MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WALES

JULY 2020

the

As days go by, and weeks turninto months it’s becomingdifficult to remember the exactdetails of how my wife and Ispent the first phase oflockdown. I began by keeping alog of each day, but like lots ofnew year resolutions, that didn’tlast beyond the first week andthe intention was soonforgotten. My wife filled ourdining room table with everyjigsaw in the house, eventuallymoving on to organising andcataloguing our collection offamily photographs andscrapbooks that includeInduction leaflets and cuttingsabout colleagues, friends andfamily that go back to the1890’s.

Coming across an old clippingfrom the front page of the DailyExpress I was reminded of anunhappy moment in the policecareer of my late father-in-lawwhen he was photographedreading the names of themissing in the Six Bells Collierydisaster that had occurred on28th June 1960. A BBC report considered the

catastrophe to be one of the lastbig mining disasters, and whilewith the cessation of coal miningin Wales that proved to be the

case, the sad story of Aberfansix years later has eclipsed, ormaybe embraced within it, allthe Welsh coal mining tragediesof past years.

For me Six Bells becamea familiar name in my mid-twenties, when as minister of itsPresbyterian chapel I took themonthly Communion servicethere from 1975 until the chapelclosed in 1978. It was part of myfirst Pastorate, although it was aplace I had never heard of until Iwent there. Valley-sidedterraced streets looked down onthe pit below, and the steepstreet that ran up beyond thechapel door to the homes of mymembers tested the holdingpower of the handbrake of myold Morris Minor with its B suffixnumber plate. The windingbends into the village from thesouth compelled me to slowdown every time I returned from

places like Cwmcarn and Riscabefore passing beneath theshadow of the seven hundredseater Forward Movement-stylechapel where one of the elderswas a Mr BIll Phillips who hadentertained me to lunch on myfirst visit to the district. His talesof how he had been in charge ofthe ponies in the pit and howthey, almost like their humancompanions, only saw the lightof day when they quit work forthe miners’ fortnight, were anintroduction to life in the pits thatin the 1970’s was still the warpand woof of the Gwent valleys.It is possible that some of the

men who were workingunderground at Six Bells on themorning of Tuesday, 28th Junemight well have beencontemplating their annualholiday in just over a month’stime. Although as GrahamBennett who worked atRoseheyworth Colliery for tenyears says of life underground,‘it was most of the time scaryand (like all other miners) mywits and reactions were on highalert eight hours a day. We werefilled with adrenaline knowingone slip or lapse would cost youyour life’, it is unlikely that any ofthem could have anticipatedthat before their shift hadpassed its halfway point thatmorning, forty-five of themwould have lost their lives. Atthe subsequent inquest held atthe Civic Centre in Newport lessthan three months later, thefindings disclosed that theirdeaths had probably beencaused by an ignition of firedamp, and a swift death formost of the men as a result ofthe foul air. Hywel Axford of Blaina who

was a young teacher at thetime, recalls returning homefrom Newbridge GrammarSchool on the bus through SixBells, and looking to his leftthrough the bus window that

Tuesday afternoon noticing thecrowds of family membersstanding by the green railings atthe pit head.Six hours earlier as the siren

sounded the grim news that anexplosion had occurred, a DailyExpress reporter described thescene, with ‘everyone in thevillage plunging down the steeppaths to the pithead. Youngwives with babies in shawls ortoddlers tugging, grey mothersalone, miners straight from bed,miners from the club and pub.’

Brian Matthews, then aschoolboy living in Risca,remembers how the rugbyfixture between PontywaunGrammar and Abertillery thefollowing Saturday wassuddenly cancelled. For thewives, mothers, brothers andsisters of the men who weretrapped underground, thememory of the moment wouldforever be as etched, as thedeath of John F Kennedy is on

(continued on page 2)

TREASURYRevisiting the Past during Covid-19

With the usual round of activities on hold,old memories were brought to the fore

by IAIN B HODGINS

An impression of the Pitheadfrom L S Lowry’s ‘Six Bells,Abertillery, south Wales’(photo credit: Iain Hodgins)

Hywel Axford

Brian Matthews

Relatives hear the dreaded news(Daily Express newspaper cutting)

the minds of the rest of us whowere alive when he wasassassinated in 1963. Theirhearts could only have sunkdeeper within themselves whenthey heard a spokesman saythat there was ‘little hope offinding survivors, but the searchwould continue’.It would havebeen small comfort to hear thathad maintenance work not beenin progress a further 125 livesmight have been lost.The agesof their loved ones ranged froman older man aged 59, to theyoungest aged 18. Amongst thelost were two fathers togetherwith their sons.

