大象传媒

Welcome part 1 (Edwin)
STARTS IN PRIORY
Good morning: bore da a croeso鈥� welcome to our Sunday Worship.听 We鈥檙e in the village of Ewenny, in the Vale of Glamorgan, a mile or so from the town of Bridgend, with the practicality of the M4 in one direction and the beauty of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, equidistant in another.听 Here, nestling behind the cottages and commuter housing lies a hidden gem: a 12th century priory church, built by the Benedictine order with military style defences, giving a clue to the turbulent times this place has witnessed.
And this month we鈥檙e celebrating 900 years since the dedication of the building.听 This landmark anniversary reaches back through the centuries, to within touching distance of the time of William the Conqueror; yet we also pay witness to an unbroken thread of Christian faith, which has been woven into this place ever since and which we maintain today in the life and witness of Ewenny Priory, in service of this parish and community.

Reading 1 (+June)One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in His temple.

Welcome part 2 (Edwin)听
Today, the Bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, reminds us that our history and context shapes us in countless ways.

We鈥檒l also be visiting a local pottery, where successive generations of one family have themselves been shaped by this place, in their work and, also, in their faith, much as clay is formed and given new purpose in the skilled hands of a potter.
But first to our opening hymn, and a reminder that this church has always rejoiced in its dedication to 鈥楽t Michael and All Angels鈥�; the messengers and guardians at the right hand of God - 鈥榊e holy angels bright鈥�.

Hymn:听 鈥榊e holy angels bright鈥櫶� 听St David鈥檚 Cathedral, Pembrokeshire (大象传媒 Recording)

Opening Responses (+June, Edwin)
Call: Who is it that you seek?Response: We seek the Lord our God.Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.

The Story of Ewenny Priory (Edwin)
Ewenny Priory鈥檚 striking Norman architecture remains largely unchanged over its long history.听 The site was chosen carefully, hidden discretely from view, but built as a fortress, to be a safe place in troubled times.听 And the raw materials of everyday life are close by: a river鈥� local limestone that鈥檚 ideal for building鈥� rich farm land and durable red clay, that the rest of us know as earthenware, serving the practical need of builders, farmers and potters alike.
This is the life-story of a living place of prayer and worship of the God of the ages, with a timeless rhythm and pattern.听 And as the River Ewenny flows just a stone鈥檚 throw from the Priory, it still brings its own gentle soundtrack to the Autumn pasture, dotted with sheep, and the just-harvested maize fields that surround us鈥� a timeless place where eternal truth has been spoken:
鈥� He makes me lie to down in green pastures, he leads me forth, beside the waters of comfort鈥� Goodness and mercy all my days will surely follow me...听听

Psalm 23 (Brother James鈥� Air)King鈥檚 College, Cambridge/ Sioned Williams, harp/Stephen Cleobury (Commercial recording)

Introduction to potters (Edwin)
A short walk from Ewenny Priory is Ewenny pottery.听 Father and daughter Alun and Caitlin Jenkins are 7th and 8th generation potters in a family thought to have been working in Ewenny since the 1600s or even further back.听 The life and livelihood of their family is interwoven with the story of this place.听听

Reading 2: Jeremiah 18: 1-6 (Edwin and Caitlin)听
Edwin The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.听
Caitlin So, I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.听
The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.听

Example 1 (Alun)听鈥淚鈥檝e thrown the clay onto the wheel, and now having wetted my hands, I鈥檓 beginning to shape the clay.鈥�
鈥淵ou can make a batch of pots; first impressions are they鈥檙e all exactly the same, if you look closely sometimes you can think that one stands out, just a slight variation in the shape that鈥檚 pleasing to the eye.听 You can make something and in your mind you鈥檝e got a particular shape but it鈥檚 not perfect; but it still can be a beautiful finish.鈥�
鈥淎 pot becomes a beautiful piece of work when the lines of the pot look right: when it鈥檚 natural. I had an uncle and he used to, when he looked at a pot, he would say 鈥楢 straight line is a line of beauty; a curved line is a line of beauty鈥�: if a curve of the pot looks right to the eye, then you鈥檝e created something beautiful, really鈥�
Into thy hands (Jonathan Dove) Gabrieli Consort/Paul McCreesh (Commercial recording)听

