Annwyl Gyfeillion,

I hope that many of you will have had an excellent weekend for the Platinum Jubilee.  We have just been through a remarkable occasion, celebrating a Head of State who has served for seventy years, and most of us cannot remember, even if we were born, a time when Elizabeth was not Queen.  It is right that we give thanks for this outstanding act of service to our nation.

However, I hope that we also made something of Pentecost.  It is a major festival of the Church, and yet may have been overlooked in all the excitement.  Interestingly, the way in which the Jubilee has attracted and distracted us away from Pentecost this weekend may also be said of the Coronation itself.

We can be so distracted by the splendour and the regalia and the imposition of the Crown that we often overlook two essential religious aspects of the Coronation Service. First, the Coronation always takes place in the context of a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and the monarch makes his or her communion. Secondly, the most important element of the service after the Communion is not the crowning, but the anointing.  The first is a reminder that even the monarch kneels before the presence of Christ, and that we are sustained only by God’s grace made available through his sacrifice upon the Cross, a fact that I am sure that Queen Elizabeth would be the first to acknowledge.  The second is actually an invocation of the Holy Spirit, and a recognition that only the Holy Spirit can empower us to meet the obligations of the vocation to which we are called.

As we go forward into the brief season of Pentecost, let us seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who alone can direct and empower our ministry.  Let us renew our faith in God who sends us the Comforter and Advocate, and rejoice in the promise of such strength from on high.

In a few weeks, by God’s grace, I will be anointing the six candidates of this diocese for the sacred priesthood.  Like Her Majesty the Queen, they will be vested with robes and presented with insignia. the Scriptures and a chalice and paten.  Like the coronation, I hope we shall have a splendid service, but at its heart, there will be the same two elements, the celebration of the Eucharist, which won our salvation, and the invocation of the Holy Spirit.  May God bless our priest – and our deacon candidates – and pray that the Holy Spirit may empower and sustain them.

The Petertide Ordinations

I very much hope that you will have the ordination services in your diary, and that you will have avoided other commitments such as weddings.  It is so important that we support one another in ministry, and I very much hope that you will be able to attend one or other of the ordinations.  God willing we will have eleven candidates this year: six priests to be ordained on June 25^th and five deacons to be ordained early next month on July 2^nd.  Both services start 10am in the Cathedral. Please remember daily in your prayers the following whom, God willing, I intend to ordain to the presbyterate:

• Stephen Hayes, serving in the Tanat Vyrnwy Mission Area,
• Adrian Johnson, serving in the Mold Mission Area,
• Chris Lawton, serving in the Aber-Morfa Mission Area,
• Natasha Quinn Thomas, serving in the Dyffryn Clwyd Mission Area,
• Patrick Williams, serving in the Wrexham Mission Area, and
• Michael Winwood, serving in the Maelor Mission Area

Please also pray for the following whom, God willing, I intend to ordain to the diaconate the following Saturday.

• Alyson Goldstein, who will serve in the Denbigh MA,
• Dan Morgan, who will serve in the Mold MA,
• Grace Lomas, who will serve in the Aberconwy MA,
• Marcus Pipe, who will serve in the Wrexham MA, and
• Gareth Williams, who will also serve in the Estuary and Mountain MA

We will look forward to welcoming Archdeacon Mones Farah, Archdeacon for New Communities in the Diocese of St Davids, as retreat conductor and ordination preacher for the priests, and Bishop John Lomas offering a similar ministry for the deacons a week later.

The support of their new brothers and sisters in orders a priority, and can I therefore ask all clergy and licensed lay ministers to be present at least one of the services to share in the joy of welcoming newly ordained deacons and priests into the Teulu Asaph. The Dean will appreciate notification of your attendance in order to plan appropriate seating for robed clergy and readers.  Please would you kindly inform the cathedral office of your intention to attend either service or both: cerijones@cinw.org.uk.

As usual, car parking will be available at Ysgol Glan Clwyd on Upper Denbigh Road to supplement parking at the Cathedral’s car off Upper Denbigh Road.  A limited amount of disabled parking places will be available near the cathedral on the north side, accessed off the High Street.  It is advisable to make a reservation request to the cathedral office: cerijones@cinw.org.uk.

Faith Hope & Love : The Course, The Launch

It was really good to welcome representatives of nearly all of the Mission Area to the Ascension Day service in the Cathedral to launch ‘Faith Hope and Love – The Course’, which gave insight into the hard work of the archdeacons and others to produce a course designed to encourage engagement with our Diocesan Focus.