The bereaved must havefound themselves behaving likethe two on the road to Emmauswho are described in Luke 24:14 as ‘talking with each otherabout everything that hadhappened.’ We can imaginefamily members speaking likeCleopas and his companion ofhow ’we had hoped he wasgoing to…’ Ministers andChristian friends must havegrappled for words, like Job’scompanions in the OldTestament, to make sense ofthis inexplicable and hardprovidence.They must havehoped that those they sought tocomfort would soon come toterms with the inexplicable, asthe missionary to India, AmyCarmichael (1867-1951) didwhen she penned the lines,‘The End – it will explain’.

Will not the End explainThe crossed endeavour, earnest

purpose foiled,The strange bewilderment of

good work spoiled,The clinging weariness, the

inward strain;Will not the End explain?

Meanwhile He comfortethThem that are losing patience;

’tis His way.But none can write the words

they hear Him say,For men to read; only they know

He saithKind words, and comforteth.

Not that He doth explain.The mystery that baffleth; but a

senseHusheth the quiet heart, that far,

far henceLieth a field set thick with

golden grain,Wetted in seedling days by

many a rain;The End – it will explain.

At the time there were twochapels in Six Bells in closeproximity to the pit. BethanyBaptist church was the closer,but the galleried PresbyterianChurch with a schoolroombeneath road level was thelarger, and also in sight of theNCB blue-coloured pit windinggear. Perhaps it was becausethe Revd Fred Lines, minister ofthe Presbyterian Church ofWales had been a miner himselfthat he readily assented to the

use of the chapel as a mortuary.Subsequently, a memorialservice was held in Bethany, butdespite discussions about amass funeral, families chose tomake their own arrangements tointer their loved ones.

To mark the fiftiethanniversary in 2010, SebastianBoyesen was commissioned tocreate the 66 ft high memorial,‘Guardian’, that now overlooksthe site of the former mine thatceased working in 1988.However, it was two years afterthe sad event that L S Lowry(1887-1976) devoted one of hislargest canvases to his realistic1962 depiction of ‘Six Bells,Abertillery, south Wales’. The oilon canvas work is currently onloan to the National Museum inCardiff, and deserves to beincluded by visitors in anywhistle-stop tour of thecollection.

As time goes by, fewer and

fewer will have any real-lifeexperience of earning a living bymining coal underground, but asthe journalist, Charles Mooreobserved recently in writingabout the Black Lives issue,‘The study of history should helpus to imagine the experience welack’. Some today, rememberingthe miners of Six Bells may givethanks that their fathers’ prayerswere answered that their sonswould not have to follow in theirsteps to pit bottom.

Fuller details are available atwww.outoftheblueartifacts.com(Graham Beynon) andnmrs.org.uk (Northern MineResearch Society),news.bbc.co.uk .I acknowledge help andinformation received from eachsite and persons mentioned in thisarticle. The Facebook site,‘Collieries of Wales’ containsmany photographs of life in theWelsh coalfield.

2      the TREASURY – JULY 2020

Revisiting the Past during Covid-19(continued from page 1)

I’ve never needed anyencouragement to go out for awalk, and Pentecost Sundaydawning bright and sunny was aperfect opportunity. In mypocket was my mobile phonewith the Sunday Podcast frommy Minister, Revd MonicaO’Dea. Now where would be agood place to listen to it?

Just within my five mile-radiusare the green rolling hills aboveLlandinam – frequented in timespast by Howell Harris(preaching in Little London justbelow the hill), by Revd ThomasCharles of Bala, and RevdHumphrey Gwalchmai. As Iclimbed up the lane from thevillage, I passed the turn toDraintewion, birth place of DavidDavies. Did he work out his

plans for all those railways andthe new docks at Barry, as hewandered over these hills?

