September 2005

Members of St Matthew's were saddened to hear, in July, of the passing of Rachel Williams, a former Churchwarden, who live in recent years at Ystradfechan House. Rachel's funeral at Glyntaff Crematorium was conducted by Canon Stephen Ryan, Vicar of St. Matthew's during her time as Churchwarden. He spoke movingly and amusingly of Rachel's roles as schoolteacher, Churchwarden , and helper of the handicapped at Lourdes.

Rachel's niece Dorothy Warren, who lives at Coychurch, near Bridgend, writes: 

"I would like to thank everyone who helped in making this sad occasion of Rachel's funeral such a memorable day. We all have our memories of Rachel, she was a truly remarkable woman who achieved so many things, and I am really proud to have been her niece. Thank you all for helping me in so many ways on 14th July. The singing at the Crematorium had all the hallmarks of St Matthew's, and the gathering afterwards was handled as only the ladies of the church can do it. I am grateful to you all."

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Following the Fair Trade Evening in our Church Hall in July, our Church Council agreed that Treorchy and Treherbert would become a Fair Trade parish. Fair Trade tea and coffee and other products will be used at church events, as part of the move towards Llandaff becoming a Fair Trade diocese, and it's hoped there will be a Far Trade stall in St Matthew's. 

Mrs Joan Coleman writes: "Thank you to all who came to the Fair Trade evening. It was a most successful evening, as £80.61 was spent on fairly traded items. Donations amounted to £7, which has been sent off to Traidcraft in Gateshead, to help with their work with producers. Thank you all once again."

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Our Priest-in-Charge, Canon Peter Coleman, will have the honour of being on duty in Llandaff Catherdral on the first three Sundays in October. On 9th October members of St Matthew's, ST Mary's and St John's, Ton Pentre, will have the opportunity of being at the Catherdal with Canon Coleman, when there will be a coach to take them to Llandaff, Please note that there will be no service at St Matthew's that morning. The Holy Eucharist will be celebrated at 6pm.

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We are glad to gratefully acknowledge two further donations to our Church Hall Restoration Fund: from Derek Evenas of South Petherton, Somerset, and formerly of Windsor Street, and from Phyllis Halstead's sister, Iris Cox, who has lived for many years at St. David's, Pembs.

We were delighted to hear that Margaret Fitzpatrick, Cardiff St, and Edna Morse, Crosswood St, were among those invited to lunch with the Queen and other Royals at Buckingham Palace, on Sunday 10th July, as part of the celebrations commemorating the end of World War II.

We were pleased to know that Jennie Watkins, a faithful senior member of St Matthew's, was asked to cut the ribbon at the opening of the refurbished Somerfield store in treorchy, in recognition of her long service to the company.

Congratulations to Doris Davies, Herbert Street, on attaining her 91st birthday.

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Our Mothers' Union Choir, led by Phyllis Halstead, paid a return visit in July to Ty Ross Nursing Home, Treherbert, to entertain residents. Songs and outfits had a wartime flavour.

Come ye thankful people, come! Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday at St Matthew's will be 18th September, with the Holy Eucharist at 9am and Evensong at 6pm.

68 invitations are being sent out to all those baptised, at St Matthew's in the past ten years, and their families, to attend our Patronal Festival Holy Eucharist at 7pm on St Matthew's Day, Wednesday 21st September. The service will include an opportunity to renew baptism vows, and will be followed by refreshments in the Church Hall.

Book the date now! Our Autumn Fayre will be held on Saturday 22nd October.

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TREORCHY DISTRICT CHRISTIAN AID WEEK 2005

Mrs Valerie Davis Secretary/Treasurer, Baglan Street, writes: 

" Dear Christian Friends,

I have listed below the total of the street collection taken by the churches during Christian Aid week. This is the first time that the collection has exceeded £17,000, which is very pleasing in this, my final year as Secretary/Treasurer. Thank you for all your efforts not only in this year but in all the previous years." M V Davis

Our thanks to Mrs Davis for spear-heading this ecumenical effort by Treorchy Christians over the years, and to all who have helped to achieve these results.

