NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER
2016
Dear Friends
For each of us there are times in our
lives when big, important, lifechanging decisions are made. Angela
and I have come to one of those in the
last few days and weeks. After much
heart searching, I wrote to the Bishop
and offered my resignation to take a
slightly early retirement.
On reflection, the past 11 years have
been the most rewarding in my
personal life and in my spiritual life.
Within ministry I have found a peace
that previously had not been there.
Stress and strain were much more the
order of the day. Within ministry in
the church we have been blessed with
great friendships and rewards for
ministry that I had not envisaged.
Souls have been added to the
kingdom, faith has grown and seeds
of hope have been sown. Additionally,
with the work that I have done for the
diocese and province, there are men
and women training for ministry and,
indeed, some have already been
ordained. I have no wish to take
credit for any of this because I see it
as the work of God in and through
our ministry that has brought these
results and benefits.
I praise God for all that he is doing
amongst us at Holy Trinity. A couple
of years ago I thought that we would
be hit financially yet we have paid all
our bills to date. A few years ago I
thought that hope for the future had
disappeared yet as I look at it now I
see seeds and shoots of hope. We are
a much more open, welcoming
church. Our eyes seem to be lifted up
rather than down and I look forward
in the months and years to come to
hear about a church that is growing
both numerically and spiritually and
one that continues to play its part in
the community that it serves.
Yes, I look back with joy and
gratitude but look forward to God
continuing to bless the church in the
years to come and not just the church
but the people in our town through
the ministry that will be offered
through Holy Trinity Church.
May the Lord bless you richly in His
service,
Ian
_______________________
Holy Island, cathedrals and an
abbey
In July we travelled to
Northumberland on a five day tour.
Our first destination was Durham,
and we arrived five minutes before
the commencement of a parade
marching up the cobbled stones to the
cathedral. The ship’s complement of
HMS Bulwark were executing, for the
third time, their right to match
through the city and county after
being given the Freedom in 2010.
After the civic ceremony and listening
to the band on the Palace Green we
entered the cathedral, where some
of us were invited to fill up spare
seats for this special service. Up to
the year 1603 criminals would
knock on the door for sanctuary,
then after thirty seven days they
had to elect for trial or exile.
The following day necessitated an
early start governed by the tidal
times in the causeway between the
mainland and the Farne Islands.
En route a short stop was taken at
the ‘The Angel of the North’
monument. At sixty six feet high
with a hundred-foot wingspan,
standing beneath it was
empowering. Given a map of
Lindisfarne we visited the Church
of St Mary the Virgin, where copies
of the Lindisfarne Gospels are
displayed; the originals are safely
stored in the British Library. We
purchased Lindisfarne Mead (a
legend in a glass), and there was
still time left to visit Alnwick
Gardens.
The next day at Hadrian’s Wall
David climbed to the top of one
mount, I stopped at the half-way
mark. Our driver then gave us a
choice for the afternoon, and as no
-one wanted to shop in Newcastle,
we espied the Tyne Bridge at a
distance. Instead we went to
Vindolanda, a Roman Army Fort
and Museum, still being excavated
on site from March to September;
it was very interesting.
On our return journey home we
visited Hexham Abbey. The guide
took us down to the seventh
century crypt, the only place where
the monks could literally ‘see the
light.’ A further stop at Chester
Cathedral, some beautiful stained
glass windows, and wall mosaics of
the prophets, otherwise I
remember this building as dark
and gloomy.
During our stay, two weddings and
a christening were held at the
hotel. One guide told us ‘we get a
lot of rain up here,’ - well, except
for ten minutes of drizzle it was
sunshine all the way.
Marcia Jones
________________________
Lord of the dance
Why is it that people think God
does not want us to be joyful?
“Footloose” was the summer show
this year where “the church” stops
the youngsters from dancing.
The older members of our
congregation will remember all the
fuss when rock and roll came into
our lives. The music and the
dancing that went with it were
from the devil and would corrupt
us. Did these people ever look to
their Bible?
The earliest reference to dance is
probably in Exodus 15:20 where, in
Miriam’s song, it is said that the
people danced to the Lord, though
later on (32:19), the dancing was
before the golden calf which was
not pleasing to God.
Most of the references to dance
were to praise God, as in Psalms
30, 149 and 150.