However, my thoughts thatday were on celebrating thebirthday of the Church, and thecoming of the Holy Spirit, eventhough I could not be “gatheredin one place “ with all the localsaints of God. The track I wason, climbed gradually up pastan old disused quarry, and anempty sheep pen, onto the openmoorland with the Severn valleyvisible below.

I found a dry bank to sit onamong the uncurling ferns, andturned on the podcast. “Jesushad told the disciples to wait inJerusalem for the coming of theHoly Spirit”... said Monica’svoice...”they were in a kind of

lockdown, like we are, notknowing how long they had towait”. In her reflection on Acts 2,Monica quoted a book called“Like a mighty wind”, theamazing story of a smallPresbyterian Church on theisland of Timor in Indonesiawhich knew a great revival in1965. As I listened to her I couldhear the wind that day blowingaround me and across thehillside, moving and shaking thegrasses into life. It reminded methat the Spirit is still moving

through this land of Wales in somany lives and places. Ithanked God for the evidenceI’ve seen of that throughout myministry here in mid-Wales.

So when we got to the finalhymn on the podcast, “I needthee every hour, most graciousLord” I joined in, at the top of myvoice – and so did the meadowpipits and the skylark!

Revd Jenny Garrard is retiredand lives in Llanidloes. Shechairs the Trefeca trustees.

Presbyterian Chapel, Six Bells (copyright: Graham Bennett)

Severn Valley (photo credit: Jenny Garrard)

Singing with thePipits and Skylarksby JENNY GARRARD

This pandemic will leave us withmemories and changes to ourlives that we could not haveimagined last March. Onewonders what the future holdsfor us as individuals and the lifein our churches once this is allover. We have had to improviseover so many issues both in ourdaily living, and in how weworship on a Sunday. I can saythat it has been quite difficult inrural areas where the internet issomewhat lacking, andstreaming is just a meanderingbrook running out of theRadnorshire hills! Contact with‘the members’ comes via thepostal service through theChurch Secretary who ensuresthe message from the ministergets around the houses andfarms and by landline telephoneto individuals on a rota basis.After sixteen weeks we wait

wondering when we can returnto church again and try toimagine how we are going tosocial distance for the durationof the time we are inside thebuilding.This Coronavirus pandemic

has caused many changes thathave ensured that theConnexion remains operational.The Office in Cardiff remainsclosed and the staff are workingfrom home. The Association inthe East waits in the wings andthe Officers of 2019 remain inplace for 2020 to makedecisions during this period ofrestriction. The Moderator’sGown hangs in my study andwill stay on its hanger until theAutumn Meeting that hopefullywe can hold in late September.

I was looking through theModerator’s Bible the otherevening, studying all those whohave held office since theestablishment of the East in1947. Apart from the firstModerator, R.M. Roberts ofCardiff who served for the firsttwo years of the Association,I am the only other person toserve for two consecutive years.But that is for reasons thathave been forced upon theAssociation. The Revd J.E.Wynne Davies has served theAssociation twice in 1989 and2004. There have been seventyelders and ministers whohave held the Office since 1947.Some of you receive my daily

‘thoughts for the day’ that Ihave been producing since thelockdown began. It goes out byemail each evening. It relates tosomething that has taken placeduring the development of thepandemic along with aScriptural connection and shortprayer. I try to include aphotograph of the theme I amsharing.People speak to me via video

link and from two metres awayin the local park about how theirworld has changed and theirfears for themselves and familyare uppermost in their thoughts.It is an opportunity to share faithwith people who have none. Ihope and trust that theseconversations will continue afterall this is over, and will result inthose presently ‘outside’ thechurch becoming those withinthe church who find faith inJesus Christ. It is strange thatduring these troubled timespeople are keen to know whatthe Church has to say on suchissues. Some of you mayalready know that I have almostcompleted clearing my study. Itis almost thirty years since ithad a spring clean. I have foundmany things I thought were lost,and I have rediscovered greatpreaching from the masters. Ihave come across many oldKeswick Convention tapes thatsomeone left to me in a Will.Revd George B Duncan, DrRaymond Brown, Dr AlanRedpath are amongst thenames of the past. Some ofthese tapes go back to the early1960’s and some remined meof Conventions I actuallyattended in my student daysand since.

