St. Blogory's: the internet café at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, Deerfield, IL

Crepuscular Carmarthen

As I worked my way back to Dulais' and Leigh's house, the light was finally beginning to fade. This street is just up from the center of Carmarthen, and you can see the effect as the sun lowers itself in the west. The tower on the left, higher than the rooftops and chimneys, is the tower of Christ Church, and the tower on the right is that of Dewi Sant, the Welsh-speaking congregation's Church, now damaged beyond affordable repair. (More about the two churches next time.)

This is Christ Church, a moment later. It faces the dying sun, without surrounding buildings to block the sun's rays. My little Mercedes Benz hugs the wall, sheltering.

Here's a close-up of the door.

And a further close-up of the sign showing the bilingual nature of the parish.

It's now about 9:40 pm, and I return to my Carmarthen home for some more work on my sermon, and another post to St. Blogory's.

Recap of Sunday and Monday, June 28 and 29

Saturday night I packed so all would be ready in the morning for a quick breakfast and the 45 minute drive to Llanrug, and my first bilingual sermon, because the congregation includes both English speakers (the majority) and Welsh speakers. I arrived in good time for the 9:30 service, but the Vicar, Robert Townsend, was late because he had had an 8 o'clock service (without sermon) in another small village, Cwm-y-Glo. Then, right after the 9:30 service off to St. Padarn's in Llanberis for the 11 o'clock service, for which we were 10 minutes late, such are the distances between those two churches. Another bilingual sermon, this time with the Welsh-speakers in the majority. Then a wonderful dinner at the Rheithordy (Rectory; literally, Rector's House [Rheithor + tŷ]) with Robert, his wife Cath, daughter Charis and son-in-law Marc, and daughter Gwen, who makes pottery seals that can whistle!

(Many if not most Church in Wales and Church of England clergy have at least three or four churches, and sometimes several others beside, spread out over long distances in rural areas with narrow, sometimes single lane, roads.)

Then to a Cash Point in Llanberis so I could pay the B&B; I'd forgotten from past stays that they require cash. That was on its way to my next stop anyway, but it put me behind a bit more to reach Ian and Frankie Marsh's house, over 3 hours away, in the Cotswolds of England. By the time I crawled through some bad congestion, I arrived well after 7 pm. But it was great to see them again, and each of them had had evening meetings, so we were all hungry for Frankie's delicious dinner, and a good glass of wine to relax us.

But it was too long a day even to comtemplate unloading my gliniadur (laptop; the Welsh word combines the word for knee [glin] and the word for computer [cyfrifiadur]).

This morning I left just after 9 am, after taking a picture (yet to come!) of Franke and Ian. Then I drove into the heart of London (Westminster) to St. Matthew's, which is a five minute walk to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and, of interest to Altar Guild members, J. Wippell & Company Limited. (For a history of this liturgical vestment firm, click here.)

I dropped off my luggage (which entailed paying an £8 congestion fee for driving in the heart of London), and drove to Heathrow to turn in my rental car after 25 days of teamwork. Then an express train to Paddington, and a long long walk back to St. Matthew's House.

(The GPS doesn't function quite so well when programmed for walking, so add another mile to what the map indicates.)

The first thing I did after being shown to my little third floor room (with two bathrooms and a shower room across the hall; and a kitchen, dining room, and living room on the second floor; and a Lady Chapel on the first floor, all to serve retreatants), was to ask for the wireless code so I could resume a daily post, of which this is the downpayment (as I write this, Big Ben is tolling 11 o'clock, just blocks away).

So tomorrow, back to picture posts, which have now supplanted picture postcards, and back to my evening photographic stroll in Carmarthen on Thursday, June 11!

Dw i wedi blino! (I am tired!)

Quick Update before the B&B closes its wireless connection. . . .

I did finally figure out how to get on the internet, but I have either been consumed by fascinating meetings with various clergy, or working on my sermon yn Gymraeg, which I will deliver in two parish churches tomorrow, one in Llanberis and another in Llanrug.

