Twenty years ago, Liz Griffiths, had graduated in physics and was working in Cardiff as a computer specialist. This week she returns to the city as vicar of one of its most well known churches – St John’s, right in the heart of the capital. And she will be the first woman to lead the church’s ministry in its 800-year history.
The Revd Liz Griffiths will be inducted as vicar of the city parish of St John the Baptist, on Tuesday (June 21) by the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, who is also Bishop of Llandaff. Her appointment follows the retirement of the Revd Keith Kimber who served in the parish for eight years.
She returns to Cardiff with a passion for urban ministry, having spent six years serving as associate vicar in one of London’s most famous churches – St Martin- in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, renowned for its ministry to homeless people and its music. While there she helped the congregation through a £36m project to transform the building and its facilities.
Dr Morgan said, “I am delighted to appoint Liz Griffiths to serve the community at the heart of the capital city of Wales. To the thousand people who visit each week, St John’s is a haven of peace in a frantic retail environment where they can find spiritual refreshment. For others, it’s an uncomfortable reminder that there is more to life than getting and spending.
“As a parish church it supports those who work and live in the city centre and also ministers to those who exist on its edges, for whom the streets are home. Liz has a wealth of experience in city parish ministry and understands the challenges it brings and the opportunities it offers for the church to serve the community.”
Liz said, “I am thrilled to return to Cardiff and to take up this post as I particularly enjoy city centre ministry. Cardiff is a vibrant, exciting place but like all cities there is also despair and isolation. I believe St John’s has something distinctive to contribute as it engages with the social, economic and political life of the city as well as offering a valuable space for worship, silence and contemplation.”
Liz, 49, graduated from St Hugh’s College, Oxford. After a career as a computer consultant – which included jobs at BT and the AA in Cardiff – she trained for the priesthood at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, and was ordained as a priest in 1999. She served as a curate in both Bettws and Maindee, Newport, and then as a team vicar and college chaplain in Central Swansea. She moved to London to St Martin-in-the-Fields in 2003, leaving in 2009 to work as Vice Principal of Eastern Region Ministry Course based in Cambridge.
Her interests include bird-watching, walking, opera, poetry and art.
