Annual Report 2017[6748]

Annual Report for the year of our Lord 2017
Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd. John
Davies. There was a full church in Sketty and
members of the choirs across the three
parishes joined together to enhance the music.
As the Archbishop said in his introduction, now
is not the time to simply do what we have
always done – we need to step out, to work
more outside our churches and deeper within
communities in which our churches are set.
This year saw the great sadness at losing a
number of our friends from both parishes.
From Tycoch we said farewell to Rowena Jones,
Dennis Griffiths, Norman Blackledge, Joyce
Regan, Yvonne Whetton, John Hall, Dorothy
Carman, and Peter Dawson. Those promoted to
glory from the Parish of Killay include Gwyneth
Bartley, Joyce Deere, Olive Moffat, and of
course David Morgan (Lay Reader).
David Morgan has been a great servant of the
church for decades, a community figure in so
many ways. As Headteacher of Dunvant Primary
School for so many years, President of the
Swansea in Bloom gardening competition and
Dunvant Horticultural Society, local historian,
writing a number of books documenting
various aspects of the history of the area – not
least his beloved St.Hilary’s Church. It was good
to welcome so many of David’s friends to
St.Hilary’s in February, for a service to celebrate
the life, work and ministry of such a key
member of the Parish of Killay.
So having spent some time looking back, let’s
look forward. We need to put ourselves in God’s
hands – for he has a plan, a plan far greater
than any we could put together. We are
continuing to work on better communication,
via a Ministry Area website, the Parish of Killay
is now on Facebook and we are discussing the
potential of having one over-arching magazine
across the three parishes. We continue to
explore new ways to reach young people. We
look forward to welcoming Archbishop John to
a Ministry Area Confirmation Service in May.
Running a Parish/two parishes is a team effort
and I thank those Parish Officers who have
served the church in various ways over the past
year. I thank Sian for her unswerving support to
me personally. Thanks to the Churchwardens,
Treasurers and Secretaries, to everyone for
YOUR input into church life. Please accept this
general Thank You, as I cannot list every
individual by name of role, but my thanks to
you are the same.
I would write more, but I have boxes that need
opening – oh, and a dressing gown to find! As
God seeks to walk with us every step of our
Christian journey, let us trust Him and fully give
all our difficult decisions over to Him, be it in
Tycoch or in Killay.
Your Friend and Vicar
Canon Phillip
Parish of Killay St Hilary’s Church and St Martin’s Church Diocese of Swansea and Brecon Page !5