A quick update. Last Thursday I drove from Carmarthen to Bangor, and had a meeting with the bishop in his office, which is also his home. And then I stayed for dinner with his wife and children, and it wasn't until 10 pm that I made the B&B. Meetings yesterday, and an ordination today with more meetings, and perfecting my sermon. Much more detail to come!

All for now!

Bobl Bach!

Or, in English, good grief! I can access wireless with my iPod but not with my computer. Will try to sort out tomorrow. Wonderful dinner with Bishop of Bangor and his family. Meeting several clergy tomorrow. Hwyl!

An Evening Stroll through Caerfyrddin

Camera ready, I decided to begin with a picture of Dulais' and Leigh's home. They live in the left-hand side of this duplex.

  

Then, just one block over, row houses:

Carmarthen is a town on the move. A lot of improvements over the past five years since my last visit. And here is a new shopping center going up, taking the place of a picturesque but worn out marketplace. It was an immense and noisy building, a warren of stalls and tables with everything from meats and poulty to socks and bras and trinkets and jewelry.

After several blocks I came across the third Church-in-Wales church, St. Peter's. Built in the 13th and 14th centuries, what drew my attention and put a big smile on my face was this rather new addition, its eyes cast heavenward, seriously heavenward!

Of course, what would any Welsh town be without its own castle? This one, dating from the 11th century, was destroyed and rebuilt in the early 13th century with the current outer walls.

If you would like to learn more about this castle, and see a number of other photographs, this link will take you there.

My walk continues tomorrow. Unless my next stop, a B&B in the old Victorian resort town of Llandudno in North Wales, doesn't have internet access. In which case, my walk will continue when I can manage it!

Pob bendith! Every blessing.

Caerfyrddin, Plwyf Dewi Sant - Eglwys Crist

On Tuesday, June 9, in the late afternoon, I arrived safely in Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen), and it was like coming home to open the door and announce that I'd arrived. Dulais came out to greet me, and then went back into his office to continue a piano lesson with a young student. Not much later Leigh came through the door, the student left, and we sat down to dinner. Then off to a community choir rehearsal, Dulais conducting and Leigh one of the sopranos, in the great hall of Christ Church.

Earlier, Dulais had shown me the parish's announcement sheet from the previous Sunday, which included this note:

"Should anyone from another church tell you that Sea Sunday isn't until July they would of course be right. I put the wrong date in my diary by mistake, and by the time I realized what I'd done it was too late to change things. Still, this is our Sea Sunday - and no other church in the diocese has Don Griffiths' flags and a visiting preacher from Chicago . . ."

[On the Sunday I preached, the announcement sheet had expanded that last sentence to read: "Still, this is our Sea Sunday - and no other church in the diocese has Don Griffiths' superb collection of flags and a visiting Welsh-speaking preacher from Chicago . . . Croeso cynnes i Bill Roberts y bore 'ma" (A warm welcome to Bill Roberts this morning).]

Then I was shown the Papur Y Plwyf, or Parish Digest (their parish newsletter). One single sentence took my breath away: "He has learned Welsh."

That night I filed my "Mere Update" post, and on the following day, June 10, I began work on Sunday's sermon. I also filed "Sul y Drindod (Rhan 2) - Trinity Sunday (Part 2)." The following day, Thursday, June 11, I continued to work on my sermon. After dinner we walked up to the Model Church in Wales Primary School, whose website is here. They were holding a Spring Fair, raising funds to support the school. Dulais plays the piano for the school's Friday morning worship service, and because I was scheduled to be the guest speaker the next day, it was good for us to go and show our support. We met the Acting Head Teacher, Mari Hughes, entered some of the raffles which were on offer, and enjoyed cups of strawberries and whipped cream!

On the way up the road to the school, which is situated on the brow of a hill, I took some pictures of the neighborhood. The first looks back down the street on which Dulais and Leigh live, and the second was taken on a short cut through a small park:

 

After visiting the school we walked back down the hill to the Rhys' home. Then I decided to take advantage of the lovely evening, and I set out once again, my camera in hand.

Tan yfory! Until tomorrow!

Ll G C - N L W

The letters in this post's title stand for Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru - The National Library of Wales. The abbreviations in the title adumbrate another abbreviated post.

