Press Releases 25th November 2022
2023 a year of Jubilee to celebrate 1450 years of Asaph, says Bishop in his Advent Message
2023 a year of Jubilee to celebrate 1450 years of Asaph, says Bishop in his Advent Message
The Bishop of St Asaph has used his Advent Message to outlines plans in 2023 to mark the 1450th anniversary since the appointment of Asaph as Bishop.
The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron, the 79th Bishop of St Asaph, filmed an Advent Message which was played in churches across north-east and mid Wales on Sunday (27 November), kept as the first Sunday in Advent.
In the message Bishop Gregory says: “2023 is the 1450th anniversary of the date that is traditionally given for the consecration of Asaph, as the second bishop of the diocese, following St Kentigern, also known as St Mungo, who is said to have founded the diocese while exiled from the Diocese of Glasgow. So, 2023 is an important occasion: 1450 years of the life of the Teulu Asaph.”
As part of plans to mark the anniversary, Bishop Gregory has deemed 2023 a Jubilee Year, encouraging people to focus on the joys of life as a Christian. He explains: “The Bible has a concept of a sort of “Sabbath of Sabbaths” so that in the 50th year of the life of the people of God, a Jubilee was proclaimed. A time when people could be liberated from cares and burdens and adopt a fresh approach to God. So, we’re going to declare Asaph 1450 as a year of Jubilee. And by that, we want to encourage you to concentrate, not on the burdens of church life, not on the difficulties, but on the joys of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.”
The Advent edition of the diocesan magazine, Teulu Asaph, includes more detailed information on the plans to mark the occasion. You can read the information here: Asaph 1450
Bishop Gregory’s Advent Message is available in five formats – a film, along with an audio recording in Welsh and English and a written letter in Welsh and English. It will be shown, heard or read in all 210 churches across the Diocese of St Asaph on Advent Sunday. You can watch the Advent Message at https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/bishopgregory/advent-message/
The Diocese of St Asaph is part of the Church in Wales, an autonomous Province within the worldwide Anglican Communion of Churches. The diocese is a community of 210 churches covering the counties of Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham and parts of Gwynedd and Powys. It looks after 50 schools, including one shared faith secondary school.