To whom can the holy God be compared?
    Is there anyone else like him?
Look up at the sky!
Who created the stars you see?
    The one who leads them out like an army                           
    he knows how many there are
    and calls each one by name!
His power is so great—
    not one of them is ever missing!

Isaiah 40: 25-26

A few weeks ago I stayed for a couple of nights in a Shepherd’s Hut not far from Rhadyr.

Even leaving Cardiff after having lunch with Over 50s so as to get there before dark, I still managed to miss the turning off the main road and it took a while to negotiate the narrow, stony track down to the site. The farmhouse might have been within a stone’s throw, but the whole place had the feeling of being in the back of beyond. Nevertheless the chair was comfy and the pile of books on the little table inviting. Bliss!

A couple of hours later I looked up for long enough to realise it was getting late and about time to finalise plans for tomorrow with friends. My phone was nowhere to be seen – in the hurry to get settled in I’d left it in the car. Not a problem. I got up, grabbed the car key, opened the door and stepped outside. Pitch blackness was everywhere.

Living in the city, light pollution from cars, houses, and streetlights means we rarely experience true darkness. There’s usually some spec of light to focus our eyes. Berating myself for not bringing a torch (apart from the one on my phone) I waited for my eyes to adjust. Nope. No can do. Oh well, better be careful.

I’m ashamed to say that it was only when the silly thing was retrieved that I remembered to look up at the stars. The clear night twinkled back at me, almost in amusement at my antics. Utterly beautiful. And I’d nearly missed it – too busy focusing on other things.

You probably already know this, but stars are a key part of Conway Road’s Christmas plans this year. The Creativi-TEA group and the Over 50s are currently knitting, crocheting and otherwise creating small stars so that a group of us can go around the local community offering them as gifts to our neighbours together with an invitation to the many services planned for the Christmas period (more about this on the next page.) But we need your help! The more stars we have, the more we can deliver. Pick up a knitting or crochet pattern from the New Room or create your own from any material you like and bring them to church on or berofre Sunday 3^rd December!

These stars will help the people receiving them to pause for a moment to think about the true Light of the World and the meaning of Christmas. Who knows what else God will do through them?

Every blessing,

Laura

Storytelling is, and has always been, a major part of our culture. Anyone who has ever stayed up until the early hours with a book they ‘just can’t put down’, or read (or told) a particularly gripping story to a small child, can attest to that. I remember listening to my Nan – who had a real knack for storytelling – talk about her own childhood in such a way that I could imagine the actions and behaviours of people I’d never met but felt I knew even if they died decades before I was born. Many of us will know of a friend or relative with a special gift for weaving a tale; someone able to bring a story to life. Maybe you are one of those people yourself!

Most of the best stories are at least based on reality. In 2018 3Generate – the young people’s yearly national Conference – challenged adult members throughout the Connexion to share stories of how God had touched their lives and how they had seen God at work in the world. By the time 3Generate met the following year more than1200 letters had been received. The Methodist Conference, following the example set by the young people, declared that the year 2019 – 2020 be ‘A Year of Testimony’ with the President and Vice President taking the theme ‘What’s your story?’ for their year in office.

This year, once again at the insistence of our young people, the Methodist church has made a commitment to becoming a ‘net zero’ organisation. We could do more to protect this world God has loaned us.

Such is the power of 3Generate.

And we’re going!!!! On 6^th October 23 young people from the Cardiff Circuit, including four from Conway Road, are getting on a bus and journeying to the NEC just outside Birmingham for a weekend adventure alongside over one thousand others from across the Connexion. The programme is exceptional – have a look on the Methodist Church website to find out more about what we’ll be doing!

I have no doubt that those of us who are going will be telling stories about our experiences for a long time. Perhaps you have your own stories of past youth gatherings too. I’d encourage you to share them with our young people, not just because they’re funny or poignant, but because in doing so we all remember that we’re part of the same story and we are all children of God.

