IN a true labour of love the Reverend Shem Morgan has spent the last 12 months delving into the records of his church and come up with a definitve history of the first non-conformist church in Wales.

His fascination with human history has seen the 89-year-old put pen to paper and write down his findings about Tabernacle United Reformed Church, Llanvaches, in a book launched this month.

It tells the tale of how the place of worship, founded in 1639 by William Wroth, began in a barn in Carrow Hill, not far from its current location.

Before then, members worshipped in each other's houses as they were not allowed to hold public services.

Camarthan born Rev Morgan, a non-stipendary minister in that town in his younger days, came to the Llanvaches church in 1983.

Before that date, he worked as a fundraising director for charity Barnardos and now lives in Parc Seymour.

He said: "I came here to retire and I joined the church and they asked me to look after them for a few years."

Rev Morgan ended up taking services, the order of which is decided by the congregation, for the next 14 years.

After reading around 12 books on the history of the non-conformist church, some from the library, Rev Morgan thought it would be a good idea to write one himself.

He traced dates through the records office, Croesyceiliog, finding services in the 17th century were in Latin.

Today, the membership of the church stands at 40, but it has fluctuated over the years.

In 1798, just one person kept it going, and Rev Morgan said this is what he finds most interesting.

He said: "It is the fascination of the struggles and the way the people on a small income have sustained the church."

Keeping the congregation numbers up was probably helped by men who were absent from three ordinance Sundays being called to account by the deacon of the church.

In the 19th century, they had to give sufficient reasons why they did not attend.

Another interesting fact revealed in the book was a full length of pews cost £1 in 1909, with small ones at 15 shillings.

This book, called Tabernacle United Reformed Church, had a first draft published in 1989, but Rev Morgan put extra work in over the past year to bring it up to date.

In the 1980s, members raised £2,000 for an oxygen concentrator to be sent to Africa.

More recently, the church has forged links with outside organisations such as Health Help International, collecting for charities at Christmas time and fundraising for the aftermath of natural disasters.

The book is published through the church and is available, priced £3.50, from Roger George, Woodstock, Llanvaches, NP26 3AY. Proceeds will go to charities supported by the church.