I suppose we all arediscovering new ideas forworship. As some cleave for‘’let’s get back to normal’, wehave to ask – what is normal?Will we ever be able to returncompletely to the way in whichChurch used to serve Jesus? Iknow that like me, many of yousense that we are a long wayfrom things as they used to be.This social distancing will causea problem initially, but we will beable to develop new ways ofoperating as these restrictionsthat are likely to remain in placefor some time.As the days of pandemic

conditions ease and life againbecomes a little more relaxed,we shall need to continue topray for the people who havehelped us through these dayswhen livelihood and health havebeen threatened. We will wantto thank all who have ministeredto us in new and varied ways.We have to think about thefinancial situation that eachchurch treasurer has had to faceon our behalf, and to trust in theLord Jesus Christ who hasstood with us these last sixteenweeks. Some words of Scripture help

us see the God of theabundance, the God of thesecond chance who has guidedus through these most fearful ofdays. Perhaps you will read

these passages at your leisureand reflect upon our situation asChristians and as a Connexion.

Psalm 92.(all) Praise unto God2 Corinthians 12: 1-10. Paul’sThorneTitus 1: 5-9 Duties for God inchanged times

The world is also in turmoil overanother set of problems as theequality of some people comesunder the spotlight once againall around the world. Christiansare joined in faith anddedication to Jesus Christ andthe colour of our skin is of noimportance. We pray foracceptance and a love that hasthe capacity to heal everywound, settle any argument andjoin every person in love andrespect. Only then when love isdemonstrated on a huge scalewill the problem dissipate. Manyhave been offended by the pastand many of the symbols offormer days should be confinedto museums for although wecannot change history we canshow remorse and seek throughhonest respect and justice tobuild relationships with thosewho feel offended. ThroughJesus’ love we can demonstrateequality and fairness.

Brian C. Reardon Moderator Association

in the East

3      the TREASURY – JULY 2020

From the confinesof 23 North Road We hope that discovering ‘the Treasury’

on line twice a month since April hasbeen a welcome interlude in whateverroutine our readers have created forthemselves during lockdown. It hasbeen decided that this pattern willcontinue until October. By then autumnwill be upon us and those of us withgardens will be breaking any sense ofmonotony with sweeping up leaves. However that is to run ahead of the

current situation. As July is ushered inwe hear of chapels reopening for privateprayer, and elders and officers undertaking risk assessmentswith corporate worship in mind. Our English language churchesin Wirral and Liverpool are planning to resume their worshipservices from 2nd August and we cannot imagine that the WelshAssembly Government will not follow their English counterpartsin agreeing to open all churches fully very soon. After sixteenSundays absence from familiar places of worship many will havea new sense of what the sons of Korah were expressing in theeighty-fourth Psalm.

Gown and Stole of theModerator of the Association in

the East

EDITORIALEDITORIAL

How lovely is your dwelling-place,O Lord of hosts, to me;

my thirsting soul longs eagerlywithin your courts to be.

Have you taken the knee yet inhonour of (solidarity with? inmemory of) George Floyd? I didthink about it when it was firstmooted. I chickened out. Partlybecause after someoverenthusiastic gardening inlockdown, my body is in a stateof advanced decrepitude and Ifeared that if I bent down on oneknee when protesters first calledfor it, I would only be able to berescued by a passing fork-lifttruck. Months from now, whenthe manse started to smell andthe neighbours were worried thedrains were blocked, policewould find my decaying bodybent at the knee and wouldconclude the Angel Gabriel hadappeared to me just before mysudden demise.

But also, as an old friend usedto say, “what is it for?” For tenweeks, I happily clapped for thecarers on my doorstep everyThursday evening. Who didn’t?We have all been nursed orcared for at some point in ourlives. We have first-handexperience of it. But I have notexperienced racism. (“English,go home!” growing up inScotland does not count.) Do Ihave a right to speak aboutsomething I have notexperienced? On the otherhand, what happens if I do notspeak out?

