Easter Vigil surprise

How cheering to wake up to bright sunshine and a clear sky, feeling bright and clear after a good night's rest, despite getting to sleep later than intended. After chatting to Rachel before going to bed, I wrote her a long message which could have waited until morning after getting into bed. Serves me right when I know how important is the first hour of rest to sleep quality.

Clare made pancakes for our Saturday breakfast, with the delicious extra of last year's blackberry jelly. She stewed some blueberries as well. The difference in taste between the two dark blue juicy fruits was notable, with the blueberries not possessing the subtle underlying 'woody' flavour of the blackberry.

A letter arrived from the City Council announcing the imposition of parking permits in this street and the neighbouring ones. We'll need a  'guest'  one for occasional visitors. Kath and Anto are the only car owners in the immediate family. We are now car-less. It's not good news for Clare's study group guests. It's £35 a year or £90 for a second permit. 

Will this improve the frequency and reliability of buses? Or prevent trafic congestion? Some households rely on a second car to earn enough to pay the morgage on their over inflated house prices. So relieved I no longer drive as the cost of using and owning a car increases. On a pension that would be another drain on resources.

Iran has shot down two American planes. Not all members of their air crew have been rescued yet. On top of this, two search and rescue helicopters have been shot down as well. It's likely to provoke questions from Trump supporters, and make it tougher for him to continue justifying the war to his right wing populist base, after claiming 'control of the skies', and that the war was 'nearly over.' 

His forty eight hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Straight of Hormuz is about to run out. What will happen to his threat to destroy Iran's energy infrastructure if they don't comply remains to be seen. Iran's air defences are not as degraded as Trump alleges. Dare he risk ordering the use of B52 heavy bombers if there's no certainty that fighter support can operate safely? Not only would further losses be very expensive, they would further demonstrate the foolishness of his rhetoric and his decisions.

Israel continues in its effort to conquer Hezbollah, with South Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley infrastructure and population suffering what is tantamount to war crime. Iran and the Houthis rain down missiles and drones on Israel. It won't do much to improve Netanyahu's political support.

By mid morning the sky clouded over again and the wind from the north west remained cold. I stayed indoors, recorded and edited audio for the daily office and reflection in two weeks time, rather than going out for a walk. I didn't go for a circuit of Llandaff Fields until after a lunch of prawns and veg with rice.

The decision about where to attend the Easter Vigil service occupied me for a while, with services set to start in the dark at seven thirty or eight and lasting up to two hours. I would have preferred St German's but with half to three quarters travel time there and back, it was out of the question. Likewise, going to the Cathedral and back, thirty five minutes walk each way. The Ministry Area service at St David's Caerau at eight, with buses up and down Cowbridge Road East promised to be the least demanding on my energy.

Wind and rain on the way there and back was demanding enough. We were forty adults plus children. A congregation of familiar people from Ministry Area churches in which I have taken services from time to time, plus several new Asian Christian families that have made their home in the area.

When I was welcomed at the door, I was asked if I'd read a lesson and said 'Yes' without thinking. Other than when I said Wednesday's Mass over two months ago, I haven't  been asked to read at a service for over a year. First I had to read through the text several times. It was in an unfamiliar translation with a few contentious turns of phrase to get used to. I had to read by candle light, but despite visual impairment, so  often a problem in low light, I read with confidence and vigour, just one little stumble when my memory tried to override direct text to speech! I felt greatly blessed to read Paul on the mystery of the Resurrection in the light of my recovery journey and without nervousness. I just had to laugh, being teased by the Spirit, landing me in a familiar exposed role, sustaining my confidence and concentration. A real gift!

The service ended at twenty to ten. I felt too tired to stay for the festivity that followed, and returned home by bus and walking home from the old Canton Police station stop. I got in at ten past ten, and went straight to bed, grateful that I was able to participate in and contribute to the proclamation of Christ's resurrection one more time.

Advent recollection

A sunny start to the day, a good night's sleep though not really long enough. I woke up feeling refreshed but the combination of meds I'm taking still made me feel woozy until I'd eaten breakfast and started my walk to church in the fresh air. 

