st.teilo's yearbook 2012

7/28/2019 St.Teilo's Yearbook 2012

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Introduction

Welcome to our first ever St Teilo’s Yearbook! We hope that thisguide to the year now past (From late October 2011 to early October

2012) will serve as a fitting celebration of all that goes on in the life of our parish.

Many of the highlights of the Church calendar are the same from oneyear to the next – Christmas, Easter, Harvest – and these arereflected in many of our photographs. But each year also has itsdistinctive features. Unusual (and unique) celebrations of the pastyear that our commemorated in the Yearbook include the centenarycelebrations for our Church Hall; our service of thanksgiving for Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee; and the colour and exuberance of theinter-faith Peace Mala pilgrimage.

Of course, every year brings times of loss as well as occasions for joy. Amongst those from our church family to whom we have saidfarewell over the past year, we remember Ethel Rees, Denzil Jones,Mabel Matthews, Bryan Taylor, Mary Lloyd, John Sorton Davies and,of course, our much-esteemed Director of Music, Christopher Waring

Davies. We cherish their memory: and pray that one day we will bereunited with them in our Father’s house.

Any selection, inevitably, will be selective: this is, quite literally, asnapshot. But we hope that this collection of photographs – and theaccompanying text – will bring a few smiles, and summon forth manyhappy memories.

Thanks be to God for all hisblessings in 2012!

Fr Andrew Pearce, StuartPhillips & Sue Waite

With thanks to Mike Whiffin, HelenJones & others for photographs.



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400 Years of the King James Bible

(October 2011)

special exhibition was held at St Teilo’s on the weekend of October 22nd and 23rd 2011 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of

the King James Version of the Bible. Almost a hundred items wereloaned by parishioners, including bibles of all shapes and sizes – unusual versions on display included a Lego version of the NativityStory, the Psalms in Haiku form, and the Book of Genesis as aGraphic Novel. Displays around the church, organised by Fr Andrew,told the story of the Bible from its Hebrew and Greek origins right upto the present day.

(Right) Just a few of a number of exquisitely-illustrated editions of Holy Scripture loaned for theexhibition.

(Left) As well as copies of bothTestaments in their originalHebrew and Greek, many foreign-language bibles were on display atthe exhibition. They included

bibles in French, German, Italian, Urdu, Arabic (pictured), andCornish. A number of Welsh language bibles were also on view.

(Left) This plate is written in theCoptic script (based on Greek,but with some additional letters)used by the Christian churches of Egypt since antiquity. The text isone of most familiar passages of the New Testament: the Lord’s

Prayer.

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In Vino Veritas

(October 2011)

here else, for a modest £5, could one enjoy a pleasant eveningwith half a dozen different wines to sample, listening to the

preposterous, amusing and frequently misleading claims of our self-declared ‘wine connoisseurs’ as they invited us to ‘Call their Bluff’?Where indeed but at the Church Hall, when, on October 29th 2011,‘Triple F’ challenged us to prove whether we really could distinguishour Merlots from our Cabernets, our Chardonnays from our PinotGrigios…

The Winning Team! Fr Andrew and Fi Pearce,Stuart and Jen Phillips,Mike Thomas, SimonCooper, & Elizabeth and Alun Edwards toastingtheir good fortune (and

superior palates) after their success.

The ‘Wooden spoon’was awarded to Megan

Rosser, Sue Waite,Suzie Danino, CharlieDanino, Chris WaringDavies, & Alun TregellesWilliams, but they wereclearly at home with abottle or three: ‘Whocares what we’redrinking…it goes down

very well!’



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It’s All in the Nose… Gwynn Roberts looksas if he’s taking it allvery seriously as hetakes an appreciativesniff. Joining him are Ann Roberts, JaneWorton & Cliff and KayJenkins.

Just a Little Tipple, you

know! Betty Frowen, MavisDalton, Iona Jones andRhoma Rich may eschewthe dubious delights of Wind Street, but here’s theproof that they can still be‘good time girls’ in their own way!

And let’s not forget… Our fiendishlyclever ‘Call my Bluff’ team – RichardWalters, Norman Barnes and MikeWhiffin – with their spouses Gill Walters,

Jen Barnes and Chris Whiffin. Whoneeded Frank Muir or Robert Robinsonwhen we had these guys? They did,after all, succeed in bamboozling mostof those who were there that night…

(Stop- press: the Rector’s team failed tosuccessfully defend their title a year

later!).



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We’ll Always Have Paris…

(November 2011)

Part of the St Teilo’sfamily went continentalfrom November 25th to28th 2011.

