I don't know about you but I am still
recovering from our 150th Celebrations last month! It was a splendid
and deeply memorable weekend and, despite one or two minor hitches, it
went extremely well. This was due to the hard work of our 150th
Planning Group and the Children's and Young Families Group; to
Archbishop Barry for coming to be with us; to the generosity of the
Freemasons in providing the Sunday buffet and the marquees; to Mr.
Dilwyn Price and the children who came to sing to us and to many others
too numerous to mention whose contribution made the weekend so
memorable.
But if we see the I 50th Weekend as just a great event to look back on
with pleasure it will have been a failure. We now have to build on this
important moment in the history of our parish church with a strategy
for the future development of our parish. I know that some of you have
interesting ideas about possible ways forward and so in the autumn I
hope that we will begin to think seriously about the next stage of our
life together as living stones built on Christ the Cornerstone.
We have a distinct vocation as the Anglican community at the heart of
Llandudno, whilst of course working alongside the other churches of our
town, and we must think seriously about what this vocation is calling
us to be and to do in the years ahead. Dramatic changes have been
happening in our diocese over the last couple of years and these are
(literally) getting closer to us - two new Ministry Areas will soon be
created in our Deanery, and the Deanery itself will soon disappear to
become part of the Bangor Synod area.
Due to our particular circumstances our parish boundaries will not
change in the immediate future but that doesn't mean that we should
just settle back into 'business as usual'. The diocese is encouraging
us to be part of a 'learning church' as we seek to be more fully
engaged with the faith tradition of which we are part and to see how
God is calling us to develop and grow in the 21 st century - more of
this in the autumn.
Meanwhile we still have a number of 150th Anniversary year events to
look forward to - the celebration of marriage and human relationships
on Saturday September 12th, the liturgical performance of the Faure
Requiem at All Soulstide, and the Christmas Tree Festival in December.
As a seaside holiday town parish, our responsibility to welcome
visitors and see to their spiritual needs reaches its annual climax in
August. However, I do hope that we can take time to relax a bit this
month and prepare for the events and work that lie ahead.
Fr.
John
