Saturday 13 July 2013

Breathtaking Cynicism

Mrs Morgan, Cneifiwr's old Sunday School teacher, was a very sweet old lady generally, but she could turn into fire-breathing dragon if she thought any of her charges were telling fibs. When someone (yes, Stephen, it was you) stole a few shillings from a collection box, Mrs Morgan let it be known that the perpetrator risked being struck by a thunderbolt.

It is quite likely that Mrs Morgan, if she were still with us, might have some very stern words to say about Towy Community Church.

Caebrwyn reports that now the church has cashed in all its grant cheques and got the County Council and other funding sources to sign off all the required paperwork for the new bowling alley in Johnstown, it has resurrected plans to set up a hostel for "fallen women" in partnership with Mercy Ministries in Carmarthen.

When first confronted about its ties with this very controversial US outfit, the church's pastor dismissed it all as an idea which had been abandoned, and he downplayed Towy Community Church's links with Mercy Ministry.

Shortly after Wales on Sunday ran a piece in November 2011 about the church and Mercy Ministries, the county council met to approve the latest funding package for its favourite evangelical outfit. The pastor himself was in attendance. Not a word was said about Mercy Ministries. [For reasons which are not clear, the original WoS article is no longer online, but you can find an article from the Daily Post here, or the original WoS text on Caebrwyn's blog here].

Only a couple of weeks ago the church did another sudden about turn when it was granted a licence to sell alcohol in the bowling alley, despite having promised that it would not do so.

Councillors who were persuaded by the pastor, the chief executive and Cllr Pam Palmer to sign on the dotted line must now be wondering what will come out of the woodwork next.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Get ready, wierd shit on its way!

I am amazed at how many locals in Carmarthen know nothing about the evangelical movement running the bowling alley!! They seem happy its there, mention evangelical and they are devastated!!!

Parents I have spoken to have said they are not willing to take their kids based on the evangelical link!!

Womens refuge run by them is not a thought I relish!!, surely the county have to make a stand to ensure the protection of vulnerable people.... Then again they don't have the best record of that judging by some comments.

Anonymous said...

Is this paster there equivalent of Martin Luther King it sounds like it might be. I just wonder if we might see Welsh and english segragation in ten pin bowling.

If Mercy Ministry is for women where is the one for men.You cant fund women and not men this is not Alabama in Luthers time.