The Christingle Service was on
Tuesday 16 December at 6.00 pm.
Christus
Natus Est
Over the years, we have
amassed a collection of almost 50 nativity scenes – large and small –
from our travels both near to and far from home. We thought that
others might like to see these charming (and sometimes very amusing)
scenes, so we planned an early start to Christmas with a
get-together on Sunday 7th December to view these scenes and enjoy some
mulled wine and mince pies. (We turned down one nativity
we saw in the ‘wild west’ of the USA, where every character, including
Jesus, was a grizzly bear!!)
As our minds turn to the Holy Land, we thought it would be
good to raise money for a charity based there so there was a collection
for Children of Peace. This
is a nonpartisan, multifaith charity dedicated to building friendship,
trust and reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian children, aged
7 – 17, and their communities. Their projects respect the
traditions, values and customs of both communities. The charity
has an office in London and has the support of the Prime
Minister.
Nia
and Garth
Church involvement in the Christmas Parade
For the first time this year the
churches, through
Cytûn, were invited by Llandudno Town Council to take part in the Town Christmas Parade on Saturday 6th December. Children from the member churches took part, forming a nativity scene.
A Guest Preacher
On
Sunday November 16th at the Sung Eucharist, we welcomed Mrs Rebecca
Colpus as our preacher. Mrs Colpus, who is a Church in Wales Reader,
preached on behalf of the Torch Trust, an organization which provides
Christian literature and resources to blind and partially sighted
people.
Parish
Christmas Fair
This
took place on Saturday 15 November. Parishioners and visitors
enjoyed the refreshments, stalls, competitions and raffle, while the handbell ringers
played seasonal tunes outside the church.
Cytûn Conference on Climate Change
This very
special
Conference, on
Wednesday November 12th
in
Llandudno Town Hall, continued
to explore
the theme
of last year’s conference – the issue of climate change seen from a
Christian perspective. We were very privileged to have as our principle
speaker
Sir John Houghton FRS CBE, Co-chairman of the UN Intergovernmental
Panel
on Climate Change. Sir John is an eminent scientist who has held
various important posts including professor in atmospheric physics at
the University of Oxford and chief executive at the Met Office. He
speaks from a
Christian perspective and is a founder member of the International
Society for Science and Religion. The Conference was very well
attended and Sir John's presentation was followed by a question
session. A report on the conference can be found in the Parish
Magazine for December 2008.
Remembrance Sunday: 9 November
The Civic
Service began at 9.45 am instead of 10 am in order to give those who were
marching more time to get to the Cenotaph for the silence. The
service was well attended by members of the armed forces and uniform
groups, including Cadets and members of the Scout and Guide
Associations. Members of Llandudno Town Council were also present
and the lesson was read by the Mayor. Our own
parish service started at 10.55 am and took the form of the Act of
Remembrance followed by a said Eucharist with hymns. The names of all those on the memorial
plaques in the church were read out during the parish service.
Anyone wishing to study these plaques can find them in the Memorial
Chapel.
Llandudno Festival Week
I want to tell you about the concerts we arranged for the Llandudno Festival week which started on Wednesday 29th October and finished with a performance of the famous Petite Messe Solonnelle by Rossini which I conducted at St. John’s
Methodist Church
on Saturday November 1st. There wasalso be a
string orchestra
concert, a violin and piano recital and a cello and piano
recital. On
the Friday evening I gave an organ recital at Holy Trinity.
I am hoping that
the organ CD which I
made some time ago will be available for sale. It
has been a long
time in production but is now being printed and should be with us in the near future. I am also
preparing the
choir for a CD which I hope will be recorded in the early new year.
This will contain
music for the main festivals of the year.
Norman
Coffee Morning
On Wednesday 15 October the
retired
clergy and their wives held a special coffee morning in aid
of St. Luke's Hospital for the Clergy. The hospital
is up and running after its refurbishment. The two operating
theatres are well used and a wider range of treatment is now
available. The cost of providing this treatments funded entirely
by voluntary contributions and over one hundred and fifty consultants
give their spare time entirely free. The hospital is situated in
central London and provides treatment for clergy and their families,
active or retired or nonstipendiary.
Marjory
DJ
Harvest Festival
Harvest Festival was
celebrated on Sunday 5 October and collections for USPG were made at
the services. The main celebration was a Family Eucharist at
10.30 am and included singing, prayers, readings and
presentations by the Sunday
School and TRYGS
Youth Group. The service was followed by a bring-and-share
lunch in the
church hall.
The Sunday School made an arrangement of produce in front of the altar
and the flower arrangements included fruit and vegetables.
Concert
by the St Petersburg Blagovest Ensemble
On Monday 15th September at 8.00 p.m. we expected to host a
concert by the St. Petersburg Blagovest Ensemble. The title
of the ensemble 'Blagovest' means 'good news' and the group
would have sung
40 minutes of Orthodox church music and after the interval another 40
minutes of Russian folk music.
We regret that
the concert was cancelled, as the choir members were unable
to obtain visas to travel from Russia.