(Left) Ann and GwynnRoberts, pondering thedelights of all thingsFrench…

(Below) Well, I think everyone’s having a good time…notice thatGwynn is very firmly holding the bottle!



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John Moses is clearly not worrying about who’s going to beringing the Church Bells on Advent Sunday…

They don’t do it like this in The Valley …



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Well, at least il n’est pleut pas…

And just to prove that we were there…



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Bishopston Church Hall Centenary

(December 2011)

n December 11th 2011, the Church Hall was packed asmembers of the parish and community gathered together to

celebrate one hundred years of the Church Hall. Ken Davies,Chairman of the Church Hall Committee, acted as Master of Ceremonies, and told us something of the Hall’s history. Our Guestof Honour was Mrs Rhona Morgan, whose family donated the landupon which the Hall was built in 1910. The Rector highlighted someof the other events of 1911, and offered prayers of thanksgiving andblessing upon the Hall for its continuing role within the community of

Bishopston. Alun Williams contributed a witty rendition from theworks of Dylan Thomas – appropriate as we knowthat Dylan frequentlyvisited Bishopston andPwlldu. An excellentchampagne buffet lunchfollowed. Thanks to

everyone on the HallCommittee for making itsuch a memorableoccasion.

(Above) What celebration could be complete without a cake?

(Left) Three proudmembers of the ChurchHall Committee: KenDavies (Chairman), TonyHall (Treasurer) and TedCoode.

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Mothers’ Union members: Cynthia Colderick, Daphne Morris,Dorothy Ayres and Pat Quick enjoying their Buck’s Fizz.

Members of Bishopston’s Men Society: One of the long-time

patrons of the Church Hall, and amongst the Hall’s firmestsupporters over the years.



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The Hall Committee: (Left to right) Sue Waite,Ken Davies (Chairman),Chris Whiffin, Fr AndrewPearce, Tony Hall,Barbara Rees, EdwinaJackson, Ted Coode andBarbara Jenkins.

(Below left) Let them eat cake: Some of the one hundred (at least)celebratory cakes…

(Above right) A little literary Welsh wizardry: Alun Williamsentrances us with his poignant and amusing reading from DylanThomas.

Celebrating 100 Years: And

we had (more or less) 100guests in a packed Hall, fromboth the parish and the wider community. The Hall serves asa regular venue today for Bishopston Men’s Society,Mothers’ Union, CommunityCinema, the Helen O’GradyDrama Academy, WelshClasses and the Bishopston Amateur Dramatics Society (BATS).



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Members of Triple F: Fun, Friendship and Fellowship in all itsabundance! (Left to right) Gwynn Roberts, Sue Waite, Ann Roberts,Brenda Moses, Richard Walters, Chris Whiffin, Gill Walters, JenBarnes, Megan Rosser, Mike Whiffin (Chairman).

(Left) Our Guest of Honour (Rhona Morgan) cuts the cake.

(Below) Mavis Dalton andDaphne Morris reminisce asthey look at photographs of theHall from yesteryear.



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Christmas at St Teilo’s

(December 2011)

Everyone would agree that Christmas is,above all, for children: and in December 2011 we held not one but two specialChristmas celebrations at St Teilo’s withchildren at their heart.

The first of these, on December 18th 2011, was ‘The Bridge Nativity’, whichincluded some special musical

performances (left) from some verytalented youngsters.

(Below) In the retelling of theChristmas story, Mary and Joseph

almost had their thunder stolen by the donkey! Can you work outwhich one’s which?



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The Bridge Nativity: The full cast.

Don’t forget the sheep!



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On Christmas Eve, our secondspecial service for children incelebration of our Saviour’s birthwas our long-standing DIYNativity.

As always with this service, wehosted a packed church, andhad a stellar cast of youngactors.

(Left) The arrival of Mary andJoseph.

(Below) The full cast of Mary,Joseph, shepherds, angels andmagi.



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Parish Away Day

(February 2012)

n February 11th 2012, at St Teilos-tide, a group of parishionerswent on an ‘away day’ to St Barnabas Church, Swansea, led by

Canon Janet Russell, our Diocesan Director of Mission. The themefor the day was ‘Welcome, Worship, Witness.’ Canon Janet hadsome excellent things to say to us, and it was a good opportunity for us to get away from the parish and to think about ways in which wecan further the mission of God within our community. Particular thanks were due to Sue Raad, who furnished us with a truly splendidlunch.

(Left to right) Anne Tovey, Sue Raad, Bill Mort, Fr Andrew, CanonJanet Russell, Simon Cooper, Cynthia Colderick, Jen Phillips, NickHughes, Betty Hughes, Stuart Phillips, Gwynn Roberts and Mike

Whiffin.