IN PRIORY

Reflection One (+June)
Not every church building could be described as beautiful but your first reaction when you step into Ewenny Priory is the awesome beauty of it. One of the UK鈥檚 Romanesque masterpieces it brings those who visit to stand in silence. The same is true in Alun鈥檚 pottery in the village. I love dropping in to visit Alun and his family at Ewenny Pottery because there鈥檚 so much beauty in the things they make there. Most of us are touched by beauty, it鈥檚 one of the most common ways we feel drawn to a sense of the divine or eternity.听It鈥檚 all around us here because the natural world greets us with its abundance in this part of Wales. The sea is within walking distance so there are seascapes to draw us out of ourselves, and it鈥檚 farming land so we鈥檙e never short of natural beauties, trees, birds and wildlife, to widen our horizon.听 听
Most of us have access in one way or another to serious beauty. It may not be a glorious landscape, but creative art like music and things of loveliness are available if only we give space to them. I grew up in a harsh urban environment, and as a teenager I was surrounded by slum clearance, but I remember buying an album of Chopin鈥檚 nocturnes to play on my little Dansette record player because of the beauty they offered me.And beauty isn鈥檛 about perfection or symmetry or tidiness. We often consider things beautiful that are misshaped, like the pot which doesn鈥檛 quite turn out as intended but becomes a much-loved favourite. The flaws are themselves part of the distinctive beauty. We can describe deeds as beautiful, not because they鈥檙e perfectly planned or executed but because they are suffused with humility and loving-kindness.听
In his poem 鈥楥hurchgoing鈥� Philip Larkin describes stepping into an empty church. It wasn鈥檛 an exceptional building like this Priory Church, and Larkin, who had no great sympathies for the Christian faith, starts by sounding rather bored and indifferent, unimpressed by his visit. And yet something begins to have impact on him. 鈥淚t pleases me to stand in silence here鈥� he says, and then goes on to describe the place as 鈥渁 serious house on serious earth鈥�.听Standing in silence in the face of beauty is a way that many people connect with a sense of the divine in their lives and it allows a sense of God to penetrate our lethargies or anxieties.听 In the face of beauty, it鈥檚 possible to begin to see ourselves as vessels in the hands of the potter who made us and shaped us, to find in ourselves a surprising 鈥榟unger to be more serious鈥�, as Larkin describes it.听
It鈥檚 believed that the text of this anthem, 鈥楨ven such is time鈥�, by another poet, Sir Walter Raleigh, could have been written on the night before he died. Set to music by the contemporary composer, Bob Chilcott, it ends with the hope, 鈥榝rom this earth, this grave, this dust, my God shall raise me up I trust鈥�.听 Serious beauty gives us serious hope.

Anthem:听 Even such is time (Bob Chilcott)听 Salisbury Cathedral (Commercial recording)


Example 2 (Alun)听
鈥淭his jug, I鈥檓 going to put a decorative rim on the bottom. All the time I鈥檓 supporting the clay gently in my hands, so that it doesn鈥檛 lose its shape.鈥�
鈥淔aith to me is very important. I was born into a Christian family: many members of the family have a strong Christian faith. I think it鈥檚 the one thing that sort of keeps us going 鈥� and the priory has become a very important place to me. When you鈥檙e in the Priory, and I鈥檓 often in the priory, you can sit quietly and you absorb centuries of worship and prayer - of people who have come to the priory for all sorts of reasons, but have found peace, contentment 鈥� and happiness I suppose. Because being part of the priory community, the church community, is very important to me personally.鈥�

Declaration of Faith (Caitlin)
To whom shall we go?You have the words of eternal life,and we have believed and have come to knowthat You are the Holy One of God.Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ,King of endless glory

Hymn:听 Come my Way, my Truth, my Life St Woolos Cathedral (大象传媒 recording)


Reflection Two (+June)
Alun has spoken about his sense of the continuity of worship in Ewenny Priory Church despite many shifts in fortune over the centuries of Welsh and British history. From the monks of the Benedictine order, to the parish which worships here today, we all look back to the example of St Illtud who taught the faith in probably Britain鈥檚 earliest centre of learning, and encouraged sacred worship in this part of the world in the 6th century.听听If beauty draws us to a sense of God then so does seeking after truth, and Christians have sought truth in worship right down the ages.听
We heard earlier how God instructed his prophet Jeremiah to go down to the potter鈥檚 house, to watch someone like Alun Jenkins make and then remake a pot. It was to teach him a lesson he should pass on, that it mattered how his nation lived, and God cared about the choices they made. As the potter shapes the clay so we shape how we live, in the pursuit of truth. There鈥檚 behaviour we can name as virtuous and noble whereas there鈥檚 also ugly and untrue behaviour. We still today, by and large, live by that conviction that it鈥檚 worth living truthfully, for in it we鈥檒l find our welfare and I believe that in it we鈥檒l find God.听
The worship which is part of this place is an offering of thanks to God for his goodness, but it鈥檚 also a week by week habit. It helps us find our magnetic north of what is true, of what lasts, in what we can trust. We cannot find our compass in life, our true direction as solitary agents, choosing only what suits us. We鈥檝e realised again the truth in that as we鈥檙e feeling the impact of social isolation. And at the heart of our usual worship is also the memory of a sacrifice of love. 鈥楪reater love has no-one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.鈥�
Who can doubt that the sacrifices we make 鈥� or see made on our behalf 鈥� if made for love, are true and virtuous and noble?听 听So we worship that we might live truthfully with one another as a way of life.听
We find God in beauty. We find God in the truth we live by. Yet Graham Kendrick鈥檚 hymn 鈥楪od of the Poor鈥� reminds us that there鈥檚 a third way we find God present with us, and that鈥檚 in the compassion we show to one another.听听