I love Advent Sunday, its readings and hymns. It has been special for me since I was a first year student on my first retreat with St Paul's CofE Society organised a Chaplaincy retreat in a Salisbury convent run by a small community of nuns. That Advent Sunday was the climax of my first 48 hour weekend in silence, aged 18. It was an initiation into the mystery of keeping vigil during hours of darkness, sensing the divine presence, discovering the Word in silent stillness, wonder and even quiet humour, an invitation to look at the world in a different way. It awakened me to priesthood and a call to become an ambassador for Christ present in our midst, while still coming to meet us, in the natural world, in each other and the majesty of the cosmos.A time of quiet joy vividly recalled sixty years later. Though not as intense as Easter Day, it shed light on the risen Lord's affirmation - "Lo I am with you always, to the end of time." 

After lunch I slept for three quarters of an hour, then went out feeling refreshed and walked until dusk. I started recording next Wednesday's Morning Prayer when I returned, while I had the energy to do so. Then we went to the Ministry Area Advent Carol service at St Catherine's. We were about fifty in the choir and congregation combined. Numbers were less than expected as there was a concert in St John's this evening. I don't understand how a date clash like that can occur. It's not much of an advertisement for collaborative ministry,

After the service I felt tired. I had a headache, and was in need of food as I did when I got up this morning. Low blood sugar maybe? I felt chilled and needed to stay wrapped up warm. Is it the onset of 'flu? I hope not. Rachel called after supper and we chatted for an hour, until it was time to go to bed, wondering what's going to happen next.

Social media - the dark side

A cloudy start to a hot and humid day, 27-28C. News this morning of a far right group of activists turning up and starting a riot outside a Southport mosque, in a community still grieving death of three children and injury of ten others in the previous day's murderous knife attack. False information circulating on social media platforms asserting the perpetrator was a muslim, led to this attempt to burn down this mosque with people inside it. The police arrived and were met with vicious hostility with twenty nine officers injured. This outrage has met with universal condemnation, apart from insidious critical comments made by Nigel Farage about the limited published information available. 

Questions are already being asked about the way social media algorithms amplify contentious and unverified claims in statements posted on-line. What was once an initiative to build community and spread good-will is increasingly contaminated by ill-will. Such a naive aspiration it has turned out to be. Despite the mess and damage caused by last night's riot, citizens of Southport turned out this morning to clean up and repair. The mosque has been established there for thirty years and enjoys good-will in the community. Let's hope social media researchers will identify the originators and distributors of on-line hate speech and help the police bring them to account in a court of law.

I celebrated the Eucharist at St Catherine's again this morning. Half the regulars were absent. Unusually we were five men praying together. Afterwards, I met with Iona and we went to the Wardrobe Cafe in King's Yard for posh coffee and a catch-up chat about the Ministry Area of which she is still lay co-chair. The two Ministry Area Wardens are also women, a triumfeminate as opposed to a triumvirate. Now that's a new word to consider, not that I can imagine it being used much.

I arrived home just in time for lunch. Clare had been into town for a field of vision test, relating to her driving license application, and returned after a visit to Ashton's in the Market with a couple of large swordfish steaks for lunch. What a delicious treat! Then a siesta in the chair, but I couldn't fall asleep, so eventually a long slow walk in parks, busy with football and cricket practice and several baseball games, while I chatted to Owain on his way home from a day in the office.

After supper uploading and editing photos, and trying to rescue a single image from a one second video MP4 file which the TZ95 generates if you press the shutter button too long. It's a camera smart feature I don't understand and neither need or want. On the whole it takes good quality photos, but handling it properly has taken me some time to master. I finished the evening reading Ruiz Zafon's 'Marina', still wondering where this strange book written originally for adolescents, but loved just as much by adults apparently, is taking me.

Church key handover

I woke up to another mild day of cloud and sunshine after a night of disturbed sleep, which felt like I was awake for much longer than I actually was. I took the rubbish down to the bins at the bottom of the hill after breakfast and then caught the bus into town just before eleven. I spent an hour chatting to the church shop workers. There was even a moment when I was able to help interpret what a Spanish lady was asking about, as I picked up on a word unfamiliar to them. It's amazing to see the variety of visitors who pop in to browse, and go away with a small bargain. 

There were still a few more groceries to shop for to ensure that I have everything required to welcome Clare and Ann tomorrow. I called into the Carrefour near the older of the two rio Chillar bridges, as it was on my return walking route. I had a message to say that one of the weddings booked for next month had to be cancelled. The couple were unable to change the civil ceremony booking to happen before the blessing ceremony here. Sadly, there's nothing that can be done about that. The arranger for the other wedding I am scheduled to do sent the finalised print ready version of the service booklet, and all is now in order for the last week in May.

