REPORTS FROM THE CHURCHES
St David’s, Llanddewi
Harvest was celebrated twice in our little church in a farmyard. The first time was a Sunday Harvest Thanksgiving, when people from our communities drew together in a joyful celebration led by Vicar Peter. A music band helped to lift our voices, the church was decorated with flowers, sheaves of wheat, barley and oats, vegetables, apples, and tinned and dried food, and the sun shone through the windows. We felt truly blessed. Tea was served afterwards. The following Wednesday, Peter led four consecutive mini-services with Knelston school pupils. They listened attentively to Peter’s explanation of the meaning of harvest, watching the videos projected onto the wall, seeing the produce decorating the church, learning of our dependence on farmers for food, of God who created the world for us to care for, and of our need to share with others. They enthusiastically joined in the harvest songs and carried food packages to the table. The donated food was taken to Goleudy.
God’s rich tapestry. Our lives are marked with threads of experience, stitched together to create coloured seasonal patches: dark shades reflecting periods of difficulty, patches that are light and bright marking easier, happy times. The dark times can be valuable times of learning, when we search for meaning, recognise our weakness, dig deeper to find the strength, hope and possibilities of a way forward; learn how to put ourselves into the situations of others, re-assess what really matters, and recognise our need to be part of a bigger picture. As we find kindness, truth, wisdom, and the true meaning of love, then the brightly coloured threads are stitched into our tapestry, expressing healing, goodness and joy. Our threads cannot hold together on their own: they need backing fabric with integrity to hide the messy knots, hold the stitches and reveal the meaningful picture of our lives that is meant to be seen and valued. That’s what God does …
Penny Henderson
St Illtyd’s, Oxwich
At this time, Paul was in prison in Rome and therefore he could not travel to Colossae, a town in Asia Minor, east of Ephesus. The church there had not even been visited by him in the past but had been established by workers whom he had sent from Ephesus. Nevertheless he felt responsible for this Christian community. Paul had learnt that certain heresies were being bandied about. Circumcision was encouraged, food rituals were to be observed and many other strict rules were to be obeyed.
This prompted Paul’s letter to the Colossians, delivered by Tychicus. Paul tells the people of Colossae to hold fast to basic Christian truths and although he had never met them he is praying for them and wants them to ‘focus on a tapestry of love’and to have minds, confident, focused on Christ and God’s great mystery. Jesus Christ is able to give full salvation and other beliefs and practices only lead away from him. Through Christ, God created the world and through him is bringing it back to himself. Only in union with Christ is there salvation. This should be our message too so that everything we do and believe in should be enveloped in love.
Rosemary Wigley
St Andrews, Penrice
November always seems to be a grey, sad month, a time of remembrance, thoughts of Christmas still seem in the far distance. Our Harvest inspired service was held in October and the goods contributed were taken to the Food Bank. It was not so long ago that the church would have been fully decorated with fresh fruit and vegetables and the harvest loaf, baked especially, would have been on the altar. But in these times non-perishable goods are more practical. We are holding our Harvest Supper on November 14th at The Britannia which in all probability will be a happy and social evening. Apart from Storm Amy it has been a fairly quiet autumn with glorious colours all around us in hedgerows and woods. As yet, we have not put the heating on in the church, but it is noticeable that the congregation is coming to church in warmer coats. At 8.30am on Sunday morning the temperature is far from warm from now on.
The chosen theme this month is ‘God’s Rich Tapestry’. Many of the big palaces and great houses of this country and Europe had magnificent tapestries decorating their walls. They served a practical purpose of preserving warmth and providing decoration but also the threads of silk or wool would tell a story from the Bible or family history. The lives we lead are often complicated with negative and positive times but each thread represents a different experience or angle to our life and the whole image completes a picture or tapestry of our life as ordained by God.
The Penrice Calendar 2026 will be available shortly and further details will be in next month’s magazine. We look forward to welcoming members of the other churches to the joint service at St. Andrew’s on November 30th which is our patronal festival. We hope that many will attend and join us in celebrating St. Andrew.
Angela Barnett
St Cattwg’s, Port Eynon
Harvest Festival was marked at St. Cattwg’s on October 5th with little ceremony, as we were to share Llanddewi’s celebration on October 12th. On October 19th we had a bonus celebration, with apple juice and apple cake, and the Vicar’s meditation on apples in the Bible, attended by a larger congregation than usual.
We have said a reluctant farewell to Hugh and Kirstine Dunthorne, who have moved away to find a new home. Hugh has been churchwarden for many years, also stalwart supporter of many village enterprises, providing music in church and his excellent acting abilities to the Port Eynon Players, as well as artistic talents to the village Art Group and effort to the Yoga class. They will both be sorely missed.
God’s Rich Tapestry. It is a cliché to speak of ‘Life’s rich tapestry’ yet, in autumn, surrounded by bright leaves and rich colours in flower borders, the words are apt. However, there is more to life’s tapestry as sewn by God than the natural beauty with which we are surrounded. From birth to death we add our own stitches to the huge work of art, the clean, bright threads of happiness, family and friends and the acquisition of wisdom and knowledge; grubby, over-handled strands in gloomy colours for our times of anxiety and illness; maybe grey or black threads for when we sinned or suffered or encountered bereavement. Some threads are lumpy and twisted, there may even be the sharp points of forgotten needles still embedded in the cloth, representing unresolved problems or actions of which we are ashamed but have failed to make good. We have to be ready for set-backs, even for unpicking and getting help. God is always embedded in his intricate tapestry to listen and advise, as long as you ask.
Susan Morris
St George’s, Reynoldston
For the Harvest Thanksgiving Service, the church had been simply decorated with flowers as well as the food and toiletry items to be contributed to the Salvation Army. With the generous donations from Penrice Church members, plus the gifts brought to the supper later that evening, a large estate car was needed to deliver all the offerings to Swansea the next day. Many thanks are given for the generosity of all those who had contributed.
The Harvest Supper was a great success with over 80 people, some of whom we were pleased to welcome from other West Gower villages. After the usual delicious supper we were entertained by members of the Reynoldston Drama Group to a play-reading of an excellent story called Foul Play at Reynoldston Fair. Written and directed by Revd Peter, it was difficult to decide which one of the distinguished dinner guests was guilty of the murder of the Lord of the Manor and of course it was one of the least suspected. The guests were barely disguised names of well-known C19 local and visiting people such as the Revds J. D. Davies and Francis Kilvert, Adelina Patti and Allan Duncan. It was excellent entertainment and repeated in Oxwich later in the week. Many thanks to the Revd Peter and the cast for giving us such a novel and interesting story.
Valerie Beynon
Gower Ministry Area 