“This is a very rural community,” Paul and Robyn explain over coffee in their home in Talgarth, “and that means there are networks of connections and life experiences that people have around here which are quite different to a more urban setting!”
A rural setting
Paul and Robyn Smethurst moved to Breconshire two years ago, following God’s call to serve as Missional Ministers in the local Baptist Association. As part of this, they shepherd the small congregation at Penyrheol, three miles out of Talgarth. Like many nonconformist chapel buildings across Wales, the buildings at Penyrheol are set in a deeply rural setting – in this case, commanding stunning views over the mountains and vales of Bannau Brycheiniog. Many members at the chapel had long since felt that something more could be done of the location to engage with the wider community but were unsure what.
“We quickly felt that Penyrheol would be a perfect setting to try out Scripture Union’s ‘Go Wild’ club idea.” Developed over recent years, the idea behind Go Wild is very simply to explore creation together with children – and through that to help them get thinking about the Creator. With a large and interesting outdoor space and converted chapel ‘Stable’ (i.e. small vestry) at Penyrheol, and a number of families with historic connections to the chapel, the ingredients were clearly there to try out the idea.
Go Wild! Club
They launched the club in May of 2023, with four families coming along and everyone getting involved in building a bug hotel together. As the Smethursts explain, the format is simple; to take a creation-related theme each month (water, trees etc.), to explore it in a funny, messy, hands-on way – and then to build on that with a spiritual exploration.
“It’s great fun – and doing that hands-on work together, whether that’s wildflower seed bombs, making blackberry ink or woodwork – draws everyone in and allows us to build that community. Conversations can then take place naturally, from day-to-day chit chat through to much more spiritually significant ones,” Paul explains.
Connection
Over time, the group has grown organically to nine families, and the Smethursts are clear that it was always the hope that this would be a means of engaging with entire families – not just the children, or the parents or the grandparents. “As relationships have deepened, the spiritual element has also deepened. We’ve been able to go from introducing the concept of prayer, for instance, to telling a Bible story related to one of our themes. And there’s been a natural crossover starting between the club and chapel services at Christmas or Easter, for instance.”
One of the unanticipated fruits of this has been an invitation to run a parallel Go Wild club at the local primary school. Robyn explains how they now run a weekly after-school club there, and though the content has to be simpler, it’s still already proven to be a significant means of building relationships.
The work of discerning where the spirit is moving locally continues – but the Smethursts are encouraged that a community of young families is now meeting regularly at beautiful Penyrheol chapel amid the glories of mid-Wales’ creation – and that they are starting to discover who its Creator may be.