Cynon Calling: A New Way of Being the Church

A new, informal worship service made its debut in St Elvan’s Church in Aberdare on Sunday 28th April. Cynon Calling sees itself as a ‘sister’ to the already established Margam Calling events which see people travelling from across the diocese to share faith and food in a contemporary setting.

The evening began with a chance to chat and enjoy a hot drink and a doughnut before heading up on to the impressive Mezzanine floor for an informal act of worship.

The theme of the first ever Cynon Calling was Creation, and the gathering heavily focused on giving thanks for the natural world.

Laura Ames, one of our Growth Enablers, began the evening with a prayer, asking God’s blessing on the event. This led into a series of worship songs played by the newly established Cynon Calling Band featuring the incredible talents of Jasan Ames, Debbie Orriss and Holly Ames.

Fr Richard Green gave a talk where he spoke on passages from Romans and Genesis, focusing on how each one of us is one of God’s beautiful creations. He encouraged attendees to turn to face the person next to them, look into their eyes and see someone that God loves. He then encouraged everyone to get out their phones, turn the camera to selfie mode and look at their reflection to see God’s love reflected back.

The worship concluded with a prayer session involving inflatable globes being passed around with people encouraged to stick on their ‘post it prayers.’

Then everyone headed downstairs to enjoy freshly delivered pizza.

Angela Clarke, Lead Growth Enabler, said, “It was wonderful to see so many people who wouldn’t normally come to church.

We really want this event to be a relaxed and informal way for people to come and explore their faith, but it’s also a great way for those who already have a relationship with the church to discover new, contemporary ways of worshipping.

We hope to see it grow and develop over the coming months. God is good, and he is doing great things in the Cynon Valley.”