The Season of Advent is a time when we take stock of the year that is ending and look forward to the things that lie on the horizon in 2017. The sense of anticipation that makes December a special, if hectic, month is matched by thoughts of how we will deeper our discipleship in the coming 12 months. How will our core values of love of God, of neighbour and of hospitality and welcome be made visible to others in the coming year?

Here is a list of some of the plans for the future...

• On the Sunday before Christmas, 18th December, as well as the weekly 11am service in St Collen’s, there will be an Ecumenical Carol Service in the town Hall at 6pm, which will begin at 5pm with a seasonal tea of sandwiches, cake and tea. The Silver band will accompany us in the service, and this year there will also be contributions from ‘Stage to Stage’ and the newly formed Llangollen Youth choir.
• On New Year’s Day, around midday, in the Church community hall, there will be a Bring and Share Party for a Syrian family who have been housed in Cardiff and who are being supported by the Llangollen Refugee Support Group. It will be a great opportunity to hear their story.
• On the Feast of the Epiphany, Friday 6th January, there will be communion Service in St Collen’s at 6pm for the newly formed Valle Crucis Mission Area followed by a Party in the hall. This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to meet as a group of 14 churches in the Dee Valley and beyond.
• The following day, in St Asaph Cathedral, there is a special service to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the first ordination of women to the priesthood in January 1997. The Service starts at 11am. The preacher and celebrant is the Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek.
• On the first Wednesday of January, February and March  - 4 January, 1 February and 1 March – we will be reading Henri Nouwen’s ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’ in the monthly book group, which begins at 11.30am  and lasts about an hour.
• During Lent each week, beginning on 8th March, we will study Archbishop Justin Welby’s new Lent book, ‘Dethroning Mammon’. Dethroning Mammon reflects on the impact of our own attitudes, and of the pressures that surround us, on how we handle the power of money, called Mammon in this book. Who will be on the throne of our lives? Who will direct our actions and attitudes? Is it Jesus Christ, who brings truth, hope and freedom? Or is it Mammon, so attractive, so clear, but leading us into paths that tangle, trip and deceive? Archbishop Justin explores the tensions that arise in a society dominated by Mammon's modern aliases, economics and finance, and by the pressures of our culture to conform to Mammon's expectations. Following the Gospels towards Easter, this book asks the reader what it means to dethrone Mammon in the values and priorities of our civilisation and in our own existence. In Dethroning Mammon, Archbishop Justin encourages us to use Lent as a time of learning to trust in the abundance and grace of God.
  Please let me know if you’d like a copy of either of these two books.
• For your diaries, there is a trip to the Liverpool Philharmonic on Wednesday in Holy Week, 12th April, for a concert of John Rutter’s music at 7.30pm. ‘Hope and Passion’ will include performances of Rutter’s famous and deeply-moving   ‘Requiem’ as well as the first Liverpool performance of ‘The Gift of Life’ – a joyous new choral work celebrating the living earth, creation and life itself.
  John Rutter – Conductor
  Elin Manahan Thomas – soprano
  Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir
  Liverpoll Philharmonic Youth choir
  Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra