Beacon Project — St Mary's Brecon

Brecon Roof Tops, St Mary's Tower & Pen y Fan 3.jpeg

The Beacon Project

A Transformative Vision for St Mary’s Brecon

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude . . . It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

The Beacon Project is a bold programme of mission and capital development at St Mary’s Church, Brecon. It will transform our ministry in Brecon while also contributing to the Brecon Beacons National Park’s ambition to transform Brecon into “a place synonymous with inspirational activity, linked to local excellence in the creative arts and the inspiring experience of the landscape setting.” The Beacon Project will also take advantage of St Mary’s heritage and location in the centre of Brecon to offer residents, tourists, and pilgrims a vibrant centre for community support, wellbeing, culture, and the arts.

“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”

— 1 Corinthians 13.13

A Beacon of Faith, Hope, and Love . . .

St Mary’s has stood in the centre of Brecon since at least the twelfth century when it was founded by the monks of Brecon Priory as a chapel-of-ease. Its size, however, is testimony to the fact that it was never simply a chapel—for much of its history it was probably Brecon’s de facto parish church. But it was not until 1923 that it formally became a parish and received its first vicar. As we enter our centenary year as a parish, we will seek to transform our church into a beacon of faith, hope, and love where people can encounter the risen Christ and be transformed by his love.

. . . in the Heart of Brecon

St Mary’s Church stands in a prominent position in the centre of town where St Mary’s Street and High Street converge. It is flanked by art galleries, pubs, shops, cafés, and our imposing sixteenth-century tower is visible from miles away. Because of its prominent position, a community-focused and vibrant St Mary’s is integral to any plans for the transformation of Brecon. The Beacon Project will seek to make our property a true asset to the civic life of Brecon by becoming a place of support, community, art, and performance in the heart of Brecon.

A Transformative Vision for St Mary’s Brecon

Build

Although St Mary’s Church is a much loved and frequently used building, it needs both an uplift and more areas of flexible space for use by the community and local charities for meetings and other activities. We are now exploring affordable ways of achieving redevelopment of the interior to create:
More attractive worship space that can accommodate our growing congregations;
Better café experience so that St Mary’s continues to be a warm and welcoming place throughout the week;
Flexible space for offices, meetings, and activities.
We intend to do this in ways that are deeply sympathetic to the building’s character and heritage.
Serve

As much as we treasure our building, it isn’t the church. The people who gather here to worship and serve others are. All our intended building works will aim at supporting St Mary’s ministry and community engagement. To this end, we will begin by forming three teams of service:
St Luke’s Guild, which is responsible for providing pastoral care and support.
St Martha’s Guild, which is responsible for organizing fellowship and hospitality.
St Eluned’s Guild, which is responsible for ensuring excellent worship.
These guilds will also cooperate in reaching out to the Brecon community.
Finance

None of our aims is achievable or sustainable without reliable financial support. The costs for keeping the church building open, maintaining its fabric, and funding our ministries are high. Obtaining funding and creating new streams of income for new ministries and building work require strategic thinking and long-term planning.
We believe that we can move St Mary’s towards financial self-sufficiency within the next five years.
Work is already underway to establish a Friends of St Mary’s Brecon that will help to maintain the building and encourage wider use of St Mary’s by the town community. And position St Mary’s better as a place for concerts and events.