John's Jottings

It seems only yesterday that I last sat down to write my jottings, but I realise much to my dismay it was over two months ago! How time has flown and how the seasons have changed in that time. Back then there was almost a summer feel to the days still, but now we are in the grip of a wet and windy Winter with short grey days our standard fare. And of course, Christmas is hurtling towards us at top-speed!

For me in my role as Anglesey Lay Worker, it has been a complete whirlwind of events both on the island supporting our congregations at Amlwch and Holyhead, working with other church groups on the island and with various missional and pastoral activities across the Circuit, as well as more recently an involvement with the Connexional Team looking at Church Growth.

Below in pictures are a few of the highlights:

Above left is me at Royce’s Celebration of 60+ years preaching with Rev Graham Thompson (Ex-President of Conference). I had not seen Graham for 40 years since we were young whipper-snappers in the Bramhall Circuit, so it was great to catch-up.

On the right is a picture of the Holyhead’s congregation Remembrance Day commemoration. I was unwell that day, so couldn’t go, but the team work so hard to put this together each year and I am so proud of them that I just had to include it!

Above left is a morning I spent with the Beyond Belief team (our faith in the outdoors group) led that day by the multi-talented, Mike Pilling teaching us bushcraft skills at Felin Bach Guides Camp near Caernarfon. I was so impressed that I have asked Santa to get me an axe and bush knife for Christmas – let’s hope he doesn’t do himself an injury bringing them down the chimney!

Above right is the Holyhead Cytun Open the Book Team at Ysgol Parc y Bont (Llanddaniel Fab) in early December just before we performed the Wise Men’s Visit (I was narrator).

Above left are folk from our Amlwch Churches Together team (made up entirely of people from the Methodist Church on this occasion) at the Amlwch Christmas Festival where we provided a biscuit decorating activity for children. We had 85 biscuits made by children/parents and were noticeably the only free activity on offer anywhere at the festival – in keeping with the Methodist Church’s Advent theme of Gifted, this was our gift to the community! We also had a tree decorated by us and entered in the Tree Festival section – sadly, not winners but still a presence alongside businesses and community groups. So proud of the team…….

Above right is me with some of the other leaders and guests at Tafarn y Rhos near Llangefni where for 12 weeks 5 churches (Methodists, Welsh Presbyterian, Baptists, the Barn Pentecostal and Capel Goleudy) have come together to run a bi-lingual Alpha course – apparently the only one of its kind and a great ecumenical adventure which bodes well for future cooperation between church groups across the island. I am now starting conversations about how we might come together to provide or assist Cytun with a presence at the Youth Eisteddfod in May 2026.

And as we now get into the last 10 days before the big day itself, we start a round of Carol Singing at Care Homes in or near Amlwch with Amlwch Cytun Churches Together (Bryn y Mor and Brwynog) and at Valley (Plas Dwyffryn) with a team from the Holyhead Methodist Church on behalf of Holyhead Cytun. A great privilege to be able to build on the relationships built with residents and staff at these Care Homes where we have been attending to provide our elders an opportunity to worship together and take communion for some months now.

Speaking of work with our elders, at Hafan Cefni I have been leading a monthly bible study/Fellowship group for residents since January. This came out of doing a Blue Christmas Service with residents a year ago which was well received and led to the request to do something more. Consequently, I have rather a soft spot for the Blue Christmas Service and we repeated this again this year. Residents (plus Keith Alexander) were invited to write the name of a loved one or a message to them on a gift label and place it on the Memory Tree, as well as to sniff some myrrh (a symbol of death and suffering right there in the Nativity scene) and light a candle in their memory. It was quiet, reflective and deeply meaningful. The picture above left is the “altar” area with candles, memory tree and a borrowed nativity display. A quiet and reflective but very real time together.

Above right is me with group members of the Holyhead Renew Wellbeing Space (a safe space where it is “okay not go be okay”) doing a Christmas craft activity. This group meets weekly for friendly chat, refreshments and an opportunity to do craft and art activities, with an invitation for prayer in a separate space. I am one of three designated leaders and am usually there every two or three weeks – it has been a privilege to be part of this. Next month MP for Ynys Mon, Llinos Medi will be visiting to see what we provide and hopefully will help us promote it better.

