Sub Prior and Deacon to be appointed

The Bishop of Monmouth has appointed his Chaplain The Revd Sarah Gillard-Faulkner to serve also as Sub Prior of the Holywell Community and Deacon in  Abergavenny parishes.

Welcoming the news Fr Mark Soady Prior & Vicar of Abergavenny said, “Sarah will be a great asset to the team as she brings many skills. She is a talented musician, an experienced youth worker and has experience of working in challenging pastoral situations”.

On receiving news of this appointment Sarah says: “I am thrilled to have been asked by the Bishop of Monmouth to join the people and communities in Abergavenny. I’m looking forward to discovering how my gifts and talents can be used in maintaining the high standards of ministry set by predecessors and yet forging a new expression of ministry amongst you as a permanent Deacon in the communities of Abergavenny. I look forward to working with the Prior and rest of the ministry team in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

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HARVEST

Harvest Thanksgiving will be celebrated at St Mary’s Priory on the weekend of October 3rd-5th

Friday, October 3rd, 6.30pm Evensong

Sunday, October 5th

8am Holy Eucharist

9.30am All Age Worship

11am Parish Eucharist

12.30pm for 1pm Harvest Lunch: Shepherds Pie & Apple Tart ( Please book your place on 01873 858787)

Fr Mark Soady writes:

I write this article as we prepare for the Abergavenny food Festival, Over the weekend of the festival the streets of Abergavenny and the precincts of St Mary’s Priory will be over flowing with food and drink – a true celebration of the Harvest.

However, such food is not available is such supplies for many human beings on this planet. We are aware of the problems of starvation caused by drought and famine, but many of our fellow beings are going without food because of man’s inhumanity to man. In North Iraq and in other parts of the world our fellow Christina’s are being starved because of their faith. iS and others who have a twisted view of Islam are literally starving to death those who will not confirm to the Muslim way of life.

In to such desperate situations goes the Barnabas Fund. In North Iraq alone they have spend £246,111 to help alleviate the suffering Christina’s there. Over 30,000 Christians from region have been helped to date.

We as an incumbency have decided that our Harvest Thanks Offering this year will go to the work of the Barnabas Fund – please do support. We will not forget the local need by so doing, as we will continue to support the Abergavenny Food Bank week by week.

Blessed harvest

Mark

Harvest in the Vicarage Garden

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Food Festival Services -September 21st

Due to the Food Festival we will have different Service Times on September 21st

8am Holy Eucharist

9.30am Parish Eucharist

6pm Choral Evensong

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HOLYWELL COMMUNITY INAUGURATED

On September 2nd the Bishop of Monmouth Inaugurated the new Holywell Community. He licensed Fr Mark Soady as Prior and Commissioned Amy Pope and Sam Paterson as members.

During the service the Bishop reminded the Community that they need to be lead by Jesus. A hymn written by Canon William Watkins, sung at the service, reminded the congregation  of “those virtues’ which stem from Christ: meekness, mercy, endurance, and a thirst for right.

The Readings at the Eucharist were Acts of the Apostles 4.32-35 read by Ami Pope and the Gospel of Luke 9.57-end read by the Prior.

Ami says: “It is a great honour and privileged to have been called by God to serve both the Church and wider community in Abergavenny. I am very excited to discover what God has in store for the next year as Sam and I work alongside Fr Mark to bless and serve such a wonderful town. Jesus commanded his disciples to ‘go’ and that’s what we are doing within the Holywell Community: we are going where God sends us to do his work.”

The work of the community will target the consequences of poverty in the area. Although Abergavenny is thought of as a wealthy town, the north of the town is the poorest area in Monmouthshire and this juxta-position of wealth and poverty make it more marked. The outworking of some of the issues around deprivation has tangible consequences for other areas of Abergavenny and community life in general, particularly with regard to the town centre and its access points.

Prior to the service the  Community went on retreat to Llangasty Retreat House led by Bishop Dominic Walker OGS.

 

We acknowledge the support we are getting from the Additional Curates Society & the Archbishop of Wales Fund for Children for the funding of this Community.

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