“First they came for thesocialists and I did not speak out– because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the tradeunionists, and I did not speakout – because I was not a tradeunionist. Then they came for theJews, and I did not speak out –because I was not a Jew. Thenthey came for me – and therewas no-one left to speak forme.”

But now it gets morecomplicated. What began as agenuine and largely peacefulprotest against police brutality,racial injustice and the unlawfulkilling of a black man inMinneapolis grew within a fewdays into something else: aworldwide movement. Andnobody is quite sure where it isgoing or where it will end. Takingthe knee is one thing (and I amall for peaceful protest, in thefootsteps of Gandhi and MartinLuther King), taking the statuesis another matter altogether.

History is written by thevictors. And written by the slave-owners, not the slaves. EdwardColston was not actually a slaveowner, but he did trade in slavesand transported 80,000 men,women, and children from Africato the Americas. That was threecenturies ago and for yearsBristol has honoured hismemory, a well-known but notnecessarily well-loved, statuecommemorating hisphilanthropic generosity to hiscity. (Footnote: the rich canafford to be generous.) But thisnew movement is notcomfortable with our history sooff Colston – or his statue –went, into the river. Otherstatues in other cities followedand there is a list, I am told, ofabout sixty statues that shouldbe removed as they symbolisean imperial colonial past ofwhich (in part) we should rightlybe ashamed.

So far, so noble. But like it ornot, this is our history. WasWinston Churchill a racist? Hewas a child of his time. We allare. And he had someuncomfortable ideas viewedthrough the prism of modernthinking. Take down his statue.

Henry Dundas? As a MidlothianMember of Parliament hethwarted the anti-slaverymovement for some thirty yearsbefore being found guilty ofputting his hand in the till on aspectacular scale, and beingforced to retire from public life. Acolossal monument in hismemory is one of Edinburgh’smost prominent landmarks in StAndrews Square, often used bydrunken students as anavigational aid to stagger theirway back to their digs from a

night out in Rose Street. Hisstatue has been defaced (itwould take more than a fewprotesters to bring that onedown) and rather late in the day,fourteen years after spendingover two million quidrefurbishing the square in whichit stands, the good councillors ofEdinburgh are going to put up anew plaque, though I doubt if itwill contain one of Dundas’ moreaccurate epithets: “The GreatTyrant”. What should the plaquesay: “Sorry”?

David Livingstone? Surely youdo not think he went to Africapurely to spread the good newsof Christ? He said himself “Mydesire is to open a path to thisdistrict [Africa] that civilisation,commerce and Christianitymight find their way there.” Hewas your archetypal colonialistprofiteer. He knew that therewould be bucks to be made forhis sponsors and the GreatBritish Empire by opening up“God’s highway to the interior”.Take down his statues? And didI mention the British Empire?What about the paymaster ofour colonial forebears, QueenVictoria? What does she standfor? Take down her statues.Cecil Rhodes in Oxford? Try, asLord Patten has, remindingpeople of overseas students(including Bill Clinton) who havebenefited down the years fromthe Rhodes Scholarships theUniversity offers. Many Rhodesscholars have come from Africa.But your voice has already beendrowned out by the protesters.Down went his statue at Oriel.Robert Peel, Francis Drake,James Cook…their days arenumbered. (Pity help theresidents of Cook Island.)

And there’s more. When youhave finished taking down thestatues of anyone reflecting thatuneasy history of our colonialpast – a bit like removing thosephotos of naughty Uncle Albertfrom your family photo albumwhen you discovered whatUncle Albert was really like –there are the street andbuildings names. What aboutWilliam Gladstone? Not awholesome chappie by today’sstandards. (Note that phrase: bytoday’s standards.) So gone arethe Gladstone Halls ofResidence at LiverpoolUniversity or at least their title,due to Gladstone’s links withslavery. Guy’s Hospital inLondon? Rename it please. Itwas founded in 1721 by SirThomas Guy who made hisfortune with the South SeasCompany, which sold slaves to

