Annual Report
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Presented to the Church Annual General Meeting on 28th May 2008.
God is faithful; by him you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)
God has been faithful both to us as individuals and to the Fellowship over the last year. However, to be in fellowship with Jesus Christ is indeed our wonderful privilege but it also carries with it the responsibility of making him known to others.
Baptist witness in The Sarn began in 1826 and in 1827 Joseph Davies, a Deacon of Zion Baptist Church, Newtown, erected the Chapel at his own expense. To mark this 180th Anniversary the preacher at the Evening Service on 24th June was Revd John Davies. It was a great joy that his mother, Mrs. Eileen Davies, was able to be present as she is the widow of one of our former ministers, Revd. W. Penry R. Davies. With the help of the Sarn History Group we organized a historical exhibition in the Village Hall and we are grateful to the many people who lent us photographs and other memorabilia. I owe a tremendous debt to my wife, Anne, for all her help in arranging the photographs. We welcomed many visitors, including some from Australia, and were able to re-establish contact with several who had had contact with Sarn and Cwm Chapels in earlier years. A buffet tea was provided in the Village Hall and we used outside caterers. Anne made a celebration cake and we were delighted that Miss Evans, our Senior Deacon, was able to be present and cut the cake. The Forden Singers made a wonderful contribution to worship. Every family attending the service received a commemorative beaker and we hope that it will be a reminder that we still gather for worship every Sunday. Our friends at Holy Trinity Church, Sarn, and Kerry Baptist Church cancelled their services so that they could attend.
The Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire Baptist Association was formed as the South-Eastern Baptist Association in 1790 and they held their Annual Meeting at Sarn on 4th and 5th June 2007 in our Chapel. I was once again inducted as Association President and I gave my Presidential Address on "Preparing the Way of the Lord" (Isaiah 40: 3-5). We welcomed as preachers at the Meeting Revd. Royston Evans, Revd Dr. Peter Hicks and Revd Keith Fantham. Again we used outside caterers.
At our Harvest Service on Friday, 28th September the preacher was Revd Marc Owen, Church Life Secretary of The Baptist Union of Wales, and the Service was followed by the usual excellent Supper in the Village Hall. It was good that Marc's wife, Sarah, was able to come with him as well as his children. On the following Sunday evening the preacher was Revd Maggie Rich, of Knighton. We are grateful for the gifts of £474 at our Harvest Services for agricultural development work in India.
Mervyn and Shirley Powell marked their Golden Wedding by inviting their family and friends to the morning service at the Chapel on Sunday, 20th May and to a lunch in the Village Hall. The church was full for the service and they generously asked that we should not give them any personal gifts but instead gifts should be made to the Wales Air Ambulance and the BMS Relief Fund. We thank the Lord that Shirley and Mervyn used this occasion to bear witness to their faith in him.
The United Remembrance Service was held on 11th November at Holy Trinity Church, Sarn, when I was the preacher. The Community Carol Service was held at the Chapel on Thursday, 20th December and Anne organized a small choir which sang some modern Christmas carols. The choir's contribution to the Service was greatly appreciated and I hope that it will be a feature of future Community Carol Services. Holy Trinity Church has not had an organist for its normal services twice a month. However, Anne now plays the organ there and then comes on to the Chapel to play for our services.
On 10th June Mr. Burridge conducted the service here for the last time, as he and his wife, Ann, were soon to move to New Zealand to be near their family. There were eight adults present in the congregation when he first preached on 26th November 1995, the same number being present on 10th June. He has since provided me with a list of the attendance at all the services he conducted at Sarn over the years. Overall there has been no growth in the Fellowship since 1995 but there has been no decline in numbers either. However, one matter for concern must be that as Church we have only two deacons, one of whom is able to attend only occasionally because of family commitments. It is not a healthy situation when the Minister also serves as Church Secretary and his wife as Church Treasurer and Organist.
We were saddened when Mrs. Cynthia Price-Stephens passed away on 27th November. There was a large congregation at her funeral service at Newtown Baptist Church on 5th December. I led the service and Revd Meredith Powell gave an inspiring address in which he paid tribute to her long and distinguished service to our Lord both as a minister's wife and a lay preacher. We continue to remember in prayer her husband Revd Ted Price-Stephens.
As a Fellowship we always look forward to those occasions when Revd. Michael Humphreys, of Knighton, conducts our services and we thank him for his willingness to do so. We also thank Mr. John Walton, of Romford, for conducting our services and his wife, Mary, for playing the organ.
On Thursday, 12th April, we held an afternoon Easter Club 'for young people of all ages'. There were 7 children and young people from the village. Our numbers were swelled by our own grandchildren and we thank AJ and Vicki Nankivell once again for their help. Anne prepared all teaching and craft material and I am most grateful for all her hard work. Revd. Marc Owen and the Association Youth Committee organized an event for the whole Association in the Village Hall on Friday, 6th July. Anne and I gave out leaflets about this event to the young people going to school in Newtown and Bishop's Castle but not a single young person from the village came. We were unable hold a Holiday Club at Easter 2008 and so the absence of any effective youth work in the village is a matter of concern.
The Manse now has an oil-fired central heating system which was fitted in July. We expect that there will soon be new tenants living in the house. The Manse was erected as a residence for a minister and in the long term we need to consider how this valuable asset can be used to make possible the furtherance of the Gospel in this area.
We have received a generous and totally unexpected gift of £1500 from the New Wells Baptist Trust for the on-going work of the Church and we wish to express our thanks to the Trustees of the Trust.
I owe a tremendous debt to my wife Anne for her support and encouragement over the last year and to all those who have made possible the continuance of Gospel witness here in The Sarn.
Michael J. Collis