Ad Clerum

4ydd o Ionawr 2021 January 4th

Annwyl Gyfeillion,

I think that there were probably many of us who breathed a sigh of relief on New Year’s Eve when we said ‘goodbye’ to 2020.  It has certainly been the strangest year in my life, and, although it is far from over yet, we can begin to look forward to a post-Covid era, if and when the vaccination programme bears fruit.  I have friends who make light of the whole concept of a new year.  It’s only a change on an wholly invented calendar, they say, so why make a fuss?  So what if the planet has completed another rotation of the sun, who is to say why that is of any significance?

I like to think of 1^st January as a chance to reset: not necessarily by making all sorts of new year’s resolutions, creating as they do a mixed set of outcomes, but in focussing my aspirations for life and ministry.  One author I have come to value over the last two years is Joyce Rupp, a Roman Catholic writer on the spiritual life and a member of the Servite Order, and she speaks of her attitude towards the new year in this way:

I set aside my fears, worries, concerns. I open my life to mystery, to beauty, to hospitality, to questions, to the endless opportunity of discovering you in my relationships, and to all the silent wisps of wonder that will draw me to your heart.

This chimes in sentiment with one of my favourite verses in the Old Testament, in the book of the prophet Hosea.  Hosea was called to be a prophet of judgement, and yet also of the fidelity of God, and in a lyrical moment, about halfway through the book of his prophecies as we have received them, it is written:

So let us know—let us press on to know the Lord. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth. (Hosea 6.3)

I want to invite you to begin the new year with me on a positive note.  Let us focus upon the mystery of our faith, on the beauty that we see in life, on the making of space for God and for our neighbour.  Let us be refreshed by the Lord, and affirm not only what has already been revealed in our faith journeys, but press on towards the new things that God has to teach us in 2021.  As another prophet, Jeremiah, bore witness to God’s intentions:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  (Jeremiah 29.11)

These words may have been directed at the ancient Israelites, as they sought to make sense of their national vocation after being defeated and taken into exile, but I am persuaded that a faithful God surely speaks them also to us in line with the dynamic of faith which I have outlined above.  From the standpoint of such a faith, I wish you every blessing for 2021.  Let us know, let us press on to know the mystery and the beauty in the things that God has in store for us.

Responding to the Current Covid Situation

Nevertheless, we have to acknowledge that Covid continues to throw up many challenges.  The easing of lockdown over Christmas has triggered the inevitable consequence of renewed growth in the spread of the virus, and, it appears, of a new and more infectious variant of the virus, so that there has had to be, and will be, a strengthening of the restrictions that we shall have to make to ensure the well-being of ourselves and our Health Service.

After a discussion with the Bishop’s Staff Team this morning, and listening to reports of Christmas and New Year from around the diocese, we have together come to the conclusion that so great is the present uncertainty that we should, as a diocese, err on the side of caution.

I have therefore decided to advise all clergy and mission area leaders to suspend all physical public acts of worship for the remainder of this month, or at least to review their risk assessments.

At a time when we are asked by government not to mingle households, and not to meet indoors, when all but essential shops are closed, and business meetings kept to a minimum, it seems sensible to the Bishop’s Staff for us to be cautious.  It is true that while the government are not currently requiring Churches to close, their recommendation is very strong:

Places of worship are able to open for communal worship in all four alert levels. While we recognise the importance of communal worship, the advice, particularly in alert level 4, is for people not to congregate whenever possible (my emphasis). The safest option is to stay home and not socially mix at all and people who are clinically extremely vulnerable should take extra precautions to minimise their contact with others.  Alert level 4 is the highest and most severe alert level therefore those who are responsible for places of worship should consider whether there are alternative ways of holding worship services and providing support for each other whilst they are in this alert level. For example, faith leaders may choose to broadcast services without a congregation.

At the very least, clergy should review their current practice taking into account this advice.  The broadcasting of services and use of social media and other virtual methods of collective worship should, wherever possible, be pursued as the alternative.  Other services such as weddings and funerals could continue to be organised but subject to strict adherence to guidance, and only where they cannot be postponed.

By the same token, I am also suspending all recruitment to clergy and lay positions in the diocese for the same period.  Although there are some existing vacancies and more to come, I do not believe that we can generate the field of applications we would like to see for some significant appointments at the present time, and I would like to review this matter before proceeding.

