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: office1.sduc@gmail.com
18th October 2020
‘A “short, sharp shock” lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus is being planned in Wales.
Mark Drakeford said no decisions had been taken yet, with discussions set to continue over the weekend and a final announcement planned for Monday.’
That was the news we heard on Friday – We now need to prepare for the decision that will be announced. Many will cope quite well and take it in their stride, for others it will be difficult as we will probably become isolated again.
So, once again we ask that you look out for those who are vulnerable.
Phil is leading our Zoom worship today and his sermon – Politics, Protest and Peace (Part 2)– Vive la résistance! includes a reference to petitions – these are the links
https://www.christianaid.org.uk/campaigns/debt-jubilee-petition – Christian Aid’s Drop the Debt campaign
http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/reset-the-debt/ – the Joint Public Issue’s Team’s Reset the Debt campaign
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Church Family and Pastoral News
We include this in the news sheet to inform our prayers.
- Critical Care nurses as the number of Covid cases in hospital rises.
- We pray for the Welsh Government as they discuss plans for the probable ‘Circuit Break’
- News of Friends in Royal Glamorgan Hospital
Chris Fennell is not so well at the moment and understandably is feeling low.
Sue Salmon is also not well and her family are concerned for her.
Bernice is still battling on. We hold them and their families in our prayers. - Cyril was admitted to hospital on Thursday with a high temperature, which has, thankfully come down, he is on antibiotics and will hopefully be discharged quickly.
- We wish Doreen Marshman a speedy recovery following a fall at home.
- As planned surgeries at Royal Glamorgan Hospital have been cancelled, we pray for those who are affected.
- We continue to hold Cerys in our prayers as she slowly improves.
- We remember Phil as his work load has increased and funeral preparations are difficult because of the restrictions in place
- We share Ray’s frustration as he waits to hear about moving to a new flat.
Birthdays this week …..We are three people known to us who are celebrating their birthdays this week…George Tustin – today, Brian Hurley on Thursday 22nd and Toby Gate on Saturday 24th. Happy Birthday to you all!
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Sharing Good News
Brenda Elias is delighted that after an initial set back work has at last started to repair the damage caused by Storm Dennis. The work should take 8 weeks…Brenda hopes it won’t be longer – she wants to be home for Christmas!
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Something to make you smile
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them to buy a copy of the picture.
‘Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say,
‘There’s Jennifer, she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘that’s Michael, He’s a doctor.’
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, ‘And there’s the teacher, she’s dead.’
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The food bank has moved from St Luke’s Rhydyfelin to the very top of Rhydyfelin This is temporary!
During this time any donations to the food bank can be made to:
Father M. Gable 28, Llantrisant Rd., Graig, Pontypridd CF37 1 LW
Cheques can be made payable to Pontypridd Food Bank. Alternatively donations can be made on line.
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Double Vision. October 21 at 19.30
For our second discussion evening, our two speakers will be offering their different perspectives on the issue of ‘Black Lives Matter in Wales’. Come join the discussion – there will be the opportunity for small group discussion alongside learning how our speakers – one a PCW worker originally from Uganda and the other a protestor for Black Lives Matter – understand the movement, its causes and consequences. Zoom details:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83986841381?pwd=OGJBVU02TFhtTS9vWWtCK2VLSEpldz09 Meeting ID: 839 8684 1381 Passcode: Discussion.
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Midweek Reflection
This week’s Reflection found Phil once again bouncing an ’18th Anniversary’ balloon in the St David’s Uniting Church Office. St David’s celebrated their ‘Uniting’ in January! Last week we were asked to look back to our 18th Birthday and a Challenge for Advent was announced….more later!
This week we were asked to recall what we were doing when we were 18! Where we were living, which home, which place, which country. Were you in work, school, or perhaps you were in the forces? Do you remember on your 18th birthday being given any advice because generally the 18th birthday was the marker from childhood to adulthood?
It often comes with advice – words of wisdom. At a school leaving do Phil recalled his headmaster’s advice – There’s Oxford, Cambridge and a few other Universities, or, the army. But what Phil remembers most is a song ‘Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen’
An American journalist had written, as if to her graduating class, words of encouragement, words of advice as they enter adulthood. They became the basis for a successful spoken word song released in 1999 by Baz Luhrmann. Available on YouTube
Thinking back to what we were like when we were 18, what advice would you give to your 18 yr. old self?– to share a sentence or two. Phil’s’ advice was ‘take a breath , take your time, you’ve got time. It could be biblical…Proverbs is full of advice e.g. Proverbs 3:1-4. That’s the challenge for this week – We will share them next week.
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Challenge for Advent!
Now we are asked to think ahead to Christmas We are hoping to create an digital online advent calendar – what we want you to do is record a short video of yourself showing a present you’ve been given, saying who gave it to you, what the occasion was and why it means a lot to you. It can be anything. Obviously, we will need 24 videos and we have till the end of October to get them done. We’ve received some videos already
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A Thought for the week.
“If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.” Dolly Parton
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Our Weekly Zoom service: Log in opens at 10.30 for pre service chat. Service will start at 10.45.
Zoom service link – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89461145366?pwd=S3ExNTVjdGVGdXlGVlNQc2k3eldudz09