Clare called to tell me that my three sets of keys for the three Canton churches were required for Fr Sion Brynach, soon to be licensed to the Ministry Area clergy team, so explanations and hast arrangements needed to be made so that they could be retrieved before she leaves tomorrow. Since Fr Mark was off work for months awaiting a hernia operation, when I did a lot of locum cover for him, I've had my own sets of keys, acquired when other team members left and were not replaced. It's the end of an era, and I can't say I'm sorry about relinquishing the responsibility of being a keyholder. It's been about ten years altogether. There was a time when I had my own key to St German's as well, but I insisted on handing that back at the end of a previous locum duty spell there. It's time for a change. I've been saying that for months now, though still not knowing what will happen next, or should I say discern what I'm meant to do with my freedom.

It was gone four by the time I started making a meal for myself using a small portion of thawed frozen chicken pieces, marinaded in lemon juice and cooked with an assortment of vegetables. It worked a treat, even if preparing and cooking took much longer than usual. Tonight is full moon, but I missed out on moonrise over the sea, as cloud covers the southern horizon, and eventually most of the sky.

After a walk up the hill to observe the light changing over the sea in shades of silver and grey with the setting sun, I started work on next Sunday's sermon, and then headed for bed, hoping for a better night's sleep tonight. Just before lights out, I noticed the full moon shining a little hazily through a break in the cloud, at last.

Turning a page

I woke up after eight, and had breakfast. Clare was already up and had eaten. Kath and Rhiannon emerged an hour later. Today's united Parish Eucharist was at eleven. It was Clare's turn on the post service drinks rota, so she had to leave early. I followed half an hour later. The church hall was laid out with tables and a huge bring and share buffet for the Parish Lunch to follow the service. Unfortunately there was a power cut, so it was impossible to serve hot drinks until a couple of large pans of water were boiled on the hall's gas hob, which took time afterwards.

Fr Andrew celebrated bilingually and preached in English. There were about seventy of us in church along with a dozen children. A group from St Peter's Fairwater who had an earlier service with him, came for the lunch, which was most encouraging.  I wish something could be done about the timing of the entrance of the Sunday School children into the service at Communion time. They entered noisily during the Eucharistic Prayer. During the offertory hymn would be better to avoid this. When Andrew finished the Eucharistic Prayer, he paused and rescued the situation by getting everyone to be silent together before introducing the Lord's Prayer. 

It didn't help that the church public address system wasn't working, though both the overhead infra red heaters and central heating radiators were working, thankfully. Pavements at the end of King's Road around the corner from the church were dug up and cordoned as work was being done on underground infrastructure forcing pedestrians to walk in the road. It seems one of the three electrical current phases used in power supply had been cut, and that was why the hall supply was cut off. It didn't dampen the spirits of a lunch gathering, with about ninety people. It was a happy occasion, and the first to assemble members from four of the six Ministry Area churches to eat together. 

Clare and I didn't stay, however, as Kath offered to cook lunch for us, so that we would eat together before they set out for Kenilworth. It was gone three when they left, with Rhiannon driving. It took them four hours to reach home instead of the usual two, as Rhiannon is a learner driver and not allowed on motorways, so they went up the A48 all the way to Gloucester, before joining the A46 to take them north east to Warwick, then Kenilworth. It was lovely to have Rhiannon with us for four days, and Kath for the weekend. While Rhiannon was with us she had a successful telephone interview for another job on the role playing team of actors at Warwick Castle, where she worked last summer and autumn.

After they left us, Clare and I went for a walk in the park with afternoon sunshine to cheer us. While walking, after Clare returned home, I listened to the two episodes of 'The Archers' I missed in the week, to catch on them up before today's episode after the news at seven. There was several interesting story threads at the moment, including one about the felling of ancient oak trees without preservation orders on them, by developers lacking a sufficiently broad enough environmental conscience - shades of HS2 construction -  although we've seen old trees taken down by housing developers in town, and wonder how they got away with it, given local protest. 'The Archers' is still fulfilling its original educational role in portraying rural affairs.

I worked on preparations for next week's Sway in advance of tomorrow's session with Paula, who has volunteered to take on the editor's role after Easter. She's coming around after lunch, for an introduction to software unfamiliar to her. This afternoon I emailed her the weekly work schedule which I inherited from Frances and have followed ever since. I think she'll take it in her stride and get used to it quickly. I worked with her for a while on the staff team at St Mike's twelve years ago. She taught history there until she retired, and is a member of St Luke's congregation. So pleased we have found someone in good time, so that the Sway handover won't be a last minute panic, as mine was.

I'm glad today has been such a positive one for the life of West Cardiff Parish Churches. Glad also that Sway can have a future without relying on me. I think I've kept it going at least to my own satisfaction this past six months and learned new things. Even so, a little voice within me has been saying 'Enough!' this past few months. Not so tired as to be making a mess of doing it, carried along by a disciplined routine, but a voice calling out for a more creative kind of work, not just routine maintenance. When I have more freedom, what will I do with it? I don't know yet.

A new ministry begins on Dydd Gwyl Dewi

I was pleased to hear Rhiannon leaving the house after six this morning. Filming ends this afternoon, so hopefully she can rest and enjoy the weekend. Kath is coming down to stay as well. I spent the morning editing and writing. A colder cloudy day with sunny breaks, and a surprise hail storm mid morning. There may be snow in some places, but unlikely here in Cardiff. It's been much milder this winter with fewer frosty nights and much more rain. I spent the morning recording and editing material for a week next Thursday's Morning Prayer.

After a salmon soul lunch, I took the 61 bus to Fairwater to attend the World Day of Prayer service at St Peter's. This year's service was devised by a group of Palestinian Christian women, reason enough to go. It contained moving stories summarising the plight of Palestinians through the eyes of three generations of women. We also sang a couple of Palestinian choruses, with English texts and the Arabic equivalent rendered phonetically. I don't think I was very successful with the Arabic, but it was worth trying. It was a gathering of two dozen women of a certain age, and just two men. If I had realised the service was at St Peter's before I sent out Sway, last week or this, I could have included a poster for it, but I only found out late last night after the distribution was done. It's an ecumenical event held annually, but sadly such ecumenical activities are few and far between.

I just missed a bus to return home. There's half an hour between 61 buses now mid afternoon, extra buses are laid on exclusively for school children instead. I walked for half an hour until it began to drizzle, then I sheltered beneath a hedge next to a bus stop, and only had to wait a couple of minutes for the next bus to appear. Kath arrived at half past five to stay a couple of nights and return to Kenilworth on country roads to let Rhiannon have the experience of distance driving. She was her driving test in a few weeks time, and values all the practice she can get. After a snack supper, I walked to Cowbridge Road East and caught an 18 bus to take me up to St David's Parish Church for the Licensing of Fr Andrew Sully as West Cardiff Ministry Area Leader in the setting of a Eucharist.

About eighty people attended, and a quarter of them were clergy - half of them robed in the choir and half scattered throughout the congregation. The formalities of a licensing ceremony in a Eucharist have been simplified even more than they were the last time I attended one. I'm not sure if I approve of this or not, as stripping out the somewhat antiquated traditional features may have made it more informal and relaxed but made the occasion feel less momentous and memorable.

It was however, a truly bilingual event honouring St David. We sang 'Mae hen Wlad fy Nhadau' at the end. No choir needed, the singing in spontaneous harmony, was loud confident and enthusiastic throughout. I wish it was that good in the churches I serve every Sunday. There was a sumptuous spread after the service, and many cheerful conversations and greetings exchanged. It's a pity more couldn't have attended. Carol A long standing member of 'The Res' and old friend gave me a lift as far as Victoria Park, so I could walk the rest of the way home and complete my daily step quota. It was good to see Rhiannon had arrived from her film extra job a little earlier than me. We sat in the kitchen and chatted, until tiredness caught up with us one by one, and drew us up to bed.

In the news today, thirty thousand are now reported to have been killed in Gaza since October. It's claimed ten thousand of them are Hamas fighters. It's also claimed the majority of casualties are women and children. At this stage it's not possible to distinguish fact from propaganda. Will we ever know the truth? This grim statistic reminded me of what I was told by a former Red Cross prison visitor before going to Syria. Under the dictatorship of Hafez al Assad, in 1982, an insurrection of Muslim brotherhood members in Hama took thirty thousand lives in a month. If it was reported in Western media at the time it didn't arouse the same kind of political outrage which the war on Gazans has aroused. But then it was a matter of one powerful group of Muslims fighting against another.