This morning I said farewell to Stuart and Prudence Bell, and drove to the Ll G C to meet with a new friend I made in Aberystwyth, Lyn Léwis Dafis, for coffee before taking a tour of the Library.

More about Lyn and the Library in the fullness of time, but in the meantime here's the website. (If the pages on their website seem to be blank, just scroll down until you find the writing!)

After lunch, I drove down to Carmarthen, and this time the GPS did its work, and I gave a little back for its misbehavior on the previous Friday by ignoring its suggestions to follow "B" roads (as in "Boy oh boy, this road is narrow!") and keep on driving on the "A" roads, as in "A-OK."

I also bought a little over 3/4 of a tank of gas and paid about $67 US for 43.43 litres of gas. So stop complaining!

Tonight I took Dulais and Leigh Rhys out for dinner, as a small token of thanks for their hospitality two weeks ago and again for three days this week. I also gave them a book, Wyddwn I Mo Hynna Am Gymru. I also bought the English version for myself: I Never Knew That About Wales. The author of both is Christopher Winn. David Reynolds had lent me his copy of I Never Knew That About England, and I liked it so much I bought my own copy. So I was surprised and delighted to find Welsh- and English-language versions of this Welsh compendium of fascinating bits of history and information.

And now it's past midnight. I don't know whether to end with "Nos da!" or "Bore da." Perhaps because it's just after 6:00 pm your time, I'll say, "Noswaith dda!"

Aberystwyth 2

Another brief update to bookend last Friday's first post from Aberystwyth:

It is the end of a full day of worship at three Welsh language services (8, 10, and 6), with significant conversations after each service, and the gracious hospitality of Stuart and Prudence Bell.

And Fathers Day with cards and IM Video Conferencing!

Tomorrow I leave Aberystwyth after visiting the National Library of Wales, and return to Carmarthen before the last leg of my journey through Wales.

Nos da!

Cytûn: Churches Together in Wales

Before leaving Gartholwg, Matthew gave me the school's information packet, titled Cyfleoedd: Yn Agor Drysau'r Dyforol (Opportunities: Opening the Doors to the Future). We said our goodbyes and I headed back to Cardiff. I hadn't gone far when I realized I'd left my brown leather notebook behind, so back to Gartholwg. The noteback had already become my companion and co-witness, so it was a good thing I realized its absence before I'd returned to Cardiff. In the event, the quick retrieval meant I would be late for the next meeting, a return to unfortunate form!

Arriving at the diocesan offices, Gwynn met me and we got into his car for the quick trip to Cytûn, which is housed in a warren of offices on the second floor of a small building. I was introduced to several staff members, and then Gwynn and I began our conversation with Chief Executive Aled Edwards, a priest in the Church in Wales, and Rhian Linecar. It was good to see Rhian again, having met her at Dewi Sant the prior Sunday during the coffee hour. You may remember from an earlier post that she is the Faith, Order & Witness Officer for Cytûn.

A note on "church" and "chapel." Almost invariably, the word "church" is used for Anglican congregations until 1920, when the Anglican Church was disestablished in Wales, and thereafter for congregations in the Church in Wales. The word "chapel" refers to congregations from Non-Conformist denominations-- including Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and others who would not conform with worship according to the Church of England. 

Aled began by mentioning some new growth in some of the older Welsh-speaking chapels near Cardiff, mainly in places which have begun to offer more contemporary worship services, and who serve members of the middle class who have moved to Cardiff for opportunities in media, like BBC Wales, and government, like the National Assembly, and other bilingual service industries. The Presbyterian Church has one Welsh-language congregation in Cardiff, Capel Salem.

In addition to his work at Cytûn, Aled has served as a state Commissioner for Racial Equality, giving him additional insights in the area of immigration and migration. Immigrants are often willing to move into areas from which the brightest and youngest have moved for better opportunities, a development he describes as "immigration while your country needs it."

Desiring to make connections in their new communities, many immigrants are learning Welsh and sending their children to Welsh-medium schools. As a result, there is a growing and significant Welsh-speaking Muslim community in Cardiff. As noted in a previous post, this year's national youth festival included an interfaith service, during which a young Muslim girl in hijab spoke in perfect Welsh. The organizers contacted Cytûn for help in developing the service, and Cytûn has been a resource for multi-faith issues to the Welsh government since devolution.

