A woman from Bala, Wales, has been awarded the inaugural Mary Jones Prize, in memory of the young girl who walked 26 miles to get a Bible. Mary Thomas was given the award at the Mary Jones World visitor centre at Llanycil, near Bala, by James Catford, group chief executive of the Bible Society.…
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This was the title of December’s Westminster Conference, held in the comfortable premises of the Salvation Army’s Regent Hall, Oxford Street, London. This two-day conference is an opportunity for church leaders and others, men and women, to feast heart and mind on material both intellectually stimulating and spiritually edifying. The conference’s six papers are…
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The story of how, around 200 years ago, 15-year-old Mary Jones walked barefoot over the hills of North Wales to Bala to buy a Bible is part of our Christian heritage. She saved up and made a 26-mile trek on rough paths and over rocky terrain to reach Rev. Thomas Charles, because she so wanted her own…
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If I were ever to be cast away on a desert island, with only one person from the whole history of Christianity for company, I think I would choose Thomas Charles (although it would be a close call between him and William Williams Pantycelyn). Why Thomas Charles? On the 200th anniversary of his death…
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The historically significant Llanycil church in Bala has been rescued from redundancy and is to be converted into a heritage centre. The Llanycil church is linked to key individuals of the eighteenth and nineteenth century Welsh Revival, like Rev. Thomas Charles and John Evans. Thomas Charles and other significant individuals like Lewis Edwards, Dafydd…
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The gravestone epitaph concludes with the words: 'North Wales (the more immediate field of his ministerial labours for thirty years) will probably retain traces of his various and strenuous exertions to promote the kingdom of Christ till time shall be no more'. The grave is that of Thomas Charles of Bala, best known for…
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Last month, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Charles of Bala, we rehearsed the well-known story of ‘Mary Jones and her Bible’. However, Mary’s story is not just that of a young girl walking to Bala — there is more to it than that. The plight of Mary Jones, and others…
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