TRAINING DAY FOR UNIT COMMITTEES
A Training Day held for the Branch and Deanery Officers attracted forty participants. The Day, led by Ann Jackson Training Officer, included various exercises and discussions on how to build an effective Branch/ Deanery Team.
The day began with two exercises - Branch Bingo and where is the Team. This was followed by "Money, money, money" - a look at financial issues. The group also looked at the characteristics of a healthy branch and producing a balanced programme.
There was much discussion, laughter and sharing of ideas and it seemed that on the whole everyone enjoyed the day and found it very beneficial.
RETREAT
The Spring Retreats were led by our newly commissioned Chaplain, Revd Mark Beaton
The theme was “Travelling & Withdrawing”. Rushing around is not a modern phenomenon Mark quoted Henry Vaughan (1621-1695), who wrote a famous couplet:
“ Lord, what a restless thing hast thou made man,
each day he is on the wing, rests not a span”.
It is often difficult to find a quiet moment in our normal busy lives but all had made a conscious decision in choosing to attend this Day. During opening worship, we looked at biblical stories of people making journeys of withdrawal - Elijah travelled 40 days & nights to Mount Horeb to withdraw from his struggles but God sent him back to continue preaching His word. The journey enabled him to see God. There are many examples of Jesus withdrawing to pray.
We were invited to select and crayon a Celtic Symbol. This task was in itself a stilling journey and there was complete silence as we all bent to the task. In the afternoon, we composed our own Psalms in groups of eight. This was achieved by each person writing down a verse (from a selection) folding down the paper and passing it to the next person, who added another verse – like playing “consequences”. The finished psalm was amazing. The day which included worship and times of quiet, was a stimulating and peaceful experience!
FRIENDS OF LLANGASTY OPEN DAY
The Friends of Llangasty Open Day was held on 10th July. On our stall this year, we had two competitions, “Guess the number of sweets in the jar” and “Find the Treasure” and the treasure was a beautiful photo-print of the view from Llangorse to the Beacons, kindly donated by one of the Friends. We raised a total of £50.10. Branches are invited to donate £5 to this fund.
EAST AFRICA FAMINE APPEAL
This appeal to help 20 million people across Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda was launched at the Council in October of last year. Millions of people are facing starvation through famine and urgently need relief and water aid.
Members took this on board and by December had raised £5000 which was sent off to Mary Sumner House together with £4000 from diocesan funds.
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