History of St Hilary's in the parish of killay

90 YEARS SERVING THE COMMUNITY 90 YEARS 1926 - SERVING 2016 THE COMMUNITY 1926 - 2016
Father Tim Williams
“The new
incumbent
was none
other than
Timothy
Williams”
In St Hilary's
it was a case
of dogs, cats,
rabbits,
hamsters,
guinea pigs,
fish and even
water snails
Father Ian Burbery
New Vicar installed
Those early summer months of 2000 passed by too quickly as they
do each year and before we knew it, the new Vicar was installed.
Surprise! Surprise! The new incumbent was none other than
Timothy Williams who had been a Curate in the parish some nine
years before. He and his family moved from his parish in Knighton,
Radnorshire to Killay and were welcomed as old friends.
There is a difficulty in returning to a parish where you had spent
your curacy and that is, time passes. It was nine years ago since the
parish said goodbye to Tim and thanked him for all his work. Now
he returned with a lot more experience as a Vicar of a parish. In his
September letter to the parish he wrote
'I have the utmost respect for Canon Brian, but I am not him. I have
different ways. Neither am I the Curate. I am now the Vicar of
Killay, so let us look forward and plough on together......'
So changes were to come - what they would be and how they would
affect worship in the parish and the way the parish was run was food
for thought. One thing became apparent and that was, although he
was our Vicar, Timothy preferred to be known as Father Tim. A
name which certainly lost that somewhat distant social standing that
the word Vicar could convey and by using the title of Father brought
him closer to his flock.
Late in October 2000 the Parish of St Hilary's introduced a Pet
Service. A Pet Service! Have they considered the mess, the noise,
the upset and so much more? Well yes they had and all those
problems were taken care of. Father Tim's delight in drama became
apparent as the service turned out to be a dramatised version of Mr
and Mrs Noah and the problems they faced with the building of the
ARK and the gathering of their animals. In St Hilary's it was a case
of dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, fish and even water
snails. Mr Noah spoke to the children about the care of their animals
as he touched from time to time on the story of the Ark. It was a
service to remember, hardly an empty seat in the church and the
children with their pets were completely involved in the service,
which included the blessing of each pet brought to the altar. Happily
the church survived a possible mess and in his tribute to all his
helpers, Father Tim spoke of the possibility of a bigger and better
service next year.
As the year drew to its close the Parochial Church Council reported
that, in St Hilary's outreach programme, donations had been made to
the following: African Enterprise (Christian teaching) , The
Camphill Village Trust (special needs) and African Harvest appeal
(agricultural improvement), St Luke's Hospital, Sons of the Clergy
and the Leprosy Mission on behalf of the worshipping congregation.
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