I suppose my journey to ordination, began long before I realised it myself. 

10 years ago, I was seeking to change my busy and demanding life for a more balanced and less complicated lifestyle. I wanted to work to live and not live to work. This required some radical decisions, as a family we downsized so we could work part-time, and I decided to apply for the Children’s Ministry Officer’s job in the diocese.

Also at that time, a small group of people from our local church, ‘The Making Space Community’ were seeking to develop a pattern of prayer within our daily lives.

Prayer is powerful and as we still ourselves in God’s presence and as we seek his will and purpose for our lives, things begin to happen, and everything seems to fall into place.

In the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 6, Jesus teaches the disciples to pray and tells them not to worry about life or be anxious about what we eat or what we wear, but he says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” 

Prayer makes a difference to how we live and see the world, it allows us to consider what is important and what isn’t.Through prayer we gain a very different perspective, and by his grace, we can live our lives knowing that God is there with us every step of the way. 

When I was asked to consider my vocation within the church, I was uncertain that ordination was the right path for me. It was not something I had envisioned for myself. I was encouraged to trust in the process and rest in the knowledge that it is God will lead and guide us in his way. 

Ordination is not a destination but a gateway into another field, a new space, in which we have the privilege of serving others in the joys of life or through the sorrow of death and all the ordinary days that exist in between. It is truly wonderful to be able to offer the word and sacrament in church and to encourage and support others on their journey of faith.

I wonder, “Where is God leading you?” 

• Rev Rachel Nelmes – Curate 

Thanks for reading. Over the next couple of weeks, we will hear from a few people about their calling and sense of call. Rev Matt.

Matt asked me to write a piece about what drew me to the priesthood. Those who know me know I’m an oddity, but they know I’m a person who gets things done, and they can trust their life with me, so let’s start.
It’s not where you would think.

While on a weekend in Copenhagen, a staunch unbeliever friend of mine argued with me into the night, “Why on earth would I waste my life on being a Christian?” I was successful in everything I did and had a great family. I explained that all I had was because God was in my life, not despite God being in my life. To this date, I have never been able to persuade him, and I think of him as a work in progress, although I am chipping away at the edges.

However, he told me a story that surprised him and me. His father, who was even more of a verdant atheist while on his deathbed, insisted on having a priest to see him and give him his final rights. Take from that what you think.

Let’s go back further; I went to church as a child. I went to St Johns, Dowlais, which was a cathedral of a massive church built by Lady Charlotte Guest, wife of the steel master John Guest. I started in Sunday school, where my mother was the teacher, and I also went to the Welsh services with my father; I was a server and head choir boy.

We had a very active church, and every year, we did an extremely popular pantomime where I was always part of the comedy duo, and my father was the dame (mainly because he couldn’t remember lines but was great at ad-libbing). As mentioned, I always went to church but drifted in and out of regularity during my college years. After college and a stint as a secondary school teacher, I started working for oil companies worldwide. This is where the true faith journey starts.

I’m not very flowery in my conversation and tend to the point. This period made me grow up very quickly. I was sent to wonderful countries as well as numerous war zones- Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, and Nigeria were pretty bad, also. I became highly worldly, and more importantly, I also saw many miracles (and these will all appear in my autobiography when I get around to it.)

Unlike most people in the faith who say that their faith grew over some time, mine was dramatic. I am proud to say that I have witnessed many out-and-out miracles accompanied by God’s full, loud, and dramatic voice. Maybe this is what God knew I needed; others need to grow organically. I don’t want to cheapen these miracles by discussing them here in-depth, as they need their true validation with respect.

So why the priest route? After a profound realization, I prayed and prayed, asking God how I could help in his mission. Then, one evening at its peak, my priest, who had not been an enthusiastic evangelist, posted on Facebook about the need for priests.

The odd thing about this was the person who posted it did this type of post often, but the timing was on the button.

I believe we talk to God all the time, not only when we’re praying. I always try to be with God in everything I do physically, mentally, and spiritually. Needless to say, I’m always floundering, but I’m always with God.

Lyn

Thanks for reading this testimony of God working in Lyn’s life. Over the next couple of weeks, we will hear from a few people about their calling and sense of call. Rev Matt.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, July 4th, as we are gearing up for a general election. 

