The Jubilee Festival of Faith
During the first week of June, the Bro Teifi Ministry Area launched the Jubilee Festival of Faith to proclaim to the local community that the Church and indeed Jesus Christ is alive and active in the world today.
The project was aided by a grant of £3000 awarded by the Grants Committee of the Diocesan Board of Finance.
The churches in Bro Teifi were joined by students from St Padarn’s Institute in Cardiff, their tutors and two local evangelists for a week of community events and celebrations. The week began with a series of individual church Treasure Hunts with teas served. This gave everyone a chance to have a good look round each church and ask questions. Cardigan Girl Guides completed the treasure hunt in one of their meetings and then hosted the event for the community a week later. They were interested in finding out why Jesus had to die and what baptism is all about. Many of the occasions involved food; with the Pudding Party (Cardigan), Morning Breakfast (Cilgerran), Curry night (Aberporth) and a Fish ‘n’ Chips with Opera evening (Maenordeifi Group), all proving popular.
We were able to host two Family Fun Days with the expectation of conversations about our faith; one was held at St Dogmaels and the other on Cardigan Rugby Club field. Food was available, a bouncy castle and a craft tent. Local singers entertained everyone at St Dogmaels and musicians at the rugby field helped create a festive feel. There was a real opportunity to be fed by and feed into the local communities, opening up possibilities for the future.
During the week, St Padarn’s students set up a prayer table at some of the events. A street questionnaire fed into the making of a film which was shown during the Sunday joint churches Service of Celebration.
The week was a great encouragement for both students and church members. On reflection, there was a clear sense of the mission field available in the area and the opportunity to build on this outreach project, particularly with young families. An Alpha course was held over the summer and with the new school year there are plans to continue our schools work, family services and expand our provision of Messy Church and opportunities. A number of Eco-friendly events are also planned.
The whole project was supported by extensive prayer, particularly from some of our congregations who were not so able to contribute practically. They were asked to pray every time they put the kettle on – we are clearly a family of tea drinkers!
Revd Sue Player (Bro Teifi LMA)