And Finally…….a thought to reflect on (this was the message written on Amlwch Churches Christmas leaflet and delivered to 500 homes in the town)

Beyond the sparkling lights and wrapped gifts, the true meaning of Christmas is surely about giving from the heart, cherishing those we love, and reaching out to those in need. This Christmas let us celebrate not just with presents, but with presence—being there for friends, family, and our wider community. And as we do so, who knows, maybe we shall also recognise in our midst the presence of the one who it is all about. Jesus. God’s perfect present to us.

May the God who knows where we come from and where we should be going, go with us. May the God who knows our hopes and dreams, bless us – and others through us – more than we can possibly imagine. May the God who was with Joseph and Mary in all that they faced, be known to us as Immanuel – God with us. Amen.

(Or The Not-So-Secret Diary of John Hay, Anglesey Lay Worker, aged 61 and a half)

Since my last jottings, we have been through the Christmas period with all its joyful busyness and family fun (above left picture is me with family on a New Year walk round Lake Padarn; above right is part of the wonderful Christmas display at Amlwch chapel), and have been grinding our way through a long hard winter with plenty of cold, windy and grey days. But now in mid-February, here we are on the cusp of spring and with the important period in the Christian calendar we call Lent upon us.

Lent is a season of invitation. An invitation to let go, and be open to new possibilities. It begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts for 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter. As the days lengthen and the earth begins to stir, we’re invited to loosen our grip on what holds us back – habits, assumptions, fears – and open ourselves to the renewing presence of God. This journey isn’t always easy, but it’s rich with possibility. And it’s better shared with travelling companions. If you are not already part of a small group, then now is a perfect time to think about joining one – we have them in all our churches, and at Amlwch this year we have a special ecumenical group meeting weekly to reflect on the lectionary gospel reading using the small group resources provided by the Methodist Church.

The last few months have provided many positives. We have continued to provide a presence in Care Homes at Amlwch and Valley with short services and carol singing; we continue to meet monthly at Hafan Cefni for bible study and fellowship as well as two services a month there on a Sunday; the wellbeing group at Holyhead has acquired a few more regulars (see picture below of the group after completing a jigsaw puzzle); the Holyhead Open the Book team continues to go monthly into 4 schools in the same week, and I have very much enjoyed trialling the new Methodist discipleship resource, “On the Way” with the St John’s Anglesey housegroup. We also had a great week at both Amlwch and Holyhead with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (a service and study group in each place); I have joined in with an ecumenical prayer walk around Llanerchymedd and met the new Catholic island Faith Development officer to look at ways we might better work together.

I am at last starting to get my teeth into the Eco-Church initiative again. I had a useful meeting with folk from the Catholic Church at Holyhead in early January about how we can work together to promote Eco-Church in our area; I met with Nick and Della to discuss how to move the Eco-Church agenda on at St John’s and have made some progress with the start of an application to get Eco-Circuit status. I also went with a group from Holyhead Cytun to a conference about Eco-Church in North Wales hosted by the Church in Wales and A Rocha at St Asaph Cathedral (see the middle and right hand photos above). Lots of thought-provoking stuff to bring back. So things on the move there.

Now is also the season of meetings and report writing too. Church councils at Amlwch (last week), Holyhead (next week), Synod Policy Committee (last week), Connexional Growing Churches Embedding team (last week), Reflective Supervision (last week) and Circuit Meeting (early March). All necessary and important but sometimes I have to confess, it feels, getting in the way of the real work!!!!!

That said, I am very much looking forward to the next few months. It will be interesting to see where the weekly ecumenical Lent groups at Amlwch takes us as a group and I am particularly excited about the start of a new Amlwch Open the Book team to visit Ysgol Rhosybol for the first time on 5th March.

The beginning of March also sees an important planning meeting in Llangefni hosted by a team from the national Cytun to discuss how local churches might all work together to best provide a Christian presence at the Urdd Eisteddfod in May at the Mona Showground. Cytun hosts a tent with the Welsh Sunday School and usually provides teas/coffees, a space to chat and activities like badge-making for children. I will definitely be at that and will feed back in due course.

That’s all for now folks…….save for this lovely prayer and blessing to finish with borrowed from the Methodist small group resources for Lent:

God of the wilderness, as we begin this journey of Lent, help us to travel lightly. Strip away what distracts us, and draw us closer to your heart. May the Spirit who moves like the wind stir our souls. May we be open to mystery, surprise and the gentle breath of God. Amen.