Minister’s Message – January 4, 2026

Bible reading: Isaiah 60:1-7.

Message.

I don’t know how many people today read the books by Robert Louis Stevenson, but I suspect that most folk know of them: “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, “Kidnapped” and of course “Treasure Island”. However being an author was not the career RLS’s parents would have chosen for him; they would have preferred him to have been a civil engineer more specifically, a builder of lighthouses.

Read more “Minister’s Message – January 4, 2026” →

Christmas Eve – Minister’s Message

Message.

There’s one phrase which comes again and again in the Christmas story, although it might not be the first to come to our minds when we think through it. That phrase is, “Don’t be afraid” (or, if you prefer, “Fear not”) and, if I’ve counted correctly, it comes four times, in fact nearly every time an angel, God’s messenger, turns up.

Read more “Christmas Eve – Minister’s Message” →

Carol Service – Minister’s Message

Message.

It seems as if I’ve was wrong about the shepherds. Perhaps you were, too. You see, I’d always thought of them as poor, unkempt, grubby and smelly – not the sort of people you’d want to have at your posh dinner party. And I’ve had good reason for thinking as I have: many scholars, over many decades, have said that shepherds in ancient Palestine were despised and dishonest people, ritually unclean according to Jewish religious law, outcasts from society who weren’t allowed to testify in a court trial. I’ve read that shepherds stood on the bottom rung of the social ladder, sharing the same lowly status as tax collectors and dung sweepers (that’s an interesting pairing!).

Read more “Carol Service – Minister’s Message” →

Minister’s Message – December 7, 2025

Bible Reading: Isaiah 11:1-9.

Message.

The film “Duck Soup”, made back in 1933, is a political farce about the small country of Freedonia which is on the verge of going bust. Salvation is at hand, in the shape of the wealthy Mrs. Teasdale. She is willing to provide the necessary finance, but with one condition: her personal agent, Rufus T. Firefly – played by Groucho Marx – must become Freedonia’s leader. Of course the next-door nation of Sylvania is busy plotting revolution and sends in its spies Chicolini and Pinky, played by Chico and Harpo Marx. Chaos inevitably ensues.

Read more “Minister’s Message – December 7, 2025” →

Minister’s Message – November 23, 2025

Bible reading: Psalm 46.

Message.

Wales is justly proud of its castles, and there are a lot of them! For instance, we have Caerphilly, Chepstow, Caernarfon, Criccieth, Caldicot and our own Cardiff castle: that’s just a few, all beginning with the same letter, and there’s the rest of the alphabet to go!

Read more “Minister’s Message – November 23, 2025” →

Christmas Market – November 22nd, 11am – 1pm

Select and buy some lovely handmade Christmas gifts, get festive with a glass of mulled wine, a turkey roll or hotdog and check out our other goodies on sale. Stalls include cakes, toys, books, jams and pickles, Christmas goodies. There’s also a raffle, various games and a tombola.

Minister’s Message – November 2, 2025

Reading: from Wisdom of Solomon 3.

This reading comes from the Apocrypha, written between the Old and New Testaments. It is not generally considered to have the same status as the rest of the Bible, but does reflect Jewish thinking of the time.

Message.

Some years ago, when I was in London, I received a call from the local Catholic priest. He was looking for help as a Funeral Company had asked him if he could put on a service for everyone they’d dealt with who’d lost loved ones during the previous year. The priest wasn’t sure if he wanted to do this, as it seemed a bit “commercial”, but realised that it might give some comfort to people who were still feeling their loss; so he agreed. He felt quite strongly that the service, which would take place on a Sunday afternoon, should be ecumenical; so he invited an Anglican vicar and myself, as a nonconformist, to help him out.

Read more “Minister’s Message – November 2, 2025” →

Minister’s Message – October 26, 2025

Bible reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-18.

Message.

I’ve been a Minister for more than 38 years; that’s a long time. Before that I was a missionary in West Africa, for 2 years as a single man then 3 years with Moira. I can look back on many memories, both good and bad. For instance, there was the time in Africa when part of the roof blew off in a storm and water started dripping through the ceiling; there was the time when our baby son had a raging fever with malaria and we couldn’t get the medicine down him; there was the communion service in a country church where about 60 people had to be served from a single tiny cup, passed and repassed along the row; there was the baptismal service where the 30 or so candidates, all dressed on white, danced and sang their way to the river and back; there were hairy journeys on overcrowded bush taxis and boats.

Read more “Minister’s Message – October 26, 2025” →

Minister’s Message – October 12, 2025

Bible ready: 2 Timothy 2:8-14.

Message.

I wonder if you know what the institutions I’m about to name all have in common, apart from being ancient and situated in the southern half of England: Wimborne Minster in Dorset, St Wulfram’s church in Grantham, Merton College in Oxford and Wells Cathedral? It’s this: they all have chained libraries – that is, medieval libraries where some, at least, of the books are attached to their shelves by a ringlet and a chain. This is done is a way which allows the books to be consulted but not to be taken away. I deliberately didn’t mention the largest and most famous chained library as that would have given the game away – it’s the one at Hereford Cathedral. This apparently contains about 1,500 books, dating from around 800AD to the early nineteenth century, including 227 medieval manuscripts. They are still read by scholars who come from all over the world to study them.

Read more “Minister’s Message – October 12, 2025” →

Harvest Service – Minister’s Message

Bible readings: 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. (Paul is writing about his work to the fractious church at Corinth.)

John 4:34-37.(Jesus is speaking to his disciples.)

Message.

I wonder if anyone else here listen to “Farming Today” on the radio? I don’t blame you if you don’t, as it’s on very early – presumably so that busy farmers can tune in before they begin their morning tasks.The programme is only about 15 minutes long, but it covers a lot of different subjects and I’ve learned a lot from it. Just last week there was a piece about the exceptional damson harvest they’ve had up in the Lake District – I don’t think that’s been reported anywhere else. Anyway, here’s a few of the topics that have been covered recently: the shortage of rural housing, dealing with droughts and downpours, the price that dairy farmers are paid for their milk, the constant battle against TB in cattle, the expansion of school meal provision and the opportunities this may give for British growers, concern about a shortage of fodder after our dry summer, the need for foreign sheep shearers to be given visas, the danger of bluetongue disease, the changes to subsidies for sustainable agriculture, the impact of border checks … and much, much more.

Read more “Harvest Service – Minister’s Message” →