Weddings: 

July 8th: Neil Thomas and Ceri-Ann Palmer.   

August 20th: Gareth Malcolm Jones and Emma Elizabeth Williams

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Funeral: July 14th: Rachel Ann Williams

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July / August 2005

Last month's Fashion Show in our Church Hall was a sell-out. Emlyn Evans as M.C. for the evening, and the fashions were modelled by Susan, Vickie and Bethan Abbott, Mair Bowen, Joyce Pearce and Anne Tomkinson. Thanks to all who supported the evening, and especially to "The Wardrobe", 121 Bute St., it was such a success that it's hoped to arrange another Show. Over £400 was raised for our Church Hall Restoration Fund.

St. Matthews' newly-acquired green chasuble has been getting o good airing these Sundays after Pentecost. A chasuble is the outer vestment worn by a priest at the Holy Eucharist, and the colours vary according to the seasons of the church's year. Our previous green one had become sadly faded and discoloured, but thanks to the good offices of the Rev. Haydn England-Simon, of St. Peter's, Pentre, our church now has one which was worn by a former priest in the diocese of Hereford.

Thanks to those who contributed , and those from St. Matthew's who helped with the door-to-door collection, £374.15 was raised during Christian Aid Week in May.

We have a medallist in our midst! Kieran Evans, Tynybedw Terrace, a member of the Upper Rhondda Brass Band, came third in his class in a competition at St. Peter's Church, Pentre, last month. Kieran, who is also a chorister at St. Matthew's, played his trombone to accompany the singing of 'Bless This House' at last month's Family Service.

At the latest reckoning, the balance in our Church Hall Restoration Fund was £7,208.45.

Are you among those collecting for our Church Hall Restoration Fund via Smarties Tubes? Tubesful of 20p's (or £1's!) can be brought in and emptied for refilling at any time, and any new collectors are very welcome to join in.

Is it true that there are no cooks in Treorchy and Treherbert? We're still waiting for a response to our appeal for recipes to be included in a Parish Cookbook.

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The Price of a Priest by David Halstead

Did you look at our parish's Simplified Accounts for 2004 in last month's Newsletter? Perhaps you noticed that by far the largest item in our parish's expenditure was the Parish Share to our Diocese, almost £14,000. (see "Accounts" via the previous web page)

The Parish Share, formerly known as the "Quota", is what the parish is asked to pay each year towards clergy pay and pensions. Last year our Share was almost as much as the total contributed in our parish through the Weekly Envelopes.

The way Parish Shares are allocated doesn't seem to be widely known. A brief explanation of this vital aspect of parish finances may be useful.

After much deliberation and debate, our diocese of Llandaff decided that, from 2002, the sun needed to be raised by parishes towards clergy pay and pensions should be allocated in proportion to the numbers attending church in each parish. This year the diocese needs to raise a total of £3,555,000.

Figures published by our diocese show an average of 50 people per week, in total, attending the two churches in our parish. From this number, our Parish Share for 2005 is calculated as £15,419.

This works out as, on average, £5.93 per person attending church, per week, every week, throughout the year. The amount is much the same for every parish in our diocese.

The figure for Upper Rhondda Fawr parishes this year are:

The Parish Share is allocated by the diocese whether or not there are any clergy actually living in the parish.

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The brief but memorable ministry in our parish of the Rev Neil Roper, in 2003, was recalled by an e-mail received by our Church Warden Ceri Dutfield:-

"What a lovely surprise to get your e-mail. I hope this finds you and all Saint Mary's and Saint Matthew's well? My first year in teaching and as a school chaplain has been a bit of a 'baptism of fire'. The school I work at is called Quainton Hall, in Harrow, and is owned by the shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham. If you get their Quarterly Review there is an article about my licensing and the schol in it. I'm sure all the three priests are looking after you well. You're often in my thoughts and prayers. All good wishes for 2005. FATHER NEIL"

A donation to our Church Hall Restoration Fund has been received from Mrs Iris McGifford, nee Evans, a past member of St. Matthew's and former resident of Windsor Street. Iris, who was widowed a few years ago, has lived for many years near Stockport.

Congratulations to two members of St. Matthew's on reaching the big Eight - O : Howard Rowe of Clark Street, and Olive Jones of Dumfries Street.

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FUNERALS: June 17th - John Pennington

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Items for our next issue of St Matthew's News to David Halstead (776963) by Sunday 21st August, please.

* If you have memories of Sunday School or drama productions in St. Matthew's Church Hall, please let us share them with our readers.

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June 2005

Treorchy was en fete on the afternoon of Saturday May 7th for the VE Day 60th Anniversary celebrations. There were wartime window displays in the shops, and the main road was lined with flags and banners. Crowds turned out to cheer the parade of veterans and cadets led by the Grenadier Guards and South Wales Police bands. There were even some evacuees. Well done the Treorchy Women's Institute, led by Pauline Worman, Dumfries St, who threw our Church HAll open to all comers for an indoor party, with wartime entertainment and free refreshments.

After some eight years' preparation, on and off, plans for the refurbishment or replacement of St Matthew's Church Hall have received a setback. The application for a grant from the Big Lottery Fund has been rejected. Ceri Doyle, the Fund's Director for Wales, explains: "The application is for more than the indicative grant size of £300,000. From the information provided, the application is not considered to be exceptional and is therefore outside the programme policy of the Large Projects programme." It's intended to explore other possible sources of funding the Church Hall restoration.

The gloomy outlook for the Rhondda Deanery of the Church In Wales seems not quite as gloomy as previously thought. The Right Rev. David Yeoman who is Diocesan Assistant Bishop and also our Archdeacon, led a recent Deanery Conference meeting, as reported by Kay Warren-Morgan, Cardiff Street, our representative. Revised plans for the eventual grouping of the Upper Rhondda Fawr parishes were outlined. Treorchy and Treherbert, with Pentre, would have one priest, while Cwmparc, with Ystradyfodwg (St John's ) would have another. The total number of full-time priests in the Rhondda Deanery would be nine, compared with ten at present, and eight as previously envisaged. No more churches would close, and no clergy would be made "redundant". There is even a suggestion that a new Vicarage would be built or bought in Treorchy.

The Archbishop of Wales, the Most Rev. Dr. Barry Morgan, will be in our parish, for the second time in tow years, when he visits St Mary's, in Treherbert, on Sunday 31st July, to preside at the 9.45am Holy Eucharist. Later that morning Dr. Morgan will be visiting St George's, Cwmparc.

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Thanks to all who gave their support, last month's Sunday School and girl's Friendly Society Coffee Morning and Plant Sale raised £78.

With a view to Treorchy and Treherbert becoming a Fair Trade Parish, Mrs Joan Coleman, wife of our Priest-in-Charge, will show a video and give a talk about Fair Trade, in the Church hall at 7.30pm of Friday July 1st. There will be tea and biscuits, and Fair Trade products will be available.

As part of our parish's Mission Action Plan, it's proposed to invite everyone who has been baptised in the past ten years to a special celebration of the Holy Eucharist at St Matthew's on the evening of our Patron Saint's Day, Wednesday 21st September.

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We are glad to hear that Hetty Rowe is recovering at home after her recent hip replacement operation, and also that Betty Jones is making good progress after heart surgery in the Heath Hospital, Cardiff. We are sorry to hear that Mavis Page's husband has not been in the best of health lately.

We regret to report the passing, earlier this year, of Brian Dear, a former chorister at St Matthew's, and son of the late Hilda Dear. In recent years Brian lived in Sutton Coalfield. He was in his late sixties.

We were also sad to hear of the recent death of another former chorister, Peter Myers, a wartime evacuee from Manor Park, London. He later lived near Stoke-on-Trent, where he worked as an electrician. Peter was aged 77.

