A large congregation had gathered at St. Mary's for the morning Eucharist and Sea Sunday.

The bells rang out calling all to worship. Present was a visiting ringer from Llandudno and he brought greetings from Mrs. Ellen Jenkins, wife of the previous incumbent, Canon David Jenkins. Ellen now rings at Llandudno and is making remarkable progress.

Rev. Andrew Davies warmly welcomed all regular and visiting worshippers to the service. The first hymn was 'Praise to the Lord the almighty, the King of creation'. The first reading of the morning was from the Book of Genesis and read by Mrs. Anne Sterlini. The second reading was from St. Paul's letter to the Romans and was read by Mrs. Ruth Webb. The third reading was from the Gospel of Mark and was read by student priest, Owen Edwards.

Owen went on to deliver the sermon and took Sea Sunday as his text. He firstly thanked all for the warm welcome he had received from the Benefice.

He stated that we are all aware of the destructiveness of the sea - the tsunami in southern Asia, the devastation of New Orleans. Most of us are afraid when a storm comes. As we had heard the story of Noah's Ark in the reading, God destroyed all the old creation, the wayward and the sinful were washed away, the slate was wiped clean. The sea swept over all the earth and everything died.

Jesus is not a destructive God - he calms the winds and rebukes the waves. We have our recreation through water -through our baptism. We are baptised into His death on the cross, our sin is drowned, and we are drawn from an old life into the new.

The prayers were led by Mrs. Ruth Webb. The offertory hymn was 'Lord of beauty, Thine the splendour'. The Eucharist was celebrated at both altars and the celebrant was Rev. Andrew. During communion, the choir sang 'How blest are they whose faith unshaken' by Bach.

The final hymn was 'Eternal Father, strong to save'. There will be a Soroptimist Coffee Morning at Church Hose tomorrow (Saturday), 10 am - 12 noon. On Sunday, there will be a Benefice Animal Service at St. Mary's at 3 pm. Bring your pets and come along too.