Saint David’s Uniting Church
Minister: Vacancy
Church Office Tel: 01443 300345
Website: www.stdavidsuniting.org.uk
Admin email: [email protected]
Link for Livestream https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1ftWuXHexnfFdo1FKwXBZA
20th November 2022
We welcome everyone who joins us for worship today as with Iestyn leading us we approach the season of Advent.
This is the week when we traditionally light the Black Candle at St. David’s Uniting Church – as a reminder that the festive season can be difficult for many and that God is with us in our shadowlands as in the more colourful moments of our lives
We will have a short meeting following the service to decide on the charities we will support through our Christmas Appeal. We usually choose one international and one local. We have one suggestion already for the local charity, ‘Llamau’, which supports homeless young people.
Tea and coffee will be served in the hall following the morning service, and the hand-made Christmas cards will be on sale, please join us for this time of informal fellowship.
§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§
Church Family and Pastoral News
We include this in the news sheet to inform our prayers.
- We are pleased to report that Phil George, who would have been leading our service today, is making excellent progress and is now able to walk unaided, his vision has been affected and he will have to adapt to a new way of ‘seeing’. We continue to hold him and Ceri in our prayers.
- Some of our ‘older’ members are feeling ‘down’ ~ the darker winter nights might be the cause.
- There are many who are suffering from the usual winter aches and pains, but thankfully NOT Covid.
- Marilyn Young has been in considerable pain and is hoping that the Physio appointment will help.
- We remember David Jones and Elsie Bennett as they wait for their operations later this month.
- We hold Phil in our thoughts as he starts his new job this week, with an induction week. He will face many different challenges working with much younger people.
Birthdays
There are no Birthdays that we are aware of this week.
Diary for the Week
Monday 21st Language Classes 10.00-12.00
Tuesday 22nd 50+ Forum ~ Yoga session 13.30-15.30
Wednesday 23rd St David’s Guild 14.00 -15.30 (see below) Guides 18.00-19.30
Thursday 24th Tenovus ‘Sing with Us’ Choir 18.30-19.30.
Friday 25th Hatha Yoga Class 9.30-10.30 Beginners Class from 10.40 – 11.30. Charges apply.
Sunday 27th Traditionally on the first Sunday in Advent we have an Amnesty Service, so the Justice and Peace group will start the new church year, with a service that focuses on justice, solidarity, and hope. The service is 10.45 and will include communion.
St David’s Guild
Following last week’s meeting, when we participated in an Estimation Quiz and then viewed slides of Old Pontypridd when we reminisced about days gone by, we were given a sheet to record what Christmas was like when we were children.
So, this week we will discover how we celebrated Christmas in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. All are welcome!
§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§
Advance Notice of Gift Sunday ~ Advent 2
Gift Sunday will be on December 4th. It is our practice to donate gifts for Pobl (formerly Adref) ~ suitable gifts are toiletries, toothbrushes, toothpaste, brush and comb, packs of underwear, small backpacks in which to carry personal belongings, hats & gloves. socks & scarves, plain t-shirts (unisex) Chocolates and sweets.
And Homestart who help children and teenagers! We can help by donating toys and games which are given to the children either at Christmas or on their birthdays. Gifts should NOT be wrapped, but if you wish they can be put in a gift bag.
§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§
Leprosy Mission 
A reminder! I you have a Leprosy Mission box please return it by the end of November, or if you prefer to give a cheque, please make it payable to St David’s Uniting Church and give it to Pat.
Amnesty International
We will soon be in the advent season and Christmas cards will begin to arrive ~ please cut off the stamps – leaving a small border – and put them in the box on the table. Or give them to Carol, they will then be recycled to raise funds for Amnesty International.
§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§
An Interfaith Event on Skirrid near Abergavenny
A Faith Response to the Climate Crisis and to coincide with the COP27 talks in Egypt, taking place on November 27, starting at 1pm.
It follows from an event held on Parliament Hill recently and will involve the rabbi who organised that meeting and Lord Rowan Williams. There has been interest from BBC Wales.
The outline of the event that we have at the moment is:
12 noon Gathering at Skirrid Community Hall
12:45 Move or meet at Skirrid car park and pray
13:00 Climb to a plateau and make the declaration and sound the shofar.
14:30 Back to the hall for refreshments and discussion or move on to a farm 10 minutes’ drive away to plant trees.
The trees are native varieties provided by the Woodland Trust, planted in an area protected from grazing.
We are invited to take a short text from our tradition that could prompt conversation at the Community Hall, so please think about your favourite Bible passage with ecological impact, or contemporary words from someone like Oscar Romero.
§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§●§
Thought for the Week
Always live your life with one dream to fulfil.
No Matter how many of your dreams you have realised in the past, always have a dream to go.
Because when you stop dreaming, life becomes a mundane existence.
Sara Henderson 1936-2005 Australian Outback Manager and Writer