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BAPTISMS : April 24th - Aimee Jane Harris, Cameron Coburn

FUNERAL : April 21st - Eunice Price

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May 2005

It was cold, grey Sunday morning in Treorchy - but in St. Matthew's it was warm and bright for the Easter Day Eucharist. 

Despite the clocks having gone forward an hour, the largest Sunday congregation for some time ranged from a babe-in-arms to a nonagenarian, and included welcome young holidaymakers. There were 54 communicants.

Our new Church Council met for the first time last month, at St. Mary's. Unfortunately, only seven of the nineteen folk appointed at the recent Annual Vestry Meeting were able to be there. However, Sheila Ellis was re-appointed Secretary, and Anne Tomkinson and Sheila Phelps were co-opted to the Church Council.

The Church Council considered the possibility of our parish becoming a Fair Trade Parish, as part of Llandaff Diocese's drive to be a Fair Trade Diocese. Starting by serving Fair Trade tea and coffee at church events, we could help to strengthen the position of poor producers overseas.

Another topic for the Church Council was the possibility of opening St Matthew's Church to the public every Thursday afternoon, as part of our parish's Mission Action Plan.

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Calling all budding Delia Smiths and Jamie Olivers!

It's hoped to produce a Parish Cookbook, including all your favourite recipes, for sale in aid of our Church Hall Restoration Fund. Please let any members of our Social Committee have your entries as soon as possible - but no copyright items, and not too many Welsh Cakes or Bara Brith entries, please.

Members of local churches will once again be on the knocker in aid of those less privileged continents than ours, when this year's Christian Aid Week begins on May 15th. Mrs M V Davis, Baglan Street, co-ordinates the effort in Treorchy.

Saturday May 28th is the day of the Annual Anglican Pilgrimage to Penrhys. There will be happenings for all sorts of ages, at the Rhondda Fach Sports Centre and at the Shrine of Our Lady itself, from 10am onwards. A free coach will be available.

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We're glad to hear that Howard Rowe, Clark Street, and also Ann Phillip's husband Alwyn, Tynybedw Terrace, are back at home after spells in hospital. Best wishes to you both for continued improvement.

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News has reached us of the passing of the Rev. John Hatcliffe, a former member of St Matthew's. John, a relative of Edna Coomes, Dumfries Street, was a railway employee before his ordination in 1961. He spent most of his ministry in Manchester and Lichfield Dioceses, and died two years ago, aged 77.

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February 2005

Thanks to our Churchwarden Ceri Dutfield, St Matthew’s and St Mary’s have had a joint Newsletter for the past three years. But last month our Church Council agreed that the task of producing a Newsletter should be shared.

David Halstead will try to produce this free one-sheet monthly Newsletter for St Matthew’s and it’s hoped that there will be a separate Newsletter for St Mary’s. 

St Matthew’s Church looked as bright and festive as ever for Christmas thanks to the small but dedicated band of decorators. Presiding at both services was our Priest-in-Charge, Canon Peter Coleman. Organist on Christmas Day was Sheila Ellis, who plays for us faithfully week by week.

Deputy organist on Christmas Eve was Myra Phillips’s daughter Alison, from Stoke-on-Trent, who was spending Christmas in Treorchy with her mother.

The number of communicants on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day totalled 62. 

The raffle for our Christmas Hampers raised £240 for church funds, thanks to all who contributed to the hampers and/or bought raffle tickets. 

Our sympathy and prayers are with Mary Parry of Dyfodwg Street, whose husband David died, after a long illness, just before Christmas. St Matthew’s Church was packed for David’s funeral. We were also saddened to hear of the passing of Keith Rowe, of Cardiff Street, a former chorister at St Matthew’s. 

For the first time in a few years, there will be a woman priest serving in the Rhondda Deanery, when the Rev. Gillian George-Rogers is licensed as Priest-in-Charge of the Upper Rhondda Fach on February 2nd. 

Our new Assistant Bishop of Llandaff, The Right Rev. David Yoeman (who is also our Archdeacon) is helping with plans for improvements at St Mary’s in Treherbert.

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