Prestigious awards for three Welsh churches

Three churches in Wales have won prestigious awards in this year’s National Church Awards.

St Cynnwr Church, Llangunnor, in Carmarthenshire, was named best in the UK for church maintenance while two churches in North Wales were Wales winners in their categories.

Holy Trinity Church in Trefnant in the Denbigh Mission Area was the Wales winner in the Church and Community Volunteer Awards. These celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to both looking after, and making best use of, churches to benefit local communities and people.

St Peter’s Church in Llanbedr in the Dyffryn Clwyd Mission Area was the Wales winner in the Church Tourism Awards, which encourage churches to be open and welcoming for visitors to explore.

Representatives of all the churches were at the award ceremony at The Mercers Hall in London on November 6 in the presence of HRH the Duke of Gloucester. They were presented with their award by actor and comedian Hugh Dennis.

All the winning churches are being encouraged to be open on Saturday 18 November for visitors to call in.

St Cynnwr's Church , Llangunnor, in the Diocese of St Davids, was one of 12 churches in the UK vying for the Naylor Award for Excellence in Church Maintenance, after it was named the best maintained church in Wales. The judges decided to award it the UK top prize for its excellence in church maintenance.

The friendship of our group of wonderful people, promoting a can do attitude whatever challenges appear, has come into sharp focus. It’s good to get back to having a good Welsh cwtch (hug).

The maintenance group looking after the church was formed some 10 years ago. Having cleared a great deal of overgrowth and brambles that were pervading through all parts of the churchyard at the time, the group has continued its work in the upkeep and care of the church and churchyard on a regular basis. Meeting two to three times a month, sometimes weekly, great friendships and camaraderie have developed and have blossomed into a group who look after each other, as well as those in the community. They anticipate, through active succession planning, that the group will be active in some form in 10 years' time.

Presenting the award, Canon Ann Easter said, “The judges loved that this church is very well organised, their maintenance plan is spot on, and very detailed. The judges would like to congratulate them on their ability to make use of clearly generous volunteers and their time. They also loved the way the application is written and the positive way they talk about volunteers and how much they value them.”

The award was presented to volunteers Cyril Phillips and Jackie James.

Mr Phillips said, "I represent a group of hard-working volunteers, who have worked tirelessly over many years in maintaining the church and its surrounding churchyard at Llangunnor, West Wales.

"Working so closely together has seen the group, evolve with strong friendships, fellowship, and a wonderful camaraderie. This close 'family' has not only developed a deep, caring attitude towards our church and each other, but particularly to members of the community, and those who come to visit family members or friends whose final resting place is at Llangunnor. We pride themselves in offering comfort and support to those, in their grief. Visitors often comment on the quality of the upkeep of our church and how grateful they are that the graves of their loved ones are really cared for.

"We were very surprised, but honoured and privileged to actually win both the Wales, and the UK awards for Excellence in Church Maintenance. We pay tribute to all members of the group for their time, given freely, their efforts and dedication and also for contributing to the submission to the National Churches Trust, thus making these awards possible. Our team building suppers also help in this regard!"

Canon Dr Matthew Hill, Local Ministry Area Dean, paid tribute to the team. He said, “There is a dedicated and very able team of laity at Llangunnor. Their work is exemplary and this award is very well deserved. It's excellent that a church in this diocese should receive this UK wide attention and recognition."

The Mission Area Leader of Denbigh, the Revd Rebecca Sparey-Taylor, was joined by Ann Bowers to collect the Church and Community Volunteer Award on behalf of Holy Trinity Trefnant. Rebecca said, “We are delighted to receive this award. It is a real validation of all the hard work put in by members of the congregation in Trefnant, who are always warm, engaging and welcoming. The team make a big difference to the church and are having a growing impact on the community.

"We submitted our application based on Prayers and Bears, which started as a service, crafts, toys and coffee morning for babies who had been born in the village during Covid and who had never seen anyone outside of their own families. We now regularly see more than 25 children. We run a book club, a youth group, hold village events and collect for the local foodbank."

In Llanbedr, St Peter’s recently re-opened after a re-ordering project to make the space more flexible and install a kitchen area and toilets. Outside the church, there is an outdoor chapel and labyrinth for visitors to explore in their own time. The Church Tourism Award for St Peter’s was collected by the Mission Area Leader of Dyffryn Clwyd, the Revd Huw Bryant, along with Gwenda Williams and Myron Lloyd. Huw said, “This is the second of the Dyffryn Clwyd Mission Area churches to receive an award. Last year, St Saeran Church in Llanynys was awarded for being open to visitors. It’s good to know our hard work is being recognised.

“Being open is more than just having the door unlocked. Being open is a state of mind, a way of being, a theology and the heart of the gospel we proclaim. Strangely it took being locked during the pandemic for us to discover this and now we could never close the door again.

Being open is more than just having the door unlocked

"The church is never closed; the door is always open and fresh coffee and cakes available whenever you like. The churchyard is managed for wildflowers with secluded spaces, plenty of seating and even a lavender planted labyrinth."

On Saturday 18 November, St Peter’s will be open as usual all day and from 10am – 12noon, the local school will be holding its School Christmas Fayre.

Earlier this year, St Peter’s became the first church in Wales to be awarded a Gold Eco-Church award in recognition of its commitment to walk in step with nature and put creation care at the heart of what they do. The award came from the Christian conservation charity A Rocha UK, who acknowledged their commitment to the environment through their worship and teaching, use of buildings and land, community and global engagement and by making lifestyle changes.