As a church, it is essential to speak up for things in society that matter but not be held by party politics. Making sure that every voice is heard is part of this, so here is some information about the general election on July 4th. A few of our churches will also be used as polling stations for the day. 

Here is some information you may still need to include: the boundaries have shifted for Aberbargoed, Abertysswg, Bedwellty, Rhymney and New Tredegar. So they are no longer with Merthyr but now with Blaenau Gwent. 

To find out who is standing in your area (available after June 7th), go here and for general information about elections in general: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/your-election-information

Click here to register to vote (You have until Tuesday, June 18th 2024): 

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

No ID apply for a Voter Authority Certificate Here:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate

The sun has been out, and it feels very summery here for once! You may have already looked for books to read in the sun or on holidays, but to add to your list, here is a selection of inspiring and faith-filled books to accompany you through the summer. 

Phoebe: A Story – Paula Gooder

First, we have a suggestion from Bishop Cherry Phoebe: A Story The book is a story written by theologian Paula Gooder and is an absolute treat. While fiction, it opens our eyes to what was going on in the early church and the characters at play. 

Blurb: 

Around 56 AD, the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. His letter was arguably his theological masterpiece and has continued to shape Christian faith ever since. He entrusted this letter to Phoebe, the deacon of the church at Cenchreae; in writing to the church that almost surely met in her home, Paul refers to her both as a deacon and as a helper or patron of many. But who was this remarkable woman?

Link: 

God On Mute – Pete Grieg 

What do you do when God is silent? When your deepest prayers are not answered? Pete Grieg wrote this book in response to this question. It wonderfully shares and illustrates where God is. It has helped me explore my doubts and fears—a book for delving deeper into faith and prayer. Prepare to be challenged! 

Blurb: 

Pete Grieg, the founder of the 24/7 Global prayer movement, wrote this book out of the pain of his wife’s fight for her life and the difficulty of unanswered prayer. Still watching the prayer movement they founded change lives worldwide. Pete Greig steps into the dark side of prayer and emerges with a hard-won message of hope, comfort, and profound biblical insight for all who suffer in silence.

Link: 

Confounding the Mighty: Stories of Church, Social Class and Solidarity – Luke Larner

Have you ever thought the church’s role in society sometimes falls short? This book challenges us to think about how we view others and the implications of that, especially as the church. 

Blurb:

It is long past time for the church to talk seriously about social class. Bringing together the stories of eight contemporary Christian ministers and theologians from working-class backgrounds and putting their own life experiences into conversation with theological reflection, Confounding the Mighty explores what role class plays in the lives of Churches, education establishments, and social justice movements in 21st-century Britain and beyond.

Link: 

How to Human: Three Ways to Share Life Beyond What Distracts, Divides, and Disconnects Us – Carlos Whittaker 

This is a perfect book to remind us that the simple things we can all do to connect with others and the world around us can make a difference right where we are. 

Blurb: 

These are crazy times, people. We are more agitated than ever. We’re fighting. Wrestling with big issues. Less connected than ever to one another and to God. It’s a perfect storm: debilitating anxiety, crashing relationships, and forgetting what it feels like to, well, be human. 

In How to Human, author, speaker, and social-media personality Carlos Whittaker offers a fresh vision for becoming the best versions of ourselves. We can refuse to let disagreements define us. We can say no to becoming upset, rage-filled humans and say yes to fuller, happier lives. It begins as we make the shift from “me” to “we” to “everybody” in a three-part journey to be human, see fellow humans, and free those around us.

Link: 

How to eat bread: 21 Nourishing Ways to Read the Bible – Miranda Threlfall-Holmes

How do you read the Bible? Do you find it difficult? This book is written for all people to find depth and meaning in the bible and explore it in a meaningful way! (this book will be used next year as we take time as a Ministry Area to look at the bible more deeply).

Blurb:

As a vicar, Miranda Threlfall-Holmes is used to being asked to recommend a book on how and why to read the Bible. Filling the gap between popular Bible reading notes and more academic books, How to Eat Bread is the book she’d give to anyone wanting to explore the Bible as part of their faith. Its three main sections delve into the rich heritage of how Christians have read the Bible down the ages:

From the Larder – ways that scripture itself uses other parts of scripture or models and demonstrates different ways of reading

Grandma’s Recipe Book – historical methods of biblical interpretation

Molecular Gastronomy – the insights and methods of modern theological hermeneutics

Encouraging readers to try out a variety of tried and tested ways of Bible reading, experiment with different ingredients and sample the results.