Interestingly, through that experience, two non-Christian families said that they had seen the Church in a new light.

Aled related a conversation he had with a leader in the Muslim community on the question of conversion. The imam asked him, "Would you wish to convert me?" "I have to feel," said Aled, "that I would want to offer my friend the best that I had to offer, and so my answer would be, 'Yes.'" Then Aled returned the question, "And would you wish to convert me?" And the imam agreed that he, too, would wish to offer the best that he knew as well. That brief conversation allowed the relationship to deepen along lines of mutual appreciation. But then Aled mentioned a sobering fact for Christians to ponder: currently at any rate, 99.4% of Muslim parents succeed in transfering their faith to their children.

I asked what some of the barriers were that prevented Welsh-speaking congregations from using the resurgence of Welsh as an opportunity for evangelism. He suggested that one problem is that churches which are contracting tend to intensify their efforts to recreate "what they think they used to be," and therefore it's difficult for them to have a conversation about how they might reach out in new ways to new communities.

The policy of the Church in Wales to be a bilingual church has been validated by the government's Welsh Language Board, and the Church has been recognized for teaching more of its employees Welsh than any other employer. In this respect at least, the Church in Wales is better postioned than any other denomination for bridging the divide between Welsh- and English-speaking Christians.

With regard to Cytûn's work with the government on issues of equality, Aled believes that the Church in Wales has made a unique contribution through its Welsh-speaking participants. As members of a language and cultural community which has had to struggle with the complexities of identity, discrimination, indifference, and hostility, they have been able to help others understand genuine otherness, and to bring their own vulnerability into transforming conversations.

As we finished our conversation, Aled gave me three books for my growing Welsh library:

Inter-faith Wales: Building trust and respect between people of all faiths throughout Wales.

Ystyried Gwahaniaethu a Gobeithion: Golwg ar Ddatganoli O Safbwynt Ffydd

(Considering Contrasts and Hope: A Faith Reflection on Devolution) by Graham K. Blount and Aled Edwards.

West Wing Wales: Obama for America: A Welsh Campaign Experience, by Aled Edwards.

Here are Aled and Rhian just before I left to return with Gwynn to the diocesan offices. And from thence I left for Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen) and the next chapter in my journey across Wales.

Aberystwyth

Just a brief update tonight.

I finished the Welsh Course this afternoon. Took some pictures around the campus. Then got in my car and the GPS directed me to the smallest of roads (some mere paths) through the beautiful rolling hills of the Welsh countryside. Sheep dotted the fields almost everywhere.

The smallest roads were one lane only, so I drove with dread that I would meet some car head on, or else that one of us would have to back up until a lay-by was reached. Even on the two-lane roads the going was tricky, and intermittently the central line would disappear-- meaning the road was too narrow to provide enough width for two cars. And most of the time these roads had 60 mph speed limits!

And then, for the first time, the GPS let me down. When the voice announced, "You have reached your destination," I hadn't! I was out in the country, some ten minutes outside of Aberystwyth. So I called my host, the Reverend Stuart Bell, and he gave me directions into town. Once in town I looked for a place to pull over and call again for the next set of instructions, and found myself at the entrance to the National Library of Wales. So I drove up to the Library's car park, and called again. Stuart kindly offered to drive to the Library, and was there in ten minutes. I followed him to the Rectory, and was introduced to his wife, Prudence.

Shortly thereafter I was at table, and following grace enjoyed a delicious salad with chicken, and for dessert fresh strawberries topped with ice cream. A delightful dinner, a delightful conversation, and a definite relief to be safe and sound after a sometimes harrowing drive.

Took some wonderful pictures, which I will share in due course, of Cardigan Bay, gleaming in the light of the lowering sun, of a ruined castle, and of the adminstrative buildings of the University of Aberystwyth, all just beyond St. Michael's Church.

I finally managed to hook up my laptop to the internet, and then Stuart returned from a prayer meeting. So we had our first conversation about church and chapel.

Just time now for this update. I hope to have more tomorrow. Nos da. (Good night.)