What’s New

Minister’s Message – Good Friday 2026

Message.

I wonder how many of us shut our eyes while we’re watching the news on television? I do, and it’s not necessarily because I’m nodding off. No; it’s because I cannot bear to see many of the horrific scenes that are shown. Quite apart from the tragic consequences of earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters, we have seen so many scenes of warfare: apartment blocks – peoples’ homes – toppled in a single blast, hospitals amazingly still treating the maimed and blinded in the most appalling conditions, the pathetic queues of people in cars, lorries and donkey-carts laden with possessions seeking to find a place which might just be a little safer … you’ve all seen them, you don’t need me to spell out the details. What I find most chilling of all are the aircraft cockpit videos: we might see a lorry trundling along a road or a small boat chugging across the ocean when – wham! – it is obliterated. One has to remind oneself that it’s not just equipment or hardware that’s been destroyed; we are seeing human lives being wiped out. It is, of course, good to know what’s going on in our world: but should we be watching this as we munch our dinner, or is that slightly obscene?

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Minister’s Message – Palm Sunday 2026

Bible reading: Matthew 21:1-11.

Message.

Demonstrations, marches and protests seem to be a common feature of life today – but perhaps that’s nothing new. Here in Wales we had the Newport Chartist Rising of 1839, which sadly led to the death of up to two dozen demonstrators and the arrest and transportation of the movement’s leaders to Tasmania. Nearly a century later, in 1936, about 200 men or, as they called themselves, “Crusaders”, marched from Jarrow in the north-east of England to London, taking a petition to the British government which sought the re-establishment of industry in the town following the closure of its main shipyard.

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Minister’s Message – March 22, 2026

Bible reading: John 11:1-45.

Message.

People sometimes come out with the most inappropriate comments when we are suffering, grieving or in pain. For instance, you can be telling them about an incident that has really upset you and they’ll say, “Worse things happen at sea” – I have no idea where that remark originated! You can be describing a struggle which has made you feel utterly dejected and they’ll respond with, “Well, you can always look on the bright side”. Or you can feel trapped in agony and despair and they’ll say, “Pull yourself together, you’re bound to feel better in the morning”. I’m sure we’ve all received comments like these; they feel like a slap on the face and make us feel worse rather than better.

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Minister’s Message – March 15, 2026

Bible reading: John 19:25-27.

Message.

There are several church services or celebrations which seem to have been around for ever, but in fact haven’t been. Take Harvest Festivals, for example: although celebrations to mark the end of harvest go back to the Middle Ages or earlier, they were secular and rowdy affairs. It was only in 1843 that Robert Hawker, the Vicar of Morwenstow in Cornwall, held the first modern Harvest Thanksgiving service in church. Life on the farms back then was tough and unpredictable, but that year’s harvest was exceptionally good. As the villagers were getting ready for their usual drunken party Hawker stepped in and asked, “So who do you think gave you the harvest?” He then led a service thanking God for harvest blessings. The idea soon caught on (I suspect that Victorian romanticism in face of the Industrial Revolution had something to do with that) and churches have celebrated harvest ever since.

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Minister’s Message – March 8 – International Women’s Day

Bible reading: Genesis 2:7-9, 15-24.

Message.

Back in the 1950s, the American suburban housewife was said to be the envy of women around the world. She was healthy, beautiful, educated, and concerned only about her husband, her children and her home. As a housewife and mother, she was respected as a full and equal partner to a man in his world. She was free to choose her clothes, her car, her labour-saving appliances; in short, she had everything that women had ever dreamed of and had little thought for the nasty and unfeminine problems that existed outside their home.

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Minister’s Message on St. David’s Day

Bible reading: from Psalm 33.

Shout for joy for what the Lord has done,
all you that are righteous;
praise him, all you that obey him.
Give thanks to the Lord with harps,
sing to him with stringed instruments.
Sing a new song to him,
play the harp with skill, and shout for joy!
the words of the Lord are true,
and all his works are dependable.
The Lord loves what is righteous and just;
his constant love fills the earth.
Worship the Lord, all the earth!
Honour him, all peoples of the world!
When he spoke, the world was created;
at his command everything appeared.
The Lord frustrates the purposes of the nations;
he keeps them from carrying out their plans.
But his plans endure forever;
his purposes last eternally.
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord;
happy are the people he has chosen for his own!

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An evening of Welsh entertainment – February 28th

Join us for an evening of music and drama celebrating Welsh culture and heritage at 7pm on Saturday, February 28th.  Cheese and wine will be served. There is no set ticket charge, just donations. If you are planning to attend, please email tickets@christchurchunitedcardiff.org.uk – this will help with catering and seating plans. Thank you.

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Pancake Afternoon – February 17th

Join us for our Pancake Afternoon on Shrove Tuesday, February 17th. Pancakes served from 2pm onwards. No booking required.  A warm welcome to everyone.

Minister’s Message – February 8, 2026

Bible reading: Matthew 5:1-16.

Message.

“Mary is reliable, trustworthy, and straightforward; in fact she’s the salt of the Earth”. What sort of image would flash up in your mind if you heard someone saying that? For me, it would be an old-fashioned picture of a hard-working woman who lived in a terraced house in an industrial city, rising early each morning to stoke the fire, get her husband’s breakfast, then cleaning, washing, shopping and scrubbing the front step until it gleamed. She’d be middle-aged but beginning to look a bit weary, dressed neatly but plainly; she’d also be honest and plain-speaking. And if you think that picture makes me sound a bit snobbish or condescending, you’d be absolutely correct, because one dictionary definition of “salt of the earth” says that it’s used mainly by upper-class people when they are talking about working-class folk whom they consider good but rather rough-and-ready. It probably says more about the speaker than the person they’re describing!

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Minister’s Message – January 25, 2026

Bible reading: Acts 9:1-20.

Message.

I doubt that any of us recognise the names of Wesley Beynon and Mark Wilding. Indeed, their picture makes me think that they’re probably “not my kind of people”. But, about ten days ago, these two men – who are uncle and nephew and come from Merthyr Tydfil – did something truly amazing; you may have heard about it on the news. As they were driving along the Heads of the Valleys road, they saw that a car was on fire. They also saw a distraught young woman beside it, screaming that her baby was trapped inside. Without a moment’s hesitation the two men forced their way in through the flames and rescued the child. Afterwards they said, “We were in the right place at the right time. Instinct took over. We’d never have left the scene until the baby was safely out of the car”. Would we have had their courage? I doubt it, and I hope they receive medals for what they did. Nevertheless they will remain largely unsung heroes.

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