David says that his mourning was
turned to dancing. Who can forget
his exuberant dancing before the
Ark of the Covenant in 2 Samuel
14:6? I remember saying to Lois
that I often feel like dancing down
the aisle of Holy Trinity as David
did with joy to God. I could not see
why Michal felt such disgust about
it. Lois said that was probably
because David was naked. Not
quite true, he was wearing an
ephod which was like a smock.
Obviously God was not disgusted.
David’s dancing pleased his people
as well as God and that is why he
was always a popular king. Later
on, in chapter 30, David was able
to fight the Amalekites as they
were dancing and revelling and did
not hear him coming.
The dancing did cause trouble for
David with Saul when the women
came out dancing in 1 Samuel
21:11, mainly because their song
praised David more than Saul. It
was then that Saul realised that
God favoured David.
Jeremiah tells us (31:13) that the
maidens will dance and be glad.
This would be on return from exile
and in verse 4 of that same chapter
we are told to “Go out to dance
with the joyful”. Why would the
prophets have told us to do this if
God does not like dancing?
I am not sure whether it was good
or bad for the girls of Shiloh who
were captured by the Benjamites
(Judges 21:21) as they came out to
dance at the annual festival. The
tribe of Benjamin would have been
decimated had they not heeded
what they were told and carried off
the girls as they danced and made
them their wives. So God
provided wives through dancing
and kept their line going.
Certainly there have been
instances of good and bad coming
out of dancing. Poor Jephthah’s
daughter thought her father would
be pleased to see her come dancing
out to meet him, little realising
that he had promised on oath that
the first thing that came out of his
house he would sacrifice to God
because of his victory in battle
(Judges 11:34).
Another man to regret a rash oath
was Herod. We all remember
Salome’s dance that so pleased
him that he promised her anything
she wanted, although it was her
mother who told her to ask for
John the Baptist’s head (Matt 14:6
& Mark 6:22).
Dance is also mentioned in the
New Testament when Jesus told
the people about the prophets:
“We played the flute for you and
you did not dance” (Matt 11:17).
The prodigal son’s brother also
sees the dancing going on in his
brother’s honour and refused to
enter the house (Luke 15:23). If
we equate the father in the parable
with God then we see that, as we
are told, there is much joy in a
sinner returning to him.
‘Our dancing has turned to
mourning’ we are told in
Lamentations but let us finish with
Ecclesiastes where we are told that
there is a time to mourn and a time
to dance.
Melanie M Burgess
(All Bible references from the NSV)
________________________
Those who have read the latest
edition of Pobl Dewi will see that
the lead article is an interview
with Bishop Wyn as he prepares
to retire. The full interview, in
which he reflects on his term in
office, can be seen on video via the
diocesan website at http://
stdavids.churchinwales.org.uk/
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
14th September, 7.30pm: Memorial Concert for Mr Bill Williams
22nd September, 7.30pm: Holy Trinity Church Committee meeting
25th September: Revd Mark Ansell begins ministry in Aberystwyth
29th September: Christian Union Grub Crawl (coming to us for fudge
and after dinner drinks)
2nd October: Harvest Sunday—11am service to be followed by a
bring and share meal
5th November, 10am-1pm: The next in our series of popular Saturday
morning workshops with the Assistant Bishop of our
Diocese, Rt Revd John Saxbee. ‘Hear, hear—There, there:
a gentle introduction to pastoral listening & visiting’.
In the event of any queries, or to book a place, please
speak to, or e-mail, Ian or Tessa, or complete one of the
booking forms on the table at the back of church and leave
it in the vestry. Deadline for bookings: 26th October.
2017
9th January: Proposed recording date for two BBC Radio Wales
programmes, ‘Celebration’, (one for the Week of Prayer
for Christian Unity and one for Easter Day—both
ecumenical) at Holy Trinity. More details to follow but
please put this date in your diary and join us if you can.
29th January: Ian’s last Sunday with us and, at 11am, the annual RNLI
Service.
COPY DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT ISSUE IS 8 NOVEMBER
2016
Articles, any length up to a maximum of approximately 400 words, can
be :
(a)
handed to the Vicar or Tessa Briggs
(b)
left for Tessa in the vestry at Holy Trinity Church
(c)
e-mailed to Tessa at [email protected]
(d)
posted to Tessa at Y Gilan, Dol-y-bont, Borth, SY24 5LX
Visit Holy Trinity’s website: http://www.holytrinityaber.com/
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Visit the diocesan website for more information and details about what’s
going on around St Davids at http://stdavids.churchinwales.org.uk/