Waterlogged

I woke up at half past seven and posted today's Morning Prayer video link to WhatsApp. After breakfast I made a photo album with pictures I've taken of the six Ministry Area churches and sent it to webmaster Gareth to use, as he's now got the Ministry Area website running. It's a work in progress, but which I've helped get started and am now content to let others develop as they see fit. 

Then I went to St John's to celebrate the Eucharist with five others, before driving to Danescourt to give Communion to Sandra, returning in time for a delicious lunch of pan fried mackerel with rice and veg. Although I slept quite well last night, I slept in the chair for nearly an hour after we'd eaten. I must have needed more. 

After waking up refreshed, I walked to Thompson's Park. Weeks of rain has left the open ground saturated. In several places the footpath around the top of the hillock is flooded with water draining off the grass. In the lowest area of the park, where there's a big boundary wall enclosing a street, there's a pool of water as big as I've seen in the winter rainy season, if not bigger. Once the rainfall reduces to a spring or summer level, it will take several months for this area to dry out, as there's a bed of clay beneath the trees there. 

The sun was shining but at 5C the cold wind chilled me so I had to return home for a warmer top coat, gloves and scarf. I continued walking in Thompson's Park for another three quarters of an hour to reach my daily target, the spent the rest of the day binge watching the second action packed series of 'Vigil' with a break for supper. A complex story of spies, drone warfare and the dark side of the British arms industry, and a warmongering conspiracy among top military officers in a fictional Middle Eastern country, actually filmed in Morocco, and Scotland. Hard to follow on times, as it switched between locations, but worth the effort for the questions it posed about supporting dodgy regimes, on the grounds that, if we don't our enemies will.

Interrogating financial demand

I was late to bed last night but awake for 'Thought for the Day' and up for breakfast in time to leave to go to St Peter's on the 61 bus in good time for the 10.15 Eucharist. I didn't stay for coffee after the service but took the bus back to Canton with Kate one of the two Ministry Area Wardens for a meeting to which I had been invited about an unexpected increase in financial demand from the Diocese, considered unsustainable by Ministry Area churches. 

The impression all have received is that there's no fact based understanding of the economic capacity for generosity on the part of church members and the wider community in which the six churches of the Ministry Area are set. The question is how best to respond to this? We mulled this over for an hours and a half before having lunch together, and agreeing a tentative next step. What really needed is a way to raise questions about the assumptions made by those who manage diocesan finances. Are their decisions correctly informed? 

As ever, the real issue is a gulf between institutional church bureaucracy and grass roots communities of worshippers which seem unbridgeable unless such difficult questions are faced. Reforms in the way churches in the same geographical area work with each other, introduced by Bishop June, the previous diocesan bishop haven't yet succeeded in their intention, as they were dictated to parishes with no meaningful dialogue about the prospects of getting them to work. 

Admittedly covid damaged regular support for the churches. Recovery is still a work in progress and decline continues unremittingly. Judgement about how to cope with the situation, viewed from the top down or the bottom up, isn't going to be objective. We're far from having objectively informed dialogue between diocesan authorities and church congregations about how it's  possible to navigate through the present economic crisis. 

These thoughts plagued me after the meeting. I went straight into town to bank a cheque in the newly refurbished central HSBC branch, which has finally replaced all its automatic banking tills. It's now possible to pay in cash or cheques and withdraw money from the same machine. Clever little thing.

I had an idea of a Christmas present to buy for Clare, but I had to hunt for stores that would provide for me what I wanted.  I was delighted to have succeeded after trekking all over the city centre.

St Catherine's Nine Lessons and Carols took place this evening, and I joined a congregation of about a hundred and twenty for the hour and a quarter service, rather over-long to my mind, as there was a mini nativity scene and crib blessing in the middle, plus a liturgical 'dance of the angels', which was lovely and an uplifting contrast to all those words and music. I have to plan a carol service for St Peter's on New Year's Eve. Tonight's service has informed my thinking about how much time is 'enough' for an evening service with hospitality to follow. 

If I remember aright, this year's carol service congregation was bigger by two or three dozen compared to last year, suggesting to me that covide fears may be lifting and influencing casual, as opposed to regular church attendances. To my mind, this is significant, in an era where people aren't driven by obligation, as they were in times past, but by interest or curiosity. But, we'll see, long term.