Link:

My Big Story Bible: 140 Faithful Stories, from Genesis to Revelation

This is a wonderful bible for younger and older children. Beautifully illustrated and put together you will be captured by the stories and discover Gods big story together!

Blurb:

My Big Story Bible takes the adventure of reading a children’s Bible to a new level. As you’d expect from Tom Wright, the narrative bursts with lively storytelling and a deep love for the original scriptures, while the vibrant illustrations on every page will delight young readers and help them to imaginatively understand the key events of the Bible.

Perfect for readers aged 7-12 years, My Big Story Bible not only offers a faithful and vibrant retelling of all the major Bible stories of the Old and New Testament, but theologian Tom Wright invites children to discover the many surprising ways in which the stories link to one another, and how together they form the BIG STORY of God’s plan to make everything right and bring heaven and earth together when Jesus returns.

Link:

Sounding Heaven and Earth: A Poet’s Corner Collection – Malcolm Guite

If you have tuned in to any of our videos or picked up one of our daily reading books, you will have noticed that we often include poems by Malcolm Guite. Here is a collection of his for you to enjoy and get stuck into. 

Blurb: 

The back page column of the Church Times, famously occupied for many years by Ronald Blythe, continues to be a breath of fresh air in the hands of poet and priest Malcolm Guite.

His acute observations of the local, the everyday moments of conversation and life’s simple pleasures are doorways into a bigger reality of a world suffused with the meaning and beauty that lies beneath surface appearances.

His lucid, perceptive and imaginative musings follow a similar pattern to the sonnets for which he is so renowned. In his own words, he treats these 500 word essays ‘a little in the spirit of the sonnet, with a sense of development, of a ‘turn’ or volta part way through, and a sense that the end revisits and re-reads the opening’.

These draw together everyday events and encounters, landscape, journeys, poetry, stories, memory and a sense of the sacred, and fuses them to create richly satisfying portraits of the familiar that at the same time opens the way to an enchanted world.

Link: 

Rev Matt invites you to pray from Ascension (May 9th today) to Pentecost (May 19th) for our church and those outside who we want to see come to know Jesus. Here is the challenge: Write down the names of five people for whom you want to pray so they can come to know God and have faith in him.  

One of the main ways I can help you do this is by inviting you to look at the resource Thy Kingdom Come, which guides us in prayer during this time to pray for God’s Kingdom to come. Here are some links that may help you: 

Novena: reflections and invitations to prayer from Ascension to Pentecost: https://www.thykingdomcome.global/sites/default/files/2024-03/2024%20Novena.pdf

Cheeky Pandas: This is a resource for children to encounter the God who loves them. Feel free to share and use it! I included the link to their TV series:https://cheekypandas.com/cheeky-pandas-series/

Join Our Team as an Organist at St. George’s, Tredegar

Are you a talented organist looking for an opportunity to showcase your skills and contribute to a vibrant community? Look no further! St. George’s in Tredegar is seeking an organist to play at our Sunday Eucharist services, which are conducted as Sung Masses.

About Us: St. George’s is a welcoming and inclusive church nestled in the heart of Tredegar. Our congregation is diverse and passionate about music, enriching our worship experience through beautiful hymns and melodies.

Responsibilities: As our organist, you will play a crucial role in enhancing our Sunday Eucharist services. Responsibilities include:

• Providing musical accompaniment during Sung Masses
• Collaborating with our choir director and bringing creative ideas to the table
• Availability to play at funerals and weddings as needed

Requirements: We are looking for individuals who are:

• Proficient organists with a passion for sacred music
• Collaborative team players with excellent communication skills
• Available for Sunday services and occasional special events
• Willing to contribute to the musical life of our community

How to Apply: If you’re interested in joining our team or would like to learn more, we invite you to reach out for an informal chat. Please contact Matt Davis at 07800750259 or email mattdavisciw@gmail.com.

Compensation: We offer competitive rates of £35 per Sunday service, along with opportunities for additional compensation for funerals and weddings.

Join us at St. George’s and become part of a community dedicated to enriching lives through music and worship. We look forward to hearing from you!