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A Tangled Web

(February 2012)

n February 25th, the thespians members and associates of Triple F presented ‘A Tangled Web’, their latest dramatic

‘Murder Mystery’ (so many ‘murders’ have been committed in theChurch Hall over the past few years that we might have to renameour village ‘Midsomer St Teilo’).

(Left) Meet Simon Cooper . Suave.Sophisticated. Sinister. Could he bethe murderer?

(Below) Megan Rosser with a glassof wine: not much acting required.

(Left) Is this our lecherous lothario(as played by Dewar Neil) looking onwhile Jen Barnes and John Mosescheck their scripts? Of course not!

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Elegance, style and panache…brought to our stage by ChrisWhiffin and Gill Walters.

The full cast (from left): Anne Toy, Chris Whiffin, Simon Cooper, Gill

Walters, Sue Sudbury, Megan Rosser, Dewar Neil, Jen Barnes, RuthJoslin and John Moses (with the director, Gwynn Roberts, centre)



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Parish Confirmation

(March 2012)

n March 11th 2012, we were delighted to welcome Bishop JohnDavies to St Teilo’s once again for the annual Parish

Confirmation service.

This year there were five candidates from St Teilo’s: MorganBowden (grandson of our former Rector, Fr Chris Lee); SusannahPearce (younger daughter of our current Rector); and threemembers of the same family – Rebecca Lloyd, Imogen Lloyd-Jamesand Nancy Lloyd-James. They were joined by Lynne Rees, of the

parish of Llanrhidian.

There was an excellent turnout for the Confirmation Service, and, ashas become customary, Sue Raad made a wonderful confirmationcake bearing the candidates names.

Bishop John with Fr Andrew, Fr Tim Ardouin (Priest-in-Charge of Llanrhidian) and the six candidates.

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Holy Week and Easter

(Apr i l 2012)

This year, Holy Week and Easter coincided with the one hundredthanniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic – undoubtedly the most famous maritimedisaster in human history.

Fr Andrew gave a series of Holy Weekaddresses entitled ‘Titanic Undertakings’ ,reflecting on various aspects of the

Titanic disaster and relating them to theHoly Week and Easter message of suffering, loss and redemption.

As usual, our celebration of the Queen of Festivals at St Teilo’s began with the

Easter Eve Vigil. We gathered in the churchyard for the lighting of the Easter fire.

The Easter Vigil: the Blessing of the Paschal Candle.



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arly the next morning, forty-one hardy souls (plus two dogs!)assembled on Cefn Bryn to greet the Easter Dawn, which in

2012 fell on April 8th. The sun was not greatly in evidence this year – but at least it was dry!

The Gathering…

Keeping warm while waiting Revd Andy Walker reads of for dawn… the discovery of the empty

tomb…

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Andy and Andrew, sharing Easter together.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!



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As if the excellent Mothers’ Union Breakfast wasn’t enough…anEaster cake stall (womanned by Jen Barnes, Ann Roberts, KayJenkins and Chris Whiffin).

‘Why seek ye the living amongst the dead? He is not here, he isrisen as he promised.’



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A Trip to St David’s,

and a very special award

(May 2012)

n May 12th, a coach-load of parishioners and friends (as well asothers travelling by car) journeyed to St David’s Cathedral to

witness our Director of Music, Chris Waring Davies, receiving the Archbishop of Wales’ Award for Church Music (AWACM).

This highly prestigious award is given ‘to encourage and recogn isethe work of those achieving exceptional standards in church music’.

The award was given to Chris at a special Service of Evensong at StDavid’s Cathedral. It was a beautiful and moving choral service – with an excellent address on the virtues of church music from the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan – and it was greatly enjoyedby everyone from St Teilo’s who attended.

The beautiful weather (never had the sky seemed so blue above StDavid’s) helped to enhance what was already a joyous occasion.What a perfect day.

(Above) A lovely photograph of Chris and Alun before the servicebegan (even if Chris is wearing his hood in rather a rakish fashion!)

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Chris with Archbishop Barry Morgan

Outside St David’s Cathedral with friends f rom St Teilo’s andelsewhere.



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(Left) With Alun at the shrineof St David.

(Below) Also receiving theaward was William Reynolds,director of music at St Mary’s,Swansea, who actually went tosame school as Chris!

Feeding body as well as soul… Ann Robert organised an excellent

pub lunch and Pembrokeshire cream tea for us. Here you can seeseveral of us enjoying our scones and bara brith.



