, Rebecca, has recently become engaged to Sam Robson Davis from Cardiff and they plan to marry next year.  Congratulations and all good wishes to Rebecca and Sam.

Our regular worshippers at St. Andrew’s have been very generous in making up the Sunday collections which obviously have not taken place. It is good news that the Diocese has decided to give a substantial discount on the Parish Share for the second quarter.

Many thanks to Justin for delivering the Service Sheets and organising us all on Zoom.

Angela Barnett

 

St Cattwg’s, Port Eynon    

 

St. Cattwg’s Church is extremely grateful to the many generous donors of funds to help the church pay its way during the lockdown period. People from inside and outside the community have given, and church members look forward to meeting and greeting all of them in future, when conditions allow re-opening of the church for worship and hospitality. Thank you all, very much.

As you will be aware, the church has to remain closed until further notice, as it isn’t possible to fulfil the strict rules for re-opening without more assistance than any of us can provide. 

Several kind souls have placed boxes of adult and children’s books and music CDs in the porch for anyone to help themselves to. They will probably be there until the village bookstall can re-open, so why not come to have a look.

There is good news at last from Madeleine Gill about her mother, Betty, who finally returned home on July 2nd after a prolonged stay in hospital following a fall. It is to be hoped that there will be a good package of help put in place for her in future.

Susan Morris

 

 

St George’s, Reynoldston    

 

We were all saddened to hear of the passing of Sheila Glover who was buried in Reynoldston in the recently-opened grave for her husband, Peter.  Sheila will always be remembered for her quiet, gentle and friendly manner and her range of interests and learning. She avidly followed courses in literature, art history and philosophy and having learnt the language, spent much time in Italy, which they both loved. A keen member of the WI, she often won prizes for cookery and flower arranging but possibly her proudest achievement, with support from Peter, was her beautiful garden. We miss them both greatly and once again send our condolences to Julia, Sue and Tim and families.                                                                        

We are thinking of the family of three-year-old Lily Vine, receiving treatment which we pray will be successful at Bristol Children’s Hospital.  Lily is the great granddaughter of Pat Hayes and granddaughter of Deb and Rob Vine.

Several members at St George’s have expressed gratitude for Justin’s work, keeping in touch and delivering the Service Sheets as well as arranging all our Zoom ‘gatherings’.

Valerie Beynon

 

St Mary’s, Rhossili

                                                                      

At the time of writing things are starting to return to some sort of normality, albeit an unfamiliar situation. With the car parks opening and accommodation establishments opening their doors one has to be eternally grateful that Gower has escaped the Covid-19 virus to date. Living on a rural peninsula has its advantages. Thanks to the vigilance of the residents we have been able to enjoy a very quiet couple of months, with no traffic and few people - a truly special place.

Several of the coastal villages have suffered parking issues with cars parked in gateways, driveways and little regard for residents or emergency access.

The Zoom services both church and chapel have grown from strength to strength despite the gremlins’ attempts to put a spanner in the works. We are ever grateful Rev. Justin, Rev. Andy Walker and Rev. Mick Ellor for their time and effort in putting these services together.

Roger Button/Caroline Johnson

                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rev Justin Davies, The Rectory, Knelston, Reynoldston,Swansea SA3 1AR  Tel 01792 391384