Parishioners across south-east Wales are being invited to share their ideas for the future of the Church in Wales with a team of advisers who are conducting an independent root and branch review.
Open meetings are being held in Cardiff and Abergavenny next week to give people the chance to meet the review team and have their say on a wide range of issues – from funding church buildings to reorganising structures.
The review was commissioned by the Church earlier this year with the aim of addressing fundamental questions about its role and structures as it approaches its centenary in 2020. It is made up of three independent consultants who will report back later this year.
At the open meetings parishioners will be asked what aspect of both their diocese and the Church they feel most positive about and what changes they would like to see to make its ministry more effective. They will also be asked how they would address challenges such as the predicted fall in clergy numbers and financial resources.
Bishops and senior staff will meet the review group separately and will not be present at the open meetings.
The three members of the review team are: Lord Richard Harries, the former Bishop of Oxford, who chairs the group; Professor Charles Handy, former professor at the London Business School; and Professor Patricia Peattie, former Chair of the Episcopal Church in Scotland’s Standing Committee.
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, urged people to attend the meetings. He said, “This is your chance to help shape the Church of the future and ensure it is fit for purpose for generations to come.
“We want everyone to be involved in this review and we will all have to be prepared to take seriously its findings and to be open to the possibility of significant change in our structures, ministry, use of buildings and other resources if it is seen to be in the best interests of the church and its mission to the people and communities of Wales.”
People can also take part in the review by sending written observations to the Chair of the Working Group at the following address by 12 January: Lord Harries of Pentregarth, The House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW
The meetings in Cardiff and Abergavenny are the last of six held across Wales. The dates and venues are as follows:
- January 10, Cathedral School, Llandaff, Cardiff, 7.30pm
- January 11, St Mary’s Priory, Abergavenny, 2.30pm
