Sunday pleasures

I drove out to Penllyn west of Cowbridge, for my first Sunday Eucharist of the day. It must be six months since I was last there. I was delighted to glimpse roadside swathe of double headed snowdrops at the top of the hill in the grass verge under the stone wall. I saw only crocusses yesterday in Bute Park, and single a daffodil open already among the thousands growing on Llandaff Fields. 

The service was followed by a congregational meeting to appoint representatives to various parochial offices, as happened in other churches last week. There's a lot of preparation for the annual Parish meeting to be done with eight active congregations needing to report first. But, it's good to see lay people in each of these little churches pulling their weight and taking responsibility for their affairs, even if they openly say how much they miss the leadership and encouragement of the clergy, perceived as necessary to take them in a single direction, rather than them feeling they are going around a bit in circles.

My second Eucharist was at the church of St Owain in Ystradowen. Google Maps indicated that it was quite unnecessary to go back down the hill to the main road, drive along the bypass and the go north up the valley towards Pontyclun in order to arrive - there was a good direct route east over the hill top straight down into the valley instead. And that was where I regretted having forgotten my camera, as the views on the descent to the moor in bright morning sunlight were breathtakingly delightful. St Owain's is a charming little village church with a pub to the right of the churchyard, and a huge mound covered in giant beech trees to the left - apparently the remains of an ancient fortification atop a glacial moraine. Most impressive.

The congregation was very welcoming, and blessed with a good (if a bit loud for my taste) electric organ and they (12 women and 2 men) sang lustily both hymns and a Eucharist setting. The building has a small modern hall attached to its north side, with unimpeded views of the charming local scenery. What a gem! I look forward to returning here in March and on Easter Day, with my camera! There was a 20 minute delay driving home for lunch due to road works on the A48 in Ely, and I had some top-up shopping to do before cooking myself a late lunch. Then I picked up Clare from the station, returning from her half term week in Kenilworth (plus a family visit to Cadbury World). Glad to be re-united again.

Then it was time for my last trip of the interregnum to St Germans for Solemn Evensong and Benediction, with the usual dozen people in church (mostly men). Although I'm usually pretty tired after Sunday morning duties, I've really come to appreciate this hour, with all its devotional quirks. It's great to have a liturgy of Word and Prayer with the additional element of solemn ritual and symbolism to lift it out of the ordinary. I wish we experimented more with non-Eucharistic services containing a ceremonial nature - we might be surprised at who was attracted by them.