Reverend David Parry writes:

God the Holy Spirit sometimes speaks to me in pictures. Four years ago when I became vicar of Bro Celynnin I saw several times an image of two hands, playing a piano. 

What struck me most as I reflected was that the hands work together. Their roles are very different but it takes both to produce a tune. If I understand it correctly (as a non-musician) the right hand plays the melody whilst the left accompanies, also adding the important bass notes.

That image seems apt for the healthy blend of tradition and innovation with which our new Ministry Area has flourished. My own renewed ministry as a parish priest (transplanted from urban to rural) and my wife Eryl becoming a Pioneer Minister (beyond our existing congregations) has also reminded me of two hands working together – along with everyone else’s hands of course.

However I now believe that what God most wanted to reveal to me by that image was the way forward we will need after lockdown. 

On Sunday 9th August, St Peter’s Llanbedr-y-Cennin and St Mary’s Caerhun resume holding services. Everyone who attends must wear a mask, sit 2m apart, not embrace, not sing, etc. We still have some problems to solve before we can open our other buildings for public worship. 

Open buildings will surely play the whole ‘tune’ of Christian life and Mission won’t they? Back to normal. No, I think not. They are just one ‘hand’.

The other hand is this deeply personal connection with each other and God, not bounded by physical meeting in a particular place at a particular time. It is the shared life and new friendships we have made by phone call, card, email and Zoom. We have heard new voices, encouraged one another’s faith and all grown as disciples. We really need both hands and we really need to stay connected to everyone, by all means possible not just ‘in church’.

That is why for everyone, not just those still shielding, we will still produce a weekly YouTube video -but it will now arrive on a Saturday morning. 

Our popular Zoom Coffee will also continue, but we need to choose a new day. Please complete a little survey before Friday morning, by clicking here.

Lastly, but for the first time since we began these emails, I need to mention money. We are not allowed to handle cash (and to prevent infection, many banks will not accept it either). In any case the massive drop in our income without services underlines the weakness of relying on collection plates. 

So if you feel that God is at work in the ministry of Bro Celynnin – in both hands, buildings and online – please consider setting up or increasing a regular donation to our mission via the Gift Direct scheme. You may also feel led to make a one-off thanksgiving gift using our Charities Aid Foundation account. More details can be found by clicking here:

I give thanks for you, for all that we are becoming together, and most of all for what God is doing in our midst….for the beautiful tune being played.