I am currently taking advice with my colleagues on the Bench, and in the Provincial Offices, and we understand that government are likely to be offering new guidance in the near future.  My hope is to offer common definitive guidance following the Bench meeting next week.

Hwyl a Helo

I am pleased to announce that I have made the following appointments.  God willing, I shall ordain six candidates to the diaconate this Summer.  They are:

• Stephen Hayes, who will serve in the Tanat Vyrnwy MA,
• Adrian Johnson, who will serve in the Mold MA,
• Chris Lawton, who will serve in the Aber-Morfa MA,
• Natasha Quinn Thomas, who will serve in the Dyffryn Clwyd MA,
• Patrick Williams, who will also serve in the Mold MA, and
• Michael Winwood, who will serve Maelor MA, and continue in the chaplaincy team at HMP Berwyn.

I am also delighted that Hermione Morris has accepted my invitation to succeed Heather Fenton as Rural Affairs Officer.  Hermione, who is rooted in the Tanat Vyrnwy Mission Area, and is also a farmer’s wife, is well suited to take on Heather’s mantle in advocating and encouraging our ministry as a diocese to the rural and agricultural communities of our part of Wales.

Canon Pauline Walker has announced that she intends to retire on 3^rd March this year.  Pauline has been a very faithful minister since her ordination in this diocese in 1993, and she and Ivor will be much missed, although I am glad to say that they will continue living in this diocese, so they will not be entirely absent from our lives.

I am sorry to record the death of Canon Trevor Davies just before Christmas. Trevor was deaconed in 1956 and priested in 1957 in this diocese, and served with distinction among us all his ministry.  Trevor was supported throughout his ministry by his wife Marjorie and daughters Hilary and Rachel, to whom we send our condolences and assurance of prayers.

Canon Quentin Bellamy has now retired from the Aled Mission Area, and although, as stated above, formal recruitment processes have been suspended, the Archdeacon of St Asaph would nevertheless be open to an early discussion with any clerics in this diocese who wish to think about discerning a vocation to caring for the churches of old Colwyn.

2021 Diary and Events

This diary below gives dates for events in which all priests are encouraged to attend, or required to attend as part of their professional commitment.  Please ensure that they are in your diary, even where the exact format is open to change.  Please note in particular that the residential Clergy School in September 2021 is planned to take place physically and will be a professional requirement for all stipendiary clergy, and that may require additional planning by clergy with families in order to be present.  Any potential clashes should be flagged up with the Esgobty team as soon as possible.

Some of the key services are still not likely to happen in the format of our regular pattern in 2021.  I hope that the diocesan services will be live-streamed from the Cathedral in some format.  For the Chrism Eucharist especially, therefore, I should be grateful if all clergy and licensed ministers would enter the service in their diaries to be present online if no other way to retain a corporate commitment can be discerned.

Confirmations are actually unlikely to happen until the autumn, while attendance at the ordinations are likely to be determined by the regulations in place at that time.  Even so, attendance at this summer’s ordinations are likely to be limited and ticket only events, but further information will be communicated at the earliest opportunity.

Dates for later in 2021

1 April                         Chrism Eucharist & Renewal of Vows (Cathedral)*

3 April                        Easter Vigil and Confirmation (Cathedral)*

23 May                       Pentecost Confirmation (Cathedral)*

26 June                      Petertide Priestly Ordinations (Cathedral)

3 July                         Petertide Diaconal Ordinations (Cathedral)

20-23 September     Clergy Residential School at The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire. (We are planning for this event to take place physically still at the moment.)

9 October                 Diocesan Conference (venue and format to be decided)

Notes and Queries

Lent Prayer Card 2021

Preparations are in hand to make the Diocesan Lent Prayer Card available to you later this month.  The prayer this year has been composed by Archdeacon John and focuses on the theme of ‘Fortitude’.  Early orders will be met in full.  Otherwise, please would mission area leaders/administrators request cards from Michael at Esgobty as soon as possible.  Cards will be available where not pre-ordered on a first come, first served basis.

I am grateful as ever for all those of you kind enough to send Christmas greetings to Clare and to me.  May the Christ child be carried in our hearts, and revealed to the world by our love, as we, like the magi, offer to him rare gifts: the obedience of our service and ministry.

In Christ,