On Good Friday, I took part in the Caergybi CYTUN Walk of Witness from St Mary's RC Church to the Millennium Cross in town. The walk is done in silence, and at the cross there is a short bilingual service consisting of hymns, readings and prayers, and this year for the first time a Bible story told by the Open the Book team.
In Holyhead, this is a positive event on a number of levels, not least because churches and chapels, Welsh and English come together and are seen to do so publicly. Division between church and chapel and across language divide is well known within Wales, and to do something together publicly is a dramatic statement.
The walk (no more than 10 minutes long) follows a wooden cross and a banner bearing the CYTUN logo. It is the only public act of witness that we do together. There are other events and activities members of CYTUN get up to throughout the year, not least the support of the Foodbank under the banner of the Trussell Trust.
As we pass up the high street, those watching tend to fall silent. Some know what is happening and others clearly seem not to. 'What is going on?', one middle aged woman said to another, with the response, 'I think it is something religious'. Clearly the answer to that observation is 'yes', 'no', 'but' and quite possibly 'and'. The events of the first Good Friday cannot be described as a religious event. Indeed the unjust execution of an innocent human being is not at all comfortable.
There is no sense that we are claiming any particular ground or public space. We are offering worship, remembering, bearing witness to our faith under the town's Millennium Cross, erected by the Town Council to commemorate the Millennium.
Christianity has shaped Holyhead. The story of Cybi, the celtic monk who was gifted the Roman fort in the middle of the six century, has given the town its name, Caergybi: Cybi's fort. There are images of Cybi on public display throughout the town. Whilst, many many have long since forgotten that this place on the edge of Anglesey was a significant place of pilgrimage, and at one stage with the presence of a number of so many celtic saints in the vicinity, it is highly likely that the town was known as Holyhead. Indeed, those tasked with increasing tourism to the area, have made much of the fact that the area is Ynys Cybi (Cybi's Island - there he is again) or Holy Island. One might therefore suppose that faith groups are welcome to witness openly in the public sphere without it being seen necessarily as trying to dominate. Unlike many areas of the British Isles, particularly the urban conurbations, Holyhead does not have much of a faith mix. There is a mosque in a house and we do have according to census figures more than our share of Jedi knights (here is me attempting some cultural relevance)
The key thing then for us is not about cultural appropriateness, but whether we witness in a manner that is understandable and indeed whether anyone is actually watching. Or whether there is just something good about Welsh and English speaking Christians from churches and chapels retelling our story and reminding the town of its own story, especially as it wants to use the story to shape its own future.
I am sure there will be more later.
