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Catch up on Christian Aid’s 80th Anniversary Service in Cardiff
What a special evening of prayer, reflection and bilingual song marking 80 years of hope on 17 September 2025 at Tabernacl on the Hayes in Cardiff. Gathered were many friends from all around Wales and further afield - supporters, volunteers, church leaders, young learners and their teachers, former member of staff, representatives and partners from our sponsoring churches in Wales, colleagues in the international solidarity and humanitarian space, representatives from Welsh Government and the Senedd, as well Christian Aid Directors and Board of Trustees.
What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’. Micah 6:8
A revised order of service from the evening for use in chapel or church.
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Cymru and 80 years
The call to worship was led by Revd Dr Rosa Hunt, minster of Tabernacl Caerdydd.
Mari McNeill, Head of Christian Aid Cymru and Rev Andrew Sully, Chair of the Christian Aid Cymru National Committee led the service. They shared how local churches in Wales have been mobilising under the banner of Christian Aid Groups from the very beginning.
Mumbles Christian Aid group was one of the first groups to be established in Wales, founded in 1948 by Gwynn Hodge, a member of Mumbles Baptist Church and a Prisoner of War during World War Two. During the war, he was forced to work on the infamous Death Railway in Burma, now Myanmar. Once home, and after being inspired by the kindness of local Burmese villagers who pushed fresh food through the fence of his prison camp, he vowed to do what he could for those in need.
Today the support of local churches and Christian Aid Groups around Wales and the rest of the UK are the heartbeat of Christian Aid’s work, spearheaded by dedicated and faithful volunteers who mobilise action in our communities, in a world that still longs for peace and justice.
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Reflecting on 80 years – Sarah Mullally
A reflection on 80 years of Christian Aid’s history was shared by our Chair of Trustees, Bishop Sarah Mullally, looking back on the extraordinary path Christian Aid has travelled. Sarah reminded us that Christian Aid began with an act of solidarity—when churches across Britain responded to the devastation of war in 1945. Carrying us through the decades of responding to famines, floods and forced displacement, campaigning against apartheid and global debt, to tax dodging and the climate crisis, Sarah urged us to consider how the mandate remains the same today.
‘Today and tomorrow and the one after that, rather than harbour fear or nurse hatred, we will choose to respond with hope in action. Change is happening because everyday giants still bring the unstoppable power of hope to life. We choose love, the embodiment of hope, and hope is unstoppable.’
We listened to the voices of our partners in Sierra Leone who are supporting communities who are experiencing the realities of climate change.
Voices from Sierra Leone
We listened to the voices of our partners in Sierra Leone who are supporting communities who are experiencing the realities of climate change.
‘Hope is visible’ – Patrick Watt
‘…and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.’ Romans 5: 5
Christian Aid CEO Patrick Watt offered an address on Romans 5: 1-5 and the ‘unstoppable power of hope’. He reminded us that hope is visible: ‘Hope is visible, in our campaigning, and in the work our partners are doing in Gaza in the face of a humanitarian disaster’ and that we believe in a God who always confounds our expectations.
We listened to the voices of our partners in India as they seek to eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and uphold the dignity of the Dalit community.
Voices from India
We listened to the voices of our partners in India as they seek to eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and uphold the dignity of the Dalit community.
‘Hope is not passive’ – Jane Hutt MS
Attending the service on behalf of Welsh Government, Jane Hutt, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, shared how small nations can make a big difference and that faith communities play an essential role in tackling injustice and poverty globally and in Wales: ‘Hope is essential for community cohesion, it’s a powerful force for good’.
‘Christian Aid’s work stands as a beacon of hope. Long may it continue.’'
Recommitting and giving thanks, together
We gave thanks for eight decades of faithful witness and courageous action, while recognising that the work is not finished. Words of recommitment were written by Dr Cynan Llwyd, General Secretary of Cytûn: Churches Together in Wales, and served as a powerful call to action ‘Rooted in a heritage of song and story, shaped by generations who worked and prayed for a fairer world, we stand together in hope’.
Representatives from Christian Aid’s sponsoring churches in Wales stood in a visible moment of recommitment to Christian Aid’s work, followed by prayers by Rev Nan Powell Davies, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Wales.
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Inspired by the Welsh hymns ‘O Fryniau Caersalem’ and ‘Pen Calfaria’, Dr Rowan Williams read his thought-provoking poem, ‘Bryniau Caersalem’, written for Christian Aid Cymru for this 80th anniversary.
We also heard a piece by Dr Grahame Davies CVO, ‘Cymer fi gyda thi/Take me with you’. Based not on St David’s final sermon (where we hear those famous words, ‘do the small things’), but on his final words as recorded in Rhygyfarch’s Life of St David, ‘take me with you’, the piece was read bilingually by Grahame, along with George Hurst and Florence Leighton, learners from St Andrew’s Major Church in Wales Primary School.
Hope moves us forward
Our shared history in Wales and globally challenges and inspires us, as the voices of our partners today move us forward in hope. Thank you for standing with us and for the ongoing commitment to work for peace and justice, so that every neighbour may know dignity and life in all its fullness.
God of all hope, fill us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is indeed unstoppable.
Amen.