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Jubilee Thanksgiving Service

(M ay 2012)

t’s not every year that the reigning monarch celebrates sixty years

on the throne. On May 27th 2012, St Teilo’s Church hosted aService of Thanksgiving for the Diamond Jubilee of HM the Queen.

(Left) Getting the bunting out for aglorious day…

(Below) Sue Raad excels herself with a pair of celebratory cakes fit

for a Queen.

(Below) The Choir under the direction of Chris Waring Davies.

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(Above) A packed church, with many representatives from thecommunity of Bishopston: including the former Lord-lieutenant, Sir

Robert Hastie; Councillor Keith Marsh; the clerk and members of Bishopston Community Council; representatives of BishopstonPrimary School and Craig y Nos School; Bishopston Guides andBishopston Brownies; and the Royal British Legion. Symbols of thecoronation service – the gospel book, holy oil, towel and bowl, andthe bell, the towel and bowl – were carried in procession byrepresentatives of the Community Council, Murton MethodistChurch, St Teilo’s Church and the young people of our community.

The musical highlight of theservice was a performance of Handel’s Zadok the Priest – composed for the coronationceremony of George II in 1727.

(Left) The timpani and trumpetsection in the gallery: Andy

George, Scott Pickerel and PhilOrin.



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(Above) Enjoying the post-service celebrations in the churchyard.

(Left) I’m not quite sure whatSue Waite is demonstrating – but I don’t think it’s a royalsalute!

(Right) The Order of Service. The logofor the Diamond Jubilee (shown on thecover) was selected through a Blue

Peter contest: the winner was 10 year old Katherine Dewar.



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Peace Mala Pilgrimage

(June 2012)

eace Mala is a charitable organisation set up in 2002 in theaftermath of the Twin Towers atrocities. It is an organisation

committed to promoting tolerance and understanding betweendifferent faiths. As part of their 10th anniversary celebrations, amember of Peace Mala, Ruth Davies, came up with the idea of walking the ‘In the Steps of the Saints’ Gower pilgrim trail, over thecourse of five days (July 18th to 22nd 2012).

An eclectic mix of faith representatives, representing many different

traditions and spiritualities, gathered on July 18th at the Lamplighter for the beginning of the Peace Mala Pilgrimage, before journeying onto St Teilo’s for a service of blessing. Despite the rain, it was awonderful start to a memorable pilgrimage. Buddhists, a TibetanLama, an Orthodox Jew, Moslems, an Irish Druid, a Greek Orthodoxpriest, Roman Catholic nuns, Anglicans and Methodists: all hadgathered to celebrate this shared notion of pilgrimage that is soimportant within our respective faith communities.

For more information on Peace Mala, look at their websitepeacemala.org.uk – you may also want to purchase thecommemorative book ‘Sharing the Light’ , which is available from theLamplighter.

(Left) Representatives of different spiritualitiesand faiths, gatheringaround Peace Mala’s pilgrimage Mandela; andwith the three sacredlamps on the table beforethem (the Light of StBrighid, the World PeaceFlame and the Light fromthe Shrine of St David).

These lamps were later carried in procession to St Teilo’s to markthe start of the Peace Mala Pilgrimage.

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(Left) Lama Khemsar Rinponche of Yundrung Bon giving theTibetan blessing, with Revd AlanBaynes (Our Diocesan InterfaithOfficer) and Sheikh Hassan(Swansea University MuslimChaplaincy) on either side.

(Below) The procession,undaunted by the rain, makes itsway down Bishopston Road, ledby Fr Tim Ardouin, carrying theprocessional cross of St Teilo’s.

(Above left) Fr Luke Holden(priest of the Greek OrthodoxChurch) proclaims the Epistlefrom 1 Corinthians 13. (Above right) Members of St Teilo’s HighSchool, Cardiff, share words of peace and wisdom drawn from the

Bahá’i Faith.



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(Above) A probable first: a passage from the Holy Qu’ran is read bya Muslim Sheikh from the chancel steps of St Teilo’s Church.

(Below left) The procession leaves the church. (Below right) The

Pilgrimage closing service atLlanrhidian church on SundayJuly 22nd was just as colourful,as we were joyfully greeted onour arrival by Hare Krishnamonks and devotees.



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Gala Concert: Morriston Orpheus Choir

(July 2012)

(Above left and right)

Morriston Orpheus choir ,conducted by their Musical

Director, Joy Amman Davies, at this year’s St Teilo’s Gala Concert,held at Bishopston Comprehensive School on July 28th 2012.

