Prayers said for four dead Welsh miners

Prayers were said in churches across Wales today in memory of the four men killed in a mining accident.

Friends and family of those that died came together in churches across the Swansea Valley, South Wales, to seek spiritual comfort.

The nation’s rugby team dedicated its World Cup win in New Zealand to the families of the four men and the Prince of Wales has agreed to become Patron of a appeal fund set up in their memory.

Today people lit candles, wrote condolences and sat in quiet reflection to remember Phillip Hill, 45, Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, and Garry Jenkins, 39.

Worshippers gathered at St John the Evangelist in Cilybebyll – the church closest to where Thursday’s disaster at the Gleision Colliery happened.

In a sermon, the Rev Martyn Perry called on people to put their trust in God - even when times are hard.

“It is easy for us to trust in God when things are going well and life is easy and you can see the pattern,” he said.

“Against that kind of background it is easy to trust but there are of course other times like this when we can’t see a purpose, when we can’t see a pattern and things are difficult and distressing.

“It is against this background that we wonder about our ability to trust God, even when we don’t really understand what God is doing.”

Rev Perry said everyone’s thoughts would be with the families of the four men, as well as five-year-old Harry Patterson, from nearby Alltwen, who died in a tragic accident on Tuesday.

“So there are times when it’s difficult and it’s against that particular background when it’s difficult to trust God that we benefit most when we do and receive comfort and help from God,” Rev Perry said.

“So today, that’s what we do. We turn to God and ask for his help because we know that after times are difficult the other better times can come.”

Speaking before the service, Rev Perry praised the local community for the way it had rallied around the families of the four miners.

“I think it has touched a nerve and the community has been so good in the way it has rallied around,” he said.

“What it has also done is reawaken the sufferings of the past because there will have been people over the decades who will have suffered in various ways as a result of working in mining.

“You will certainly have people who will be retired miners who will have that reawakened as a result of all of this.”