Two churches celebrate a golden anniversary
Harold Macmillan was in Downing Street, Wales were in the World Cup and the first UK motorway was opened when, in 1958, St Anne’s church was built at High Cross, Rogerstone, and St Dyfrig’s church was opened in Llanrumney,
On Easter Sunday this year, St Dyfrig’s Church was full of beautiful flowers and a large congregation. At this service the children (above) displayed their picture of the Easter story and Revd Marian Dowsett unveiled her painting of the life of St Dyfrigs Church and its offering to the community over the past fifty years. Today, their life of ministry and mission is shared with other local congregations. In Holy Week they celebrated a Passover Supper with members of St Mellons Church and, on Good Friday, they joined St Mellon’s, St Cadoc’s and Siloam Baptist Church in the Walk of Witness.
St Anne’s is now part of the Rectorial Benefice of Bassaleg. There had been a temporary church on the same site, opened in 1933 on land donated by Lord Tredegar whose family had also helped develop the parish church in Bassaleg over the centuries. After the War, a church hall was added and, in 1954, the decision was made to build a permanent church at High Cross. Local fundraising, including a ‘Buy a Brick’ campaign, raised enough to begin building and the foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Monmouth, the Most Revd Dr Edwin Morris, in July 1958. The church was dedicated by Dr Morris in December that year (picture above).
Celebrations planned for this year include a project with the children of High Cross Primary School, who will interview members of the congregation of fifty years ago, as well as a number of parish and community events. Bishop Dominic will preside at a celebration service on Sunday 6 July.
But the church community is looking forward, not back. For the past five years, St Anne’s has run a ‘Time for God’ service, a lively and informal service held late on Sunday mornings that is popular across the age range. Its weekly ‘Sounds Fun’ group for toddlers reaches over fifty children and adults every Friday morning. As part of the Bassaleg Benefice, St Anne’s is looking at new forms of mission and outreach in the Mission Action Plan. Contacts with the local primary school are steadily growing.
The Team Vicar of Rogerstone, Revd Chris Stone, says, "This is an exciting time for all of us at St Anne's, as we celebrate fifty years of faith and witness. Our hope and prayer is that we can strive to reach out to the community that we serve during the next fifty years and beyond."