During the service, still chewing over the problems presented by today's meeting, it occurred to me that what was needed was an independent fact checking process to examine the reality of the demand being made by the diocese that people in the Ministry Area contribute 25% more than they expected to, and at short notice. I have an idea about how fact checking may be possible, but that's for tomorrow.

Control mystery

I woke up in the night to the sound of rain, but by the time I got up for breakfast, sun was shining through the clouds and the ground was drying out. After eating, Monday housework, then editing this week's Sway sending out next Sunday's readings and responding to other emails. I learned yesterday evening that the interviews had taken place for the vacant Ministry Area Leader's post, and received confirmation today of success in appointing someone. Hopefully this will be announced soon along with a licensing date, and a successful interview for other team vacancy will take place. Then I'll be free of local duty commitments, and open to whatever else comes next. It's been quite a demanding year, one way and another.

Clare cooked chicken with veg for my lunch while I was working, and at the last minute I added passata, garlic and a few spices for extra taste. It went well with brown rice. I decided to send an email to Emma at Euro-diocesan HQ to tell her that I'd be free of local commitments and available for locum duty abroad early next year. Just in case.

Then I walked in Thompson's Park and Llandaff Fields until sunset, and got several spectacular cloudy red sky photos, using my Panasonic TZ95. It certainly works quicker than my old Sony HX90, and is more more sophisticated. Figuring out how to access all its features is difficult without rehearsing with the camera manual. The Sony control settings menus were hard enough to fathom, but this one is completely different. I tried reading the manual, before and after supper, but am none the wiser as I couldn't relate what it said to the controls on the back of the camera. It has clever functions but I'm not sure why it should need to use them, but I m determined to learn to do more than use it on auto settings all the time. Mre trial and error time needed, I think.

After supper, I watched a couple of episodes of The Sketch Artist, or Portrait Robot as it's called in French. It's good. Several sub plots running at the same time through the series around interesting characters with dfferent histories of brokenness and quite original as a cop drama series.

Culinary ignorance

Clouds and sunshine all day today, cooler but no rain. Quite pleasant really. I woke up with a nose bleed in the night but it didn't last long, and I still had a good night's sleep. It's what I need at the moment. After breakfast, I drove to St Peter's to celebrate Mass with twenty two others. News of Mother Frances' departure has been reacted to with shock and concern about how the Parish and the Ministry Area is going to cope with half the full time clergy numbers. Kate, one of the two Ministry Area Wardens and Iona the Ministry Area lay co-chair are going to pursue the proposition of an interim minister, if not a part time administrator. Finding sufficient supernumerary clerics to cover gaps in the service rota is not the only matter for concern it seems.

It was nearly lunchtime by the time I reached home after chatting in the church hall over cover afterwards. Clare had started preparing veggies but I took over cooking sausages, garlic mushrooms and couscous so she could do some ironing. I slept unexpectedly for an hour in the chair after lunch, and then went out for the week's grocery shopping at the Coop. On the grocery list was bicarbonate of soda, which I mistakenly thought was Baking Powder and bought some. Clare returned from doing the Beanfreaks shopping, with Baking powder as well. I needed to google to understand the difference between the two products. It seems pure bicarb is used as a raising ingredient in soda bread and other recipes with stronger flour, I think. That's something I never needed to know in my life before now.

After supper I walked to Blackweir Bridge and back, then watched an episode of a new British crimmie series on iPlayer called 'We hunt together'. It has darkly comic elements and a high quota of foul language which contribute to its rather unpleasant character. It's not clear which direction the plot is heading or what underlying insight into human behaviour it intends to convey. In other words, I don't get it.

Improvised Asencion Day fiesta

Awake early, posting today's YouTube Morning Prayer link to WhatsApp  at seven, although I didn't get up until gone eight. After breakfast I paid the latest water rates bill which arrived a few days ago, on hearing a discussion on the BBC Radio Four Today programme about the alarming extent of sewage polluted rivers and the plan to upgrade sewage network infrastructure. It was interesting to see how much our bill was reduced by my three month sojourn in Spain.