As you will know, the course runs over five sessions and the expectation is that every Mission Area will run the course for, but not limited to, their MAC members and other key officers in our churches. Each session uses a mix of video and discussion questions, including a short introductory video from me, and is designed to last about an hour. The course will encourage people to reflect on their own story and experiences of Faith Hope and Love, as well as generate questions and action points to help shape the future life of our mission areas.  For those who find that they would like to explore these questions further, there is also a supplementary series of Bible Studies.

All the material has been written and produced ‘in-house’, and we are immensely grateful to all who have contributed to it, and we wholeheartedly commend this material to you.  The course is now available for download from the Diocesan website.

Diary and Events

This diary below includes dates for events where all clergy are encouraged to attend, or required to attend as part of their professional commitment.  Please ensure that these dates are in your diary, even where the exact format may be open to change.

JUNE and JULY

22, 24 & 25 June       Petertide Ember Days

25 June                       Ordination of Priests, Cathedral, 1000hr

02 July                        Ordination of Deacons, Cathedral, 1000hr

10 July                        Confirmation at Hope Street, Wrexham,  1600hr

11 July                        Licensing of George Bearwood at Emmanuel Church, Bistre, at 1900hr

16 July                        Licensing of Lay Ministers, Cathedral, 1400hrs

24 July                        Evening Prayer and Hellins Lecture, Cathedral, 1530hr

LATER in the year

11 Septr                     Confirmation at St John’s, Pool Quay, 1500hr

23, 25 & 26 Septr     Michaelmas Ember Days

28 Septr                     Retired Clergy Association Eucharist and Lunch

08 Octr                       Diocesan Conference (online)

23 Octr                       EMMA Confirmation at St Peter’s, Holywell, 1500hr

14-17 Novr                Residential Clergy School (Swanwick Conference Centre)

22 Novr                      MAL Training Day (venue and format to be decided)

14,16 & 17 Decr       Advent Ember Days

2023

 24 January                 Clergy Synod

21-22 March             MAL residential (please note this date is a provisional one at this time)

21 Septr                     Clergy Synod

21 Novr                      MAL training day (please note this date is a provisional one at this time)

Hellins Lecture

After a break of several years, I am pleased to announce the next Hellins Lecture will take place on Sunday 24 July in the Cathedral at 15.30hr when the Lecturer will be Bishop Matthew Mhagama, from our link diocese of South West Tanganyika.  His talk will be entitled ‘The joy of serving God in the Anglican Church, Diocese of South West Tanganyika’.

The Hellins Lecture is held in memory of Canon E W J Hellins who generously endowed a sum of money for the education of the clergy and laity in the diocese, which we use from time to time in organizing a lecture from a prominent speaker.   It will be good to welcome Bishop Matthew back to the diocese for a few days prior to the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, and look forward to his Lecture entitled,   and I hope you will make a note of this in your diaries and be in the Cathedral to welcome him.

Hwyl a Helo

I am pleased to be confirming the position of Chancellor Pam Powell as Mission Area Leader in Offa and Heather Shotton as Associate Priest, following the successful completion of her curacy.

I am also pleased to announce the appointment of George Bearwood as a Priest-in-Charge in Borderlands MA rooted in the Bistre Group of Churches. Geroge brings a distinctive and fruitful ministry to our life and, God willing, he will be licensed on July 11^th.

Congratulations to Wendy Lemon on her appointment as the Church in Wales’ new Safeguarding Manager and we welcome David Oliver who will join us on June 8^th who will fill Wendy’s shoes as the new Provincial Safeguarding Officer for St Asaph and Bangor.

We commend Glyn Thomas into the hands of God, thanking God for his faithful ministry.  Glyn served his curacy in Rhyl during the 1980s, moving on as Rector of Llanycil, Bala, Frongoch, Llangower and Llanuwchllyn where he also served as Rural Dean of Penllyn until his retirement to Abergele in 2003.

His funeral will be held at St Michael’s, Abergele on Friday 17^th June at 1100hrs.

Notes and Queries

Ember Days

The June Ember Days prayer material is available in English and Cymraeg.  It will guide your prayer, and the prayer of your congregation as we prepare for the ordinations, and give information about other ordinands and vocations.  We thank God for such a rich response to God’s vocation in our diocese.

As ever, it is a huge joy and honour to be sharing in ministry with you across the diocese, where I am privileged to share in so much which is fruitful and joyful.  Thank you for our partnership in the Gospel.