LIsa Medina

Rumney Methodist Church enjoyed a great afternoon today with plenty of cake and tea/coffee and they even raised £310 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Well done to all who helped with this event and in making all those delicious looking cakes!

Yesterday two of the Churches in our Circuit re-started their Junior Church activities. You can find out about the fun they had below and if you are interested in joining in the fun, you can contact the Circuit Office and we can pass on the information.

Wesley Methodist Church, Canton
Junior Church had a great first session today. The focus of the session was learning about being a follower of Jesus. Activities included pass the parcel, an obstacle course, card game and making crowns. Sessions usually run on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month. New members always welcome, feel free to send a message if you have any questions.

St. Andrew’s Methodist Church, Birchgrove
Junior Church started back yesterday and it was lovely to see everyone back again. We started off by looking at Abraham and how he trusted God, packing up his life and family to move where God told him. The younger ones also painted a sheet of stars to remind them of God’s promise that Abraham would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. We look forward to seeing them all again next week for the next part of Abraham’s story.

If you have had any special times or events in your Churches and want to share them, please contact the Circuit Office.

On Sunday 29th August Daud Irfan was welcomed and inducted as the new Methodist Youth President for 2021/22. Daud’s father Rev. Irfan John is the Synod Enabler for culturally diverse congregations with the Wales Synod and regularly preachers within the Cardiff Circuit.

The Methodist Youth President is a salaried position working full-time for one year to serve the children and young people of the Methodist Church in Britain. The role involves meeting and representing the young Methodist people to ensure that their voices are heard and to help them be involved in every aspect of Church life.

You can find out more about Daud by watching this YouTube video.

Click here to read more about Daud’s Induction Service.

You can download the latest version of the Circuit Plan along with a letter from Rev. Cathy Gale about the plan below.

Circuit Plan September – November 2021

Letter from Rev. Cathy Gale

The Circuit Plan for July and August is now available. Please click on the link below.

Cardiff Circuit Plan July – August 2021

To view the Circuit Plan for June 2021, please click below:

Circuit Plan June 2021

To view the Circuit Plan for May 2021, please click below:

Circuit Plan May 2021

March 18^th, 2021

Dear Friends,

Following the First Minister’s latest briefing on Friday March 12th and its interpretation for places of worship received from Cytûn this week my colleagues and I have met to discuss what should be our recommendation to churches concerning worship for the month of April onwards.

We have given consideration to the current state of affairs with regard to coronavirus in Cardiff and Caerphilly.  We have also sought guidance from the Circuit-based team of advisors who assisted us when we first began to put together covid risk assessments for worship last Summer.  Bearing all this in mind, we have decided to suggest that churches may consider a cautious return to face-to-face worship from the beginning of April should they feel that it is the right time for them to do so.  This is dependant on the managing trustees revisiting their Covid Safety Risk Assessment, making adjustments to take into account current advice, especially as it relates to the new, more infectious variants of the virus, and satisfying themselves that the church is able to deliver and abide by the required safety measures.

I offer the following points for your consideration:

1. At the heart of our Circuit approach from the beginning has been that no Minister, Preacher, member or congregation should be expected to do something which makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Congregations should only return to their buildings for worship when there is a conviction among the trustees that the time is right. This will differ from congregation to congregation;
2. With this in mind, I ask Church Stewards, with their Ministers, to begin a conversation regarding if and when their congregation may wish to return to face-to-face worship. It is important that those who “manage” the risk at such gatherings feel willing and able to do so before any decision to reopen is taken.  Churches should not reopen if there are not an adequate number of people available to oversee the safety measures;
3. Risk Assessments for worship must be revisited and revised as deemed appropriate. All the mitigating factors we had before – strict social distancing, provision of hand sanitizer, face masks to be worn by everyone over the age of 11, no singing – will continue, with additional thought being given to protecting worshippers against the current virus threat in Wales.  An important emphasis in recent guidance is increased ventilation (during and after worship).  Care should be taken in ensuring all aspects of the Risk Assessment are put into operation;
4. Congregations which do seek to reopen need to be aware that we may not be able to provide a planned preacher every Sunday. We will not be planning any Minister or Preacher to lead a “live” service in more than one venue per day because of the possibilities of transmitting the virus between communities. This may result in conversations about churches being open less frequently than weekly and/or of covid safe ways in which Local Arrangements may be delivered.  For the foreseeable future at least one online worship service will be available every Sunday across the Circuit;
5. As a result of the ongoing uncertainty of our situation we will continue for the foreseeable future to issue a monthly preaching plan, rather than quarterly;
6. We are reminded that at the moment organized children’s activities are not permitted and, as the government continues to assess the impact of returning to school on our communities, we should not be providing separate children’s sessions such as Junior Church;
7. Since Wales went into Tier 4 restrictions in December there has been a ban on outdoor worship unless it is on the church’s own grounds. This has not yet been lifted.  The Welsh Government has been approached to ask if it will consider lifting the ban but we are unlikely to hear if they have before the next three-weekly briefing due on April 2^nd (Good Friday);
8. The current regulations as they pertain to churches can be found on Cytûn’s website by following this link COVID 19 – Papur Briffio – Eglwysi Ynghyd yng Nghymru | Churches Together in Wales (cytun.co.uk)

I would be grateful if churches could inform me via their Ministers as soon as possible whether/when they would seek to return to face-to-face worship so we can plan accordingly. I am happy to have conversations with any Church/Stewards who need further information.