Now, I’d better get back to reading the 3Generate programme!

Laura

Did you know that the tallest man ever was 8ft 11in tall?

Did you know that the most jigsaws owned by one person is 1047? 

Did you know that the record for ‘number of toilet rolls balanced on the head’ is 12?

Did you know that the record for solving a rubik’s cube is 3.47 seconds?

If you haven’t already guessed I’m writing this with the most recent book of Guinness World Records open in front of me! In a recent ‘Spotlight on…’ article for the Circuit Newsletter I admitted to collecting copies of this publication and find it extremely interesting – though slightly odd in parts! 

Whenever I get my hands on a new copy it’s always the facts about people – their experiences and achievements – that fascinate me. It’s amazing what human beings can achieve, and what we choose to try to achieve. Facts about the nature of the universe or space travel are fascinating but a bit beyond my understanding!

My inability to contemplate the enormity and diversity of God’s creation isn’t new. Whenever I ask a group of people for their favourite Psalm, Psalm 139 usually comes pretty high up the list. ‘Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high I cannot attain it.’ says the Psalmist in verses 4-6, summing up both our inability to comprehend God’s goodness and God’s absolute knowledge of us as individuals. I don’t mind telling you that I find it to be one of the most beautiful, comforting and reassuring passages in the whole Bible.

While my Book of Records tells me what I need to know to put together a quiz, or to satisfy my nosiness, or to find a few facts to start the church newsletter, it tells me virtually nothing about the people involved. Flicking through the pages of my book I see snapshots of them; just a couple of sentences to say who they are/were and what their record is/was. People are reduced to a single activity, experience or trait. 

In reality, of course, human life is far more complex than that – each one of us with our likes, dislikes and quirks. The idea that God, the creator of the universe, knows everything there is to know about us and yet still wraps us in love is beyond understanding, but that doesn’t make it any less true. 

And so we enter the summer holiday season!

I’m a great lover of words, and especially their origins and histories. It may (or may not!) interest you to know that in June 2018 almost 900 new words and phrases were added to the Oxford English Dictionary, including ‘binge-watch’, and several words from A. A. Milne’s ‘A House at Pooh Corner’ which celebrates its 95^th birthday this year. Since then of course, words like ‘lockdown’ and ‘bubble’ have taken on a whole new meaning. The English language, both written and spoken, is constantly evolving along with the world around us.

The word ‘holiday’ has only been in use since the 1400s, coming from the Old English word for ‘Holy Day’ – a period where the day-to-day cycle of work and recreation was set aside to focus specifically on God. There are at least 8 holy days or periods mentioned in the Bible, and down the centuries the Christian church has introduced many others including Lent, Advent, Good Friday and Pentecost, as well as the more commonly known ones like Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.

For many of us these holy days (or festivals as we’re probably more used to calling them) still provide fabulous opportunities to reconnect with God and join our prayers with folk from down the ages and across the world. I make no secret of the fact that the Christmas Carol Service and the Christmas Eve Service are my highlights of the church year, never failing to move me deeply. Maybe you feel the similarly, or is there another service, ritual or practice that never fails to help you draw closer to God?

But what, you may be wondering, does this have to do with the July/August notices?

At a first glance the next two months may appear to be the absolute opposite of a traditional festival period. Indeed they have a reputation for being a quiet time in the life of the church. We don’t celebrate any major holy days, although some other denominations do. However, I would say that for that very reason August in particular (or if not August then whichever month or period has the least dates in the diary!) holds a vital role in our lives both as individuals and as a church. The prophet Elijah, sitting in the mouth of a cave waiting to hear God’s voice, listened hard through wind and earthquake and fire, but it wasn’t until the silence came that he finally heard the Lord speak (1 Kings 19: 11-13). Sometimes it’s in quieter times, when the noise and busy-ness of everyday life stops for a moment, that our minds and hearts are able to focus all the more on God.

Holy days indeed.

I hope and pray that, however you spend your July and August, you will have time to rest and relax in the love of God.