the Spanish colonies. What about The Tate

Galleries? Oh, sugar! Well,quite… and we know how theTate company started its sugarrefining business. All thosesugar plantations and happy (?)slaves feature in Gone With TheWind. Well, you cannot watch itnow on American television. Itwill come back some day – butonly when it is suitably prefacedby a history discussion. “Frankly,my dear, I don’t give a damn!”As I write, the Grammy Awardwinning group, The Dixie Chicks(no, me neither) will now becalled simply The Chicks. (Butwill vegans complain about thelinks to poultry abuse?) As forthat rugby anthem, written by afreed slave, “Swing low, Sweetchariot”, its days are asnumbered as an England rugbycoach. That leaves us with “RuleBritannia” – oh dear, rememberthe words…

How far back do you go in thisperfectly reasonable drive toremove offensive reminders ofour past? St Paul did notcondemn slavery nor did hewish to abolish it; remember therunaway slave Onesimus whomPaul returned to his master?“How much more he will meanto you both as a slave and as abrother in Christ!” That’s a lot ofSt Paulses to rename.

In George Orwell’s NineteenEighty-Four, there is a Ministryof Truth dedicated to rewritinghistory to ensure it contained thecurrent version of past events.Anything that did not fit in withThe Party’s view of aharmonious Oceania wasremoved. Newspapers, books –nothing escaped the Ministry ofTruth’s continuous rewrite. Nowthink of a world where the onlystatues, buildings, songs andstreet names commemoratethose rare squeaky-cleanheroes with no dark side. Whowill be left in this brave newworld to celebrate?

The Spanish philosopherGeorge Santayana said thatthose who cannot remember thepast are condemned to repeat it.And to remember we need theseuncomfortable reminders ofwhat little progress we havemade, set in the context of ourchequered history. For that’s thenub of the matter: we are stuckwith our history even if you takeaway the statues, stop singingthe songs and change thenames. The question is what wedo now. So – take the knee,protest, wave your banners, butplease do not hide your history.Learn from it.

4      the TREASURY – JULY 2020

NOT THESUNDAY SERMON

by Dr MIKE WARD

Henry Dundas

One thing we know, becausewe are told it over and over isthat those who don’t learn fromhistory are doomed to repeat it.The problem is we’re not alwayssure what era we are meant tobe learning from. The cultural reflex is Hitler’s

Germany. It’s one of the manyironies of the liberal left that,while they accuse theiropponents of being besottedwith WW2 and Britain ‘standingalone’ (an idea they seem totake great delight in pickingapart), they cannot seem to seethat there might be lessons fromhistory that don’t include theNazi’s. Which is not to say that

Nazism wasn’t appalling, butrather that, in our eternalvigilance against extremism onthe right we are constantlymissing the danger from the left,

and so we are in danger ofdrifting towards the other sidethat was so strong in that ‘Ageof Extremes’.Lockdown has helped to

highlight that. In spite of BorisJohnson’s natural inclination toliberalism and smallgovernment, coronavirus ledhim into a position where heoversaw the most powerfulexpression of big Governmentin seventy years. As aconsequence we had theopportunity to see how wemight have fared had we beenliving in Eastern Europe in theCold War. Consider how people treated

their neighbours for example. Insome ways we behavedbeautifully. There was animmediate sense of community,in our area (as in all likelihoodin yours), people used socialmedia and community networksto make sure that the mostvulnerable weren’t forgotten aspeople withdrew into theirhomes. Equally evidenthowever was how quickly thepolice became heavy handed intheir dealings with those whowere not ‘keeping the rules’.Police forces used dronetechnology to spy on peopleand loudspeakers with recordedmessages were employed to tellpeople what to do. Moreworrying was the speed atwhich neighbours turned on oneanother, noting who was goingout (or in the case of#claptheNHS, not going out)ratting on each other on socialmedia and even informing theauthorities. In East Germanythey had a network of informalspies known as UnofficialCollaborators who would giveinformation to the securityservice about their workmates,neighbours or even familymembers. We imagine thatwe would have been abovethat but lockdown suggestsotherwise. Consider also the actions of

Dominic Cummings, even themost reasonably minded cansee that his trip to CountyDurham, while not breaking theletter of the law, was clearly anabuse of the spirit of it. All those

