Saint David’s Uniting Church
& Castle Square URC
Minister: Rev. Dr Phil Wall
Tel: 01443 300345 Mob: 07855090360
Website: www.stdavidsuniting.org.uk
Admin email: [email protected]
20th March 2022
Today is the third Sunday in Lent and we welcome everyone who is sharing worship with us, either in person, on live stream on later on YouTube.
Link for Live Stream – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1ftWuXHexnfFdo1FKwXBZA
Phil leading our worship today and the service will include communion.
This week Castle Square are having the service in the church for the first time in a long time! Ray Vincent will be leading the service and we are looking forward to being back in the church.
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Church Family and Pastoral News
We include this in the news sheet to inform our prayers.
- Martha is still in hospital. Her week has been a bit better than last week but she is still not out of the woods!
- Loreen is still in hospital and waiting to go home. She hasn’t lost her sense of humour but is fed up as all visiting has now been stopped due to a covid case.
- Marion is improving after a fall. She is still bruised but not too bad.
- John Edwards is still in a lot of pain and is waiting for the results of his MRI scan.
- Colleen has started a new course of Physio in the gym! We hope she will feel the benefit soon.
- Bethan and Pam both have Covid, so are self-isolating.
- Gwyneth’s granddaughter also has Covid, so her operation has been postponed.
Birthdays:
Just two birthdays that we know of this week – although there may be others… Edith Thomas has her birthday Today (20th) Margaret visited her on Friday: Kath Couchman will, hopefully, be able to celebrate her birthday on Saturday 26th. We send our good wishes to them.
Good News
As we reflect on the year of Jubilee and the release of captives in today’s service, we celebrate the release and return of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori. We have campaigned for Nazanin to be released in previous Amnesty services and it is a joy to see it actually happen.
The Open the Book Team are delighted to be able to resume assemblies at Coed y Lan Primary School. on Wednesday 30th.
Next Sunday – March 27th at St David’s
We will gather at 10.45 to recall, listen and respond as our service will include the Church meeting
At 6pm we have our monthly Zoom Story telling communion service
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St. David’s Uniting Church Meeting
We know that this date isn’t ideal for everyone as it is also Mothering Sunday. However, taking Easter and everything else into account, the next possible meeting date wasn’t until May! SO, ‘Phil assures us that – unless we decide otherwise (!) -the meeting will end long before lunchtime’.
The agenda and minutes have been emailed and paper copies have been delivered. Those unable to attend are invited to share any feedback to their elder/pastoral buddy.
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St. David’s Church Guild
Hot on the heels of her big Birthday celebration, Marilyn Leach has pulled some strings to book singing sensation David Watkins for the next guild gathering. A swing singer in the Sinatra style, with a slapstick sense of humour, David has starred in a number of professional musical theatre productions and has pioneered “Cognitive Cabaret Therapy” for people living with dementia. A natural born entertainer, David is looking forward to delighting a Ponty crowd so whether or not you’re in the guild, come along, bring a friend, and enjoy an hour of top-class entertainment. St. David’s Uniting Church, April 6th, 2pm – suggested donation to Red Cross Ukraine Appeal – £2.00
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Ukraine Appeal
Donations for the Ukraine Appeal total £1370.55 to date, this includes the collection taken at the Community Saints event. Sunday March 27th will be the last day for donations.
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Last Conference Call for Castle Sq.
Last Sunday, due to changes in contracts and the fact that restrictions continue to be lifted, Castle Square enjoyed our last conference call. For two years now, these calls have kept us connected as a community as we shared news, woes, and encouragement on a weekly and latterly, a monthly basis. We are so grateful to Jan and her son, Peter, for arranging these and keeping us together.
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Ramadan 2022 – Volunteers needed!
Ramadan is approaching (around 2nd April start) and once again we will be serving food on 30 consecutive evenings to our Muslim students. We desperately need volunteers to help make this work. We will need at least 3 volunteers each evening for about 2 hours or so. There will have a duty manager in place and the volunteers will be serving food and clearing up afterwards. Any offers of help will be greatly appreciated. Please add your name to the sign-up sheet if you can help. or contact Tel: 01443 654060, email: [email protected]
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Community Saints Round-up
With a huge thanks to the steering group, the various helpers, and all the supporters, you can find out more about the amazing event –which Phil has threatened to make an annual affair!– at one of the following:
- Recording of the event –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73C1eH-G6lA
- GTFM commentary & interviews –https://www.gtfm.co.uk/community-saints-awards-winners/
- Stephen’s photos of the event –https://www.facebook.com/groups/292672630859120 and shown in St. David’s Uniting Church 5 minutes before the service starts over the coming weeks.
- The next edition of ‘Ponty Pages’ magazine (in print or digital) –https://pontypages.co.uk/
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Baptist Call to Prayer
During the month of March, the European Baptist Federation invites everyone to join for an international prayer gathering on Zoom every Wednesday. Together, we will pray for the situation in Ukraine. Please register to join the Zoom meeting every Wednesday in March at 6pm on this link
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Competition time!
To celebrate the URC’s 50th anniversary, choirs, bands, individuals, songwriters, composers, and poets are invited to submit an entry into the URC at 50: Worship Resources Competition.
There are four categories in which you can enter:
- traditional hymn/song
- poem
- contemporary hymn/song
- rap
Judges will select a winner from each category. Winning entries will be included in a digital version of the URC at 50 resource pack for local churches for them to use in jubilee celebrations and/or Sunday services.
Closing date April 8th. More details from Marcia or on the URC website at:
https://urc.org.uk/who-we-are/our-50th-anniversary/urc-at-50-worship-resources-competition/
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A Thought for Lent
“Everything in life has its own time. There is time to celebrate and there is time to mourn. This is the time for reflection and transformation. Let us look within and change into what we ought to be.” Aaron Saul
Don’t forget! British Summer Time begins next weekend – put your clocks forward one hour or you will miss the morning service!