History of Trealaw Christian Fellowship Centre(Page one)
Location
The Trealaw Christian Fellowship Centre is situated in the Rhondda Valley community
of Trealaw
near Tonypandy in Mid-Glamorgan, South Wales.
Affiliation
The Christian Centre is a member of the Apostolic Church within the United Kingdom.
How it all Began
In July 1984 a small company of Christian believers possessing what they believed
to be a God Given Conviction to pursue, establish and develop a Christian Centre.
The old Welsh chapel Ainon was purchased from the
Baptist Union, which at the time of purchase was a one story building and sadly
had run it's course and had closed, and had become a blot on the landscape.
Ainon had for many years faithfully stood for the Christian faith, but alas,
like so many other Rhondda Valley Churches had closed because the remnant of
the membership had grown old and could not continue.The company of Christians
believed that the tide could be turned, and to prove the validity of their conviction
they set about the task of opening a new church and Christian Centre in a valley
where some churches were in sad and serious decline.
The Task
The task they faced was , to the natural eye, 'Mission
Impossible' but humbly exercising that biblical substance known as Faith
-- commenced.
God's Provision
After the purchase of the old building the remaining credit in the building
fund was £486-41p
The combination of Faith in God, personal sacrifice, involving money, time ,
prayer and labour was put in to action.
In those early years several trusts and foundations and most certainly registered
charities were informed as to the purpose of the future Christian Centre.
The prestigious 'Prince of Wales' committee supported
the project magnificently along with the Welsh Development Agency which involved
the then 'Rhondda Enterprise Ltd'.which were funded
by the 'Manpower Services Commission'. These were
instrumental informing a young supervised task force of young Rhondda Valley
men.
The very first grant of money was made by the 'Norman
and Rose Quick Christian Foundation' of London
and remarkably they have consistently supported the work of the centre
The Rhondda and Mid.Glamorgan County Councils which are now disbanded were equally
supportive.
The Late Viscount Tonypandy
A unique facet of the development of the Trealaw Christian Centre was the personal
encouragement of that great Welshman, Viscount Tonypandy (George Thomas, the
late speaker of the House of Commons) who was brought up as a boy in the community
of Trealaw
Purpose of Centre
The purpose of the Centre is to provide a 'Practical Christian Service' and
to make available the encouragement of Christian character(and the development
of same)
The Trealaw Christian Fellowship Centre opened on Saturday February 20th 1988, and the door key of the main entrance was turned by the late Mrs.Olive Manning of Rhys St. Trealaw, who was the eldest member and who along with her late husband had spent many years of distinguished Christian service in the Rhondda community.
First Pastor of New Church
The first Pioneer- Pastor of
the Centre was Pastor Andrew Jenkins who at the time of opening was a Coal Mining
Official with British Coal.and it's first administrator was his father, Thomas
R.Jenkins who had retired after a lifetime with British Coal.
Pastor A.Jenkins was the first British miner to be sponsored by British Coal
Enterprise to become a student at an establishment of excellence, namely Waverly
House,(C.W.R.) Surrey.
Pastor Jenkins remained Leader Pastor up to March 1995 prior to leaving to take
up full time post in the Newcastle area, North East England where he pastured
four churches. He is currently Pastor of the Apostolic Churches in -
Newport, Gwent, Weston-Super- Mare, and Houghton. He is also a member
of the Missionary Board of the Apostolic Church.
Photograph of Pastor Andrew Jenkins with his father Thomas. R.Jenkins
Continued
on the following page
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