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Click the image above above to download this weeks newsletter. Kirsty Calls it a DayKirsty Jones, Children’s Worker at St Catherine’s, stunned the church when her resignation was announced last Sunday.
“We just weren’t expecting it,” said one parishioner; “It was like a bolt out of the blue,” said another. Kirsty took over from Naomi Wood, the pioneering Children’s Worker at St Catherine’s, two years ago. In that time she has built up not only the children’s clubs inside the church, but also several groups in the wider town community. The St Catz MiniKidz toddler groups are so popular on weekday mornings that numbers have been capped recently. A ballet group for beginners also happens, and there are after-school clubs, a youth group and tremendously popular holiday clubs as well.
“An average week sees something over a hundred kids go through Kirsty’s groups,” explained Revd Marcus Green. “That’s an amazing number of children for a small church like ours, and something we regard as a real privilege – that we can offer this kind of facility for people in our community. Kirsty is responsible for it; when she started, Naomi had worked things up from nothing to maybe fifteen or twenty kids a week. Kirsty grew that five- or six-fold. That’s how much work she has done.” So why is she leaving such a successful venture? “My contract was just for twelve months,” smiles a relaxed Kirsty after a hectic morning with toddlers everywhere, singing and playing, their parents and grandparents joining in everything that has been happening. “I’ve actually done two years, and now I fancy some time for me to focus on my own family. And I’m not going anywhere – so I’ll be around to help out whoever comes to take all this on to the next stage!” The church is now actively seeking someone to join us and step into Kirsty’s shoes. There’s clearly lots to do, and expectations are high: several charitable organisations are so impressed with the work that is being done that they have backed St Catherine’s with financial help, and what started four years ago as a fairly low-paid part time job is now a full-time post, with our additional plans to develop the Church Hall (where most of the children’s groups meet) into a state of the art community centre. “If anyone’s interested in applying to take over from Kirsty, please click for the application form and job description, or just email me” says Revd Green, “and we’d love all who have benefitted from Kirsty’s work in the last two years to come to St Catherine’s on Sunday July 12th at 11am when we’ll be saying our official ‘thank you’ to her for all she has done!” Life in the Fast LaneJoin Life in the Fast Lane! During May 2009 we are all encouraged to take part in a Fast and to pray in order to see God provide for us as we look to our Church Hall vision become a reality. It's not just a building we want to equip - it's a work in our community that will change people's lives, providing for children and their parents, and beginning something new amongst the elderly which will make life better, and ultimately offer God's love practically and effectively. So what's it about, and how can we all be a part of it?
Let’s all join together as a church family in playing our part in praying for God to bless us, and trusting that he will answer us & provide for our every need. It's not Marcus as our vicar, or Esther doing her work as fundraiser, or even the grant bodies we are depending on: the Lord is our provider. We will trust in Him! Music and Worship Weekend - March 21/22
Coming soon - another chance to spend a whole weekend worshipping at St Catherine's! As we again put our first priority right at the forefront, the weekend of March 21st/22nd will see a whole host of worship activities. From hymn singing to craft making, from Big Band to classical guitar, from Matins to Cafe Church, from lunch time Saturday to Sunday evening - we will be worshipping our Lord with heart and soul and hands and voices and music and laughter and everything we have and are! Here's the full programme: Saturday March 21st
Sunday March 22nd (Mothering Sunday)
This weekend is the focus of our Lent Offering this year, and we will be collecting for the Anthony Nolan (Leukaemia) Trust. All proceeds from ticket sales for the Big Band Praise and the Guitar Concert will go to the Trust. Please come: worship and enjoy, and give to the Trust as you give yourself in worship to our Lord Jesus. Welsh Baroque Orchestra at St Catherine'sThe Welsh Baroque Orchestra returned to St Catherine's on the
evening of January 31st for a concert of Vivaldi arias and concertos.
Under the direction of Andrew Wilson-Dickson, we enjoyed psalms,
arias from Juditha Triumphans, concertos for violins, cellos and
flute. The audience gathered loved every moment, and given the
ticket pricing which enabled students to come at a greatly reduced
rate, we had a very wide age range represented. Andrew's informative
introduction's and the orchestra's excellent playing added up
to a superb evening, and the unfamiliarity of much of the music
gave us the opportunity to hear unexpected gems. February Half Term Holiday Club Details |
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PCC Minutes now available on the Web Parish
St Catherine's PCC minutes will now be available on the Web Parish pages - but only after the PCC have passed them. In effect this means that we will normally be a meeting behind - the January meeting has just passed the September minutes (the November meeting being an extraordinary meeting about the Church Hall) so the September minutes are only now available. But they are there, on the Web Parish site: read, comment, ask questions, debate - this is your chance to take part in the PCC's discussions and to make sure that everyone has a voice in our decision making process! Also - most importantly - pray: we want to be guided by the Lord's voice as He speaks to and through us, so do pray, and if you feel strongly on any topic we discuss, say so: may be He is guiding you to help us as we seek His will together.
New Notice Board!
A brand new sign outside St Catherine's has been installed! It is an amazing and eye-catching design, worked on by Marcus, Geraint and Rhian, and made for us by the Church Notice Board Company, a division of Signs of Cheshire. There really is nothing else like it, and it uses the idea of the display boards inside the church to draw the passer-by into the church as they look at the sign. There is a poster display unit so we can keep up-to-date information on the board, and advertise any upcoming events. Here are a couple of photos! let us know what you think on the webparish pages!
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The 24/7 Church
St Catherine’s Pontypridd has just completed its second
twenty-four hour worship event in four months. From lunch time
on Saturday October 14th to lunchtime Sunday October 15th, there
was constant worship in the church, as church members and others
joined together to celebrate the heart of their Christian faith.
Vicar Marcus Green says the vision for the event began last February,
when he and a group of parishioners were skiing in Switzerland.
“I heard a sermon in a little church in the Alps which made
me think about how much worshipping God matters to us; and if
it matters, we should do something big to make the point; I was
reminded about the thirteen words that form the basis for my life
here – my job is to worship God, His job is to grow the
church – and felt we needed to do something to say we were
doing our job. And of course to show we trust our Lord to bless
us when we walk in obedience”.
To do it once was remarkable enough – and the event in June was a considerable success; but to follow it up with a second one so quickly must have been risky!
”Indeed,” commented church warden David Carver, “but I think the second one was even better – somehow a deeper experience of God.”
The day was split into 24 sections, with something different almost every hour. There was an hour of traditional hymns, and also a fantastic rock band leading the worship; there was jazz worship (sensational) and choral Taize (from France) worship, led by former St Catherine’s members, Revds Chris and Martin Colton. Artist Cas Smith painted on huge canvasses for an hour and drew people in worship as she did so. The Kidz Praise was brilliantly led by Naomi and enthusiastically received. Through the night there was a reading of the book of Revelations interspersed by music from Dan and Kirsty Jones, who chose the perfect pieces to illustrate the words. At 6am we even wrote a new song which was then written out for the choir and everyone to learn at the 11am service!
Revd Paul Thompson, vicar of Lisvane, and head of New Wine Cymru, spoke at the main Saturday evening gathering. He challenged everyone to take the day seriously: worship reveals who or what we put first in life. If we say it is God – is it really?
Bishop David Yeoman took the 11am Sunday service, which was also
the Pontypridd Confirmation Service. He said that the whole venture
was a true inspiration which revealed a church that was gloriously
given to worshipping God: “The hymn writer says ‘seven
whole days not one in seven I will praise Thee’ –
but this is a church which 24/7 is about praise!”
Here are some pictures from the 24 hours:
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