I close with a sobering thought shared by members of the Circuit’s Covid Advisory Group who, while agreeing that it is reasonable now to consider reopening churches, also cautioned that the greatest risk we face at the moment is complacency.  Lower infection rates and more people vaccinated do not mean coronavirus is no longer dangerous. As we move forward slowly and carefully let our concern be for each other and the wider communities in which we live and worship.

Yours in Christ,

Cathy

The Circuit Plan for January and February 2021 can be found here

All Services will be online. A decision will be made during February on how to proceed with Services depending on current advice and regulations.

Please find below a letter from Rev. Cathy Gale.

January 4^th, 2020

Dear Friends,

I wish for you all God’s blessings in this New Year.  As 2021 begins, there is no doubt that we will face some challenges (and we already are!) but I pray you will know the hope of our faith in your hearts – God is with us and better days are ahead.

This correspondence comes to bring you up to date on a few matters:

1. Public Worship

The current Tier 4 restrictions in Wales do allow gathering for public worship but this is just a reminder that we have decided there will be no public worship planned for by the Cardiff Circuit at least for the month of January.  This difficult decision was taken based on the alarmingly high transmission rates of the Covid virus in Wales and our perception that we could not mitigate risks enough to feel confident that we would not put worshippers and leaders of worship at risk.  Equally importantly, we felt that we should do our bit to help protect the NHS at this extremely challenging time.

Please note that this does not enforce such a decision on other denominations which may use our premises for worship. Such a decision would need to be made between the denomination (following its own risk assessment review) and the managing trustees of the building.

As we receive the government review(s) of the current Tier 4 arrangements in Wales we will review our decision on public worship across the Circuit and keep you informed of future decision.

2. Alternate Arrangements for Worship

There are several online alternatives for worship on Sunday mornings provided by our ministers and others.  All of these are “open” to be joined and, while originating in a particular church or cluster, are by no means exclusive.  Please let folks know that they can contact Lisa at the office or any of the ministers directly if they wish to join a particular Zoom worship.  Other services produced locally are available on Facebook and YouTube, with some being placed on the Cardiff Circuit Facebook page.

It is my hope that we can continue to meet monthly on Zoom for evening worship as a Circuit.

We are constantly working to make worship resources available for those who don’t have access to technology or don’t feel confident using it and we are grateful for all your help in spreading the word.

3. A Methodist Way of Life Course

One good thing to come out of 2020 was studying together in Bible Studies and the like.  We are offering a new course for January/February entitled “A Methodist Way of Life”.  It’s a challenge to think about how our faith affects our day to day living and complements the start to a new year, renewing our Covenant and what looks like several weeks where restrictions will enable us to have a bit more time for reflection!  There are resources on the Methodist Church website if you’d like more information, but the ministerial staff will deliver the course over Zoom on Monday evenings at 7:30pm for six weeks, beginning January 11^th.  Please spread the news widely and ask people to contact Lisa or their minister for Zoom login details.

4. Morning Session on Pioneer Ministry – Saturday January 30^th

For just over a year we have had the Rev. Judith Holliman in our circuit and she serves as a Pioneer Minister, with a specific focus on the Plas Dŵr estate near Radyr.  On Saturday January 30^th from 10am to 12pm we will be hosting an open session on pioneer ministry – what it is and how it might give insights for ways of doing God’s work wherever we may be.  Speakers will include Rev. Dr. Stephen Wigley, Rev. Simon Sutcliffe (Chester and Stoke District Learning Network and Pioneer) and Judith, our own pioneer.  Please could people contact Lisa or Judith for log in details.

5. Paul Martin’s Sabbatical

All ministers in the Methodist Church are encouraged to take a sabbatical every seven years for rest, reflection and renewal.  Paul is actually overdue in receiving his and Synod have granted him permission to be on sabbatical leave from mid January to mid April 2021.  While he is off, the other staff members will look after the congregations under his pastoral care as follows:

Conway Road – Alana and Alexis
Ely – Judith
St. Paul’s – Kofi
Pontprennau – Cathy

We wish Paul all the best for a good and productive time.

Every blessing to you and the congregations as we look forward to a year ahead under God’s guidance and care.  Please feel free to be in touch if there are any questions about any of the above.

Yours in Christ,

Cathy