Ministers of State who spenttime telling the rest of us thatblack was white and 2+2=5 wasinsulting to our intelligence andit was humiliating to seeGovernment officials beingtreated differently to ordinarypeople. It was like an aspect ofthe old Soviet SocialistRepublics where everyone wasequal, but some were moreequal than others. Perhaps like me, you were

troubled by other things thatcame out of lockdown. Mob rulein Bristol; denunciations ofpeople and programmesbecause of perceived sins inthe past; cancellation culture;State media declaring thecountryside ‘racist’. Everybodyseemed to go a bit mad overlockdown and it wasn’tparticularly pretty. Meanwhilechurch buildings remainedclosed and church leadersspoke only (it seemed) tocondemn the Tories (TheBishop of Manchester) or theChurch itself (The Archbishop ofCanterbury). So, do the lastthree or four months tell usanything? Are we a right wingracist country, or a left wingMarxist country? Are we adecadent culture nearing itsend, or a healthy progressivenation? In one sense it mattersnot. Whatever we are as aculture, the church must bedifferent. In his book The Ideal World

of Dictatorship Stefan Wollewrites about the church in EastGermany:

“Though largely relegated tothe sidelines as an institutionin a secular society, thebuildings which housed themwere centrally located inevery city, town and village.Their doors were open, atleast on Sundays, andpassing through them meantentering a different world.When sweltering heat andthe din of traffic pervaded thestreets outside, churcheswere cool and tranquil inside.As opposed to the ubiquitoussymbols of the state, thechurch contained othersymbols and images whose

meaning wasn’t taught inschools and which naturallypeaked one’s curiosity. Thebookstands in the vestibuleoffered reading material notavailable in bookstores, forthe showcases containedannouncements aboutvarious church activities, allwith an exotic and secretiveair. Churches gave theimpression of being placesthat had outlived their day,like museums or historicalmonuments, and thegovernment would surelyhave been delighted if thepeople had perceive them assuch. Yet long before thevigils outside church doorsand the turbulent protestassemblies in overcrowdednaves, everyone was awarethat the state’s omnipotencestopped here.”

Whatever other lessons weneed to learn from history, andwhatever path our society is on,as Christians we learn thishistoric lesson: the Churchstands in every culture as acounter-culture. It shrivels whenit conforms; it thrives when itstands out.Revd Jonathan Hodgins has

spent time during lockdownreading about Christianitybehind the Iron Curtain. Hiscurrent series of sermons onChrist in the book of Psalmspremier on Sundays at 10.30amat Deeside Pastorate onYouTube.

5      the TREASURY – JULY 2020

The Church thriveswhen it stands out

by Revd JONATHAN HODGINS

The Ideal World ofDictatorship: Daily Life andParty Rule in the GDR,

1971-89 by Stefan Wolfe,translated by David Burnett,

463pp, Published by Ch. LinksVerlag, 2019.

Available at Amazon: £15.89

Not Quite aPhoto Competition

Before the heavy rains of lateJune beat upon the Peoniesin Chester, Mrs Ann McGrathseized the moment to take aphotograph of an abundantbloom in her Blacon garden.An elder at Chester, herchurch at City Road, Chesterwill be amongst the first toreopen for public worship.

6      the TREASURY – JULY 2020

THE TREASURY incorporating Glad Tidings • English publication of the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Published monthly – Price 50p.

Editor: Revd IAIN B HODGINS, 1a CHESTNUT GROVE, HAWARDEN CH5 3HDe-mail: iain.hodgins@ebcpcw.cymruUnless otherwise stated the views expressed are those of the individual contributor and are not necessarily the view of the General Assembly or the Editor.

Enquiries about orders and subscriptions should be addressed toGWASG Y BWTHYN (PANTYCELYN), Tº CADNANT, ZONE 2, LÔN HEN FELIN, CIBYN, CAERNARFON LL55 2BDTel: 01286 672018 • gwasgybwthyn@btconnect.com

07

9 771476 469073

I S S N 1 4 7 6 - 4 6 9 5

Vol. XLVI No. 7JULY 2020

WESTERN GWENT MISSION PARTNERSHIPDuring lockdown the churches in WGMP have been maintainingcontact with one another and thankfully nothing insurmountablehas arisen. Liz White has been compiling and distributing aweekly devotional update to members of Trinity, Cefn Fforest.