(Left) Alongside thedazzling voices of this

most famous of all WelshChoir’s, we were delightedby a virtuoso performancefrom our guest soloist, RosEvans, who was both wittyand engaging. (Left) As always, proceedsfrom our Gala Concertwere divided between StTeilo’s and a chosencharity, which this year was Tŷ Olwen. We weredelighted to present acheque for £875.00 to theChairman of Tŷ Olwen, Mrs

Helen Murray, on October 14th 2012.



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Christopher Waring Davies:

An Appreciation

August was a terrible month for us at StTeilo’s, in the face of the sudden death of our Director of Music, Christopher Waring Davies.Chris was taken gravely ill on Friday August3rd, and passed away peacefully on Sunday August 12th. His funeral service was held onWednesday August 22nd in a packed-to-overflowing St Teilo’s Church, followed by thecommittal at an equally-crowded Margam

Crematorium. His ashes have been laid torest in the churchyard of St Teilo’s: our parish

church to which he gave so much in his time amongst us. Thefollowing is a part of the tribute that was given in memory of Chris byFr Andrew at Margam Crematorium:

‘Chris had served as our Director of Music at St Teilo’s for the pastdecade: for six and a half year’s alongside myself as Rector. During

that time, under his guidance, the Choir of St Teilo’s achieved greatthings, and our worship was transformed. He wrote music for theMass – which I hope we will long use and long treasure – and heenjoyed each and every fresh challenge, such as leading the Choir in the performance of Zadok the Priest at our Jubilee Thanksgiving inMay this year.

‘However, Chris’ involvement in the life of St Teilo’s wasn’t confinedto music. You could guarantee that at each flower festival, Chris’arrangement would be bigger and bolder than anyone else’s! Hislove of drama was expressed in numerous appearances on stagewith our Triple F group, in pantomime and ‘murder mysteries’, wherehis tendency to ‘ad lib’ might sometimes frustrate the director andconfuse his fellow thespians, but would always be guaranteed toraise a laugh. And as for his costumes…

‘Chris’ deep spirituality was formed in his youth, and nurtured and

sustained, alongside a great musical and liturgical sensitivity, in allthe parishes in which he served. His contribution to worship wasn’t



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restricted to the organ: serving at the altar was something that wasvery precious to him, whilst the prayers he prepared on a regular basis were always considered, sincere and relevant – they wereones to which we could all readily assent ‘Amen’ . He offered all hisprodigious gifts and talents – musical, dramatic, artistic, and spiritual – to the service of God and His Church.

‘Throughout his life and his ministry, Chris strove to live up to hisname – Christopher , meaning the ‘Christ-Bearer’. He may not havebeen a physical giant (like the St Christopher of legend), but in somany other ways he was a colossus in our midst.’

May they Rest in Peace… Other parishioners who passed away from this life over the past

twelve months included: Ethel Rees; Peter Clark; Averil Lindley;Hazel Cramp; Fay Cater; Georgina Evans; Liz Park; Ted Carr; BillGough; Denzil Jones; Mabel (‘Mabs’) Matthews; Heath Watkin Rees; Norman Balkwill; Gillian Williams; John Weeks; Bryan Taylor; BettyKiley; Michael Fenwick; Barbara Gilbert; Beryl Jones; Lilian Crane;Mary Lloyd; Norma Stevenson; Bobbie Gibb; John Sorton Davies.

…and rise in glory!

In Brief…Some Other Events of 2012

January: Betti Williams was awarded the MBE in the New Year’sHonours List ‘For Services to Women inScience, Engineering & Technology.’February: Fr Andrew’s first articleappeared in The Bay.

April: Caroline Buckler joined theLamplighter team as our first salariedCo-ordinator.June: The Mothers’ Union travelled toLlyswen for their Flower Festival on thetheme ‘Kings and Queens’.July: Bishopston Choir sang at a serviceof Evensong & Benediction at StGabriel’s Church, Swansea.

August: After three months in Reynoldston, the Rectory familyreturned to Bishopston following the completion of building works.



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Harvest Thanksgiving

(October 2012)

(Above) Members of the 8.30 Congregation at our 2012 HarvestThsanksgiving Service, on October 7th 2012.

(Above) Members of the 10.00am Congregation later that samemorning.



(Above) The Choir of St Teilo’s Church, with Fr Andrew and (front centre) Heath our server.

(Left) This year at our Harvest

Thanksgiving, we had a harvestloaf baked by Ellie, and theyoung people performed aHarvest Play, ‘The Corn thatFlew Away’, written by Susie.

(Below) Bread, grapes andwater before the East Window.

st.teilo's yearbook 2012

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