Hymn:听 Beauty for Brokenness Ardwyn Singers (大象传媒 recording)

Example 3 (Alun)
鈥淭his is preparing the clay ready for throwing on the potter鈥檚 wheel. We locally call it 鈥榖enching鈥�, but the technical term used in the trade is 鈥榳edging鈥�. It鈥檚 to mix the clay evenly, and to remove any air that is in the clay.鈥�
鈥淲e have a reading in the pottery over the wheel, over the potter鈥檚 wheel, which has been over the potter鈥檚 wheel for at least 100 years. Paul鈥檚 letter to the Romans, chapter 9, verse 21.鈥�


Reading 3 (Caitlin)听
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Alun
鈥淐lay has certain qualities, but if you push the clay too far, it鈥檒l break down, it鈥檒l collapse on you. So, still keeping in mind what you wanted, you can take the clay back to the beginning and start again. Sometimes, something that goes wrong turns out to be quite good, and from that another idea may come. That does happen quite a lot.鈥�

Anthem:听 听Into thy hands (Jonathan Dove) Gabrieli Consort/Paul McCreesh (Commercial recording)听

IN PRIORY

Reflection Three (+June)听听
The monks who once lived here in Ewenny Priory would have served the poor of the Vale of Glamorgan in ways we now take for granted will be provided for us by the State. Without any health service they would have offered basic medicinal help. Without an education system they would have maintained some opportunities for learning. Without a welfare or social system, they would have been alert to basic needs for food and work.听 They did such things because they believed that in serving their neighbours, they served Christ, that in their neighbours they were indeed meeting Christ.听

We so often find that when we determine to do something for those in need, we ourselves are enriched.听 Not far from this still place of prayer there are activities motivated by compassion and run by people of faith 鈥� food banks, debt clinics, women鈥檚 refuges, dementia cafes, refugee resettlement projects and bereavement support 鈥� and when people get involved in such service they will find God. In showing compassion to those most vulnerable they will be blessed.

Potters know that the vessels they make often contain flaws, or in the course of their use they get broken and need tender loving repair. Our own lives are easily damaged and all of us know what it is to live with our flaws and sometimes with harsh circumstances we cannot avoid.听听

What difference it makes when we鈥檙e met with kindness and when things are allowed to come to the surface of our lives for healing.听 Like a master potter, the Lord who first made us goes on shaping our life, sometimes with the aid of those who meet our needs, tend to our wounds or simply treat us with dignity, and sometimes with the help of those we serve.听


Anthem:听 听Into thy hands (Jonathan Dove) Gabrieli Consort/Paul McCreesh (Commercial recording)听


Prayers (Edwin)
As we stand by the river, between the pottery and the priory, we find both can speak of life and purpose; of craft and skill, of faith and faithfulness that has been sustained through generations鈥� and so we pray鈥�

Living and loving God, we praise you,and through times of peril we lean into you,for in Jesus Christ you have trodden paths as difficult as ours,revealing a love that nothing defeats, a love that bears us through.We pray for our family and friends, our loved ones and those departed.听We pray for those areas of our land that are experiencing a new lockdown,听as they deal with the challenges that it brings to the community and the Church.Even as we strive to behave responsibly, and to care reliably,we ask, that in these uncertain times we might trust that you are with us,听our refuge and strength, and that our faith, hope and love might be renewed,through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Lord God, our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you; pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself as we pray鈥�

Our Father,听who art in heaven,听hallowed be thy name;Thy kingdom come;Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,听and forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us,and lead us not into temptation,听but deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom,听the power, and the glory,for ever and ever.听 Amen.

Our worship draws to a close with Isaac Watts鈥� powerful hymn, written more than 200 years ago.听 It proclaims the constant, timeless presence of God, which upholds us in this life and in the life to come: 鈥極 God our help in ages past鈥�.


Hymn: O God our help in ages past听大象传媒 National Chorus of Wales (大象传媒 Recording)


Blessing: (ALL)
BY RIVEREdwin:听Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you,All things are passing away: God never changes.
IN POTTERYCaitlinPatience obtains all things.AlunWhoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices,
IN PRIORY+Juneand so may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit remain with you all this day and for evermore. Amen.


PLAYOUT:听Anthem:听 听Into thy hands (Jonathan Dove)听Gabrieli Consort/Paul McCreesh (Commercial recording)听