At Manmoel Audrey Keeble has organised two open air services.They have been well supported (cars enabling social distancing)and have attracted much attention from the mountain ramblingfraternity as they walk past.

Siloh, Gelligroes is continuing the Monday evening Bible Studyand Prayer Meeting on Zoom. This obviously doesn’t work forsome folk, but is usually well attended. The current study is thebook of Psalms. As Shelagh Williams observes the churches andtheir members have much to thank God for.

Siloh, Gelligroes (photo credit: Iain Hodgins)

News from MizoramOn Sunday, 21st June an earthquake with a magnitude of5.8 struck Mizoram, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It did not affectthe town where John Colney and his family live, but was feltstrongly in the east of Mizoram where John’s sister lives.Thankfully there have been no casualties, but buildings, includinga church have been damaged. Lockdown has been extended until the end of June. Most of

the people who have tested positive have recently returned fromother states, and this was discovered whilst they were inquarantine. Most are asymptomatic. John and his family continueto remain indoors most of the time. His friends at Mount PleasantEbbw Vale ask readers to please remember them in prayer, andalso John’s mother Thankhumi, who appears to be sufferingAlzheimer’s.

After eighteen years of serviceto Christian Aid, the time hascome to say farewell to AnnaJane Evans, the RegionalCoordinator for North Wales.Anna Jane started in her post in2002 and was a valuablemember of the Wales from thenon. She moves on to become aminister with the PresbyterianChurch in Wales, serving thechurches of Seilo, Caernarfon,and Eglwys y Waun, Waunfawr.During her time with ChristianAid she travelled to five differentcountries to see for herself thedifference the generosity ofWales’s churches can makeamong the poorest communitiesof our world.Anna Jane said, ‘The

highlight among those trips wasmy visit to the Philippines aspart of the Presbyterian Appealin 2018. It was so inspiringmeeting with ordinary peoplewho have been trained andempowered by Christian Aid’spartners to challenge theauthority of the governmentthere. Through their efforts theyhave been able to insist on theirrights and that has been crucialas they fight against poverty.‘It’s been a real privilege to

work for Christian Aid overthese years. Of course, in onesense, I’m not finishing – I’llcontinue to volunteer just as Idid before I came on staff. Therelationship will continue.’In saying wishing her well,

Cynan Llwyd, Christian Aid’sActing Head in Wales, said,‘We’re sad to say farewell toAnna Jane since hercontribution has been so great.She is a person full of passionfor Christian Aid’s work and issomeone who feels verystrongly about injustice andpoverty in our world.‘Among her many

achievements, we could list themany BBC radio worshipservices she has prepared, aswell as quite a few services forthe National Eisteddfod, andtwo significant sponsored walks– the first from Nasareth,Caernarfon, to Bethlehem,

Carmarthenshire, and thesecond from Bethlehem to Aifft(Egypt), in Denbighshire. Mostimportantly though are the manyordinary supporters in the northwho have been inspired by herto support Christian Aid’s work.This has been the core of herrole – and she did it withexcellence at all times.’Cynan Llwyd added, ‘Whilst

we will feel the loss, we wishher well for the future. Her skillsas a regional coordinator will bejust as useful as a churchleader. We pray God’s blessingon her new ministry.’

Anna Janeleaves Christian Aid

An On-line Conferencefor Candidates

and New Ministriesbut Open to All

––––––––––The Candidates and TrainingDepartment have organised

three mornings of on-line training6th-8th July

Speakers will include:

Revd Wayne AdamsRevd Lee DutfieldRevd Neil KirkhamRevd Bryn Williams

Mrs Joanna Thomas-WrighMr Steve Jones

Sessions begin at 9.30am each day,with the final session concluding

by Noon.

To register and for moreinformation contact:

Delyth Oswy-Shaw, Training Officer(delyth.oswy@ebcpcw.cymru)

THE CHURCHESFROM