Then, I went to Tesco's to shop for this week's Foodbank donation and took it to St John's to celebrate the first Eucharist of this almost sunny Ascension Day. There were eleven of us, with Fr Huw and Beryl from St Peter's Fairwater, plus Clive, Stephen and Hilary from St Catherine's joining the five regulars, as services in their churches can't be offered today. Good to see a few people willing to cross former Parish boundaries to celebrate one of the church's great festivals together.

Before having lunch I prepared the service for tomorrow's funeral. While I was doing this, a call came in from the cardiology team offering me an appointment tomorrow afternoon for a cardiology scan, as there had been a cancellation. Amazing luck! The report will be sent to pre-op for assessment, and on that basis I will be inserted into the operation queue. When that will happen is anyone's guess. I just hope the call doesn't come while we're booked to be away. Maybe I'll be able to feed the surgeon's secretary my unavailability dates.

I had a snooze in the chair after lunch, then went out and did the week's grocery shopping in the Coop, and had an early supper. I needed to be on my way to St Luke's by six thirty to celebrate the evening's Eucharist. I was there just before seven and thankfully I had my church keys with me, and could open up and start getting things ready for the service. I had prepared my sermon, but nothing else. It was to be a sung Eucharist, but I had no idea if the choir or organist had been recruited for the occasion.

Father Chris turned up so I asked him to read the Gospel, then a succession of lay people from Caerau, St Catherine's, Glanely as well as St Luke's. Father Jesse arrived. I asked him to read the Gospel, and then Archbishop Rowan. I asked him to give the chalice. When the service started we were altogether twenty two people. I had envisaged a third of that number turning up. It was rather special to have people from four of seven churches in the Ministry Area worshipping together at the same time. 

I decided when preparing to celebrate not to use nave or chancel altars. A handful of people in a space designed for two hundred is a quite a demoralising experience, so I arranged the service to happen in the Lady Chapel, which accommodates about fifteen. The fact that we were full to overflowing was a real blessing. We sang hymns, and some parts of the service unaccompanied, and it was a lovely experience, outside everyone's expectations. With such diminished numbers, we need different ways of celebrating together to uplift us. Somehow at the last minute it came together, with seven different people taking an active role. I felt exhilarated to be part of it.

Four of us went to the Victoria Park pub nearby afterwards to celebrate the Ascension socially, and chat for an hour before parting company. I walked home feeling grateful to have had the opportunity to take the lead on such a special feast day in the church's year. And so to bed.

What's in a name?

A slow start to the day. The morning just seemed to disappear, although I succeeded in recording the audio for next week's Morning Prayer video before lunch. 

In the afternoon, I walked into town through Bute Park for a look around. The park illuminations, skating rink in the Castle grounds and the Winter Wonderland attractions are all closed now and being dismantled. There weren't great crowds of sale shoppers around. Covid nervousness I suspect is keeping people away. I popped into John Lewis' to have a look at what was on offer in the sales but saw nothing of interest.

Before supper, I completed the Morning Prayer video and uploaded it to YouTube. This time I had to think about labelling it differently for the future. Previously it's been tagged 'From the Benefice of Canton', but at midnight tonight the Benefice as a legal pastoral entity is abolished. It's three Parish churches are going to be constituents in the new West Cardiff Ministry Area. The same is also true of St German's, merged into the Roath Ministry Area. It's not a move that I'm at all happy about, but must live with. 

Our group of three churches will continue to work together as they have done before. Relationships forged over the twenty five years the Team Ministry and Rectorial Benefice has existed will continue. I decided in future to label my contributions 'From Canton Parish in the West Cardiff Ministry Area. Although the ecclesiastical Parish is abolished, the civil parish, an area with its own historical record, continues to exist. That'll serve to prevent further erosion of the identity of the local churches planted here over a hundred and fifty years ago.

Unimpressed by the New Year's eve selection of TV viewing. We ended up watching the prequel movie to 'Star Trek' with its convoluted time shifting plot, excessively noisy special effects, and vaguely amusing dialogue recycling phrases from the vintage movie series. Seen it before. Then on Sky Arts, a Vienna New Year's Eve promenade popular orchestral concert from Vienna by André Rieu. A huge exuberant audience of not young enthusiasts behaving as if they were at a rock concert.  A recording from 2002. Another sort of time shifting I guess. The streets are quiet. No noticeable sound of parties. There will be fireworks but there's nothing to stay up for, to toast the New Year in. It's not really worth it until there's no more covid threat to inhibit traditional exuberance.