Enjoy your holy days!

The Church family at Conway Road Methodist enjoyed their annual summer picnic in Pontcanna Fields on Sunday 25^th June.

The event was well attended, and the afternoon was full of talking, laughing, and eating.  Together with an assortment of fun pack games and activities enjoyed by spectators and players alike. Including the annual rounders match, which was hotly contested and saw some excellent displays of batting, bowling, and fielding from both sides. With the player of the match being awarded to Seb for he’s outstanding display of all round skills. 

During the afternoon we also saw some remarkable demonstrations of strength and determination in the tug of war matches. With the junior church girls team narrowly beating the boy’s, in a very tightly contested bout and the adults only just managing to overcome the collective strength of the junior church team.

All in all, the picnic was a great success and a fun way to spend a sunny afternoon relaxing with friends in the park. In preparation for next year picnic a  number of attendees have already been spotted talking tactics for the return matches!

Sunday morning saw Deacon Laura leading us in our Harvest Festival Service.

We gave thanks to God for all we have been given and to those who provide, while also considering the inequalities in our world and the need to care for its resources.

The Church family brought gifts of food and toiletries which will be taken to the Trinity Centre for distribution to those in need.

The lessons were read by Emmie and Avril, (one about 10 times older than the other!).

Laura then asked us to consider the ingredients needed to make bread (as seen amongst the items on the communion table), and to see how small things can make a difference to lives and to our world.

The Church family at Conway Road Methodist enjoyed an action packed afternoon on Sunday 7th November looking at the story of Noah.

During the afternoon we made exploding bees out of balloons, origami frogs that refused to jump and bread dough hedgehogs. We installed an incredible bug mansion in the garden where all sorts of bugs will be able to live – definitely a five star residence! We heard the story of Noah and his Ark and during the afternoon finger painted a rainbow to go on the hall notice board to remind us all of God’s promise.

This was all followed by a sumptuous tea – all in all a great afternoon!

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Dear Friends,

As of January 18th I shall be on sabbatical for three months. It is a requirement of the Methodist Church that ministers should have such a sabbatical in the tenth year of their ministry and every seven years thereafter. This represents an opportunity for study and reflection as well as being an opportunity to chill away from the demands of normal ministry. I hope to chill by reading some decent literature and history whilst cheering Manchester United all the way to winning the Premier league.  I hope to engage with a few organisations that bring hope to our communities although the extent of that will at least in part be dependent on what happens regarding the pandemic. My main activity will be to produce a piece of work looking at hope in a time when the world is traumatised. That will be shared with you on my return in April.

As I am going to be local I may bump into some of you and have a chat, However, I am expected to keep away from church activities and considerations. I shall be posting on the sabbatical from time to time through videos at https://www.facebook.com/reverendpaulmartin/videos/  ,

In the meantime, my colleagues Alexis Mahoney and Alana   Lawrence will be kindly attending to any needs in our church whilst of course caring for their own churches.

Conway Road Methodist Church opened its doors for Sunday worship for the first time since the start of the lock down on 23rd August.

We had a lively all age worship led by our minister Rev. Paul Martin who spoke to us about the continued relevance of the teachings in the Bible even in today’s high speed, technicolour world.

It was great to be back and wonderful to meet as a community again.
God bless you all!

On Sunday afternoon, 15th March, Conway Road Church family got together for a fun filled afternoon of activities, stories and songs. There were sunflowers to plant, flowers to make, seeds to collect and plant at home and bread to bake – great fun for all.

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We then all went up into the church to put our beautifully constructed flowers in the Church for all to enjoy, followed by a grand rendition of the parable of the sower from our minister, Rev. Paul Martin. We then sang an action packed version of ‘this little guiding light of mine’ to finish.

Then downstairs for the usual afternoon tea – which was fabulous as ever.

A brilliant afternoon enjoyed by all ages – many thanks to all who helped to make it such a lovely event.