Looking around St Timothy's Church in Cardiff, it's hard not to be taken in by its endearing quaintness. The walls are meagrely adorned with the Stations of the Cross and little else. Its plain, pale arched ceiling is nothing like the sky-scraping, spectacular churches you often see, and the religious statues around the building are modest rather than towering, life-size objects.
But, for what it lacks in ornate embellishments, this small, unassuming church in Heol Pennar, Caerau, makes up for in character. As people flock inside they look around and, recognising familiar faces, embrace tightly, chat idly and laugh.
The occasion is a poignant one; after 66 years of serving its community, St Timothy's Church has been holding its last ever services this week before it closes for good. Since opening in 1957 as a temporary location for the growing parish at the time, it has been a community hub, having hosted countless services and everything from Brownies and Scouts to youth groups, Labour Party meetings and much more.
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But now its congregation - of which there are about 50 or so regulars - are set for a different future, as the land the church is on is being sold with plans to convert it into affordable housing. For some of its longest-attending devotees, it's the end of an era.
Speaking to churchgoers arriving ahead of the final service on Thursday, February 2, there is a mixture of sadness and celebration. "It's such a shame," I hear one woman turn around and say to a friend in the row of chairs behind (there are no traditional pews.) "You've never had such a warm welcome as you do when you come into this church."
Behind me, two friends smile as they recall how they first met at one of the church's services when they were children and still go every single week. They tell me others have met future partners and mourned the loss of loved ones inside its four walls. One church-goer boasts that six past members of the congregation have gone on to join the priesthood - an impressive record, I'm told.
"I've been going since I was a little girl," says long-time churchgoer Selma Parris, 64. "I started when I was six, left when I was about 13 and came back when I was 26. I go every Sunday, unless I'm sick. It's gut-wrenching [to see it close.] It's outdone its run, hasn't it? It was only supposed to be [used] for six years. We've done well out of it." She has a hint of sadness and acceptance in her voice as she speaks.
Audrey Cridland, 85, who proudly claims she is the oldest attendee, says she was involved in the church for many years and is "devastated" at its impending closure. "I was here when the hall was on the end," she explains, pointing towards the altar at the other end of the room. "They had the Scouts, the Cubs, the Guides. We also had a baby clinic. We had quite the community. I'm devastated, I can tell you that now.
"We've been here many years. I've cleaned the church, stripped it for bingo and put it all back again with my husband who was the caretaker. I was down here seven days a week. I live just up the road."
Plans submitted last November by Cadwyn Housing Association propose demolishing the church building and replacing it with 15 affordable flats. The plans have yet to be approved but the church is already winding down its services which will be moved to St David's Church in Cowbridge Road West, from next week.
Father Jesse Smith, priest in charge of St David's and St Timothy's, explained that the church was no longer in a fit state to hold events which he said had prompted the decision to sell it.
"It was always one parish but two churches," he said. "The church was only meant to last a few years but just kept going and going. It has become so outworn past its original purpose and we just don't have the money to do the necessary repairs to keep it going. We hope to use the money from the sale to refurbish nearby St David's, where services will move from next week."
The final service is similar to the usual ones in most ways, but in keeping with the occasion, there are notable deviations. Speaking at the altar, Fr Smith mentions how people have come from as far as Scotland and Pembrokeshire to attend the last night at the church and recalls some of the names of past attendees who have passed away over the years.
Denise Pole, once a regular churchgoer at St Timothy's, is visiting from Scotland and wanted to make sure she came to the final service. "I've been coming over 60 years," she says. "[I was] married here, my son was christened here, [we've had] family funerals. I met my husband at the youth club. It's been responsible for a number of marriages - my friend met her partner at a drama club here. In the '60s there were discos. We came to Brownies here, Guides. It was the real hub of the community."
Denise points out that the church, if you take away its obvious religious references, might look more like a community centre, which explains its numerous uses over the years. "There used to be doors and a stage when it was first built, so during the week it was used for all these different clubs - your bingo, discos. My husband and I used to clean it on a Saturday to earn some money towards our wedding. You'd have to polish the floor and set it up as a church.
"There's been about six homegrown priests come through from here. A lot of churches, considering this doesn't look like a church, it's produced what it was meant to - a continuation of the faith."
Selma adds that the church has been more than just a place for people to meet and practice their faith. "It's made us into a family," she says, simply. Denise adds: "We always talk about our church family. I've come down from Scotland - we moved away five years ago but we've come back knowing this was the final service. It was an important one."
Churchgoers tell me St Timothy's, like many, has suffered from falling numbers in recent years, especially since Covid. Many parishes are suffering from financial struggles meaning they are often unable to afford the renovations needed in ageing church buildings. "I can remember coming here when I was a little girl, about five, and it was heaving. And we had so many men here," says Cynthia Hill, 66. "Then obviously, like most churches, it's an issue now. I think most churches have [been struggling]. I go to meetings and most churches are struggling financially."
Many of the attendees on the night are older - though there are some younger people and families - in what perhaps reflects broader trends in recent years. In 2022 the proportion of people in England and Wales identifying as Christian fell below 50% for the first time, and the median age of people identifying as Christian was 51 at the 2021 census, up from 45 in 2011, according to new analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week.
Selma adds that the pandemic had reduced numbers after months when services weren't allowed to be held at all, or in severely reduced numbers. She admitted: "We have lost a lot of people over the years."
Fr Smith, who has led St David's and St Timothy's since 2008, conceded the closure would be a "real loss" for the community in Caerau but said he hoped regulars would join them in their new home in St David's.
"Weekly, post-Covid, we have about 30 people coming on a Sunday. If everyone came together, we'd have maybe 50. We've got people coming from far afield, from Scotland and from west Wales, for our last service. We've had clubs, community cafes, hot meals - everything you can think of. It's a real place I know people got their education, people who came when they were younger and have gone on to join the priesthood. It's touched so many people in the community. It's a real loss."
That simultaneous feeling of an end, and of a continuation is present throughout an emotional final service. There are visible tears and a silent dabbing of cheeks at times, and when it comes to offering peace, people search around to smile and offer peace to those a few rows back, familiar faces they've come to know so well over the years.
The final hymn is even more full-throated than usual, with an extra chorus added in for good measure before people gather in the room next door for a celebratory drink and food to mark their final few minutes inside the church.
There is a sense of, as Fr Smith puts it himself, "sharing the sadness" that comes with the building's time coming to an end, but he is keen to stress that, for the community, their faith is more than just bricks and mortar.
"The church is more than just a building - it's the people," he tells me, adding that the church will be bringing many of the icons from the church to its new home, a symbolic and physical gesture of ushering in a new era. "Our work at St Timothy's will continue at St David's. The life of the church will continue, just in a different place."
Cynthia Hill says she also hopes the change will be minimal, her tone bright as she says: "We'll have the same service, we'll take all the icons, the Stations of the Cross. So I don't think it will be much different at all, because the service will be the same as we've always known it."
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